ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen (Germany)

ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen is a football club from the large German city of Essen, which is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Schwarz-Weiß originate from Essener Turner Bund, a gymnastic club formed in 1881.

A football department was formed in January 1900 by Turnrat Otto Weber. Two years later the club joined the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband, a regional competition, playing matches at a field at Zeche Ernestine colliery in Essen-Stoppenberg.

A year later Schwarz-Weiß moved to Kruppstrasse, where members created a ground out of an old quarry. ETB were the only city side to play in the Zehnerliga, where they finished as runners-up in 1911 and 1912.

A move to a new ground followed to Meisenburgstrasse in 1913 before Albert Bollmann became ETB’s first German international in 1914. Football resumed after World War One, with the team winning the Ruhrbezirks-Meisterschaft title in 1920.

The Ruhrgau-Meisterschaft was won in 1922 before the club moved to Uhlenkrug-Stadion after their lease was not renewed at Meisenburgstrasse. That ground would later be taken over by Fortuna Essen-Bredeney.

The money to develop the 45,000 capacity Uhlenkrug-Stadion into one of the most modern grounds in the nation was raised through donations. Izidor "Dori" Kürschner became the clubs first coach in 1925.

In 1933 German football was divided into sixteen top flight regional Gauliga’s under the rule of the Third Reich. Schwarz-Weiß were placed in Gauliga Niederrhein. The team finished as runners-up to Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1937-38, 1938-39 and 1939-40 with Josef Uridil as coach before being relegated to the Bezirksliga in 1943-44.

Bezirksklasse Ruhrbezirk Gruppe 2 was won in 1947-48 as Werner Sottong led the side before a runners-up finish in 2. Oberliga West Gruppe I in 1950-51 from which promotion was won through the play-off group under the returning Uridil as Heinz Stemmer top scored.

ETB consolidated in Oberliga West, one of five top-flight divisions of the day. Sixth place was achieved in 1953-54 as Kurt Zaro led the scoring for the side coached by Fritz Buchloh. Eighth place a couple of years later was as god as it got for the side, before they were relegated in 1956-57.

Back in 2. Liga West Theo Klöckner became the goalscoring hero of the Uhlenkrug-Stadion crowd under coach Willy Multhaup and then Hans Wendlandt. The 1958-59 season saw a run in the DFB-Pokal in which the likes of Westfalia Herne, Hamburger SV and Hertha BSC were defeated.

ETB reached the final where they faced Borussia Neunkirchen at the Auestadion in Kassel. The game was won 5-2 with Klöckner, Horst Trimhold and Hubert Schieth along with a brace from Manfred Rummel enough to lift the cup.

The team also won promotion, though their Oberliga West spell lasted just twelve months. However, Schwarz-Weiß regrouped and lifted their second tier title at the first attempt. Fourth and then a seventh place finish under Kuno Klötzer proved insufficient to be considered for a place in the newly formed Bundesliga.

ETB were placed in Regionalliga West, the second tier competition. A runners-up berth in 1966-67 led to play-off opportunities for promotion but it wasn’t to be for Horst Witzler’s team in which forward Hans Walitza provided the goals.

After finishing eighth in 1973-74 the club were placed in the newly formed 2. Bundesliga Nord where eighth place followed in 1976-77 with Hans Fritsche continuing the put away the goals for the team led by former Pokal winner Schieth.

However, the team was relegated in bottom place in 1977-78 to drop down to the third level Oberliga Nordrhein after the club gave up their professional license owing to accrued debts. Star players Urban Klausmann, Detlef Wiemers, Dietmar Klinger and Eckhard Kirschstein moved to local rivals Rot-Weiß Essen.

Günter Riepert’s goals took ETB to second place in 1979-80 for Dieter Tartemann’s team before Reiner Geweke put the goals away with regularity including in the 1984-85 campaign. The game against Rot-Weiß Essen attracted a crowd of 30,000 as ETB ended as league runners-up.

Another second place and near miss with promotion came in 1987-88, despite the goalscoring of Georg Müffler as Fred Bockholt took charge of the team. Ralf Mölders led the scoring charts for six seasons from 1991-92 as the team finished mid-table before a third place in 1995-96 after the league had become the fourth tier.

Coaches came and went, usually within a year as the club attempted to find a winning formula, without success, to promotion. Sascha Wolf ended as top scorer for four consecutive seasons from 2004-05 but fifth place was the teams’ best return.

ETB were placed in the newly formed fifth tier NRW-Liga for 2008-09 following the introduction of the national 3. Liga. Their first two seasons at the new level saw fourth places as Sebastian Westerhoff converted the chances for sides led by Klaus Berge and then Dirk Helmig.

The regional fifth level became Oberliga Niederrhein for 2012-13 prior to Stefan Janßen taking over for the 2013-14 season before being replaced by Mircea Onisemiuc. Antonio Molina and then Damian Apfeld consequently oversaw disappointing finishes.

Manfred Wölpper was appointed as coach in January 2017, leading the side to sixth place in 2017-18 as Marvin Ellmann top scored. Ralf vom Dorp was at the helm in 2019-20 as ETB sat in ninth place when the season came to an abrupt end owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.

ETB Schwarz-Weiß will play in Oberliga Niederrhein in the 2020-21 season.

 

My visit

Thursday 27th August 2020

It was the final few days of my summer’s Annual Leave and had taken the opportunity to return to Western Germany for the second time in a month. After enjoying an evening with friends at a SC Leverkusen home game the previous evening, I was on my travels.

A fine morning had seen me have a lovely walk in Düsseldorf with a visit to the fine home of BV 04 and then Viktoria Buchholz on the outskirts of Duisburg before I took the train to Essen. I was staying in the city for the evening, using it as a base to travel to see Eintracht Gelsenkirchen that evening.

As in so many cases on the road, Google Maps App on my I Phone was my friend, directing me out of the station to catch the 145 bus, heading to Essen Heisingen Baldeneysee. It was seven stops and ten minutes before I alighted at Wittenbergstraße.

Uhlenkrug-Stadion was across the car park on the other side of the road. I wasn’t hugely confident of gaining access but was delighted to see the gates open next to the fine clubhouse, which had been given rave reviews by friends.

The old place was superb. My type of old school stadium, with a banks of open terracing bending round the running track at the near end and down the side. The far end looked to be overgrown and out of bounds. The majestic main stand was raised seating behind a small terraced paddock.

I took my time to take it all in and imagine the huge crowds of yore while snapping away. Feeling very pleased with myself I retraced my journey to take photos around the pleasant city centre of Essen before in inadvertent change of hotels meant a later than planned siesta.