Club origins The origins of the club go back to a pair of football clubs founded in 1899:
Frankfurter Fußball-Club Victoria von 1899 – regarded as the original team in the club's history – and
Frankfurter Fußball-Club Kickers von 1899. Both clubs were founding members of the new
Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. These two teams merged in May 1911 to become
Frankfurter Fußball Verein (Kickers-Victoria), an instant success, taking three league titles from 1912 to 1914 in the Nordkreis-Liga and qualifying for the Southern German championship in each of those seasons. In turn,
Frankfurter FV joined the gymnastics club
Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861 to form
TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 in 1920. The German word
Eintracht means 'harmony' or 'concord', and so
Eintracht is the equivalent of
United in English in the names of sports teams. At the time, sports in Germany was dominated by nationalistic gymnastics organizations, and under pressure from that sport's governing authority, the gymnasts and footballers went their separate ways again in 1927, as
Turngemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 and
Sportgemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt (FFV) von 1899. Through the late 1920s and into the 1930s, Eintracht won a handful of local and regional championships, first in the
Kreisliga Nordmain, then in the
Bezirksliga Main and
Bezirksliga Main-Hessen. After being eliminated from the national level playoffs after quarterfinal losses in 1930 and 1931, they won their way to the final in 1932 where they were beaten 2–0 by
Bayern Munich, who claimed their first ever German championship. In 1933, German football was re-organized into sixteen Gauligen under the
Third Reich, and the club played first division football in the
Gauliga Südwest, consistently finishing in the upper half of the table and winning their division in 1938. Eintracht picked up where they left off after World War II, joining the new first division
Oberliga Süd. In 1946, Eintracht won the first
Hessenpokal, and finished third in the Oberliga Süd a year later. In 1953, they would win the Oberliga Süd title, qualifying Eintracht for the
German championship, though they did not make it to the final.
National champions and European Cup finalists Former coach
Paul Oßwald returned to the club for a third stint with Eintracht in 1958. In the
195859 season the club won their Oberliga again, qualifying for the
1959 German championship. Winning all six of the games in the group phase, Eintracht made it to the final with a perfect record; there, they would meet rivals
Kickers Offenbach, the club that Oßwald joined from, and the runners up behind Eintracht in the Oberliga Süd. Frankfurt went on to win the final 53 after extra time, becoming German champions for the first and so far only time in front of 75,000 fans in Berlin's
Olympiastadion. As champions, Frankfurt would represent Germany in the
1959–60 European Cup, where they would come to international prominence. Having beaten
BSC Young Boys and
Wiener Sport-Club to make it to the semi-finals, they were drawn against Scottish champions
Rangers, who were considered favourites, at least in Scotland – Rangers manager
Scot Symon allegedly asked, "Eintracht, who are they?" before the game. Eintracht won the first leg 61 at home, in a performance described as the greatest in the club's history. They would score six more in the second leg at
Ibrox, winning 124 on aggregate. After the game, the Rangers players gave their opponents a guard of honour as they left the pitch. Eintracht would return to Glasgow for the
final at
Hampden Park, although they lost 7–3 to
Real Madrid despite taking an early lead. The final was widely regarded as one of the best football matches ever played, remembered for a
hat-trick by
Alfredo Di Stéfano and four goals by
Ferenc Puskás. After their championship-winning year, Eintracht did not win the Oberliga again, though they were runners-up in
1961 and
1962. Both times they would finish second in the group phase of the German championship, missing out on the final.
Founding member of the Bundesliga The side earned themselves a place as one of the original 16 teams selected to play in the
Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in
1963. Eintracht played Bundesliga football for 33 consecutive seasons, finishing in the top half of the table for the majority of them. In the inaugural season, Eintracht finished 3rd behind
1. FC Köln and
Meidericher SV – the club has still never managed a better Bundesliga finish – and also reached the
1964 DFB-Pokal Final. Eintracht finished in the top half of the Bundesliga every season until
1970–71. Although they didn't make it back to the European Cup, Eintracht did play in other non-UEFA European competitions, beating
FK Inter Bratislava to win the
1967 Intertoto Cup in the last season of its original format. That year, they also reached the semi-final of the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing to
Dinamo Zagreb.
Cup successes , coach
Friedel Rausch, and
Bernd Hölzenbein during Eintracht's successful
1979–80 UEFA Cup campaign From 1973 to 1981, Eintracht had arguably their most successful period of the Bundesliga era, winning three
DFB-Pokals and the
UEFA Cup. Many of the most iconic players from the club's history played during this era, such as
Bernd Nickel,
Charly Körbel,
Bernd Hölzenbein,
Jürgen Grabowski and
Cha Bum-kun. The first title success came under
Dietrich Weise in the
1973–74 DFB-Pokal, winning 31 in the
final over
Hamburger SV – due to the
1974 FIFA World Cup, which Hölzenbein and Grabowski had won with
West Germany, the final was not played until August 1974. Eintracht would win the cup again in 1975, beating
MSV Duisburg 10. That season, they played in the
European Cup Winners' Cup for the first time, and in the
1975–76 campaign, they would go far, reaching the semi-finals. Despite beating
West Ham 2–1 at home, Eintracht were beaten 31 in the second leg and were knocked out, while also finishing a relatively low ninth place in the Bundesliga. The club then had a difficult start to the
1976–77 season, but under new coach
Gyula Lóránt, appointed in November, Eintracht went unbeaten in the second half of the season. Lóránt, notable for introducing zonal marking to the Bundesliga, took Frankfurt into fourth place by the end of the season, finishing only two points behind champions
Borussia Mönchengladbach. Soon, however, Lóránt would leave for
Bayern Munich, with
Dettmar Cramer coming the other way to coach Frankfurt. Cramer left at the end of the disappointing
1977–78 season, replaced by
Otto Knefler, who soon had to leave on health grounds. In January 1979,
Friedel Rausch joined the club as head coach. This was one of two important arrivals in 1979, as
Cha Bum-kun would sign for Eintracht in July, becoming the first Korean to play in Europe. He would quickly become an icon in Frankfurt, scoring 12 league goals in his debut season. Eliminating
Aberdeen,
Dinamo București,
Feyenoord and
FC Zbrojovka Brno in the earlier rounds of the
UEFA Cup, Eintracht reached the semi-finals, at which point only West German teams remained. Drawn against Bayern Munich, they won 5–1 in extra time to earn a place in the final. Eintracht lost 3–2 in the first leg of the
final to Borussia Mönchengladbach, the reigning champions. The two away goals, scored by
Harald Karger and Hölzenbein, would prove crucial. Two weeks later, they hosted the return leg. With the score still at 0–0, Friedel Rausch sent on teenager
Fred Schaub with 13 minutes to play. Almost immediately, Schaub scored what proved to be only goal of the game, winning Eintracht the title on away goals. In
1988–89 Eintracht found themselves in the relegation fight again.
Jörg Berger was appointed coach and led the side to safety with a 4–1 aggregate win over
1. FC Saarbrücken in the relegation playoff.
Title challenges in the early 90s and first relegation A year later, Berger had taken the club to 3rd place, and was recognised as the best coach in the league. Berger left in 1991 after a 4th-place finish, but the squad now included players considered among the Bundesliga's best, such as
Uwe Bein,
Uli Stein,
Jørn Andersen,
Manfred Binz,
Tony Yeboah and
Andreas Möller.
Dragoslav Stepanović took over as coach when Berger left, and Eintracht would finish 3rd in both seasons he coached, although he left before the end of
1992–93. Under Stepanović, Eintracht played what was considered some of the best football in Bundesliga history, making 'Stepi' a fan favourite to this day. In
1991–92, the club came closer than ever before to winning the Bundesliga. Going into the last game of the season, Eintracht were top of the table and only needed a win against already-relegated
Hansa Rostock. With the scores level at 1–1 Eintracht were denied what seemed a clear penalty, they would go on to lose 2–1. Referee Alfons Berg later apologised for his decision, but
VfB Stuttgart became champions. Eintracht also came close in
1993–94, under
Klaus Toppmöller, leading the table at the halway point; however, they fell to 5th place and Toppmöller was sacked. In the summer of 1994,
Jupp Heynckes was appointed coach. Things quickly began to turn sour, as Heynckes fell out with key players Tony Yeboah,
Maurizio Gaudino and
Jay-Jay Okocha. The club suspended all three players; Yeboah and Gaudino soon left. With the club in 13th, Heynckes decided to leave. For his role in breaking up the successful side of the early 90s, Heynckes is still disliked by many fans in Frankfurt. Relegation would come in
1995–96, with neither club legend Charly Körbel or the previously successful Dragoslav Stepanovic able to rescue Eintracht. After 33 consecutive years in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt went down alongside
1. FC Kaiserslautern, who had also been ever-present until 1996.
Turbulent years After a tumultuous debut campaign in the
2. Bundesliga, Eintracht won the title in
1997–98 and returned to the Bundesliga. Promotion coach
Horst Ehrmantraut left in December, and Jörg Berger returned to try to save Eintracht once more. On the final day of the
1998–99 season, Eintracht were expected to be relegated, but dramatically climbed out of the relegation zone on goal difference thanks to a late goal from
Jan Åge Fjørtoft giving them a 5–1 win over Kaiserslautern. The following year, in another struggle to avoid relegation, the club was docked two points for violating the conditions of their license. Eintracht secured survival on the last day of the season with a win over
SSV Ulm, who were relegated instead. Eintracht would go down the season afterwards with Friedel Rausch in charge, and did not come close to promotion in
2001–02. as Eintracht Frankfurt coach Eintracht secured a Bundesliga return on the final day of the
2002–03 season with a 6–3 win over
Reutlingen, dramatically scoring 3 in the last 10 minutes of the game. They were then relegated straight back to the 2. Bundesliga, but were promoted again the season after, managed by
Friedhelm Funkel. Funkel led the team to safety in
2005–06 and also took Eintracht to the
DFB-Pokal final for the first time since 1988, where they lost to Bayern Munich. As Bayern had already qualified for Europe, this also meant that Eintracht qualified for the UEFA Cup. After years of stability under Funkel,
Michael Skibbe replaced him in 2009. The
2010–11 season ended with the club's fourth Bundesliga relegation. After setting a new record for most points in the first half of the season, the club struggled after the winter break, going seven games without scoring a goal. Coach Skibbe was replaced with
Christoph Daum, but Eintracht went down again after winning just once in the second half of the season. One year later, Eintracht defeated
Alemannia Aachen 3–0 on the 32nd matchday of the
2011–12 season, securing promotion to the Bundesliga. This was followed up by a 6th-place finish in the Bundesliga in
2012–13, qualifying Frankfurt for the
Europa League.
DFB Pokal and Europa League winners, participation in European competitions Having finished in the top half in
2014–15, a season in which Eintracht's
Alexander Meier was the league's top scorer, the team struggled again in
2015–16 and
Niko Kovač was appointed coach in March 2016. Frankfurt survived only through the relegation playoff; ending the season in 16th place, they beat 1. FC Nürnberg 2–1 on aggregate in the playoff. In Kovač's first full year, his team survived comfortably and also reached the
final of the
2017 DFB-Pokal, where they were beaten by Borussia Dortmund. Eintracht reached their second DFB-Pokal final in a row in
2017–18, this time winning 3–1 against heavy favourites Bayern Munich – who Kovač had already agreed to join from next season. He was replaced by
Adi Hütter. In
2018–19, Eintracht's attacking trio of
Luka Jović,
Ante Rebić and
Sébastien Haller won lots of praise for their outstanding performances, scoring 41 league goals and 16
Europa League goals between them and earning the nickname "the Buffalo Herd". Making only their second appearance in the modern Europa League, Eintracht won all six group games against
Lazio,
Apollon Limassol and
Marseille, and beat highly rated opponents
Shakhtar Donetsk,
Inter Milan and
Benfica. In the semi-finals against
Chelsea, Eintracht drew both legs 1–1 but ended up losing on penalties at
Stamford Bridge. Chelsea would go on to win the tournament. Eintracht also missed out on Champions League qualification in the Bundesliga, dropping from 4th to 7th after losing their last two games. With Jović, Rebić and Haller all leaving in the summer of 2019, Eintracht regressed in
2019–20 and failed to qualify for Europe, but returned to the Europa League with a 5th-place finish in
2020–21, after which Adi Hütter left for Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the
2021–22 Europa League, Eintracht topped their group and stunned
Barcelona in the quarter finals, taking a 3–0 lead at the
Camp Nou and eventually winning 3–2 with approximately 30,000 travelling Frankfurt fans in attendance. Eintracht went on to beat West Ham home and away in the semi-finals to set up their first European final since 1980. In the
final in Seville's
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Frankfurt beat
Rangers 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in extra-time, with
Rafael Santos Borré scoring Eintracht's goal and the winning penalty. Goalkeeper
Kevin Trapp was named
man of the match in the final after making a crucial late save from
Ryan Kent and saving
Aaron Ramsey's penalty in the shootout. Eintracht won the competition unbeaten; their success also qualified them for the
2022–23 UEFA Champions League, Eintracht's first appearance in the competition since 1960. Eintracht finished second in their Champions League group, qualifying for the knockout stages, but lost in the round of 16 against
S.S.C. Napoli. The team was more successful in the
2022–23 DFB-Pokal, reaching
the final on 3 June 2023, where they lost 2–0 against
RB Leipzig. A 7th-place finish at the end of
2022–23 season secured qualification for the
UEFA Europa Conference League. Since November 2024, the executive board consists of Axel Hellmann (CEO),
Markus Krösche (head of sports) and Julien Zamberk (head of finances) and Philipp Reschke (head of fan relations, merchandising and HR). ==Colours, crest and nicknames==