VfR Aalen
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| Full name | Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V. | ||
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| Founded | 8 March 1921 | ||
| Ground | Scholz-Arena (Rohrwang) | ||
| Capacity | 14,500 | ||
| President | Berndt-Ulrich Scholz | ||
| Head coach | Peter Vollmann | ||
| League | 3. Liga | ||
| 2015–16 | 15th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., commonly known as simply VfR Aalen, is a German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, table tennis, and cheerleading.
The club's greatest success came in 2011–12 when it finished second in the 3. Liga and earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time.
History
The club was founded on 8 March 1921 out of the football department of the gymnastics club MTV Aalen and has led a largely unremarked existence as a lower division side. In 1939, Aalen was promoted to the first division Gauliga Württemberg, one of sixteen top-flight leagues established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. They played there until 1945, typically finishing in the lower half of the table.
After the war the club was joined by Boxclub Aalen in 1950. They went on to the third tier Landesliga Württemberg and in 1951 captured the title in what had become the Amateurliga Württemberg (III). After a single season appearance in the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1951–52 they returned to play in the III and IV divisions over the next two decades. The club slipped to fifth division play in the late 1970s for a couple of seasons before recovering itself. At the turn of the millennium Aalen managed an advance to the third division Regionalliga Süd and played at that level as a mid-table side from 1999 onwards. A fourth-place finish in 2007–08 qualified them for the new 3rd Liga. They were immedadiately relegated after just one season, but captured the Regionalliga title in 2011, and returned to third tier play. A second-place result in 2011–12 earned the team promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. After two good seasons in the league the club finished last in the league in 2014–15 and was relegated.
Following relegation the club experienced financial difficulties and was initially unable to provide coverage for the required €5.6 million for a 3. Liga licence but was eventually able to apply for one. It deregistered its reserve team, VfR Aalen II, playing in the fifth tier Oberliga, to save money.[1]
Players
Current squad
As of 18 July 2016
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
The team plays its home matches in the Scholz-Arena – popularly known as the Rohrwang – which has a capacity of 11,183. Work was undertaken to upgrade the facility to accommodate Aalen's promotion to the Regionalliga. It now includes 4,773 seats, new lighting, playing field improvements, and other features that bring the venue to the standard required for second division football.[2]
Honours
League
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Cup
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- ‡ Denotes title won by reserve team.
Recent managers
Recent managers of the club:[3]
| Manager | Start | Finish |
| Walter Modick | 19 October 1997 | 15 April 2000 |
| Helmut Dietterle | 16 April 2000 | 30 June 2000 |
| Willi Entenmann | 1 July 2000 | 13 August 2001 |
| Helmut Dietterle | 14 August 2001 | 7 December 2002 |
| Peter Zeidler | 8 December 2002 | 30 August 2004 |
| Slobodan Pajic | 31 August 2004 | 30 June 2005 |
| Frank Wormuth | 1 July 2005 | 8 December 2006 |
| Edgar Schmitt | 15 January 2007 | 27 August 2008 |
| Jürgen Kohler | 28 August 2008 | 16 November 2008 |
| Petrik Sander | 21 November 2008 | 5 May 2009 |
| Rainer Scharinger | 6 May 2009 | 27 December 2010 |
| Ralph Hasenhüttl | 2 January 2011 | 30 June 2013 |
| Stefan Ruthenbeck | 1 July 2013 | 12 June 2015 |
| Peter Vollmann | 12 June 2015 |
Recent seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[4][5]
VfR Aalen
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VfR Aalen II
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- With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.
| ↑ Promoted | ↓ Relegated |
References
- ↑ Aalen reicht Unterlagen für die 3. Liga ein (German) kicker.de, published: 28 May 2015, accessed: 31 May 2015
- ↑ Scholz-Arena (German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
- ↑ VfR Aalen .:. Trainer von A-Z (German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
- ↑ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (German) Historical German domestic league tables
- ↑ Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. (German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
External links
- Official club website
- VfR Aalen at Weltfussball.de
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (German)
- The Abseits Guide to German Soccer