SC Sperber Hamburg (Germany)

Sportclub Sperber von 1898 e. V. is a football club that was formed on September 27th 1898; going on to merge with FC Saxonia 1906 Hamburg to form SC Sperber-Saxonia Hamburg in 1907. By 1909, the club independently returned to their original title.

Along with football, the club has other departments for gymnastics, heart sports, senior sports, tennis and table tennis. The club from the Alsterdorf district of Hamburg merged with other local clubs during both World Wars. 

Between 1917 and 1919, an association with St. Georger FC, which then merged in 1919 with Winterhude Eppendorfer TV to become VfTuR Hamburg. The clubs went their separate ways again in 1921. During World War II, St. Georger, again joined forces. 

This was followed in 1944-45 by the merger with Post SG Hamburg, HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst and SV St. Georg to form KSG Alsterdorf. During the period under the Third Reich, German football was divided into sixteen regional top-flight Gauligas. 

KSG were promoted to the Gauliga Nordmark between 1934-35 and 1937, and then again from 1939 to 1941. Promotion was achieved again in 1942, this time to the Gauliga Hamburg. Once back in peacetime, the clubs went their own way once more. Sperber became Amateurliga Hamburg runners-up in the 1956-57 season.

The team missed out on promotion after going down to VfB Lübeck, with Sperber’s side built around the talents of Klaus "Micky" Neisner. The 1964-65 campaign also saw the club miss out on going up in the play-off rounds against Bremen SV, SV Union Salzgitter and Heider SV.

However, promotion was won in 1965-66 as 1. FC Wolfsburg were defeated as Sperber progressed to Regionalliga Nord, which was the second tier of German football at the time.

Former Hamburger SV players Erwin Piechowiak, Horst Dehn and Peter Wulf joined up as Sperber dreamed of a Bundesliga spot for a brief spell before being relegated back to the Amateurliga in 1968-69.

The club returned to Regionalliga Nord in 1969-70 before being relegated after a couple of seasons as SC Sperber Hamburg to Fußball-Landesliga Hamburg, where the side narrowly avoided relegation in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

This was followed by a huge improvement with fourth and fifth placed finishes in 1976-77, 1977-78 and then 1978-79 as the league was renamed Fußball-Verbandsliga Hamburg. Three comfortable campaigns ensued before relegation was narrowly averted in 1982-83.

Normal service was restored with Sperber going onto top seven finishes until escaping relegation on goal difference in 1985-86, which was backed up by a fourth place in 1986-87. A couple of seasons of bottom-third endings and then a mid-table spot followed.

Sperber were relegated in 1990-91 to Landesliga Hamburg Hansa. The club suffered further demotions down to local football before climbing back to the Landesliga. However, Sperber suffered another decline before they found themselves in Bezirksliga Hamburg-Nord in 2006.

In 2008-09, Sperber ended as runners-up, winning promotion through the play-offs to take up a place in Landesliga Hamburg Hammonia, from where they were transferred to the Hansa Staffel after one year. By the 2012-13 campaign, Sperber were back in the Hammonia section, where they put in three seasons in the bottom half of the table. 

The club were demoted to Bezirksliga. After two seasons finishing in mid-table, Sperber narrowly averted another relegation in 2018-19 before finishing bottom of the table the following season. The club awaited news of a possible relegation as the campaign was halted early owing to the Coronavirus outbreak. 

The club retained their status in the seventh-tier competition under trainer Benjamin Voß, playing in Bezirksliga Hamburg Ost in 2021-22 before returning to the Nord section a year later. Simon Burhorst took the team to third place in 2022-23 as Timo Gahrmann scored the goals. Ralph Kainzberger was appointed as trainer, leading Sperber to fifth place.

SC Sperber Hamburg will play in Hamburg Bezirksliga Nord in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Thursday 14th March 2019

I’d just 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 was the first port of call on my agenda.

To be honest, I was unaware of the club until I gave Google Maps a thorough look and then cross-checked any venue against club status and history. Sperber was definitely worth a look, I reckoned, especially because of its handy location.

I knew that Alsterdorf was just a few stops from the airport on the S-Bahn, and a change was required at Ohldorf. Unfortunately, my bearings were still rusty, and I travelled in the wrong direction after swapping and was going north until I corrected myself at Kornweg.

Once outside the Alsterdorf stop, I quickly sussed that the Sport-Duwe-Stadion was virtually next door on Heubergredder. I initially came across the smart clubhouse and restaurant before finding the entrance to the car park behind where the ground was located.

Another building across the car park appeared to accommodate the tenant club FC Winterhude. The feature that immediately grabbed my attention through the wire fencing, where I could see into the venue, was the long, low covered stand down one side containing six rows of bench seating.

On the opposite side was grass banking with a few overgrown steps with the railway behind. There was a similar arrangement behind the far goal, whereas the near end had no spectator accommodation. It was certainly better than I was expecting.

Once I’d taken photos, I took some extra shots from high on the platform before taking a U1 train towards Farmsen. Alighting at Jungfernstieg, I changed onto the U2 towards Niendorf Nord before getting out at Emilienstraße to visit Hamburg-Eimsbütteler BC.