Wikipedia

SC Fortuna Köln

SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Fortuna Köln
Full nameSport-Club Fortuna Köln e.V.
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)
GroundSüdstadion
Capacity11,748
ChairmanHanns-Jörg Westendorf
Head coachMatthias Mink
LeagueRegionalliga West
2023–244th
Current season

History

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Logo of predecessor side Victoria Köln 1911
 
Historical chart of Fortuna league performance

The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to bear the name), Bayenthaler SV 1920, and Sparkassen-Verein Köln 1927. Of these clubs, Victoria had the best results, winning its way to the first division of the Gauliga Köln-Aachen in 1941 and capturing the division title there the following season. Bayenthaler SV 1920 side also spent a season in the Gauliga in 1943–44 before the division collapsed as war overtook the region. In 1976, SC Fortuna Köln was joined by FC Alter Markt Köln.

Through most of the last four decades Fortuna has played as a second division side. Highlights of the club's history include promotion to the Bundesliga for the 1974 season and an impressive run through the 1983 DFB-Pokal. The team took out SC Freiburg in the first round and eked out a win on penalties over SSV Ulm 1846 in their next match. They then eliminated three first division sides in a row: first Eintracht Braunschweig and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before crushing Borussia Dortmund 5–0 in their semi-final match. This put them into the final against hometown rivals 1. FC Köln, the first time the Cup final had come down to a local derby. Although they outplayed their opposition, Fortuna's magic had run out and they lost 0–1 on a late goal by Pierre Littbarski.

In 1986, the side came close to a return to the Bundesliga, but was beaten by Borussia Dortmund in the promotion round. Each team had won their home match in a two-game series, which forced a third contest under the rules in effect at the time. Instead of advancing on the strength of away goals, Fortuna was crushed 0–8 by Borussia Dortmund. A handful of seasons later the club avoided relegation to third-tier football at the end of the 1991–92 schedule only when division rivals Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin were denied a licence.

One of the key features of Fortuna's history was the presidency of deep-pocketed Jean Löring. Beginning in 1967, the millionaire's support of the club helped them to continue to field competitive sides for much longer than they might otherwise have. In 1982, he even helped out in another way: trained as an electrician, he personally fixed the floodlights when they failed during a match against SV Darmstadt 98 so the game could go on. Löring, who had been an Oberliga player himself with Alemannia Aachen in his younger years, was ousted as president in 2000 and the club soon deteriorated. In 2005 the club failed financially and was forced to withdraw from league play.

Since 2008, the club has been owned (like Ebbsfleet United F.C.) partially by the web-based venture deinfussballclub.de.[1] Until 2008, the SCF played in the fifth division Verbandsliga Mittelrhein, gaining promotion with a second-place finish to the new Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen. Fortuna Köln finished Oberliga as ninth in 2008–09, as 15th in 2009–10 season and as third in 2010–2011 saison. From the 2011–12 season the club played in the Regionalliga West until in 2014 they won that league and beat the second team of Bayern Munich to get promoted to the German third league.

Despite insolvency, the club was able to salvage its youth department, one of the largest in Germany with over 500 players on 25 teams, through a fundraising campaign organized by the former chairman Egbert Bischoff that included a benefit game against 1. FC Köln.

Recent chairman Klaus Ulonska once competed in the 1962 European Championships in Athletics, co-winning the 4 × 100 m Relay.

Honours

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League

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Cups

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 15 September 2024[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   GER Felix Buer
2 DF   GER Dominik Ernst (captain)
3 DF   GER Maximilian Fischer
4 DF   GER Barne Pernot
5 DF   GER Seymour Fünger
6 MF   GER Joshua Chima Eze
7 MF   GER Kingsley Sarpei
8 MF   CRO Stipe Batarilo
9 FW   GER Hendrik Mittelstädt
10 MF   GER Arnold Budimbu
11 FW   GER Marvin Mika
13 FW   GER Tim Birkenheuer
14 MF   GER Henri Matter
17 MF   GER Joel Vieting
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF   GER Finn Bauens
19 FW   GER Salim Hadouchi
20 MF   POL Adrian Stanilewicz
21 DF   GER Max Wiese
22 DF   GER Robin Afamefuna
23 DF   GER Abdul-Wahid Bancé
24 DF   GER Achunike Ekene
26 DF   GER Younes Derbali
27 MF   GER Gianluis Di Fine
28 MF   GER Nik Orth
29 FW   GER Danny Breitfelder
30 GK   GER Lennart Winkler
31 MF   GER Julius Biada
33 GK   GER Lennart Stollenwerk

Recent seasons

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The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[3][4][5]

Year Division Tier Position
1967–68 Regionalliga West II 16th
1972–73 Regionalliga West II 2nd ↑
1973–74 1. Bundesliga I 17th ↓
1999–2000 2. Bundesliga II 16th ↓
2000–01 Regionalliga Nord III 4th
2001–02 Regionalliga Nord 18th ↓
2002–03 Oberliga Nordrhein IV 10th
2003–04 Oberliga Nordrhein 8th
2004–05 Oberliga Nordrhein 18th ↓
2005–06 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein V 7th
2006–07 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein 9th
2007–08 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein 2nd ↑
2008–09 NRW-Liga V 9th
2009–10 NRW-Liga 14th
2010–11 NRW-Liga 3rd ↑
2011–12 Regionalliga West IV 7th
2012–13 Regionalliga West 2nd
2013–14 Regionalliga West 1st ↑
2014–15 3. Liga III 14th
2015–16 3. Liga 11th
2016–17 3. Liga 16th
2017–18 3. Liga 8th
2018–19 3. Liga 19th ↓
2019–20 Regionalliga West IV 10th
2020–21 Regionalliga West 4th
2021–22 Regionalliga West 5th
2022–23 Regionalliga West 6th
2023–24 Regionalliga West 4th
Key
↑ Promoted ↓ Relegated

Women's football

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The women's football department was founded 2003 and has experienced rapid growth. The team had been often qualified as winner of the Middle Rhine Cup for the DFB-Pokal Frauen.

In the season 2024/25 the women's team will take part in the third-tier Regionalliga West. 2023/25 the team is in the Eighth-finals of DFB-Pokal Frauen.[6]

Famous Fortuna players

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References

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  1. ^ "Deinfussballklub.De" (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  2. ^ Fortuna Köln squad 2024/2025
  3. ^ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables. Retrieved 3 December 2015
  4. ^ SC Fortuna Köln (in German) Fussball.de. Retrieved 3 December 2015
  5. ^ 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  6. ^ Achtelfinale Sportschau
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