SV Eintracht Stuttgart 1896 e,V. (Germany)

SV Eintracht Stuttgart 1896 eV is a sports club from the Degerloch area of Stuttgart which has sections for gymnastics, table tennis and walking; but the most prominent part of the club is football.

The club was formed in 1896 as FV Schwaben. After a series of mergers the club found a place in the highest ranked local league; the Gauliga in 1920. 1. FV Stuttgart merged with the club in 1921 as it became Eintracht.

Around the same time the hockey section of the club was highly successful, while the football side was just outside the top regional level. By 1924 they had progressed to the Verbandsliga.

The period under the Third Reich around wartime led to much turmoil of several local clubs. The plan was to dissolve many and to merge into one big club at Waldau. The idea disbanded in 1945 which saw the continuation of SV Eintracht 1896 Stuttgart.

Eintracht re-grouped and developed players through their youth system. Promotion to A Class (the highest local level of football) was achieved at the completion of the 1953-54 season. Unfortunately the spell lasted only two years before they returned to Class B.

Worse was to come as in 1959 Eintracht found themselves in Class C. The club once again took stock of their situation and won a couple of promotions to celebrate their 75th anniversary in 1971 in the A Class. The clubs Articles of Association were rewritten to allow members of 16 years old and above a vote.

After years of planning the club were afforded new facilities under the grandstand of Stuttgarter Kickers Waldau Stadion. In 1982 Waldau undertook a re-arrangement which meant the demolition of Eintracht’s clubhouse. 

A convivial arrangement was made to share some of Kickers facilities. Unfortunately, the team were relegated around the same time. However the women’s team won their league. The old wooden grandstand at Eintracht Stadion was demolished to make room for a new structure as the team slipped down to Kreisliga B. 

In the summer of 1989 a new clubhouse with spectator balcony was erected at a cost of DM 1.4 million. It obviously brought luck as the first team won promotion to Kreisliga A.

Sadly relegation soon followed as Eintracht put an emphasis on developing their youth system. By 1995 they’d returned to the top Kreisliga division, with the club being advanced by landscaped car parking and a beer garden.

The club continued to run along well on and off the pitch, with the women’s side also prospering. By 2010-11 the team were competing in the tenth tier Kreisliga B 5 where they finished in third position.

The league title was won the following season, but Eintracht lasted just one season in Kreisliga A 3 before being relegated. Back in Kreisliga B 4 the team continued to finish in the top six without really mounting a serious challenge for the league title.

Back in B5 the side were in second place when the 2019-20 season halted owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The club would have to await their fate after the goals of Robin Wagner had propelled the team led by coach Mehmet Mehmet up the table.

SV Eintracht Stuttgart 1896 e,V. will play in Kreisliga B5 Württemberg in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

Sunday 16^th August 2015

I had enjoyed a very competitive first half in the Oberliga clash between Stuttgarter Kickers II and FC 08 Villingen at the nearby Bezirkssportanlage Waldau. With fifteen minutes to kill I decided to have a wander over the road to have a look around the vast Waldau complex. It was there I came across Eintracht Stadion.

It was quite a basic but very neat venue, in common with the other district standard grounds I’d come across. The playing surface was artificial with a rail around it. The only structure was along the far side in the shadow of the new Main Stand of Waldau Stadion with the two storey clubhouse with changing rooms downstairs and club rooms and balcony above it.

The far end of the ground had a car park behind the trees. It looked like I’d either missed a friendly game or a training session as players were drifting away as I wandered round.