KFC Uerdingen 05, or Krefelder Fußballclub Uerdingen 05 e.V., to give them their full title, is a football club in the district of Uerdingen in the 'velvet and silk' city of Krefeld in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia.
The club was formed on the 17th November 1905 as Fußball-Club Uerdingen 05, until August 1919 when they were joined by Sportvereinigung des Realgymnasiums Urdingen. In 1927 the club moved into the newly constructed Grotenburg-Stadion.
During World War II the club joined forces with VfB 1910 Uerdingen, playing as Kriegspielgemeinschaft Uerdingen. In peacetime they continued their alliance as Spielvereinigung Uerdingen 05, until February 1948 when VfB became an independent club once more. In 1950 SpVgg returned to their original name of FC Uerdingen 05.
The climb proved too steep as Bayer dropped back down just twelve months later before a runners-up spot in 1978-79 saw Uerdingen promoted once again with Siegfried Melzig as head coach as Wolfgang Lüttges scored with regularity.
Their spell in the Bundesliga lasted two seasons before a return to the now one division second tier. Werner Biskup led his side to the play-offs in 1982-83 where Horst Feilzer caused damage to FC Schalke 04 as Bayer were promoted after a 4-2 aggregate win.
The
following season saw the club in European Cup Winners Cup action, with the
quarter final seeing one of the most dramatic games in UEFA history. By half
time in the second leg at the Grotenburg-Stadion Uerdingen were 5-1 down on
aggregate to Dynamo Dresden.
The final forty five minutes saw the home side hammer in six unanswered goal to win the tie 7-5 over the two games, before losing to Atletico Madrid in the semi-final. Click here to see the dramatic Dynamo second leg.
Following these successes, the Grotenburg was given further refurbishments, and all seemed well. Bayer built, finishing sixth in 1986-87 prior to the appointment of new coach Rolf Schafstall as Stefan Kuntz provided the goals for the team.
Gradually the teams finishing places were slipping down the table before Bayer went down in 1990-91. Friedhelm Funkel led the team to the 1991-92 2. Bundesliga Nord title with Bernd Dreher, Stephan Paßlack, Thomas Adler and Andreas Sassen among the sides’ mainstays.
Not for the first time Uerdingen only lasted one season in the Bundesliga before bouncing back as second level runners-up at the first attempt. In 1995 when Bayer withdrew their funding.
The club started their 1995-96 Bundesliga campaign as Krefelder Fußball-Club Uerdingen 05 in the Bundesliga, which ended in relegation despite the goals of Erik Meijer. Hans-Ulrich Thomale took over as coach before being replaced by Jürgen Gelsdorf.
Henk ten Cate was at the helm when KFC were relegated in 1998-99 as the club dropped down to Regionalliga Nord. Worse was to follow in 2003 as the DFB refused the club a license to compete at that level owing to financial problems.
Instead KFC Uerdingen were placed in Oberliga Nordrhein. The German leagues were restructured for the 2008-09 season with the introduction of 3. Liga. Uerdingen hoped for a place in the fourth tier Regionalliga under the stewardship of veteran coach and Fortuna Düsseldorf legend Aleksandar Ristić for a short spell.
However, the club were placed in the Verbandsliga. In 2010-11 Uerdingen won their first promotion in seventeen years as they lifted the Verbandsliga title and a place in the NRW-Liga under head coach Peter Wongrowitz.
The league was disbanded, so KFC were placed in the fifth tier Oberliga Niederrhein as the club tried to raise finances with some innovative ideas to assist in their push back up the leagues, including a friendly with Bayern München which drew a crowd of 30,000 for a friendly.
Uerdingen played in the Oberliga Niederrhein in the 2012-13 season and went on to win the title, gaining promotion back to the Regionalliga. However, the joy wasn't to last too long as Uerdingen finished in fifteenth position in the 2014-15 season and were relegated once again.
The goals of
Danny Rankl in 2015-16 saw the side finish runners-up as coach Michael Boris
was replaced by Jörn Großkopf towards the seasons end, who in turn was soon
succeeded by André Pawlak as the Oberliga Niederrhein title was lifted in
2016-17.
Michael Wiesinger and then Stefan Krämer oversaw the Regionalliga West championship triumph of 2017-18 with Lucas Musculus topping the scoring chart. SV Waldhof Mannheim were defeated 3-0 on aggregate in the play-offs as Uerdingen returned to the third level of German football.
The promotion a slight problem as Grotenburg-Stadion was deemed unfit. The club used MSV Duisburg’s Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena for home matches as they finished in mid table with Maximilian Beister leading the scoring in a season which saw Norbert Meier take over as coach for a short spell.
Uerdingen moved into Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf to share with Fortuna in 2019-20 with the side sitting comfortably in the Coronavirus disrupted campaign which also saw several changes of coach with Heiko Vogel, Daniel Steuernagel and a returning Krämer taking charge of the team.
Good news emerged from the local Krefeld mayor who announced that the club should be able to return to an upgraded Grotenburg-Stadion for the 2020-21 season.
KFC Uerdingen 05 will play in 3. Liga in the 2020-21 season.
My visit
Saturday 27th October 2012
I awoke in my Dusseldorf hotel on a beautiful bright late autumn morning after a really good first day in Germany in my search of new stadiums and football. The previous nights 3-3 draw in Cologne, followed by a really good drink in Dusseldorf's Aldstadt had put me in a really good mood, as well as helping me to a much needed deep sleep.
My afternoon destination was Gelsenkirchen for the clash between Schalke and Nuremburg, but I was determined not to waste my morning. I remember Bayer Uerdingen from my youth and had since done some research as to their demise. Their website showed a good old fashioned stadium, and I wanted to see it in the flesh.
After a quick train from my adjacent station to Dusseldorf's Hauptbanhof, I was soon on a train via Neuss which would stop at the Krefeld-Oppum station. After a twenty minute ride I was out in the cool air and taking a ten minutes brisk walk up Buddestrasse past the tram stop and pretty Schonwasserpark and into the busy main Berliner Strasse. This took me past the zoo and to the stadium.
The North Stand was a large covered single tiered block of seats. Opposite was the South Strand, which backed onto the training ground, with a seating tier behind a large terraced paddock. The West Terrace was a huge open end up to the pitch with a scoreboard at the rear.
I wandered along the back of the South Stand, where a drinks kiosk was open for spectators watching the youngsters going through their drills. Everyone seemed friendly, with a few allo's and smiles being exchanged.
I gained access into the West Terrace, which was showing signs of not being used for some time. The stadium car park was being used for a car boot stall come flea market, so I had a look at the stalls to see if anything took my interest before heading back to the station.
Having a few minutes to kill, I took the opportunity to pop into a local bakery, where the friendly staff spoke perfect English on seeing me struggle with my pidgin German. The large Danish pastry and strong coffee were most welcoming.
At this point I made a decision after a bit of thought and took a train into Krefeld, where I hoped to get a fast train towards Duisburg in the hope that time would be a kind enough to allow me the opportunity of visiting the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena. The trains were fine as I'd planned, but the stadium was too far from the station. I couldn't really complain.
I'd visited a lovely city, albeit briefly and seen a tremendous traditional stadium with youths playing the game. I knew for certain that one day in the future that I wanted to attend a KFC Uerdingen 05, preferably with the club doing well.
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