SC Sonnborn 07 (Germany)

SC Sonnborn 07 e.V. is an amateur football club from the German city of Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia that was formed in 1907 following the merger of the Glaus and Weidner clubs. Home matches were played at Böttinger Weg.

By 1914 the club had progressed to Westdeutschen Liga; the highest level of West German football of the day. Seven years later the club was forced to move homes as Stadion Am Zoo was constructed. They found a new site on Sonnborner Strasse.

In the early 1920’s friendly games against FC Karlsruhe, Sportfreunde Stuttgart and Rh. Köln attracted crowds of up to 5,000 before handball and hockey teams were created within the club in 1924.

Sonnborn’s twenty fifth anniversary was celebrated with a home game against FC Schalke 04, which attracted a crowd of 10,000. The club was highly regarded at this tie in the Westdeutschen Fußballverband.

SCS regrouped after World War Two and missed out in the final of the play-offs to reach the highest amateur level following defeat to TSG Vohwinkel 1946; one of the clubs that would eventually join to become Wuppertaler SV.

Promotion to the Landesliga eventually followed in 1952, where SCS finished as runners-up in 1953-54. It was while at that level in August 1958 that goalkeeper Heinz Höck collapsed after the game against Duisburg 08 with heat stroke before dying the following day.

By 1963 the club had dropped a couple of tiers to the local Bezirksklasse before regaining a Landesliga after just a years sabbatical. Sonnborn narrowly missed out on promotion to the Verbandsliga in 1966 following defeat to Marathon Remscheid.

Two years later SCS were demoted back to the Bezirksklasse. Time was spent in the higher Kreisklasse in the 1970’s before a further promotion came in 1980 to the Bezirksliga, while a new clubhouse and changing rooms were added to the ground.

In 1991 Sonnborn found themselves playing in the local Kreisliga A before climbing back to Bezirksklasse, where the club remained for a period of time as more facilities were added to their home ground.

The club continued performing at local level, developing their facilities and youth set up as well as installing an artificial pitch at Sonnborner Strasse.

The Wuppertal Niederrhein Kreisliga A championship was lifted by SC Sonnborn in the 2017-18 season leading to promotion to Bezirksliga Gruppe 2 from where they side went back down twelve months later.

Goals from Kevin Lange helped Sonnborn to runners-up back in the Kreisliga A season of 2019-20 when it was halted owing to the outbreak of COVID-19.

SC Sonnborn will play in the Wuppertal Niederrhein Kreisliga A in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Tuesday 8^th May 2018

It was a scorching hot early evening as I left my hotel in Wuppertal to head to the Regionalliga clash between Wuppertaler SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach II. I had deliberately given myself a little extra time. Google Maps had come up trumps to alert me to another club visit.

The Schebebahn overhead railway was everything I’d hoped. It was dramatic and the thing of dreams to a transport nut. I took it to the Zoo/Stadion stop before crossing the road and walking along Sonnborner Strasse and cutting down an alley to a large car park.

This adjoined the football ground. There was no entrance on my side but I was able to take photos through the wire fence, while trying not to raise suspicion as junior teams were beginning training on the artificial service.

It was a neat and tidy enclosed venue with hard standing around the pitch. The near side had a small grass bank and a few steps of open terracing, while all the facilities were opposite. They contained changing rooms, a clubhouse, open standing and a small stand.

It looked all very much cared for and a hub of the community, like so many clubs on the European mainland. I wandered back to Stadion Am Zoo to enjoy a decent game of football in an excellent venue. Wuppertal had been an inspired choice for an overnight stay.