Duisburger FV 08 (Germany)

Duisburger FV 08 is a sports club from the Hochfeld district of Duisburg in Nordrhein-Westfalen who were formed on in June 1908 as Hochfelder Fußball Club. Over the years the club developed sections for handball, boxing, walking, table tennis, pool and rugby. However, it is through football that the name of DFV is best known.

The club’s first home ground was located where Rheinhauser Straße now stands. In 1909 Hochfelder became members of the Westdeutschen Fußballverband. In 1914 the club changed its title to Duisburger Fußballverein 08.

The club played in the Kreisliga before a runners-up place saw them qualify for the Gauliga Niederrhein, which was one of sixteen top flight divisions introduced under the rule of the Third Reich. In 1933 the club won the regional Niederrhein-Pokalsieger.

The team were relegated in 1937, but took Borussia Dortmund to a replay in the knock out stages of the Tschammerpokal, as the German Cup was known at the time. The replayed game at Hochfeld attracted a crowd of 8,000 to witness a 3-1 defeat.

Once peace was restored after World War Two, DFV resumed to play Bezirksklasse football before winning promotions to the Oberliga and then the Oberliga West in 1949, which was one of the top flight divisions of the time. However, their spell at that level lasted just one season.

Günter Brocker began his career at the club before progression to FC Schalke 04, where he won a Meisterschaft.  In 1953 the club descended to the Verbandsliga Niederrhein, then winning promotion to 2. Liga West, before falling further to playing in the Bezirksliga. Some brief flirtations in cup competitions gave the DFV something to cheer.

By 1982 the club were playing in Verbandsliga Niederrhein, with DFV taking on and losing 4-1 to FC Bayern München in a friendly at MSV’s Wedau-Stadion in front of a crowd of 12,000. 1988 saw a relegation, followed by promotion in 1991. In 1994 Duisburger just missed out on promotion to Oberliga Nordrhein.

In 1998 the club was relegated from the Verbandsliga. By 2003 DFV were relegated to Kreisliga A, before going right down to Kreisliga B in 2009. Promotion was won at the first attempt to regain their place in one of many eighth level divisions in German football.

Salvatore Campanella was given the task as head coach of winning promotion in the 2012-13 season. He departed to be replaced by Alessandro Vergaro for the 2015-16 campaign after just missing out with a runners-up spot.

The team finished in fourth in 2015-16 which was replicated the following season. Berkan Serifoski led DFV 08 to a runners-up slot in 2017-18 as the attacking trio of Soufian Serifoski, Abdoulaye Sall and Egzon Krasniqi put away the goals.

The Kreisliga A Gruppe 1 title was won in 2018-19 as Jeonghoon Ahn added goals to the same men as the previous season before TV Voerde were dispatched 4-0 in the play-offs in front of a gate of 1,150 at Paul-Esch-Straße.

Promoted to the eighth tier Bezirksliga Gruppe 5, Duisburger were in eighth place with the help of goals from Cagri Düven when the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the 2019-20 campaign. The club installed an artificial pitch at their impressive stadium, which smartened its appearance considerably.

Duisburger FV 08 will play in Bezirksliga Niederrhein Gruppe 5 in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Sunday 28^th February 2016

It’s strange how sometimes things work out on a day of groundhopping. To be totally honest DFV were not on my radar initially, although I noted the location of the Grunewald-Kampfbahn before my departure.

Originally I had meant to visit Duisburger SV 1900 and then Eintracht Duisburg before the MSV Duisburg v St Pauli match. However I had got slightly lost trying to find the UBahn at Duisburg Banhof meaning I had missed the service to Waldfriedhof.

The next tram wasn’t for thirty minutes. Instead I got on the next one to arrive as I saw a bloke wearing a blue and white scarf, only to discover I was going in completely the wrong direction. Not all was lost as I got out and discovered the next tram on the opposite platform was heading straight to Grunewald. Talk about a bit of luck!

On alighting I soon followed my instinct and walked down Paul-Esch-Straße, where many fans were parking up before heading to the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena. I soon found myself walking inside the ground for a look and I was pleasantly surprised.

The ground showed signs that it had staged a far higher level than football in the past. The side by the railway had quite a decent sized open terracing. Opposite was a few steps with benches. The far end was a grass bank behind the goal, while the near end had the clubhouse and changing rooms.

The pitch was fairly unkempt, although it was still the winter break. I later read that the club also used the Sportanlange on Grunewaldstraße. This was fairly confusing. The pitch on Grunewaldstraße had an artificial surface, so perhaps that venue took precedence in the winter months, a bit like in the Czech Republic?

Whatever, it was time to get on my way, especially as I was about to go on a detour after thinking I’d detected a short cut by following more fans in blue and white!

Duisburger FV 08 4 Alemannia Essen 2 (Sunday 9^th August 2020) Friendly (att: 69)

It was day three of my long weekend to Nordrhein Westphalia to watch football and grab some kind of normality away from the shambles of the handling of Coronavirus back in the UK and I was having a fantastic time.

There were many choices for an afternoon game around the region, but very few married up to make a double header after a morning kick off. I’d more or less settled on Ramscheid as my destination after discussion with my local pals the afternoon before.

However, I’d woken in good form and recovered well so I was hungry to pack in as much as possible. I knew that Grunewald-Kampfbahn was a decent enough venue and was easily accessible, so it made up my mind.

Indeed, I nearly made a bit of an idiot of myself as I flicked through the fixtures on my arrival on Friday afternoon and saw that DSV were at home that evenings against SV Duissern. I was halfway into planning the journey when it dawned on me that they’d played the previous evening!

My morning game between DSV 04 and KSC Tesla 07 was entertaining enough if not particularly high on quality. I’d returned at full time to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof to connect perfectly for a journey of twenty minutes north on one of the fantastic new regional express trains.

I’d remembered that the underground system at Duisburg station was at the north end of the platforms. I soon got my navigational head together and found the correct platform, unlike my previous visit.

There was still forty minutes to kick off when I arrived at the ground, so I went inside the clubhouse, which had a fair array of Internazionale souvenirs on the wall among other club mementos.

Despite trying not to indulge heavily in beer it was hard not to be tempted by the cold bottles of locally brewed König Pilsener at just €1.50. The first was so nice that I had a second while checking up on the cricket scores from back home and relax in the shade.

I decided to go out and take some photos around the ground from the far side terrace. It was extremely hot yet again. It didn’t look as though hardly anyone was turning out to watch, but those that were sheltering in the shade.

In the early stages Bünyamin Topuz for the Essen side looked like the sort of small clever ball playing midfielder I enjoy watching. It was an even contest in my eyes, so I was slightly surprised to find that Allemania were a team from the eighth tier Kreisliga A, whereas the hosts were a level higher in the Bezirksliga.

The sun was too hot on the terrace and despite the good view I had to retreat to the far side where I wasn’t as high up, but the trees offered some protection. I also filled in the track and trace form near the gate into the ground.

It only occurred to me at that point that it was as well that there was no admittance fee as I’d dodged it anyway by going straight into the clubhouse. Some fellow groundhoppers see that as fair game, whereas I prefer to pay my way as I’ve seen from behind the scenes back home how difficult it is to fund a football club.

Gradually DSV took control and played some nice intricate stuff going forward before the clever Ahmed Annachat put them ahead just before the half hour mark with a neat finish to the delight of a couple of his pals who were sat just in front of me.

The skills and pace of Duisburger were starting to punish the Alemannia side. Ahmed Ammari went on a fine dribbling run, although he probably should have released the ball which fell when he was tackled to Annachat who doubled the lead ten minutes before the break.

Veteran defender Hasan Fidan was having a proper moan at his Alemannia colleagues and goalkeeper Veysel Erdam who I thought was doing a decent job. He then got stuck into referee Mustapha Ǘmüt who I also thought was having a good game. It must have been the heat?

To be fair it must have been hard work. It was tough enough watching as I contemplated an early departure. I was to be rewarded for my resilience with a fine second half. Whatever coach Adem Durmus told side at the interval must have been inspiring.

He also made five substitutions which also had an effect, whereas his counterpart Dirk Pusch made just the one with another further change at the midway point in the half. It was back to type on equal standing as at the beginning of the match.

Frederick Owusu Ansah impressed me on the left hand side of defence for DSV. He was a commanding presence who seemed to inspire his colleagues. Gradually Alemannia were getting back into the contest.

They were rewarded just after the hour mark when Semih Uzunay reduced the arrears before Mehmet Kocak netted the equaliser three minutes later. The visiting bench and smattering of supporters were jubilant.

The mid half break probably came at the wrong time for them as DSV were able to regroup. The match could have gone either way after that as space opened up as limbs began to tire. Haydar Han put the hosts back in the lead ten minutes from time.

It was 4-2 five minutes after when Yüksel Kilic scored after being initially denied by an Erdam save. I’d seen it out to the end helped by an ice cold coke in the second half. I’m not sure what type of meat was being barbecued but it smelt good.

There was no time to hang around to find out. I returned to Grunewald stop above the ground to catch the U79 all the way back to Düsseldorf. I had a far longer ride than the lad who got on at the same time only to realise inspectors were aboard. He jumped off at the next stop!

I broke my journey at Heinrich-Heine-Allee for the Aldstadt for a snack and more liquid before heading back to my room for a siesta. I returned to the old town, but it was apparent much of it was closing down as the remaining punters gradually headed home.

After taking a few obligatory sightseeing photos I made my way nearer home stopping initially for a couple of beers at Der Grieche am Fürstenplatz. I was allured by the aesthetic nature of a staff member when passing on Friday.

She wasn’t there, the beer was expensive, and I got peppered with the sounds of a Greek bloke wailing along to his Bouzouki over the speakers. Not brilliant. Instead I headed to Kepler Eck, the more traditional bar where a birthday party was going on the previous evening.

Again, I sat outside with one eye on the kebab and pizza shop up the road. The Alt was going down well, and it was a fair price. The shops lights went out. It was going to have to be nibbles from the 24-hour convenience store opposite, or maybe not. They closed as well.

Worse was to follow as the bar was closing. However, in a sliding doors moment I saw that the rather trendy Café Knülle was still serving next door. It would have been rude not to have enjoyed a last couple of beers outdoors as Sunday became Monday.

Supper was eventually provided at another kiosk further up from the crossroads. I even caught the end of some of the snooker before I crashed out, a tired and happy man despite the heat.

I must have had a good rest as I was in top form to head to Dortmund Airport for my flight home the following day via Wenkers Brauhaus for a quick lunch before heading out on Monday night for beers to recount my adventures to my pal Steve Barnes.