Rot-Weiss Essen

Early years The club was formed as SV Vogelheim on 1 February 1907 out of the merger of two smaller clubs: SC Preussen and Deutsche Eiche. In 1910, Vogelheim came to an arrangement with Turnerbund Bergeborbeck that allowed the two clubs to field a football side. The footballers left in 1913 to set up their own club, Spiel- und Sportverein Emscher-Vogelheim, which changed its name to Spiel und Sport 1912 after World War I. Finally, in 1923, this side turned again to Turnerbund Bergeborbeck to create Rot-Weiss Essen. Breakthrough to the Gauliga In 1938, RWE broke into top-flight football in the Gauliga Niederrhein, one of sixteen premier divisions formed in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich, and came within a point of taking the division title in 1941. In 1943, they played with BV Altenessen as the combined wartime side KSG SC Rot-Weiß Essen/BV 06 Altenessen. The next season this club was in turn joined by BVB Essen, but played only a single match in a stillborn season as World War II overtook the country. Rise and golden years The club returned to first division football in the Oberliga West in 1948, where a series of strong seasons saw them win divisional championships in 1952 and 1955, as well as finishing runners-up in 1949 and 1954 and third in 1950 and 1953. The pinnacle of the club's success came with a 2–1 win over Alemannia Aachen in the 1953 DFB-Pokal final, followed by a national championship in 1955 when it beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4–3. Due to this success Rot-Weiss became the first German side to qualify for the European Cup, losing 5–1 on aggregate to Scottish club Hibernian in the first round. The club remained competitive for the remainder of the 1950s, continuing to finish in the division's top half, but 1961 saw a sharp decline leading to relegation from the Oberliga West at the end of the season. The club then played most of the 1960s as a second division side, though it did make a first appearance in the top-flight Bundesliga in 1966–67. It returned to the Bundesliga for two seasons in 1969–70, and again, for four seasons beginning in 1973–74. Financial problems and slow decline Between 1978 and the end of the century Rot-Weiss was a second- or third-tier club, with just one season spent in the regional Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) in 1998–99. During this period, the club was plagued by financial problems that saw it denied a licence in 1984, 1991, and 1994, leading to relegation from the 2. Bundesliga each time as a result. Bright spots during this period included winning the German amateur championship in 1992 and an appearance in the 1994 DFB-Pokal final, which they lost 1–3 to SV Werder Bremen. RWE returned to the Regionalliga Nord (III) in 1999, but dropped to the Oberliga (IV) the next season. In 2004, they won promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga, but stumbled to a 17th-place finish and were relegated once again. In November 2005, Pelé became an honorary club member (membership number 23101940). The team reappeared in the 2. Bundesliga after winning the Regionalliga Nord in 2006, but narrowly missed staying up when they lost the critical final match of the 2006–07 season 3–0 to MSV Duisburg. Rot-Weiss then became a fourth division side following the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008. RWE filed for insolvency in June 2010 and were therefore not granted a license to continue playing in the Regionalliga West, but the club were granted a license to play in the fifth-tier NRW-Liga for the 2010–11 season whilst administrators restructured the club's finances. They won the fifth level NRW-Liga in 2010–11 and returned to Regionalliga West for the 2011–12 season. In March 2014, Marc Fascher was appointed as head coach on a contract until 2015. He was sacked on 31 March 2015. On 14 October 2017, Argirios Giannikis was appointed as manager of the club on a contract until the end of the season. He led Essen to pick up 13 points from the six games between his appointment and the winter break. as it was later announced that he was to become VfR Aalen manager for the following season. Having suffered hostility from Essen supporters for this decision, he left the club on 7 April 2018 and was immediately succeeded by Karsten Neitzel. Rot-Weiss were promoted to the 3. Liga for the 2022–23 season as champions of the 2021–22 Regionalliga West, returning to the third tier of German football for the first time in 14 years. ==Stadium==

Until 2012 Rot-Weiss played in the Georg-Melches-Stadion (capacity 15,000), named in honour of a former club president. In 1956, the team's home field became the first stadium in West Germany to have floodlights. Since August 2012, RWE has played in the new Stadion Essen (capacity 20,000). The naming rights to the stadium include RWE AG. ==Supporters==

Rivalries Fortuna Düsseldorf, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Wuppertaler SV are local rivals when they are playing in the same league (as took place in the 2007–08 season). The club's fiercest rivalry is with MSV Duisburg. The club also has a big rivalry with FC Schalke 04, from nearby Gelsenkirchen, with whom they contest the Ruhrderby; whilst historically the two clubs maintained a good relationship, Schalke's involvement in the 1971 Bundesliga scandal, which contributed to Essen's relegation from the Bundesliga in the 1970–71 season, angered Essen fans and allowed a rivalry to develop between the two clubs. In the past, the local derbies versus Schwarz-Weiß Essen were big events, sometimes followed by more than 30,000 fans, however since their rivals decline the rivalry has waned in importance. Although often described in political terms, with the "reds" allegedly being left-wing and the "blacks" right-wing, in reality there was no substantive distinction. The rivalry was more based on the geography of the city, a north (RWE) versus south (SWE) city divide. and with northern Essen being predominantly working class historically and the south of the city being generally regarded as a wealthier area, inhabited by the upper-middle class. Friendships The RWE followers have a strong fan friendship with SV Werder Bremen. There is also a friendship with Borussia Dortmund, although some disagreements have taken place since 2018. ==Honours==

The club's honours: League • German championship • Champions: 1955 • German amateur championship • Champions: 1992 • Oberliga West • Champions: 1952, 1955 • Regionalliga West (II) • Champions: 1973 • Regionalliga Nord (III) • Champions: 2004, 2006 • Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) • Champions: 1985, 1986, 1993, 1999 • Regionalliga West (IV) • Champions: 2022 • NRW-Liga (V) • Champions: 2011 Cup • DFB-Pokal • Winners: 1952–53 • Lower Rhine Cup (Tiers III–V) • Winners: (12) 1995, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025 ==Current squad==

Out on loan ==Notable players==

• Elek Schwartz (1955–1957) • Fritz Pliska (1965–1967) • Erich Ribbeck (1967–1968) • Herbert Burdenski (1969–1971) • Janos Bedl (1971–1972) • Horst Witzler (1973) • Ivica Horvath (1975–1976) • Diethelm Ferner (1978–1979) • Rolf Schafstall (1979–1981) • Rolf Bock (1982–1983) • Janos Bedl (1983–1984) • Siegfried Melzig (1984) • Horst Hrubesch (1986–1987) • Peter Neururer (1987) • Horst Franz (1987–1988) • Siegfried Melzig (1988) • Hans-Werner Moors (1989–1991) • Jürgen Röber (1991–1993) • Wolfgang Frank (1994–1995) • Rudi Gores (1995–1997) • Klaus Berge (1998–1999) • Fritz Fuchs (1999) • Klaus Berge (1999–2001) • Harry Pleß (2001–2003) • Holger Fach (2003) • Jürgen Gelsdorf (2003–2005) • Uwe Neuhaus (2005–2006) • Lorenz-Günther Köstner (2006–2007) • Heiko Bonan (2007–2008) • Michael Kulm (2008–2009) • Ralf Aussem (2009) • Ernst Middendorp (2009) • Ralf Aussem (2009–2010) • Uwe Erkenbrecher (2009–2010) • Waldemar Wrobel (2010–2014) • Marc Fascher (2014–2015) • Jürgen Lucas (2015) • Markus Reiter (2015) • Jan Siewert (2015–2016) • Sven Demandt (2016–2017) • Argirios Giannikis (2017–2018) ==References==