Hamburg-Eimsbütteler BC (Germany)

Hamburg-Eimsbütteler Ballspiel-Club von 1911 e.V, or HEBC as they are often known is a football club based in the district of Eimsbüttel in the northern German city of Hamburg, that was formed on August 13th 1911 as SC Elbe.

The club benefitted through three mergers in its early years. In 1913 Harvestehuder FC joined forces to become Hamburg BC 1911, before being joined in 1919 by SC Hansa 1911 Hamburg Vgg Hamburger BC 1911 Hansa 1911.

However, a year later the club reverted to the title of Hamburg BC. In 1921 Eimsbütteler SC; who had been founded by disenfranchised members of SC Union 03 Altona to become Hamburg-Eimsbütteler BC.

During World War Two German football was divided into sixteen top flight Gauliga’s under Third Reich rule. HEBC spent the 1944 season in Gauliga Hamburg.

Between 1945 and 1947 the club played in Hamburg Klasse 1; one of the top flight regional leagues at the time, before becoming members of Oberliga Nord before the newly formed Elbestaffel of the Fußball-Verbandsliga Hamburg.

HEBC then dropped down to 1 Klasse and then the Bezirksklasse in 1948-49, before a further demotion to the Kreisklasse followed a couple of years later. The club reclaimed their Bezirksklasse place in 1953-54 before winning another promotion in 1957 to Amateurliga Hamburg.

In 1959-60 Hamburg-Eimsbütteler were relegated once again. The introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 ensured that HEBC remained in the third tier and finishing in mid table of Landesliga Hamburg in 1964-65 and the following three seasons.

The team narrowly escaped relegation in 1967-68 before going down at the end of the 1969-70 season to Verbandsliga Hamburg. HEBC dropped further down into local football before regaining their Verbandsliga fourth tier place in 1987-88.

Their spell lasted two seasons before returning to the Landesliga following the 1989-90 season. A return to the Verbandsliga was made following promotion in 1993-94. After a tenth place finish HEBC ended bottom of the table in 1995-96.

By the time HEBC returned to the Verbandsliga it had become the fifth tier in 2003. A series of mid table seasons ensued before another relegation occurred in 2006-07. The club came back from the Bezirksliga to the now fifth tier, Landesliga Hamburg Hammonia Staffel in 2012-13.

HEBC went back down in 2013-14 before recovering their status at the first attempt. A third place was achieved in 2016-17 before the team romped to the Hammonia title in 2017-18 to win promotion to Oberliga Hamburg; finishing in the relegation places in their debut season.

The team recovered with the goals of Janosch Rinckens firing HBEC to the top of the Landesliga Hamburg Hammonia table in 2019-20 when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season with the club awaiting the outcome of their promotion hopes.

Hamburg-Eimsbütteler BC will play in Landesliga Hamburg Hammonia in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

Thursday 14th March 2019

I’d arrived on a flight to a grey, wet and cold Hamburg Airport but I was still determined to enjoy the afternoon before heading off to check in to my Altona hotel for a three day stay. SC Sperber had been first port of call on my agenda in Alsterdorf.

Once I’d taken my photos, I took a train U1 towards Farmsen. Alighting at Jungfernstieg I changed onto the U2 towards Niendorf Nord before getting out at Emilienstraße to visit Hamburg-Eimsbütteler BC.

To find the entrance to the Professor-Reinmüller-Platz ground I walked past the shops on Fruchtallee before taking a right turn along Heußweg. The narrow Tornquiststraße was just off there; which ran down the side of the ground.

Unfortunately, the ground was locked, but I managed to get some photos through the wire fencing after finding a way past trees and shrubbery. I did manage to get to the clubhouse entrance behind the east goal.

Professor-Reinmüller-Platz was very neat and tidy with its artificial surface and new concrete paths; but only had a few steps of open terrace down either touchline in the way of spectator accommodation.

My original plan was to head to my hotel, but instead I decided to fit in another venue; Rudolf-Barth-Stadion, the home of SC Union 03 Altona and their tenants HFC Falke. My trip was well under way!