The club was initially named Sportverein 06 Rurdorf following a meeting at Hause Maibaum, with a pitch being set up at Driesch. Several other local clubs began to spring up, leading to the first ever Rurdorfer Sports Festival being staged shortly before World War One.
Several players were lost in the conflict, which meant that the team was restricted to playing friendly matches and at festivals. In 1921, the club joined the Westdeutscher Spielverband and was placed in Gauklasse A, Gau Düren until 1925. Football ceased at the club in 1933 until a general meeting on March 18th 1948, decided to continue the sports club.
A new ground was inaugurated later that year with a friendly against Linnich. The team were given a place in 2. Kreisklasse in 1948-49 with promotion to 1. Kreisliga being achieved at the first attempt. The social side of the club also developed as Rurdorf won their 1. Kreisliga title prior to Heinrich Breuer taking over the management of the club in 1953.
However, the team were given a blow in 1955-56 when they were relegated to 2. Kreisliga before promotion was won to the 1. Kreisklasse in 1959-60. The team remained at that level for a decade before they were relegated to 2. Kreisliga in 1970-71.
The team had to play home games in the nearby village of Welz while work on the ground was carried out so Rurdorf could return under the chief trainers Franz-Josef Breuer and Horst Petry. Promotion to 1. Kreisklasse was narrowly missed out upon in 1973-74.
Youth players were developed at the club, which led to a place in the play-offs in 1976-77. After defeat against SV Siersdorf, the team won two matches against Selgersdorf, as Rurdorf won promotion to 1. Kreisklasse. The 1980-81 campaign saw Rurdorf finish seventh in Kreisliga A Düren.
Walter Chojnowski took over as player-trainer for the following season, leading the side to the league title with a win against Teutonia Aldenhoven, sealing promotion. After a reorganisation of the league’s Rurdorf remained in Kreisliga A Düren, albeit now at a level higher. The team put the crowning glory on their championship by defeating Sportfreunde Düren to lift the cup, played between the two champions of the district.
A popular occasion in Rurdorf was the Sommerfest, a tournament featuring several Kreisliga A teams while village teams competed in such disciplines as tug-of-war, penalty shoot-outs, wheelbarrowing and cycling with luggage. Building on the popularity of the event, the football club decided to revive the Stadtpokal, a cup competition held between local sides.
It was an instant success, so a two-week tournament was organised for the summer of 1985, with sponsorship found. This was the birth of the Rurdorfer Sommercup. Jakob Schmitz had taken over as coach and oversaw an improvement which led to the winning of the Kreisliga A title in 1985-86 and promotion to Bezirksliga Rur-Erft.
The championship was celebrated in style, along with the continued success of the Summer Cup. Rurdorf finished fourth in their first season at the higher grade, which was backed up with sixth in 1987-88 before Schmitz departed to be replaced by Norbert Deckers as the club moved to play in Bezirksklasse Rur-Wurm to save on travel distances.
The appointment of the twenty-eight-year-old in his first head coach position was somewhat of a gamble, but it proved to be a masterstroke as his team romped to the league title in 1988-89 to win promotion to Landesliga Westrhein with the club being placed in Staffel 2.
The team settled easily into their new higher level, finishing 1989-90 in seventh place before Peter Matuszis took over from Deckers at the back end of the 1990-91 season. He managed to help the team stave off relegation from what looked like a hopeless cause.
Klaus Richter arrived as player-trainer before being replaced by former boss Schmitz until the appointment of former player Peter Matuszis in the summer of 1992. Defeat in the last three games of 1992-93 saw the team relegated to Bezirksliga Rur-Erft.
Arno Domgörgen came in as the new trainer and led his side to the title and promotion back to the Landesliga. The celebration was even greater as the first-ever clubhouse was erected at the ground after prolonged planning issues. It was inaugurated with a match between Alemannia Aachen and Germania Teveren, which attracted 1,000 spectators.
Hermann Kraut took over team affairs in 1994-95 and helped correct a potential demotion in the second half of the season. He was replaced by Heinz Otten during the following season as Rurdorf ended 1995-96 in fourth place, as keeper Conni Heck and Horst Netterdon both retired after twenty years with the club.
Deckers returned as trainer in the summer of 1996, lasting just seven games before being replaced by Werner Schönen, who was replaced for a short spell by Gregor Tanzer before his return as player-trainer. The team continued to perform well, with seventh place achieved in 1997-98. The 1999 Sommercup featured a Kilmarnock side featuring Ally McCoist.
They lost in the annual Grenzlandmatch against the amateur team of Bayer Leverkusen, with over 1,000 fans in attendance at Rurtalstadion. Schönen resigned soon into the 1999-00 campaign, with Heinz Otten taking over, who took his charges to seventh place. Arno Hünnighaus took over after the winter break in 2000-01, leading Rurdorf to mid-table security.
However, the club made the decision to drop down to Kreisliga A as the authorities deemed that the club had not paid the required tax from the success of the Sommercup. The back payments meant an insufficient playing budget for the higher level.
Most of the former first team departed as the club rebuilt with young homegrown players under trainer Rainer Müller, who then resigned to be replaced by former trainer Hermann Kraut. Who steadied the ship as the club successfully applied for a place in the Bezirksliga with the appointment of another former club trainer and player, Werner Schönen.
The new side gelled and ended in tenth place in the seventh tier of German football. However, Rurdorf were relegated back to Kreisliga A at the end of the 2003-04 season. Bernd Virnich took over as chief trainer and led the team to their divisional title in 2004-05 before losing in the play-offs to Sportfreunde Düren and then the runners-up from other districts.
It was a similar story as the club celebrated their centenary in 2005-06, as the Kreisliga A Düren title was again lifted, but the team lost out in the play-offs. Udo Lipka led the side to third place in 2007-08 and 2008-09 before the title was won in 2009-10 with Rurdorf winning promotion to the Bezirksliga.
The team consolidated before the arrival of trainer Hajo Meuser, whose side was relegated in 2013-14 back to the eighth tier. Werner Schönen had a fourth spell in charge of the team from the summer of 2015 before the arrival of Dominik Kremer for the 2017-18 season.
Rurdorf took a demotion despite a sixth-place finish before lifting the Kreisliga B title in 2018-19 under player-trainer Yannic Schönen, who banged away thirty-seven goals. Third place was collected in 2020-21 before the side was relegated to Kreisliga B the following season. Schönen's side finished as runners-up, as he was again prolific in front of goal.
It was a similar story in 2023-24, apart from Rurdorf were crowned champions, but the jump proved too much as the team went down twelve months later.
FC 06 Rurdorf 1 SV Golkrath 6 (Friday 28th August 2020) Friendly (att: c40)
My mini break to Germany had been top class, with matches in Leverkusen and Gelsenkirchen, along with stays in Düsseldorf and Essen, as well as plenty of sightseeing and visits to plenty more football venues.
It was back on the train south to Köln from Essen in time for a sightseeing walk when the urge for a drink got the better of me. I was on holiday after all, and I had to fly home the next morning, back to where regulations seemed stricter.
I’d used the Corkonian Irish Pub in the main square with mates before to watch the Auld Firm game several years earlier, before heading to Leverkusen for a Sunday afternoon game. It had seats available outside and a nice view. Why not!
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| The magnificent Gaststätte Lommerzheim |
Kolsch, for the unaware, is generally served in smaller glasses, but the wise gent serving saw a thirsty Yorkshireman approaching and quickly surmised it would lead to extra leg work, so a pint was offered. Decent music was being played from inside, I had a good seat, and I ended up having three.
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| Halren Hahn washed down with Kolsch for tea |
I was told that the waiters in this region are called Köbes. They are expected to offer rude but humorous service. This could sort out new careers for many of us if adopted back home, but it explained that some of my previous experiences were nothing personal! I had Halren Hahn for tea, which was proper pub food to soak up Kolsch.
When translated, it means half a chicken, but it is in fact Rye bread, Gouda and onions. I can imagine more than one tourist has been caught out and then been offered words by the Köbes if they made a remark. We walked round to Messe/Deutz station to meet Thorsten, whom I’d met at the Eintracht Gelsenkirchen game the previous evening.
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| Marius and Thorsten. My excellent guides |
He kindly agreed to join us and drive. Even better was that he was in a company car and didn’t want any petrol money! I hadn’t a clue where we were going and hadn’t previously heard of our destination. My two experienced and intrepid travellers were also new to it. We had fun trying to find the ground and went on a couple of wrong turns as we got close.
Rurtalstadion sat in the beautiful Rur Valley between Linnich and Floßdorf and was surrounded by woods and meadows. It was Friday night football somewhere I’m unlikely to return to. We had beer, nice countryside, lots of chat and pretty surroundings in excellent company and admission to the game was free. It was absolutely perfect.
The ground had a small cover, a beer stand, and neat and tidy facilities. It was just nice to be able to broaden the mind further. I could certainly have been tempted to return for the Sommercup and the surrounding village festival. The game was a little one-sided, though the hosts grabbed a consolation with the best goal of the night.
I missed it entering the net as it initially looked an ambitious effort, which then caught the keeper off his line. We returned to Köln in double quick time as Thorsten headed off to a barbecue while Marius and I enjoyed more beers in the excellent Deutzer Brauhaus, which adjoined Messe/Deutz station.
We enjoyed more freshly brewed Kolsch and were joined by a pal of Marius who couldn’t make the trip but arrived to announce plans of their adventure the following day. I was determined to try another local pub I’d been told was decent, so I said my goodbyes. It was probably as well that Kornkammer was closed on my arrival.
While I felt on top of the world at the time, I was a little seedy when undertaking another walk the following morning along the Rhine and over the railway bridge. The train and flight from Köln Bonn Airport to Stansted ran on time, which allowed me a mad dash to catch the express train to Tottenham Hale.
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| More Kolsch at Deutzer Brauhaus |
A couple of tubes across London to Edgware later, I grabbed a lift to the King’s Langley v Hendon friendly. It had been another outstanding few days making friendships and learning. Two of my favourite hobbies. The football and beers were, of course, the reason I went and were, needless to say, as enjoyable as ever.
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