VFC Plauen
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| Full name | Vogtländischer Fußballclub Plauen e.V. | ||
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| Founded |
27 May 1903 22 June 1990 (re-foundation) | ||
| Ground capacity | 10,500 | ||
| President | Wilfried Hub | ||
| Head coach | Michael Hiemisch | ||
| League | NOFV-Oberliga Süd (V) | ||
| 2015–16 | 13th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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VFC Plauen is a German association football club from the city of Plauen, Saxony.
The club had to declare insolvency on 1 December 2014 and is currently in administration.
History
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The club was founded as 1. Vogtländischer Fußballclub Plauen and took part in the competition of the VMFV (Verband Mitteldeutschland Fußball Verein or Federation of Middle German Football Teams). They enjoyed some success in the early 30s when they captured consecutive local Vogtland division titles in 1930 and 1931. German football was re-organized into sixteen top flight divisions under the Third Reich in 1933 and VFC spent a single season in top tier play, the Gauliga Sachsen, before being relegated.
Following the end of World War II occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in the country, including football and sports clubs. The club was re-established as SG Plauen-Süd in 1945, renamed ZSG Zellwolle Plauen in 1949, and then renamed again in 1950 to BSG Rotation Plauen. After a merger with BSG Sachsenverlag Plauen that same year, the team won promotion to East Germany's second division DDR-Liga in 1951 and played at that level until being sent down through league restructuring after the 1954–1955 season. They were again renamed in 1954, becoming BSG Wismut Plauen.
Plauen returned to second division play in 1964 as BSG Motor WEMA Plauen where they delivered uneven results until being relegated in 1973. They would languish in lower division play until a resurgence that would come about soon after German re-unification in 1990 that would begin with the side re-claiming its traditional identity as 1. VFC 1990 Plauen. A championship in the Landesliga Sachsen (V) was followed by a dismal campaign in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd that saw the club give up 108 goals while netting only 12 and finishing dead last in the division. VFC soon recovered, earning a second Landesliga title in 1994 to return to the Oberliga. In 1996 a successful campaign there led to another title and promotion to the third division Regionalliga Nordost. The club once again found itself sent down through league restructuring in 2000, landing in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) where they play today.
VFC has been one of the most dominant teams in the division over the past several seasons, consistently earning top three finishes. In 2004 they finished atop the table and took part in qualification play for the Regionalliga Nord (III) but failed to advance after being beaten by the reserve side of Hertha BSC Berlin on goal difference (2:4, 3:2). Finishing third in the 2007–08 season, Plauen qualified for the reformed Regionalliga Nord. The club became part of the refomred Regionalliga Nordost in 2012 and finished as a mid table side in 2013 and 2014.[1][2]
Plauen, with a budged of €600,000 for the 2014–15 season, suffered from a depth of €1,000,000 and was unable to pay some of its players from September 2014 onwards. After hoping to avoid insolvency the club nevertheless had to declare the latter on 1 December 2014. within the rules of the German Football Federation this meant automatic relegation for the club from the Regionalliga but the club's administrator announced that he would challenge the latter as it he considered it violating German insolvency law. After a lengthy debate the NOFV announced that the club would play the remaining season games as friendlies.[3][4] Since the 2015–16 season the club plays in the NOFV-Oberliga again.
Among the club's recent achievements are Saxony Cup wins in 1999 and 2004, as well as another appearance in the final in 2006. Their cup victories led to participation in the German Cup tournament: in 1999 they were able to advance out of the first round with a 1:0 win over Alemannia Aachen before being put out 1:2 by Stuttgarter Kickers; in 2004 they went out early against Arminia Bielefeld (1:2).
Current squad
As of 5 August 2014
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Stadium
VFC Plauen plays its home matches in the Vogtlandstadion Plauen located at the north end of town adjacent to a forest. The original stadium area was prepared in 1934 and then enlarged in 1937 with a grandstand area having a capacity of 4,200 spectators. After the war facilities for athletics were added and the site modernized. Today the stadium will hold 12,000 (1,400 seats) and has floodlights and an electronic scoreboard.
Honours
The club's honours:
- Landesliga Sachsen (V)
- Champions: 1991, 1994
- NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV)
- Champions: 1996, 2004
- Runners-up: 1995, 2002, 2005, 2006
- Saxony Cup
- Winners: 1999, 2004
Notable coaches
- Frank Papritz (1993–1999)
- Hans-Ulrich Thomale (1999–2000)
- René Müller (2001–2003)
- Tino Vogel (2003–2006)
- Stefan Persigehl (2006–2007)
Hermann Andreev (2007–2009)- Jens Starke (2009)
- Ronald Färber (2009)
References
- ↑ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (German) Historical German domestic league tables
- ↑ VFC Plauen at Fussball.de (German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
- ↑ Der Fall VFC Plauen – Chronologie einer Posse (German) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, accessed: 24 February 2015
- ↑ Spiele des VFC Plauen werden nicht gewertet (German) Die Welt, published: 20 February 2015, accessed: 24 February 2015
External links
- Official team site
- Abseits Guide to German Soccer
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German football league tables (in German)