VfB Stuttgart, or Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart, to give their full title, is one of the most prominent football clubs in Germany. The club’s origins can be traced to the formation of Stuttgarter Fußballverein on the 9th September 1893.
This club initially played rugby at Stöckach-Eisbahn before
moving to Cannstatter Wasen in 1894. A football section was added in 1908, where
they joined the Südkreis-Liga in 1912.
In 1897, they reformed
themselves under the name of FC Krone Cannstatt, playing football only, joining the Süddeutschen Fußballverband. The club had their own ground, which is now home to TSVgg
Stuttgart-Münster e.V. 1875/99. On the 2nd
April 1912, Stuttgarter FV and Kronen-Club Cannstatt merged to form VfB
Stuttgart.
The united club became members of the Kreisliga Württemberg before
moving on to the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, where they were crowned
champions in 1926-27. In 1933, German football was reorganised under the ruling Third Reich. Sixteen top-flight Gauligen divisions were formed. VfB moved into the Neckarstadion and
was placed in the Gauliga Württemberg.
VfB fared
very well, going on to win the division in 1934-35, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1939-40,
and 1942-43 while a rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers intensified. The 1935
success led to a run right through to the national final, where they succumbed
by a 6-4 scoreline to reigning champions FC Schalke 04.
At the end
of World War Two, ‘Die Schwaben’ were placed in the Oberliga Süd, capturing the
title in 1945-46 before the club enjoyed a real golden period. Another title was
lifted in 1949-50 with the team going on to be crowned as national champions
following a 2-1 victory over Kickers Offenbach in Berlin.
Stuttgart
won a second German title in 1951-52 with Georg Wurzer the successful coach
once again as 1. FC
Saarbrücken were defeated 3-2 at the Südweststadion in Ludwigshafen. Otto
Baitinger scored twice with the other goal coming from star player Robert
Schlienz who had lost a forearm arm in an accident.
VfB returned
to Ludwigshafen to defeat 1. FC Köln 1-0 after extra time to win the DFB-Pokal
German Cup through a goal from Erwin Waldner to complete the double with the
Oberliga Süd title in 1953-54. The Pokal
was lifted for a second time in the golden era under coach Wurzer in 1957-58
with a 4-3 extra time victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf in Kassel, thanks to goals
from Dieter Praxl, Rolf Geiger, Waldner and Lothar Weise.
VfB’s fine
record led to them becoming founding members of the newly formed Bundesliga in
1963. Dieter Höller’s goals took the side to fifth under trainer Kurt Baluses. Horst Köppel
contributed goals while the team came in with several mid-table finishes before
another fifth spot was achieved in 1968-69 with Gunther Baumann in charge of
the team.
Hermann Eppenhoff’s team qualified for the 1973-74 UEFA Cup, going
on to reach the semi-finals before going out 4-3 on aggregate to Feyenoord. In an attempt to grasp the professional era, local politician Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected as the new president.. Despite this move, VfB were relegated at the end of the 1974-75 season
It would take two seasons to reclaim a top-flight spot
as the team coached by Jürgen Sundermann
and including stars such as Karlheinz
Förster, Hansi Müller and Ottmar Hitzfeld romped to the 2. Bundesliga title. In 1979-80, the last four teams left in the UEFA Cup were all from West Germany. VfB were
defeated by Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-1 over two legs.
After several promising
Bundesliga seasons, VfB Stuttgart were crowned champions in 1983-84, under trainer Helmut Benthaus. Jürgen
Klinsmann joined the ranks in the late 1980s from city neighbours Kickers. In
1988-89, VfB went all the way to the final of the UEFA but were denied their first
European silverware as Diego Maradona's Napoli ran out as 5-4 winners
over the two games.
The 1991-92
season saw the club being crowned as German champions for the fourth time under
the guidance of Christoph Daum as Fritz Walter ended as top scorer in a side
containing the likes of Michael Frontzeck, Matthias Sammer, Maurizio Gaudino, Eike
Immel and skipper Guido Buchwald.
It would be 1996-97 before further honours arrived at Neckarstadion under the tutelage of chief trainer Joachim Löw, when VfB defeated Energie Cottbus 2-0 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin in the final of the DFB-Pokal with two goals from Giovane Élber.
The following season, they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in Stockholm, but they lost the showpiece against Chelsea despite the efforts of star players Krassimir Balakov, Élber and Fredi Bobic. VfB went through a period of transition as it built the side around younger players.
Andreas Hinkel, Kevin Kurányi, Timo Hildebrand and Alexander Hleb made a name for themselves in the famous white and red strip with Felix Magath in charge of team affairs. The team progressed to the Champions League for 2003-04 before bowing out to Chelsea in the first knockout round.
More trainers came and went over the next few years as VfB Stuttgart consolidated its place towards the top end of the Bundesliga. The consistency eventually bore fruit as VfB won the last eight matches of the 2006-07 season to win another Bundesliga title thanks to the likes of Pável Pardo, Ricardo Osorio, Antônio da Silva, Mario Gómez, Serdar Tasci and Sami Khedira under the guidance of Armin Veh.
VfB so nearly completed the double but lost 3-2 in extra time against 1. FC Nürnberg in the Pokal final. The ensuing
seasons saw more top-five finishes and qualification to the Champions League in
2007-08 and 2009-10. The latter of those campaigns ended quickly, and league
form was also disappointing, leading to the replacement of young trainer Markus
Babbel with Christian Gross.
The Swiss oversaw a big improvement with Die
Schwaben securing a place in the Europa League. The
following campaign was most disappointing, with two coaches being given their
marching orders before Bruno Labbadia was hired in January 2011. He helped the
side stave off relegation. 2011-12 was more successful, as Martin Harnik
starred.
The 2014-15 season looked like it may end in relegation, but a fine late rally saw Huub Stevens secure safety before Alexander Zorniger was appointed as the new head coach in June 2015. He lasted just a few months until being replaced by Jürgen Kramny. The change failed to pay off as VfB were relegated at the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
However, the goals of Simon Terodde fired the team to 2. Bundesliga title at the first time of asking, with Mitchell Langerak playing his part as goalkeeper for the side coached by Hannes Wolf. Tayfun Korkut took over the managerial reins during the winter break in the 2017-18 season as Stuttgart finished in eighth place.
Markus Weinzierl was the next chief trainer at
the Mercedes-Benz Arena. His short spell was succeeded by Nico Willig. VfB ended in
the relegation play-off place from where they were relegated on away goals
after drawing 2-2 with Union Berlin. Further leadership upheaval saw Tim Walter
appointed and sacked before 2019 was out, with Pellegrino Matarazzo his
replacement.
The team won promotion as runners-up in the 2019-20 season, disrupted by the outbreak of Coronavirus, as Nicolás
González scored the goals assisted by Silas Wamangituka. After consolidating, Stuttgart spent a couple of seasons flirting with relegation, leading to the appointment of new trainer Sebastian Hoeneß.
The goals have Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undaz fired the side to runners-up in 2023-24, before slipping down to ninth twelve months later.
VfB
Stuttgart will play in the Bundesliga in the 2025-26 season.
My visit
VfB
Stuttgart 1 1 .FC Köln 3 (Sunday 16th August 2015) Bundesliga (att:
59,500)
The match at
the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, as the Neckarstadion had been renamed in a sponsorship
deal, was the main attraction of my weekend in the Baden-Württemberg region of
Germany. The 5.30pm
kick-off allowed me lots of time to expand my knowledge of the local football
scene.
It was the last match in the opening set of fixtures of the new
Bundesliga season. The crowds were starting to gather in the bars near my
hotel in Bad Canstatt as I departed to go to my lunchtime fixture; the Oberliga
encounter between SC Stuttgarter Kickers II and FC 08 Villingen. Following
that match, I followed the advice to take one of the special U11 tram services
directly to the stadium.
It quickly became apparent while standing on the busy
platform at Alexanderstraße that this would not be a simple task, as the first
special was packed solid. Instead, I caught the next one heading back towards my
hotel and followed the other fans in jumping off at Mercedesstraße. From there, it was a twenty-minute walk through a large open space used for the Canstatt
Messe fair.
The main
drag nearing the stadium was closed off to traffic. Stalls were serving fans
with refreshments and souvenirs over the road by the Porsche Arena. I carried
on up the road past the main entrance to the Haupttribüne before finding the
gates to give me access to the Untertürkheimer Kurve. Following a quick ticket
scan and frisk and I was inside. I helped myself to one of the free match
magazines from a huge pile and went upstairs.
It was time
to be refreshed. The sausage was decent enough value at €2.40, but the beer was
expensive at €4.20. It cost a further €1 for the hard plastic glass, which was
refunded on return. It was slightly disappointing to find that the beer was
Krombacher when it could have been from a local supplier. It was time to go
upstairs and find my seat.
I always try
and book a place at the end of a row, preferably in a place that gives me a
good all-around view. I was in the top corner of the lower continuous tier, and it cost €27. The level I was at was all seated, save for the Canstatter Kurve at
the far end.
That was where the most vocal home fans congregated, and in the opposite
corner at the same end as me, which housed the visiting supporters ultras. Another
tier of seating was above, with slight gaps at either side of the separate
Haupttribune.
It
once had a running track, a main stand with the rest being open terracing apart
from a basic cover opposite the seats. The stadium was the scene of the Euro '88
clash when Ireland defeated England. It had been converted to an all-seater
arena with a roof all the way around, but was rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup
with the removal of the running track and construction of new stands.
The noise
leading up to kick off from both sets of fans was tremendous, along with the
display of flags. The teams entered the arena to a tremendous ovation. Neither side
wasted any time in playing attractive quality football. Köln nearly struck
first when a fine swerving shot from Matthias Lehmann struck the foot of the
post with home keeper Przemysław Tytoń beaten.
VfB
responded soon after as they themselves struck the woodwork. A ferocious effort
from Daniel Didavi smashed against the visitor’s crossbar with Timo Horn in the
Köln net, grasping thin air. Then Christian Gentner’s effort hit the left-hand
post in the twelfth minute.
Although Köln sporadically attacked, it was the home side doing most of the pressing. A mixture of bad luck, good goalkeeping and decent defending kept VfB at bay. It was surprising that the half ended scoreless. There was still plenty of optimism on the concourse while I enjoyed a beer.
The noise
from the fans never abated. The Mercedes-Benz Arena was proving top class for
atmosphere. Stuttgart were giving the home support plenty to get excited about.
Wave after wave of attacks and efforts on goal were being fired in, but the
Köln defence would not give way. VfB’s Martin Harnik was having a fine match.
Shots
continued to reign in. Horn was really earning his wages. Then, out of nowhere, the match turned on its head in the seventy-fifth minute. Köln’s
Anthony Modeste broke into the area when Tytoń upended him. Referee Wolfgang
Stark had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Modeste made no mistake as
he dusted himself down and blasted the ball into the middle of the goal.
It was
amazing to see just how many away fans were in the seated areas in other parts
of the stadium when the goal went in, yet there was no hint of malice. This was
football as it’s meant to be.
A fine but
simplistic move cut the Stuttgart defence apart as they stood like statues.
Kevin Vogt set up Simon Zoller to smash home and send the Köln fans into ecstasy. VfB looked
to rally and were offered hope when Zoller clipped the heels of Filip Kostić in
the area. Didavi made no mistake from the spot to set up a frantic last eleven
minutes.
VfB threw
everything forward in search of an equaliser. Shots were saved and blocked
while numerous corners put the squeeze on the Köln side, who were defending
with all hands to the pump. In the
second minute of stoppage time, VfB lost the ball, and Modeste broke away at
pace and into the clear. As he got into the penalty area, he slid the ball
sideways for substitute Yūya Ōsako to roll the ball into an empty net.
By now, I was
standing at the back for a quick getaway. The goal was met by shrugs of the shoulders
and ironic smiles by the bloke next to me. The visiting fans couldn’t believe
it. Talk about a smash-and-grab raid!
Ideally, I would catch a U19 tram at the stadium halt, but there were none in view, so I jumped aboard the first one I could and
changed at Mercedesstraße for a service under the bridge to Wilhelmsplatz in
the centre of Bad Cannstatt. After
dropping off my programme, it was time to find some bars to take in the post-match reaction.
I decided to start in The Corner Bar, a fine establishment showing
sport and serving the lovely Schwaben Bräu. I had a nice chat with some locals.
One showed me the UK scores. Chelsea had been hammered, Hull City drew, and
Rangers won. Time for more beer! I selected Gaststätte Pfiff as my next port of call, attracted by the cheap offer of Paulaner beer.
The dreary dark bar served me a large Hefe-Weissbier. It was on to the lively
and jolly bar up the street for a couple sat at the bar while watching the
goals round up before heading over the road for a pizza and bed by 10.30. The following morning, I caught a direct S-Bahn service from Bad Canstatt to the airport for my
Easyjet flight home. Fortunately, I caught this one! It had been another superb
weekend in Germany.
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