MSV Duisburg

Early years The club was founded in 1902 as Meidericher Spielverein, in Meiderich, which later became part of Duisburg. In 1905, they fused with the club Sportclub Viktoria Meiderich. In 1910, MSV played in the West German A-Klasse for the first time, and in 1914, won promotion to the Zehnerliga (top level of the West German championship) for the first time, after winning every game in the 13/14 season, scoring 113 goals and conceding only 12. The club would not qualify for either the German championship or the West German championship again. The club signed young coach Rudi Gutendorf for the first Bundesliga season, replacing the highly regarded Willi Multhaup. He convinced the board to sign World Cup-winner Helmut Rahn, and developed a tactical system later compared to Dutch total football, whereby every player contributed in both attack and defence. Gutendorf's team shocked the Bundesliga by finishing second, six points behind champions 1. FC Köln, and conceding the fewest goals in the league. This remains the club's highest ever league finish. In 1966, they finished with a club record 70 goals scored in the league, including the Bundesliga's biggest ever away win, 9–0 against Tasmania Berlin. They also reached the DFB-Pokal final, losing to Bayern Munich. This was the last season played under the old name of Meidericher SV, as the club renamed itself MSV Duisburg in 1967, having received financial support from the city of Duisburg. European campaigns and relegation to the Oberliga (1970s, 1980s) In 1976, MSV Duisburg reached the DFB-Pokal final for the second time, but lost to Eintracht Frankfurt. They then made their first appearance in the UEFA Cup, losing in the second round to Levski-Spartak Sofia on away goals. This season was also notable for the performances of defender and captain Bernard Dietz, who played every minute of the league season and was voted by Sport Bild as one of the league's best players. Dietz would achieve this three more times, being named the Bundesliga's best outfield player in 1978, and captaining Germany to victory at UEFA Euro 1980 while still at Duisburg. Duisburg finished 9th in 1976–77, their first top-half finish since 1970–71, and then 6th in the 1977–78 Bundesliga, qualifying for the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. Despite their success in Europe, Duisburg only narrowly avoided relegation, having been in the relegation zone during the winter break. In the 1981–82 season, the club was relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time, finishing last. Four years later, Duisburg were relegated again, finishing last in the 2. Bundesliga with only 15 points from 38 games. For their final game, they managed a crowd of just 600 fans. The club spent three years in the third-tier Oberliga Nordrhein, before returning to the 2. Bundesliga in 1989. During their time in the regional leagues, Duisburg also won the German amateur championship by beating Bayern Munich II. In 1993, with former player Ewald Lienen as coach, they again won promotion from the 2. Bundesliga. Friedhelm Funkel brought the club back into the Bundesliga in 1996 and achieved three successive top-half finishes, also reaching the 1998 DFB-Pokal final. As in 1966, Duisburg lost to Bayern Munich. Duisburg qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but were heavily beaten by K.R.C. Genk, in the club's final European appearance to date. The new 31,500-capacity MSV-Arena, was completed during the 2004–05 season, in which Duisburg once again won promotion after five years in the 2. Bundesliga. In December 2005, promotion-winning coach Norbert Meier was infamously sacked after 'one of the most bizarre incidents in Bundesliga history,' where he headbutted 1. FC Köln player Albert Streit during a game and pretended to have himself been attacked. Duisburg finished last in the 2005–06 Bundesliga, won promotion back in 2006–07, and then finished last again in 2007–08. After five years in the 2. Bundesliga, Duisburg were demoted to the 3. Liga in 2013 despite finishing 11th, after having their license application denied by the league for financial reasons. The possibility of the club becoming insolvent was raised by club officials. Duisburg earned promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2015–16 season, but lasted only one season, losing to Würzburger Kickers in the relegation playoff; there were again concerns over whether the club would be granted a license. Duisburg won the 3. Liga for the first time in 2016–17 and finished in the top half of the 2. Bundesliga in 2017–18. The following year they were relegated back to the 3. Liga. The club was reportedly under threat of insolvency again in 2022. For the first time in the club's history, MSV Duisburg played in the fourth tier of German professional football, Regionalliga West, during the 2024–25 season, winning the league and immediate promotion back to 3. Liga. == Crest ==

MSV Duisburg Anniversary 22-23 Logo.svg|2022-23 anniversary logo Msv duisburg (2017).svg|Logo without zebra (1996-now) Msv duisburg(new).svg|Regular logo (1996-now) ==Recent seasons==

;League • Bundesliga • Runners-up: 1963–64 • 2. Oberliga West (II): 1950–51 • 3. Liga (III): 2016–17 • Oberliga Nordrhein (III): 1987–88, 1988–89 ;Cup • DFB-Pokal • Finalists: 1965–66, 1974–75, 1997–98, 2010–11 ;International • Intertoto Cup: 1974, 1977, 1978 ;Regional • Bezirksliga Niederrhein (I): 1928–29, 1930–31, 1931–32 • Lower Rhine Cup (Tiers III–below): 1988–89, 2013–14, 2016–17 ;Amateur/Youth teams • German amateur championship (III): 1986–87 • German Under 19 championship: 1971–72, 1976–77, 1977–78 ==Current squad==

Out on loan ==Manager history==

• Hermann Lindemann (1955–1957) • Rudi Gutendorf (1963–1965) • Wilhelm Schmidt (1965) • Hermann Eppenhoff (1965–1967) • Gyula Lóránt (1967–1968) • Robert Gebhardt (1968–1970) • Rudolf Fassnacht (1970–1973) • Willibert Kremer (1973–1976) • Rolf Schafstall (1976) • Otto Knefler (1976–1977) • Carl-Heinz Rühl (1977–1978) • Rolf Schafstall (1978–1979) • Heinz Höher (1979–1980) • Friedhelm Wenzlaff (1980–1981) • Kuno Klötzer (1981–1982) • Siegfried Melzig (1982–1983) • Luis Zacarías (1983–1985) • Günter Preuß (1985) • Helmut Witte (1985–1986) • Friedhelm Vos (1986) • Detlef Pirsig (1986–1989) • Willibert Kremer (1989–1992) • Uwe Reinders (1992–1993) • Ewald Lienen (1993–1994) • Hans Bongartz (1994–1996) • Friedhelm Funkel (1996–2000) • Josef Eichkorn (2000) • Wolfgang Frank (2000) • Josef Eichkorn (2000–2001) • Pierre Littbarski (2001–2002) • Bernard Dietz (2002–2003, caretaker) • Norbert Meier (2003–2005) • Heiko Scholz (2005, caretaker) • Jürgen Kohler (2006) • Heiko Scholz (2006, caretaker) • Rudi Bommer (2006–2008) • Heiko Scholz (2008, caretaker) • Peter Neururer (2008–2009) • Uwe Speidel (2009, caretaker) • Milan Šašić (2009–2011) • Oliver Reck (2011–2012) • Ivica Grlić (2012, caretaker) • Kosta Runjaić (2012–2013) • Karsten Baumann (2013–2014) • Gino Lettieri (2014–2015) • Iliya Gruev (2015–2018) • Torsten Lieberknecht (2018–2020) • Gino Lettieri (2020–2021) • Uwe Schubert (2021, caretaker) • Pavel Dochev (2021) • Uwe Schubert (2021, caretaker) • Hagen Schmidt (2021–2022) • Torsten Ziegner (2022–2023) • Engin Vural (2023) • Boris Schommers (2023–2024) • Uwe Schubert (2024, caretaker) • Dietmar Hirsch (2024–) ==Women's section==

The club mascot is a Zebra, coming from the club nickname 'die Zebras' – it is named 'Ennatz', after the nickname for club legend Bernard Dietz. the club has 8,638 members. Tatort, a popular crime series in Germany, features an episode entitled '''' () which deals with a murder in the MSV Duisburg hooligan scene. In one scene, Inspector Horst Schimanski is beaten to a pulp and dragged naked into the centre circle of the Wedaustadion. ==References==