Wuppertaler SV (Germany)

Wuppertaler SV

Ground: Stadion am Zoo

Capacity: 23,067

Club Founded: 1954

League: Oberliga Niederrhein - 5th Tier (current level)

Wuppertaler SV is one of the most recognisable names in German lower-league football, enjoying a spell in the Bundesliga during the 1970s and continues to attract loyal support at the Stadion am Zoo, one of the country's most atmospheric traditional grounds.

Club History

The club from the German city of Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia was founded following a merger of TSG Vohwinkel and SSV Elberfeld. TSG Vohwinkel was founded in 1880 as a gymnastics club, with its football team progressing to the top-level Oberliga West. SSV Elberfeld emerged as a football club in 1905. 

SSV was rechristened SSV 04 Wuppertal under Third Reich rule as the team competed in Gauliga Niederrhein. 

The merger in 1954 brought immediate dividends as the new side returned to the higher level, the Oberliga West, which was one of five German top-tier divisions at the time. The team contained star players Horst Szymaniak and Austrian international Erich Probst.

In the early 60's, ‘Die Löwen’ (The Lions) reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal (German Cup). Hamburger SV won the tie in front of 40,000 fans at Stadion am Zoo. Wuppertaler were placed in the second-tier Regionalliga West following the introduction of the Bundesliga. FK Pirmasens ended any dreams of joining the elite in the play-offs. 

The Oberliga title and promotion were won in 1971-72 after the side won all eight games in their play-off group. A tremendous debut Bundesliga season ensued as Wuppertaler finished fourth, thanks in part to the goals of top scorer Günter Pröpper.

This led to qualifying for the 1973-74 UEFA Cup, where WSV went out in the first round to Ruch Chorzów. Two seasons later, the team was relegated to 2. Bundesliga Nord. Wuppertaler were relegated to third-tier Oberliga Nordrhein amateur football at the end of the 1979-80 season, where they would spend the following twelve campaigns

Promotion back to Regionalliga Nord followed in 2002-03 after Wuppertaler were crowned champions of Oberliga Nordrhein. The club changed its title in 2004 to Wuppertaler SV Borussia following a further merger with  Borussia Wuppertal. Borussia was formed in 1976 through a merger of SV Germania, 1907 Wuppertal and VfL 1912 Wuppertal.

The 2007-08 campaign saw Wuppertaler reach the last eight of the DFB-Pokal, going out to eventual winners FC Bayern München in a match that was moved to the greater capacity of Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. A place in the newly formed 3. Liga was the reward for a decent league finish.

This was achieved under chief trainer Uwe Fuchs after the sacking of Christoph John. The following season saw WSV relegated to Regionalliga West. Christian Knappmann scored thirty times in 2011-12 before the club faced a crisis a year later. 

The title was changed back to Wuppertaler SV, while Alexander Eichner took control of the club from President Klaus Mathies. It was announced that the club was bankrupt and had been relegated to Oberliga Mittelrhein. 

Ercan Aydoğmuş was the top scorer in 2015-16 as Wuppertaler won the Oberliga Mittelrhein to return to Regionalliga West, where they consolidated under the tutelage of Christian Britscho. The club bosses employed Andreas Zimmermann as the chief trainer, followed by Alexander Voigt.  

Pascal Bieler arrived in his place before Björn Mehnert was put in charge of the team for the 2020-21 campaign. Hüzeyfe Dogan was the next appointment as the goals of Serhat-Semih Güler took Wuppertaler to a league runners-up position.

Ersan Parlatan came in as the next chief trainer before being replaced by Sebastian Tyrała. The 2025-26 season was a disaster. Mike Wunderlich was appointed to lead the team during the winter break. His influence failed to make the desired impact as Wuppertaler were relegated to the fifth-tier Oberliga Niederrhein.

My visit

Wuppertaler SV 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach II 1 

Regionalliga West - Tuesday 8th May 2018

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 1,893 🎟️ €9

I’d wanted to visit Wuppertal ever since reading accounts of the city’s Schwebebahn overhead railway and decent football stadium, so with a couple of days off work after fixture researching, I found the perfect opportunity.

It was another hot morning when I attempted to get myself together, the day after Hendon’s heartbreaking Playoff final defeat at Tooting against Dulwich Hamlet the previous day. Thankfully, I’d done my planning and packed my bag over the weekend!

Stansted Airport was as busy as ever in the area where passengers await flight information. I got into a slight disagreement in the queue for Burger King as it appeared the system was deliberately transpiring against me. It served me right for my poor choice of food.

Thankfully, the flight to Dortmund was slightly ahead of schedule and not particularly busy, meaning an empty middle seat as I grabbed the window pew. A smiling fraulein sat along from me. If only I could speak German.

Landing slightly ahead of time meant we just missed a bus to continue the journey. It was a steaming hot day, but I daredn’t go too far away from the stop. Eventually, the 4pm bus arrived and deposited me at Holzwickede station.

The train I’d planned to catch was bang on time, but was then delayed on the journey to Wuppertal. I alighted earlier than planned at Wuppertal Oberbarmen as my excitement grew at seeing the monorail for the first time.

It really was a tremendous feat of engineering as pylons built into the banks of the River Wupper held up the tracks, with stations being built on bridges over the water. It really is something that I recommend visiting as a detour whenever visiting Germany.

My match ticket included the train ride from Holzwickede near Dortmund Airport and transport around Wuppertal. It really was value for money. I was like a little kid on Christmas morning as our train weaved along over the banks of the river before I jumped out at Adlerbrücke.

It was a brisk five-minute walk to the Residenz Hotel Wuppertal, my resting place for the evening. My room was basic and had a strange aroma, but I hadn’t travelled all the way to western Germany to sit in a hotel. I freshened up and headed out.

There was time to walk along the main Friedrich-Engels-Allee to check out any potential bars for after the match. There appeared to be one or two possibilities, including the Allee-Stübchen, a music pub open until midnight.

It was time to head back to the Schwebebahn. I was totally in awe of its magnificence as I boarded at Völklinger Straße for the journey over the city to Zoo/Stadion. Before heading inside the stadium next door, I wanted to take a look at somewhere else first.

SC Sonnborn 07 looked to have a decent enough venue for local and regional football, according to Google Maps. It was only five minutes away and I managed to take some photos. The visit can be read about here.

I cut through the adjoining car park and under the busy Sonnborner Ufer to walk along by the river before crossing by the station and heading to the entrance of Stadion Am Zoo. I was waved past the ticket-selling booth to a courtyard with an impressive old building dominating the area.

I’d read in advance of the tight security at the ground and so it proved. I was required to show my passport along with my match ticket. Once through it required a climb up the steps to the top of the terracing, where I was met with a mighty impressive sight.

Stadion Am Zoo had previously hosted Bundesliga football, and it was easy to see how. It once had an athletics track around the pitch, but had been squared off at the ends with large open terracing raised at the front above the pitch.

The far side was set well back from the pitch with open seating backed by a large bank of open terracing, with a further section fenced off out of bounds behind that. The Zoo was over the wall in the top corner.

The Main Stand was an impressive structure with two levels of seating curving towards the pitch nearer the two corner flags. The far end behind the goal wasn’t open, with ‘Die Lowen’ Ultras situating themselves at the other end.

The A4 size colour match programme was free from the ticket hut. It was time to eat and drink, with frikadelle, beer and bratwursts costing €3 each. The sun was still burning as we approached the 7pm kick-off. I took up a position towards the back down the side.

This was the home of older WSV fans. They were enthusiastic and would have cause to break into chants throughout the first half, even though the match had nothing resting on it. I guess that was the reason for the small attendance?

I’d seen Wuppertaler in action at Wattenscheid earlier in the season, when they took part in a 0-0 draw in an absolutely awful match, which coincided with me losing my passport and ending in a very costly outing. Surely this had to be better?

Wuppertal's Schwebebahn

The hosts started out playing some nice passing football against Gladbach’s second string on a lush, watered playing surface. They took the lead after nine minutes as Silvio Pagano was given acres of room in a wide position. His perfect cross was headed home by Christopher Kramer.

It should have been two shortly after when Borussia’s defence was all at sea. A fine pass sent Enes Topal straight through as he beat the offside trap by starting his run in his own half. The visiting keeper, Moritz Nicolas, did well to stop his effort.

Kramer came close to converting a low cross, while Enzo Wirtz saw a shot go just over as WSV piled on the pressure. I began to wonder if the Borussia defenders had met each other before, such was their shambolic organisation.

Topal played a clever one-two with Semir Saric around thirty yards out and broke through to slot past Nicolas to make it 2-0 ten minutes before the interval. It was the best that the team in all white could have possibly got away with; such was the pressure on them.

Four minutes later, the Wuppertal support was even happier. A delightful pass inside the defenders from Sascha Schünemann sent Saric through to slot past Nicolas and add his name to the score sheet.

Home keeper Sebastian Wickl had made two regulation stops from long-range efforts in the first half, but they were to be busier after the break as Mönchengladbach regrouped and looked a far more competent outfit.

Wuppertaler took their collective feet off the pedal, and apart from coming close from a free kick, they appeared to rest on their lead. Gladbach showed signs of attacking intent with nothing to lose. It was no real shock when substitute Ba-Muaka Simakala pulled a goal back on sixty-four minutes.

The visitors continued to increase their forays. The home defenders suddenly looked like they were hanging on. It meant that it was entertaining fare, at least in my neutral eyes. In the end, the result was about right for a fine first-half display.

There was a five-minute wait for the Schwebebahn after the match. The platform was busy, but we somehow all fitted on the first train. I managed to stand right behind the driver to get a great view through the glass as we advanced. I loved it!

On the journey to the match, I worked out that the area from Ohligsmühle was likely to be the busiest. It was a beautiful evening, and many people sat outside bars and restaurants enjoying the weather and refreshments in the city centre. Unfortunately, I then realised my programme had dropped out of my shorts; probably on the train?

However, I wanted something a little more down-to-earth and traditional as I didn’t intend to hang around for long. A bar called Im Kipchen on the pedestrian lane of Kipdorf was just the job. It had quick service, music in the background and was inexpensive.

I’d had a hectic few days of sport and socialising and was feeling tired. I decided to head to the Hauptbahnhof and catch a normal train nearer home to get out at Unterbarmen. The walk back from there didn’t offer any drinking opportunities. Allee-Stübchen was closed.

Instead, I headed up the main road and ordered an excellent pizza at Pizzeria to go Wuppertal, and sat outside with a couple of locals enjoying a bottle of beer while my meal cooked. I took my feed home for an early night and listened to the radio from back home.

The rest did me good as I awoke the following morning and headed back to Dortmund on three delayed trains to go round the magnificent Deutsches Fußballmuseum, which I’d spotted on the way to a match a couple of years previously.

I really couldn’t commend the Museum more. It featured so many aspects of the game, right from its foundation in England through to World War I and the truce game, along with extensive features on international football, East Germany, women’s football and the domestic game.

I’d never seen so many exhibits, and it offered stuff for fans of all ages. I spent just over two hours inside, but could have quite easily doubled my time as I read from books, labels and watched videos; all of which had English subtitles.

The staff were overjoyed when I commented that it was the best football museum I’d ever been in. It knocked spots off the English version in Manchester and was only second to the Scottish FA version at Hampden Park in Glasgow. I couldn’t recommend it more.

Once done, I had time to retrace old footsteps to enjoy a couple of excellent beers in Wenkers am Markt, sat at the bar watching German Sky Sports with the doors and windows open, watching the world go by, before it was time to head back to the station and take the bus to the airport. It’d been another fantastic short trip to a country that rarely disappoints.