1. FFC Turbine Potsdam facts for kids
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| Full name | 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V. | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Turbinen (Turbines) Torbienen (Goal-bees) |
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| Founded | 3 March 1971 | ||
| Ground | Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion, Potsdam |
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| Capacity | 10,499 | ||
| President | Rolf Kutzmutz | ||
| Head coach | Sebastian Middeke | ||
| League | Frauen-Bundesliga | ||
| 2023–24 | 1st of 14 (promoted) | ||
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1. FFC Turbine Potsdam is a famous German women's football club. It is located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. The team is one of the most successful women's football clubs in Germany.
They have won six German league titles, called the Frauen-Bundesliga. They also won the UEFA Women's Champions League twice. Turbine Potsdam plays their home games at the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion. Their main rivals are Eintracht Frankfurt.
Before Germany became one country again, Turbine Potsdam was a top team in East Germany. They are the only team from East Germany to win the unified German league. They won the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2005. They beat the Swedish team Djurgården/Älvsjö 5–1 in the final. They won it again in 2010 against Olympique Lyonnais after a penalty shootout.
In 2020, Turbine Potsdam started working with the men's football club Hertha BSC. Hertha BSC is from the nearby city of Berlin.
Contents
History of Turbine Potsdam
How the Club Started
BSG Turbine Potsdam was first created in 1955. It was a sports club supported by a local energy company. The men's football team played at lower levels.
On New Year's Eve in 1970, a man named Bernd Schröder found a note. It said a women's football team would start on March 3, 1971. No one ever found out who wrote the note.
The women's team officially began on March 3, 1971. Bernd Schröder became their first coach. Their first game was on May 25, 1971. They won 3–0 against Empor Tangermünde. A year later, Turbine won their first district championship.
Coach Schröder always looked for new players. He often found athletes who used to do track and field. Since he was a senior employee, he could help new players find jobs and homes.
Winning Championships and Travel Challenges (1979–1990)
In 1979, the first unofficial women's football championship of East Germany was held. Turbine Potsdam was a favorite but did not reach the final. They also missed the final in 1980.
The 1981 final was held in Potsdam. Coach Schröder felt a lot of pressure. His team won their first championship that year. Each player received 50 East German marks. Schröder was given an award for his work.
Turbine also won championships in 1982 and 1983. Their success became known in Europe. They were invited to play in tournaments in the Netherlands and Italy. However, the team was not allowed to travel to these countries. East Germany did not let them go to "capitalist" countries. They were even stopped from going to tournaments in other communist countries if Western European teams were there.
Once, Schröder tried to get around these rules. He asked a Hungarian club to change the list of teams. They replaced teams from Austria and Yugoslavia with teams from Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. The team went to Hungary, but a party member realized something was wrong. Turbine played in the tournament, but Schröder was banned from international travel for a year.
After the ban, Turbine was invited to a tournament in Poland. This time, Schröder changed the team list himself. Again, a party member traveled with them. As a compromise, Turbine played a friendly match. After this, the club was banned from traveling outside East Germany for a long time.
In 1989, Turbine won their sixth and final East German championship. Many players retired. After the Berlin Wall fell, the company supporting the club faced money problems. On January 1, 1990, the club became SSV Turbine Potsdam. Soon after, they played their first game against a team from West Germany. Many male players from East Germany moved to West German clubs. But most female players stayed in the East. In 1991, Turbine finished third and missed qualifying for the Bundesliga.
Difficult Times and Promotion (1990–1997)
Turbine won the Oberliga Nordost (second division). But they failed to get promoted in the playoffs. Schröder stepped down as head coach after 21 years. He became the manager instead.
The club had money problems. Sometimes, they were not sure if they could afford to travel for away games. Many players also lost their jobs. Peter Raupach became the new coach, but he was not successful. Frank Lange took over for the 1993/94 season. He led the team to win the championship. After beating Wattenscheid 09 3–2, Turbine was promoted to the Bundesliga.
Their first Bundesliga match was very tough. Turbine lost 0–11 at home. The team kept losing games and was knocked out of the cup. At the end of 1994, Turbine played at VfB Rheine. Schröder had told Rheine's manager that Lange would be fired if Turbine lost. Turbine lost, and Schröder fired Lange in front of journalists and players.
Former player Sabine Seidel coached the team for the rest of the season. Turbine also got three players from Russia. The team worked hard to avoid being sent back to the second division. They finished sixth in their group. Lothar Müller became the new coach. He was from Western Berlin. This made Turbine a good option for players from Western Berlin. With new players, their defense improved. But the team finished sixth again.
The 1996/97 season was the last with two Bundesliga groups. To join the single top league, teams needed to finish in the top four. Turbine finished fifth after a tough season. But they qualified after a playoff game. The team reached the cup semi-final for the first time. They lost 2–3 against Eintracht Rheine. The club then hired Eckart Düwiger as their new coach. He was Turbine's first full-time coach.
Rising to the Top (1997–2005)
Turbine signed German international player Ariane Hingst. Her start with the team was not easy. She kept some distance from her teammates. The situation changed when the club's main sponsor went bankrupt. The club could not pay Düwiger's salary. He resigned, and Bernd Schröder became the head coach again. Striker Conny Pohlers returned to the team. Turbine finished the 1997/98 season in sixth place.
On March 12, 1999, the women's section of SSV Turbine Potsdam decided to form their own club. The 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam was founded on April 1, 1999. The team finished the season in fourth place. That season, they had a famous 4–4 draw against 1. FFC Frankfurt. Frankfurt was leading 4–0 at halftime, but Potsdam came back to tie the game. This game started the big rivalry between the two clubs. Turbine reached the cup semi-final again but lost 2–0.
In the last season of the 20th century, Turbine finished fourth again. For the first time, they had more wins than losses. They were also unbeaten at home. Ariane Hingst became the team captain. She stayed in this role until 2007. Schröder took a risk with this choice. He wanted Hingst to take more responsibility. This decision helped the team a lot in the years to come. In the same year, Turbine's girls' team won the first-ever German Juniors Championship. They beat Bayern Munich 7–1. Young player Viola Odebrecht became a regular starter in the first team next season.
In 2001, Turbine finished in second place. For the third time, the team reached the cup semi-final. But they lost in a penalty shootout. The team stayed in second place in the 2001/02 season. They signed goalkeeper Nadine Angerer before the season. Conny Pohlers became Turbine's first top scorer in the league with 27 goals. However, their fourth cup semi-final was also not successful. They lost 2–3 against Hamburger SV. They then signed striker Petra Wimbersky, young international Navina Omilade, and talented Anja Mittag.
The 2002/03 season started with a shock. They lost in the first cup round. But the Bundesliga season was much better. On the last day, Frankfurt, who was leading, came to Potsdam's Karl Liebknecht Stadion. Frankfurt was two points ahead, so Potsdam had to win to take the title. This "final game" set a record for German women's football. 7,900 fans watched, and the game was shown live on TV. In the 89th minute, Petra Wimbersky scored a goal. The crowd started to celebrate. But the lineswoman called her offside, and Frankfurt became champions.
Four Turbine players went to the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the USA. Nadine Angerer, Ariane Hingst, Viola Odebrecht, and Conny Pohlers became world champions. In the third round of the German cup, Potsdam played Hamburger SV again. Hamburg led 1–0 until the last minutes. Viola Odebrecht scored a goal to tie the game. Jennifer Zietz scored the winning goal in overtime. Turbine reached the final for the first time. They played their rivals, 1. FFC Frankfurt. Turbine played very well, won 3–0, and won their first German cup. In the winter, Turbine also won the Indoor Championship. This was their first trophy after Germany became one country again.
In the league, Turbine kept winning. After a 3–1 win, Turbine was one point ahead of Frankfurt before the last match. Turbine went to Frankfurt for the deciding game. 4,800 people watched Turbine win 7–2. Potsdam finally won their first championship after Germany reunited. This title allowed them to play in the UEFA Women's Cup.
Turbine played very well in Europe. They reached the final and played against Djurgårdens IF/Älvsjö from Sweden. Turbine won the first game in Stockholm 2–0. In the second game, early goals by Conny Pohlers and Petra Wimbersky helped them win 3–1. This was Turbine's biggest win so far. 8,700 people watched the game in Potsdam. This was the largest crowd ever at a Turbine home match. Turbine also won the German cup and Indoor Championship again, both against Frankfurt. However, they finished third in the 2004/05 Bundesliga season.
Rebuilding the Team (2005–2008)
Frankfurt led the Bundesliga for a long time in the 2005/06 season. Then they lost, and Potsdam took the lead. Turbine then won 6–2 at Frankfurt. Conny Pohlers scored four goals in that game. They also had a good 2–0 win over Duisburg. After a 3–1 win at Hamburg, Turbine won their second championship after Germany reunited. Conny Pohlers scored 36 goals and was the league's top scorer for the second time. In the cup final, Potsdam won 2–0 against Frankfurt. Two late goals by Isabel Kerschowski and Petra Wimbersky secured the win. However, Frankfurt won the UEFA Women's cup by beating Potsdam twice.
After the season, Wimbersky left the club to go to Frankfurt. Young Finnish player Essi Sainio was the only new important player for Turbine. After a bad start to the season and an early cup loss, Turbine was far from winning the title again. In March 2007, Ariane Hingst announced she was leaving. Then Conny Pohlers and Navina Omilade also said they would leave. Coach Bernd Schröder faced a lot of criticism from fans. However, Schröder put the players who were leaving on the reserve bench. He put young players like 18-year-old defender Babett Peter and 16-year-old striker Bianca Schmidt into the main team. This decision worked out well. Turbine did not lose any of their last 13 matches and finished third.
At the start of 2008, Turbine signed Norwegian player Leni Larsen Kaurin. She was the only Norwegian woman playing football in Germany at the time. At the end of the 2008/09 season, Turbine surprisingly won the championship. It was a very close race against Bayern Munich and Duisburg.
Becoming a European Top Team (2008–Today)
Turbine won the German Bundesliga three years in a row, from 2009 to 2011. They won the Champions League in 2010 and reached the final in 2011. During this time, they also finished second in the German cup in 2009 and 2011. They continued to play in the 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League knockout stage.
Team Colors and Badge
The club's colors are blue and white. The team wears an all-blue kit for home games. For away games, they wear an all-white kit. Sometimes, they mix parts of the home and away kits. Their third kit is all red.
The club's badge is a dark blue circle. The club name is written around the top and bottom. There are three stars on each side, but they do not have a special meaning. The left side of the inside of the badge shows an eagle. This eagle is from the state symbol of Brandenburg. The top right part shows a football. The bottom right part shows the letters "TP," which stand for "Turbine Potsdam."
Stadium
The club plays its home games at the Karl Liebknecht Stadion in Potsdam-Babelsberg. They share this stadium with the men's team SV Babelsberg 03. The stadium can hold 9,254 people. The main stand has 1,482 seats, most of which are covered.
Supporters
The club has two main fan clubs. The Turbine-Adler (Turbine Eagles) started on December 4, 2004. The other fan club, Turbine-Fans BaWü, is for fans from the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Players
Current Squad
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Former Players
- For more details on players, see.
Honours
Turbine Potsdam has won many important titles:
- Frauen-Bundesliga (German League)
- Winners (6): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
- Runners-up: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2012–13
- German Democratic Republic Women's Football Championship (East German League)
- Winners: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989
- DFB Pokal (German Cup)
- Winners (3): 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
- Runners-up: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2021–22
- UEFA Women's Cup/Champions League (European Competition)
- Winners: 2004–05, 2009–10
- Runners-up: 2005–06, 2010–11
Indoor Football
- DFB-Hallenpokal: 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014
Youth Teams
- German Juniors Champions: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009
Images for kids
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Turbine flag at Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion
See also
In Spanish: 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam para niños
