Hamburger SV

Early years Hamburger Sport-Verein (HSV) traces its origin to the merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub on 29 September 1887 to form Sport-Club Germania Hamburg, usually referred to as SC Germania. This was the first of three clubs that merged on 2 June 1919 to create HSV in its present form. HSV in its club statute recognises the founding of SC Germania as its own date of origin. The other two clubs in the June 1919 merger were Hamburger FC founded in 1888 and FC Falke Eppendorf dating back to 1906. The merger came about because the three clubs had been severely weakened by the impact of the First World War on manpower and finance, and they could not continue as separate entities. SC Germania was formed originally as an athletics club, and did not begin to play football until 1891, when some Englishmen joined the club and introduced it. SC Germania had its first success in 1896, winning the Hamburg-Altona championship for the first of five times. Germania player Hans Nobiling emigrated to Brazil at the end of the 19th century, in the foundation of SC Internacional, the third oldest club of the country which became part of São Paulo FC, one of the major sports clubs of Brazil, in 1938 and SC Germânia of São Paulo, which later became EC Pinheiros. Hamburger SC 1888 was founded by students on 1 June 1888. It later had links with a youth team called FC Viktoria 95 and, during World War I, was temporarily known as Viktoria Hamburg 88. SC Germania and Hamburger SC 1888 were among 86 clubs who founded the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB; German Football Association) in Leipzig on 28 January 1900. FC Falke was founded by students in Eppendorf on 5 March 1906, but it was never a successful team and played in lower leagues. The newly formed Hamburger SV contested in the 1922 national final against 1. FC Nürnberg, who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called off on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2–2. The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called off at 2–2 when Nuremberg were reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB awarded the win to HSV, but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship (which they grudgingly did). Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year. In May 1950, HSV became the first German team to tour the United States after World War II, and came away with a 6–0 record. Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in post-war West Germany in 1947, HSV became a dominant regional club. In 16 seasons from 1947 to 1948 to 1962–63, they won the Oberliga title 15 times, only posting an 11th-place finish in 1953–54. During this period, they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961 and 1962 seasons. In 1953, the club's all-time leading goalscorer Uwe Seeler debuted. In nine seasons, he scored 267 goals in 237 Oberliga matches. In 1956, HSV reached the DFB-Pokal final, but were beaten by Karlsruher SC. He retired at the end of the 1971–72 season in front of 72,000 fans at the Volksparkstadion. In the same season, HSV played in the UEFA Cup for the first time, but were knocked out in the first round by Scottish side St Johnstone. Golden era In 1973, HSV won the first edition of the DFB-Ligapokal, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–0 in the final. HSV returned to Madrid to play Nottingham Forest in the final, where they were beaten 1–0. In the Bundesliga, HSV lost their title by two points, finishing in second place behind champions Bayern Munich. In December 1980, HSV dismissed Zebec, who had been struggling with a drinking problem. His assistant Aleksandar Ristić was appointed caretaker for the remainder of the season and secured a second-place finish in the Bundesliga. In 1981, Austrian coach Ernst Happel was appointed as Zebec's permanent replacement. A third Meisterschale followed at the end of the 1982–83 season, with HSV defending their title against local rivals Werder Bremen on goal difference. Modern era In the early 1990s, HSV fell in financial trouble. Thomas Doll was sold to Lazio for a then record 16 million Deutsche Marks in June 1991. On the pitch, meanwhile, the team was in decline. After a fifth-place finish in 1990–91, HSV finished in the bottom half of the Bundesliga in four consecutive seasons. In October 1995, Felix Magath returned to HSV to become the club's trainer. The following month, Uwe Seeler also returned as the club president. HSV eventually finished in 13th place under reserve team coach Ralf Schehr. In 1997, HSV appointed Frank Pagelsdorf, who would coach the team for over four years, making him the longest serving trainer since Ernst Happel. A ninth-place finish in 1997–98 was followed by seventh in 1998–99 and third in 1999–2000, In 2000–01, HSV competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the competition's expansion from the old European Cup. HSV failed to qualify for the second round, but managed a 3–1 win over Juventus in the return fixture at the Stadio delle Alpi. In July 2003, HSV won its first trophy in 16 years with a 4–2 defeat of Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Ligapokal final. In August 2004, HSV lost in the early rounds of the DFB-Pokal by regional league side SC Paderborn. Referee, Robert Hoyzer, had accepted money from a Croatian gambling syndicate to fix the match, which he did, awarding two penalties to Paderborn and sending off HSV player Émile Mpenza. Another third-place finish in 2005–06 saw HSV qualify for the Champions League for the second time. having won once in the league all season, leading to the dismissal of trainer Thomas Doll. The following season, Stevens led the team to fourth place in the Bundesliga before leaving to take over at Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. He was replaced by Martin Jol, who took HSV to the semi-finals of both the 2008–09 UEFA Cup and the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal, both of which die Rothosen lost to rivals Werder Bremen. Under new coach Bruno Labbadia, HSV reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup (now renamed the UEFA Europa League) for the second season in a row. However, a defeat in the away leg to Fulham, days after the firing of Labbadia, denied the club the opportunity to play in the final, which was held at its home stadium. On 13 October 2011, Thorsten Fink was appointed as coach with the team in the relegation zone after losing six of their opening eight matches. In HSV's first nine games under Fink they were unbeaten, going into the winter break in 13th place. The team finished the season in 15th position, avoiding by five points what would have been its first relegation. In 2012–13, HSV recorded a seventh-place finish. During the season, however, the team equaled the club's record Bundesliga defeat, losing 9–2 at the Allianz Arena to Bayern Munich. Fink was replaced on 25 September 2013 by Bert van Marwijk, who in the same season was replaced by Mirko Slomka on 17 February 2014. Under Slomka, the club narrowly avoided its first relegation from the Bundesliga in May 2014, by defeating Greuther Fürth on the away goals rule in a play-off. Hamburg once again changed managers due to a poor start of the season, firing Slomka in 2014. His successor Josef Zinnbauer held the job until March of said year and was replaced by interim coach Peter Knäbel, who was eventually replaced by returning Bruno Labbadia, who saved the club at the end of the season in the relegation play-off for the second year running against Karlsruher SC. Labbadia achieved only two points in the first ten games of the 2016–17 season, and was replaced by Markus Gisdol, reached 20 points in 9 games from the 19th match day to the 28th match day. On the last match day, Hamburg avoided the relegation play-offs and stayed in the Bundesliga. Relegation and missed promotions In the 2017–18 Bundesliga, after a 3–1 defeat in the first round of DFB-Pokal against the third-division team VfL Osnabrück, HSV had two wins against FC Augsburg and 1. FC Köln. However, eight games followed without a win. At the end of the first half of the season, HSV was in second last place in the table. After two defeats in the first two games of the second half, coach Markus Gisdol was dismissed. HSV hired Bernd Hollerbach, a former player of the club, as a new coach. After seven games without a win and a 6–0 defeat against Bayern Munich, he was also dismissed in 2018. A few days before the game against Bayern, the club announced the dismissal of CEO Heribert Bruchhagen. Frank Wettstein, CFO of the club, was appointed as the new CEO. On the day of his appointment, he dismissed the sports director Jens Todt. The club hired former successful HSV player Thomas von Heesen as a sports consultant until the end of season. For the last eight games in the 2017–18 Bundesliga, the club promoted the coach of Hamburger SV II, Christian Titz. In the Regionalliga Nord (fourth league), his team were the top of the table. With four wins and an offensively minded style of play, the coach convinced the club and received a two-year contract. After the low season in the 2017–18 Bundesliga under three different coaches, a final day win over Borussia Mönchengladbach was not enough to escape relegation after Wolfsburg won against Köln 4–1. They were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in the Bundesliga's 55-year history, causing riots by Hamburg supporters. After the relegation Christian Titz was sacked in October 2018, and replaced by Hannes Wolf. Hamburg did not gain promotion back to the Bundesliga, and failed to reach the playoffs, with a one-point difference between them and Union Berlin. The team reached the semi-finals of the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal, before being defeated by RB Leipzig 1–3 at home. For the 2019–20 2. Bundesliga, their second year in the 2. Bundesliga, Wolf was laid-off and was replaced by Dieter Hecking. They did not get a return to the Bundesliga by one-point, and they were eliminated in the second round of the 2019–20 DFB Pokal by Vfb Stuttgart 1–2 in extra time. By again missing promotion, Hecking's contract was not extended. For the 2020–21 season, Daniel Thioune was brought in as the new head coach from league rivals VfL Osnabrück. The season began with a 1–4 first-round knockout loss in the DFB-Pokal to 3. Liga club Dynamo Dresden. Despite this loss, HSV then started the season and won the first 5 games. After a subsequent winless streak of 5 games, 3 of which were lost in a row, the team stabilised again from matchday 11 and went undefeated until the winter break. HSV ended the season as first in the league table. From matchday 20 and onwards, HSV were again winless for 5 games. After 2 wins, another winless series of 5 games followed from matchday 27 and onwards, during which, the club drew against Hannover 96 3–3. The club also lost to relegation candidates SV Sandhausen. Due to this development, Thioune was released at the beginning of May 2021, and replaced by the head of academy Horst Hrubesch for the final three games of the season. At that point, HSV were in third place with 52 points, five points from a spot guaranteeing direct promotion. In the 2021–22 season, HSV reached the promotion playoff spot, finishing third on goal difference over Darmstadt 98. Once again, however, the season ended with HSV losing to Bundesliga's 16th place side Hertha Berlin 1–2 in the playoff, losing 0–2 at home, despite winning the first leg in Berlin. In the DFB-Pokal, Hamburg reached the semi-finals, where they lost 1–3 to SC Freiburg. In the 2022–23 season, their fifth season in the 2. Bundesliga, the club had the highest spectator average of any second-division club in Europe. During that season, Hamburger SV were in the top three places since matchday 6, and finished the year 2022 in second place. On the last matchday, HSV played an away match against SV Sandhausen, where they won 1–0, and as SSV Jahn Regensburg were leading 2–1 against second-place 1. FC Heidenheim, HSV were about to be promoted to Bundesliga. However, during eleven minutes of stoppage time, Heidenheim scored two goals to finish top; hence, Hamburger SV had to play the promotion/relegation play-offs against VfB Stuttgart. They lost both legs, missing promotion to the top division for the fifth year in a row. In the 2023–24 season, HSV spent the majority of the season in the top three, only briefly slipping down to fourth on matchday 19, when they lost 3–4 against Karlsruher SC. However, following a 1–1 against Greuther Fürth on matchday 27, they dropped to fourth place, where they remained for the rest of the season. For a sixth time in a row, HSV narrowly missed promotion to the Bundesliga, while the club's rivals FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel were both promoted. 2024-2025 season: Promotion In the 2024–25 season, Hamburg finally achieved their goal, as they were promoted to the Bundesliga after a seven year wait. A 6–1 win over Ulm sealed promotion with a matchday to spare. There were scenes of wild jubilation as the match ended. Notably, the pitch grass was completely plucked out. There were injuries due to crowd crush, with one fan in critical condition and 19 others rushed to hospital. Even though they were promoted, they did not win the title, finishing runners-up as they lost 3-2 away against Greuther Furth, while Koln convincingly beat Kaiserslauten 4-0, clinching both the title and promotion for them. ==Stadium==

Hamburger SV plays its home games in the Volksparkstadion, which was previously known as the Imtech Arena between 2010 and 2015. Built on the site of the original Volksparkstadion, opened in 1953, the current stadium was opened in 2000, and has a capacity of 57,000 – approximately 47,000 seats with another 10,000 spectators standing. The first Volksparkstadion had been a venue for the 1974 World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988. The Volksparkstadion is a UEFA category one stadium, which certifies it to host UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was the site of four group matches and a quarter-final of the 2006 World Cup, hosted by Germany, and was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg during the event. It was also the venue for the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final. HSV fans can be buried at a dedicated graveyard near the home stadium, covered in turf from the original Hamburg pitch. ==Rivals and affinities==

in the Nordderby HSV contests the Nordderby with fellow Northern Germany side Werder Bremen. In Spring 2009, HSV faced Werder four times in only three weeks, and Werder defeated HSV in the UEFA-Cup semi-final, as well as in the DFB-Pokal semi-final. Furthermore, HSV shares a cross-town rivalry with FC St. Pauli. When, after seven years in different leagues, the teams were due to meet again, disputes between fan groups began several weeks before the game. It started when about 100 HSV fans interrupted a St. Pauli concert because it took place on the "HSV-side" of the Reeperbahn. In a league game, the HSV fans showed a banner in the stadium with the inscription "Stellt euch endlich unsrer Gier – 100 Ihr : 100 Wir" ("Finally satisfy our lust – 100 of you vs. 100 of us"). After fans of St. Pauli attacked HSV fans working on a choreography for the game and destroyed parts of it, some HSV fans threatened them by hanging figures in the colours of the rival at several bridges throughout the city. In addition, one day later there was a march of about 80 HSV-Ultras across the Reeperbahn, where insulting chants against St. Pauli were screamed. In the hours leading up to first 2. Bundesliga Hamburg Derby on 10 March 2019 at the Millerntor-Stadion, the supporters groups of both teams were escorted by the Hamburg police to avoid conflict. They won with a 4–0 scoreline, the first time HSV had won at the stadium since 1962. In response to Benedikt Pliquett's celebratory kick of HSV's corner flag at the Volksparkstadion in 2011, Tom Mickel mimicked Pliquett with a "Kung-Fu Kick" of his own, according to MOPO. HSV have an affinity with Scottish club Rangers. The link dates back to 1977, when Scots were moving to the German port in search of work and the Hamburg Rangers Supporters' Club was set up by HSV fans who had visited Rangers matches before and were thrilled by the atmosphere at Ibrox. The connections were further strengthened when Rangers signed Jörg Albertz from Hamburg in the 1990s, and was formalised in February 2021 with the establishment of an official club partnership.{{cite news |url=https://www.rangers.co.uk/article/rangers-and-hsv-enter-club-partnership/68dtIhjgBv7ljtzkffl5qD HSV have a friendship bond with Hannover 96 due to both being known by the abbreviation "HSV". Their meetings involve the visitors' club song being played, and fans chanting "HSV" from each end of the stadium. Furthermore, Hamburger SV has a friendship bond with Arminia Bielefeld – both teams share the same colours, resulting in the popular fan chant "Schwarz, weiß, blau – Arminia und der HSV" ("Black, white, blue – Arminia and the HSV"). Especially in the 1990s, multiple players transferred between the two clubs. In addition, some fan groups maintain good contacts with the fourth division team VfB Lübeck, whose fans also have an aversion to St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel. In 2013, HSV helped the club, which was threatened by insolvency, with a free friendly match, in which the team competed with several national players to attract as many spectators as possible and left the entire earnings for VfB Lübeck. ==Fans==

The band Abschlach! has written the HSV anthem "Mein Hamburg lieb ich sehr". The band performs this song before every HSV games. HSV has more than 700 officially registered fan clubs in Germany and abroad. These include "Rautengeil Fallingbostel", "Hermanns Treue Riege", "Totale Offensive e. V." and the "Wilhelmsburg Boys". HSV ultra groups are or were the "Clique du Nord", "Poptown", and "Chosen Few". The "Rothosen" supporters' association founded in April 1972 is the oldest HSV fan club. It still has around 40 members. The business fan club of Hamburger SV was registered by HSV as an official fan club in 2006. This fan club was founded by entrepreneurs and combines sporting interests with business interests. Since the 2006–07 season, the Hamburger Sport-Verein has had a fan club for gay and bisexual fans called "BLUE PRIDE", which merged into the "Volksparkjunxx" in January 2012. The members of fan club "Die Löwen" are aggressive. The Bremen fan Adrian Maleika was murdered by members of the group on 16 October 1982. The Supporters Club, founded in 1993, has (as of 1 June 2019) been joined by 66,489 fans, who have thus also become members of HSV. The 36 founding members include the former board member responsible for membership matters, Oliver Scheel, the former supervisory board members Henning Trolsen and Christian Reichert, and the current director of the HSV Museum, Dirk Mansen. As a reaction to the spin-off, fans founded the "HFC Falke" – based on the model of FC United of Manchester – which started playing in the 2015–16 season, and as of 2024, are playing in the Hamburg district league north. ==Club kit and colours==

The club colours are officially blue, white and black, according to its statute, but its fans use the combination "schwarz-weiss-blau" (black-white-blue) in their songs and chants; they also chant "HSV" . The club crest is a black and white diamond on a blue background. These were the colours of SC Germania. The use of the blue background is a link with Hamburg's maritime tradition as the Blue Peter flag signal (meaning "All Aboard" or "Outward Bound") is a white rectangle on a similar blue background. In contrast, the team's home kit is white jerseys and red shorts, which are the colours of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As a result, the team's most common nickname is die Rothosen ("the Red Shorts"). HSV was previously also known as der Dinosaurier ("the Dinosaur"), and used a dinosaur mascot called "Hermann" (named after long-time club physiotherapist Hermann Rieger) for marketing purposes. HSV's kit was made by Adidas from 1978 to 1995 and the club re-engaged Adidas in 2007, having worked with a number of its competitors in the meantime. The first shirt sponsorship was introduced in 1974. The following is a list of shirt sponsors by date: ;Sponsor ;Kit sponsor ==In international competitions==

HSV's first participation in European competition came after they won the German championship in 1960 and were invited to take part in the 1960–61 European Cup. They had a match in the preliminary round, and their first round opponents were Young Boys. HSV won the two-legged tie 8–3 on aggregate, beating the Swiss side 5–0 in the away leg on 2 November 1960, and then drawing 3–3 at home on 27 November. HSV reached the semi-final of the European Cup in 1961. Subsequently, they have twice played in the final, losing 1–0 to Nottingham Forest in 1980 and defeating Juventus 1–0 in 1983. Along with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, HSV is one of three German teams who have won the European Cup. HSV won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1976–77, and have been runners-up in both that competition (1968) and the UEFA Cup (1982). They reached the semi-finals of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, with the disappointment amplified as it was regional rivals Werder Bremen who eliminated them, then reached the same stage in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, missing the chance to take part in the final being played at their own stadium; that was the club's most recent European campaign. Having lost the 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup final, the 1980 European Cup final and the 1982 UEFA Cup final, HSV became the first club in European football to have been runner-up in all three major UEFA club competitions. Additionally, having lost the European Super Cup for the first time in the 1977 edition, the 1983 Intercontinental Cup and in the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, they became the first and only club in Europe to have obtained the silver medal in all six confederation competitions. HSV's biggest win in a European match occurred on 23 October 1974 when they defeated Romanian team Brașov 8–0 in a UEFA Cup second round tie. Their biggest defeat was in the second leg of the 1977 Super Cup when they lost 6–0 to Liverpool at Anfield on 6 December. Manfred Kaltz with 81 has made the most appearances for HSV in Europe and Horst Hrubesch with 20 is their leading goalscorer. Based on data published by UEFA, a summary of HSV's European record to the end of the 2021–22 season is as follows: According to UEFA, HSV is currently unranked among European clubs. The last year that the club had a coefficient was in 2014 when it ranked 64th (34.328). ==Honours==

HSV have the record in German football of having won the most regional titles, having won 31 regional titles. However, the regional titles do not count as a trophy or even as a title itself. Winning a regional title only guaranteed a club to battle, with other regional winning clubs, for the German Championship. Hamburg's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine". Under the current award system, their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized, and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion. After the replay of the championship final in 1922 had to be abandoned due to the opponents no longer having enough players on the ground, the German Football Association (DFB) requested HSV to renounce the title, which the club did. During his first season with Hamburger SV (2000–01), Sergej Barbarez became the top scorer for his club with 22 goals and joint top scorer of the Bundesliga with Ebbe Sand. Until the 2017–18 season, HSV took pride in its status as the only club to have played continuously in the Bundesliga since its foundation. A large clock in the northwest corner of the Volksparkstadion marked the time, down to the second, since the league was founded on 24 August 1963. Domestic • German Champions: • Winners: 1923, 1928, 1960, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83 • Runners-up: 1923–24, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1986–87 • DFB-Pokal: • Winners: 1962–63, 1975–76, 1986–87 :*Runners-up: 1955–56, 1966–67, 1973–74 • DFB-Ligapokal: • Winners: 1972–73, 2003 • DFB-Supercup: • Runners-up: 1977, 1983, 1987 European • European Cup/UEFA Champions League: • Winners: 1982–83 • Runners-up: 1979–80 • '''European Cup Winners' Cup:''' • Winners: 1976–77 • Runners-up: 1967–68 • UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: • Runners-up: 1981–82 • UEFA Super Cup: • Runners-up: 1977, 1983 • UEFA Intertoto Cup: • Winners: 2005, 2007 (Outright Winners) • Runners-up: 1999 • Intertoto Cup: • Group Winners: 1970, 1994 Worldwide • Intercontinental Cup • Runners-up: 1983 Double • 1982–83: League and European Cup Regional • Northern German football championship (unrecognized) • Winners (10): 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933 (record) • Oberliga Nord (unrecognized) • Winners (15): 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 (record) • Gauliga Nordmark (unrecognized) • Winners: 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 • Gauliga Hamburg • Winners: 1945 • Stadtliga Hamburg • Winners: 1946 • British occupation zone championship • Winners: 1947, 1948 (record) ==Players==

Current squad Other players under contract Out on loan ==Personnel==

Head coaches since 1963 {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center" :* Served as caretaker coach. ==Notable players==

HSV-Panthers (Futsal) The Futsal section of Hamburger SV competes under the name "HSV Panthers", which emerged from the Hamburg Panthers. They play in the highest German Futsal division, the Futsal Bundesliga. The team is a founding member of the Futsal Bundesliga of the German Football Association. The team has won the Deutsche Futsal Meisterschaft four times and is therefore German record champion. The HSV Panthers were also represented four times internationally in the UEFA Futsal Champions League, in 2015 they were the first German team to qualify for the elite round. With Michael Meyer, Onur Saglam, Dennis Oztürk, Sid Ziskin, Nico Zankl, and Ian-Prescott Claus, six German futsal national players play in the ranks of Hamburger SV. Hamburger SV II The reserve team serves as the second team for young players before being promoted to the main team. Women's football The women's section was created in 1970. The team played in the Bundesliga between 2003 and 2012. Other sports The club's rugby section was established in 1925, but ceased operation in the 1990s. It was re-established in March 2006. The club's men's baseball section, HSV Hamburg, known as the Stealers, was established in 1985, and plays in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga. Other sections include volleyball and cricket. Okka Rau qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics of volleyball. HSV Cricket plays in the league of the North German Cricket Federation (Norddeutscher Cricket Verband), winning several first places. ==References==