SpVgg Unterhaching
Ground: Sportpark Unterhaching
Capacity: 15,053
Club Founded: 1925
League: Regionalliga Bayern - 4th Tier (current level)
SpVgg Unterhaching is best known for its memorable spell in the Bundesliga around the turn of the millennium and its role in one of German football’s most dramatic title races. Based on the southern outskirts of Munich, the club has built a reputation for developing young talent and maintaining a strong presence in the Bavarian football landscape.
Club History
SpVgg Unterhaching's origins go back to when the club was part of the gymnastics and sports club TSV Hachinger. After playing local amateur football, the club was dissolved by the Nazi Party in 1933, as it was deemed politically unreliable.
The team were placed in B-Klasse, the fourth tier of German amateur football, after reformation in 1945. For several decades, Unterhaching continued to play at a similar level, while launching their bobsleigh department in 1975, which would produce several World and Olympic champions in the years that followed.
Progression on the Football Field
Promotion to the Bezirksliga was won in 1976-77, followed by going up to the Landesliga Bayern-Süd a couple of years later. Yet another step up came in 1980-81 as Unterhaching reached the third-tier Oberliga Bayern, the highest amateur level of the day.
Trainer Peter Grosser took the team to the title. Promotion to 2. Bundesliga was thwarted in the play-offs. The same fate befell SpVgg in the 1987-88 campaign. However, the club were not to be denied a year later as Unterhaching once again won the Oberliga Bayern championship.
Bundesliga
They then progressed through two rounds of play-offs to the second tier of German football. It proved to be a step too far, as the team were relegated after just one season. Unterhaching won the Regionalliga Süd in its debut season, returning to the 2. Bundesliga with the help of the goals of Alfonso Garcia.
A runners-up spot in 1998-99 saw the club promoted to the top-flight Bundesliga for the first time in their history. Gerhard Tremmel, Alexander Strehmel, Jochen Seitz, Markus Oberleitner, André Breitenreiter and Altin Rraklli starred in a mid-table finish in their debut season, with their final matchday of the season going down in German football history.
Final Day Drama
Visiting Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw in Unterhaching to secure their first national title. A determined home side defeated them. Meanwhile, Bayern München beat Werder Bremen 3–1 at home, overtaking Leverkusen on goal difference to snatch away the title, sparking many local celebrations.
Unterhaching were relegated in 2000-01, with the slide continuing as the club went down another level to Regionalliga Süd. Coach Wolfgang Frank took up the reins at Stadion am Sportpark with the goals of Francisco Copado firing the side to the title and promotion back to 2. Bundesliga at the first attempt.
3. Liga
Former World Cup winner Andreas Brehme took control of the team in the 2004-05 season before being replaced by Harry Deutinger. Unterhaching were relegated once more in 2006-07, in a season that saw both Werner Lorant and then Ralph Hasenhüttl lead the side as head coach.
SpVgg were placed in the newly created 3. Liga for the 2008-09 season. The side just missed out on promotion to the second tier by one place as Anton Fink finished as the division’s top scorer before Tobias Schweinsteiger starred up front the following season.
Ups and Downs
Klaus Augenthaler,
another German World Cup winner, took over as team boss in March 2010. He was replaced by
Schromm returned to the head coach position in March 2015, as the team captained by Jonas Hummels were relegated on the final day of the season back to the fourth-tier Regionalliga Bayern. The goals of Stephan Hain and Sascha Bigalke were too much for opposing defences as Unterhaching raced to the 2016-17 title.
Recent Years
SpVgg Unterhaching defeated SV
Elversberg 5-2 on aggregate in the play-off to win promotion back to the 3. Liga. Unterhaching were poised for a shot at the 3. Liga title when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the 2019-20 campaign.
Relegation followed a year later, with Arie van Lent as chief trainer. Patrick Hobsch's goals helped Unterhaching under team boss Sandro Wagner. The title was lifted in 2022-23 before the side trained by Marc Unterberger finished mid-table in 3. Liga. Relegation followed in 2024-25, after Sven Bender was appointed as head coach.
My visit
Stadium Visit - Friday 16th
December 2016
It was the
second full day of my Munich adventure. The previous day had seen me on a
defining visit to Dachau, as well as looking at a couple of amateur clubs in the
west of the city. I needed and received a jolly evening downtown.
I wanted to
cram as much as possible into my day before the München 1860 match at Allianz Arena
that evening. I took the number 20 tram from my hotel at Moosach to Karlsplatz
before going downstairs and catching the S3 train to Unterhaching.
The train
passed Stadion am Sportpark, so it was pretty easy for me to find it.
Following a path through a park along the side of the tracks brought me to a
large green space from where I walked across to the stadium.
It looked
like my luck was out if I wanted to look inside the Alpenbauer
Sportpark, as the arena had been named in a sponsorship deal. I was getting
some decent enough photos through gaps in fences, but I wasn’t going to give up
that easily.
Walking to
the far end, I found an open gate, so I walked in to get a proper look and snap
away. It reminded me in many ways of the grounds in the lower divisions back in England in
the 1980s.
A single-tiered seated stand dominated one side of the pitch, with a decent-sized open terrace at the far end. Another single tier of seats with a slight curve away from the halfway line occupied the other touchline, with a roof over most of it, while the clubhouse end had a shallow open terrace in front of the club buildings and changing rooms.
Once finished, I continued through the park where recreation for all ages could be enjoyed. It took me to Fasanenpark station, from where I took the S3 service back towards the city to St.-Martin-Straße to visit the home of SpVgg 1906 Haidhausen.
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