MSV Duisburg
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| Full name | Meidericher Spielverein Duisburg 02 e.V. | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Zebras | ||
| Founded | 1902 | ||
| Ground | MSV-Arena | ||
| Capacity | 31,500 | ||
| Chairman | Walter Hellmich | ||
| Manager |  Rudi Bommer | ||
| League | 1. Bundesliga | ||
| 2006-07 | 2. Bundesliga, 3rd (promoted) | ||
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MSV Duisburg is a German football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed "the Zebras" for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was one of the original members of the Bundesliga when it was formed in 1963.
History
Early years
The club was founded in 1902 as Meidericher Sportverein representing the Meiderich district of the city. Three years later they absorbed the club Sport Club Viktoria Meiderich. In 1967, they took on their current name, acknowledging their role as the city's most popular and successful side.
While Duisburg has always been a competitive side, real success has so far eluded them. Early in their history they captured a number of local championships, and even enjoyed a pair of undefeated seasons (1913-14) when they scored 113 goals while only giving up 12. In 1929 they won the first Niederrhein championship and qualified for the first time for the national championship rounds, repeating the feat in 1931.
However, the club then went into a tailspin from which they didn't really recover until the 1950s when they began once again to field decent sides. During World War II the club came close to folding, but returned to play after the war emerging as city champions in 1946. In 1951, Duisburg earned promotion to the top-flight Oberliga West with their first place finish in the 2. Oberliga West. The Oberliga West was the most competitive division of German football at the time, and except for the 1954-55 season, Duisburg would play first division football there right up to the time of the formation of the Bundesliga.
Entry to the Bundesliga
The club's play was good enough to earn a place as one of the original sixteen teams in Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga, in 1963. That first season was their most successful as they went on to a second place finish to champions FC Köln. The "Zebras" spent nearly twenty years in the upper league before slipping to the 2.Bundesliga in 1982-83 and then becoming one of German football's "elevator teams", named for their frequent up and down moves between divisions. Even so, they managed another eight seasons in the Bundesliga over two-and-half decades.
Current
For the 2007-2008 season MSV Duisburg has again been promoted to the 1.Bundesliga by finishing third in the 2006-07 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, behind Karlsruher SC and Hansa Rostock. MSV defeated Rot-Weiss Essen in a dramatic contest on the last day of the season by three goals to none, which secured their promotion for the fifth time in the last two decades while relegating Essen.
Honours
Duisburg's honours are limited to their second-place finish in 1963, a UEFA Cup semi-final appearance in 1978-79, three losing appearances in the German Cup final (1966, 1975 and 1998), and a title as German amateur champions in 1987-88 when they played in the tier III Amateur Oberliga Nordrhein. They are however, the answer to a Bundesliga trivia question: they were the victors in the most lopsided Bundesliga away win ever played when they beat sad-sacks Tasmania 1900 Berlin 0:9 in Berlin in 1966.
The club's youth side has won several national championships.
Current squad 2007/08
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Famous players
- Ali Bilgin
- Michael Bella
- Bernard Dietz
- Kurt Jara
- Detlef Pirsig
- Michael Preetz
- Helmut Rahn
- Rudolf Seliger
- Ronald Worm
- Klaus Wunder
- Ahn Jung-Hwan
- Kees Bregman
Selected Former Coaches
Team trivia
- Tatort, a popular crime series in Germany, features an episode entitled Zweierlei Blut (Blood of Two Kinds) which deals with a murder in the MSV Duisburg hooligan scene. In one scene, Inspector Horst Schimanski is beaten to a pulp, and dragged naked into the centre circle of the Wedaustadion.
