Hannoverscher SC (Germany)

Hannoverscher Sport-Club von 1893 e.V is a sports club from the city of Hanover in Germany’s Lower Saxony who were formed on September 1st 1893.

The club has departments for tennis, swimming, boule-petanqué, sailing, handball, fitness and health, koronarsport, table tennis and volleyball as well as football. The club was formed by students as Fußsport-Verein 1897 as purely a rugby club.

The club went on to become German rugby champions in 1909. Several mergers over the next thirty years would add to the strength of the club.

Herta 1910 Hannover joined up in 1910, with SuS 1911 Hannover merging three years later. In 1918 VfR Hannover linked up to the club which was renamed Hannoverschen SC 02. Other clubs involved in the mergers were Hannoverscher SC and Germania Hannover.

After the end of World War One, Hannoverschen SC 02 played in the top division of the regional Südkreisliga. In 1924 and 1925 the team finished as league runners-up behind Arminia Hannover and Eintracht Braunschweig.

In 1926 HSC won the league but lost the final against neighbours Arminia. Games followed in the North German Championship against Hamburger SV, Altona 93 and Holstein Kiel, which eventually saw Hannoverschen finish in fourth position.

After further mergers the club reached the Oberliga Südhannover-Braunschweig, before joining one of sixteen top flight Gauliga’s under the rule of the Third Reich; where the club were placed in Gauliga Niedersachsen.

After World War Two HSC settled down at their base at Constantinstraße, which was located between a gasometer and a dump, from which HSC earned the nickname of  ‘Elf vom Gasometer’ (Eleven from the Gasometer).

In 1946 HSC reached the play-offs for a place in the Oberliga Niedersachsen-Süd, but the match was lost to Werder Hannover. In 1949 the club joined Amateuroberliga Niedersachsen-West, before switching to the Oststaffel a couple of years later.

However, the change saw the team and club struggle, with finances a particular worry. It was rumoured that the club treasurer fled with the takings from a friendly with Arminia Hannover to keep the cash for the club and away from the bailiffs.

By 1955-56 the club had recovered to win the Amateurliga Hannover to reach the Amateuroberliga, the second level of regional football at the time. The leagues were re-formed in 1963, with HSC joining the new Verbandsliga.

In 1968-69 the club had fallen to the Bezirksliga, but won promotion in 1970 under head coach Werner Müller to the Verbandsliga Süd, where the team ended their debut season as runners-up.

The 1971-72 season saw HSC win Verbandsliga Süd to reach the third tier Landesliga Niedersachsen with future 1. FC Köln Director of Sport and Cameroon and Urawa Red Diamonds head coach, Volker Finke in the team.

The side struggled and survived relegation in 1974 as several sides were promoted to Oberliga Nord to fill the vacancies created through the introduction of 2. Bundesliga. Eventually the young HSC team were relegated at the end of the 1976-77 campaign.

Twelve months later HSC dropped down another step to the Bezirksliga. After a decade or so at the same level, the club climbed back to the Landesliga West in 1990-91. In 1994-95 a further promotion to the Niedersachsenliga West was achieved.

In 1997-98 the side were relegated to the Bezirksliga before returning to the Landesliga in 2011-12. Promotion to Oberliga Niedersachsen followed in 2015-16. The rise lasted just one season as the team finished second bottom of the table and were relegated back to the Landesliga Hannover which was sixth tier of German football at the time.

The Landesliga Hannover title was won in 2017-18 which was backed up as HSC listed the Oberliga Niedersachsen title was won at the first attempt in 2018-19 as Christopher Schultz banged in the goals for the team led by Martin Polomka.

Arminia were bottom of Regionalliga Nord when the 2019-20 season was halted owing to the COVID-19 pandemic before being reprieved of relegation.

Hannoverscher SC will play in Regionalliga Nord in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Monday 30th January 2017

I was in Hanover for the match between Hannover 96 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern later that evening. In the meantime I was determined to do a bit of sightseeing as well as visiting a couple of local clubs.

I’d just been to the Rudolf-Kalweit-Stadion home of Arminia Hanover, from where I took a U Bahn across the city to the Hannover Vier Grenzen stop before talking the ten minute walk along Am Listholze and then Constantinstraße to the gates of Hannoverscher SC.

The large complex had facilities for all the clubs other sports, with the rugby pitch and clubhouse of Sportclub Germania-List v.1900 e.V. just beyond. I walked past the tennis courts and clubhouse of HSC to the main football pitch.

The ground was pretty basic, with hard standing all the way around the pitch. The far side had several rows of open terrace right the way along the pitch, with a cover straddling the half way line. 

After completing my photography I wandered to the slightly nearer Pelikanstraße stop for a train back into the city centre. It was a little bit early to head to my digs so I enjoyed a couple of lunchtime libations in the small Bier-Comptoir bar on Kramerstraße, which was traditional and full of character.