SV München 1880 (Germany)

SV München 1880 is a sports club from the Bavarian city of Munich which was formed in 1880 as Turnklub II Munich. The club has departments for ballet, boxing, fitness, gymnastics, handball, karate, ninepins, mountain biking, skiing, tennis and volleyball as well as football.

The club was renamed München-West in 1897, with the football department being inaugurated in 1905. A further change of title to Turnverein München von 1880 e.V. followed in 1910.

In 1921 München 1880 moved into their own sports venue on Tübinger Straße. The club was renamed Turn-und Sportverein München von 1880 e.V a year later.

Yet another adjustment of title followed in 1924 as the club became Turn-Verein München von 1880 e.V. The club grew as 1,700 members enrolled. Forty nine members lost their lives during World War Two.

The clubhouse was destroyed by Allied attacks in 1943 before the club was retitled Turn-Verein München von 1880 e.V. two years later. In 1951 it was altered to Sport-Verein München von 1880 e.V.

In 1952 work began on a new gymnasium, club building and sports centre at the club base. The Emil-Nüssler-Stadion was inaugurated in 1957. Further constructions were added to the facilities over the ensuing years, with the stadium gaining a grandstand in 1980.

On July 2^nd 2005 the football club hosted an FC Bayern München team to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the football department, with the famous visitors winning the game 11-0.

The football teams play in local amateur football and have sections for women and junior sides as they look to serve the community of the Schwanthalerhöhe in the west end district of the city. Of late they’ve competed in A-Klasse; the tenth level of German football.

A disastrous 2017-18 campaign saw the team finish rock bottom and drop down to B-Klasse 4 where they only just averted another relegation. The truncated 2019-20 season saw an improvement to eighth place in their eleventh tier division.

SV München 1880 will play in B-Klasse 4 Oberbayern in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Thursday 15^th December 2017

I was visiting Munich for a few days on a pre Christmas break. I considered it to be very remiss of me if I hadn’t taken in some football clubs at the lower end of the pyramid. I’d been at Dacau in the morning for a tour of the Concentration Camp. I needed some light relief.

After visiting the basic home of SV München Laim, I took the U Bahn one stop from Laimer Platz to Westendstraße, from where it was just a short walk along Tübinger Straße to the Emil-Nüssler-Stadion.

The gates were open into the complex, although the clubhouse and bar by the entrance appeared closed. The arena had a disused running track around the football pitch. The small covered stand was across on the far side.

Overgrown banking encircled the track. One could imagine warm summer days with large crowds enjoying the competitive action. Perhaps it still happened and calling in December caught the place in hibernation?

Dusk was drawing in. I headed to catch a train from München Heimeranplatz. I had planned to take a look at another ground by Laim station, but getting on a wrong train and finding a large wall made it a wild goose chase.

Common sense prevailed. I headed back to my LetoMotel München Moosach room for a brief siesta before heading into town to enjoy some food from the Christmas Market before washing it down on several occasions with local beers.

Dacau had taken a profound effect on me. I was going to enjoy every moment that I could.