Sportgemeinde Eintracht Gelsenkirchen is an amateur football club from the Ruhr city of Gelsenkirchen in the North-Rhine Westphalia of Germany. The club have a rich history since their formation on June 30th 1950 following a merger of Alemannia Gelsenkirchen and Union Gelsenkirchen.
It could be argued that the current club, sometimes listed as SG Eintracht 07/12 has absolutely nothing to do with the original forefathers. However, for this page I’ve chronicled the full timeline.
Alemannia Gelsenkirchen
Alemannia Gelsenkirchen were formed on May 13th 1911 through a merger of their own between Viktoria Gelsenkirchen and SuS Leithe to form SV Rheinelbe Gelsenkirchen. The club later took on the name of SV Alemannia.
Alemannia would go through further changes to names and merging of sides as time elapsed. On April 5, 1934, Alemannia merged with Blau-Weiß Gelsenguß Gelsenkirchen to form SC Alemannia-Gelsenguß Gelsenkirchen, becoming BSG Gelsenguß Gelsenkirchen in 1937.
The team won promotion to Gauliga Westfalen, one of sixteen top flight regional divisions under the rule of the Third Reich, from the Bezirksliga in 1938-39, before finishing as runners-up to cross city rivals FC Schalke 04 in 1940-41 prior changing their name to SV Alemannia Gelsenkirchen a year later.
That was as good as it got before the team was placed in Gruppe 1 of the second tier Landesliga Westfalen for the 1945-46 season, where they finished third. A runners-up place ensued in Gruppe 2 in 1948-49 to qualify for a place in the newly formed 2. Oberliga West.
After finishing tenth in their debut season, Alemannia merged with local rivals Union Gelsenkirchen owing to financial reasons.
Union Gelsenkirchen
Union Gelsenkirchen were formed in May 1910 through a merger of their own through Viktoria Gelsenkirchen-Neustadt and Germania Ückendorf before they went on to lift the Emscherkreismeisterschaft title in 1922 to reach the local Spielklasse top level.
The club opened their new Südpark home, built with financial support from Ückendorfer merchants and inaugurated in April 1923 with a friendly game between Union Gelsenkirchen and SpVgg Fürth in front of 16,000 spectators.
Union reached the final stages of the Westdeutsche Meisterschaft, West German championships in 1930-31 prior to missing out in the Bezirksliga play-offs round to Preußen Münster in 1937-38.
There would be no mistake in 1939-40 as Union won promotion through the play-offs to Gauliga Westfalen to join future partners Alemannia. However, the jump in class proved too steep as the team went straight back down twelve months later.
Union gained a place in Landesliga Westfalen following World War Two but missed out on a place in the newly created top-flight Oberliga West in 1947-48 but were accepted into the new second level 2. Oberliga West Division for 1949-50.
The club also suffered with financial issues, so they agreed the merger with Alemannia after finishing bottom of the table in their only season in the competition.
Eintracht Gelsenkirchen
Eintracht took up residence at Union’s Südpark and given a place in Gruppe 1 of 2. Oberliga West where they finished fifth in their debut season before finishing below halfway in 1951-52 to drop down to third tier Gruppe 3 Landesliga Westfalen football.
A runners-up place in 1952-53 was repeated twelve months later before the team lifted their group title in 1954-55 before the play-off group was also won as Eintracht returned to 2. Oberliga was they consolidated in fifth place.
Heinz Hornig or Hans Nowak both progressed from Eintracht to win international caps, but the clubs’ financial position often led to players moving on to bigger clubs, Schalke 04 a particular beneficiary.
The 1958-59 campaign saw Eintracht finish in third place before fourth places followed in 1960-61 and 1961-62. The 1962-63 season required a good finish to qualify for the new streamlined second tier Regionalliga West. A final day defeat led to the side finishing just outside the requirement and drop to third tier Verbandsliga Westfalen.
Eintracht won the Gruppe 1 championship at the first attempt before defeating Gruppe 2 winners Dortmunder SC 95 in the play-off in Castrop-Rauxel to reach Regionalliga West in the company of the likes of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Eintracht maintained their position but lost their Südpark home which was located next to the Rheinelbe colliery. In 1966 it was demolished to make way for the In der Esch development. The club moved into the newly built Südstadion in 1967 with room for 15,000 fans.
The form of Jürgen Rynio saw him move on to Bundesliga club Karlsruhe. Scandal would hit Eintracht in the 1968-69 campaign. Skipper Willi Koslowski introduced former Schalke player Willi Kraus to the club after he had lost his player license after being convicted of theft.
Kraus was caught thieving in Osnabrück while an Eintracht player. Without him in the team form dipped. Gelsenkirchen avoided relegation but relegated side SC Viktoria Köln protested saying that Kraus should have not played in three matches Eintracht had won because of an order in place by Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
Eintracht were deducted six points and were relegated but regrouped to win their section of Verbandsliga Westfalen before defeating Westfalia Herne to return to the Regionalliga where they finished fifth in 1970-71 as crowds often tested the capacity at Südstadion.
A merger took place with STV Horst-Emscher to form STV Eintracht Gelsenkirchen-Horst with the club playing home games at the other side of the city at Fürstenbergstadion from June 1973 after a campaign from coach Friedel Elting.
The team ended 1973-74 in a place that placed them in the now third level Verbandsliga after the leagues were reorganised following the introduction of 2. Bundesliga. The idea behind the merger failed miserably as Gelsenkirchen-Horst pottered around in mid table for several seasons.
Fans of both previous clubs didn’t take to the merger and many Eintracht fans became disillusioned with the journey across Gelsenkirchen. In 1977-78 the team issed out on the chance to claim a spot in the newly formed third tier Oberliga Westfalen and dropped down to the fourth tier Landesliga Westfalen.
STV Eintracht Gelsenkirchen-Horst became the STV Horst-Emscher again in May 1978, while Eintracht discontinued.
In 1997, SV Fortuna Gelsenkirchen who had been formed in 1930 decided to take on the name SG Eintracht Gelsenkirchen. The new club took over the history and tradition of the old club and moved into Südstadion, dividing opinion among aficionados.
The newly named outfit started out playing in Kreisliga football, climbing to reach the eighth tier Bezirksliga Westfalen Staffel 13 after winning a promotion in 2001-02. Eintracht finished runners-up in 2002-03 before ending in the same place in 2005-06.
The team went one better in 2006-07 as they lifted their divisional title to win promotion to Staffel 3 of Landesliga Westfalen before returning to Bezirksliga football at the completion of the 2008-09 campaign.
Worse was to follow as Eintracht suffered a second successive relegation being demoted to Gruppe 2 of Kreisliga A where third place was achieved in 2012-13 before relegation to Kreisliga B and two consecutive fourth places in 2015-16 and then 2016-17 under coach Rafael Garcia.
In the summer of 2017, the club merged with Sportfreunde Gelsenkirchen to form SG Eintracht Gelsenkirchen 07/12, taking over the place of Sportfreunde in Gruppe 2 of Kreisliga A.
The 2017-18 saw four coaches take control over the course of the season at Südstadion as Garcia was followed by Orkan Cakir, Carlo Allievi and then Paolo Allievi as the team finished eighth.
The Allievi’s guided Eintracht to a league title in 2018-19 as Engin Polat topped the scoring. However, the feat wasn’t rewarded with promotion as the team lost in the play-offs to VfB Kirchhellen on penalties after leading 3-1 with just minutes remaining.
Markus Steinmann was appointed as coach with Eintracht finishing the Coronavirus truncated 2019-20 campaign in the ninth tier in eleventh spot.
SG Eintracht Gelsenkirchen 07/12 will play in Kreisliga A Gelsenkirchen in the 2020-21 season.
My visit
SG Eintracht Gelsenkirchen 3 BV Horst-Süd 2 (Thursday 27th August 2020) Friendly (att: c40)
Back in Western Germany for a few days to complete a fine fortnight of summer leave from work, I found myself in the old Ruhr industrial heartlands after working out the best opportunity of visiting an old school gem of a stadium.
I’d seen photos of Südstadion on different social media pages as groundhoppers seized the chance to attend matches in Germany while fans were banned back home under the restrictions of COVID-19.
It all seemed a bit over the top in the UK, especially as I could sit inside a full tin can for a flight across Europe, but the less said about those making the rules the better. The important thing was I was learning and enjoying myself in a state of freedom.
I’d arrived in Essen after an evening in Düsseldorf and football at Leverkusen with Marius and Sebi, two fine football supporters. Marius had put me in touch on Facebook with his mate Thorsten Treutlein who was travelling to the match with his girlfriend Maren who I arranged to meet at the match.
Essen was a more aesthetic and pleasant city than I’d imagined. My mood was buoyed further as I’d gained access into the majestic old Uhlenkrugstadion of ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen before taking a look around the city centre.
However, things took a minor nosedive when I reached Hotel Luise to find it closed but with a sign in German on the door. Using my Translate tool it seemed that I would have to walk ten minutes further away from the centre for my replacement.
I immediately cancelled my booking and took up a replacement at GHOTEL, a fine choice if rather more expensive than I’d normally pay for an overnight stay, but I reckoned I deserved a bit of luxury to relax after plenty of walking.
The surroundings must have done the trick as I somehow miscalculated my timings and found myself in a rush to catch the train to Gelsenkirchen. I needn’t have worried as it was running late, but this left me very tight for time at the other end.
Google Maps and smart phones are such a help when in unfamiliar surroundings. I had worked out where my bus stop was to get to the match and calculated I had about four minutes to reach it.
There was still life in the old legs as I found myself waiting at my stop on Neustadtplatz for the number 385 service which deposited my at Hofstraße from where I found the stadium off Haidekamp as a hot air balloon floated overhead.
Admission was free for the 7pm kick-off. I stood near the refreshments hut where my friends located me. Maren and I enjoyed a local GE Säff beer for €3 while Thorsten waited for food. Both were students at Plymouth University, so language wasn’t a problem.
We were having a good chat about all things football and my trip when some locals heard my accent and came across to join in. They were most hospitable and wanted to talk about English football and the grounds as one was a groundhopper with his son giving us a low down on the club’s complicated history.
I did my best to help while they reciprocated as I asked similar questions about Germany. I was told that Essen was very prosperous and that with a decent board Rot-Weiss could be a decent Bundesliga club as a passionate fan base was ready and waiting.
I was also informed that while Schalke v Dortmund is the famous primary Ruhr derby it is far lesser in intensity to the sheer nasty hatred if Rot-Weiss Essen ever get to face Schalke. It was compared to Millwall against West Ham!
Thorsten and Maren were both passionate FC Köln fans. I got an interesting take on their rivalry with Bayer Leverkusen, the team of our mutual friend Marius. They said that Köln were a big club performing badly while Leverkusen were a small club performing well, but their main rivalry was with Fortuna Düsseldorf.
We grabbed a Stauder beer while fully taking in the surroundings of a rotting gem of a stadium with a shale track around the pitch and open terracing round two sides, a large seated cover and an overgrown far end where there is now a small sided caged artificial pitch.
We quickly realised why it was an earlier start than usual. Not all the pitch had floodlights as only one half of the pitch near to the cage was lit. After a time chatting and making friends we walked across the track and took up seats in the cavernous stand.
The standard of the game was not particularly high but entertaining enough despite the scoreline being blank at the interval. Tolga Öztürk gave Horst-Süd from the same level as the hosts the lead, who play at Fürstenbergstadion, a familiar venue to elder Eintracht fans.
Soner Ünlü netted a brace for a youthful Eintracht line up on sixty-six and seventy-nine minutes either side of a goal from substitute Devrim Ahmet Akkoc with seventy-two minutes on the clock.
A funny moment came when an Eintracht defender hacked over a forward in the box and hurt himself in the process. It was a definite penalty, but referee Thomas Pidun booked the forward as he judged that he was the offender!
The visitors grabbed a consolation through Angel Valentinov Karamanov in the closing stages shortly after Herr Pidun had sent off one of his colleagues for a second yellow card offence.
Thorsten offered me a ride back to Essen, but I was keen to see what Gelsenkirchen had to offer on a Thursday night. I soon found out after the 383 dropped me at the main bus stop by the station. Not a lot it would seem. Instead I headed back on the train.
A quick pint in Gaststätte Im Briefkasten by the station was followed by a walk into one of several squares where youngsters were enjoying the evening with alfresco refreshments. I settled outside Temple Bar to sample a couple of Pilsner Urquell’s before heading back to the station for sustenance.
A pizza from the takeaway on the parade by the first pub was just what the doctor ordered to take back to enjoy in my lovely surroundings.
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