Karlsruher SC facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Karlsruher SC

Full name	Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V.
Nickname(s)	KSC, Eurofighter (since 93–94 season)
Founded	6 June 1894; 131 years ago (1894-06-06)
Ground	BBBank Wildpark
Ground Capacity	34,302
President	Holger Siegmund-Schultze
Head coach	Christian Eichner
League	2. Bundesliga
2020–21	2. Bundesliga, 6th of 18
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., often called Karlsruher SC or just KSC, is a German football club. It is based in the city of Karlsruhe, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The team currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, which is the second-highest football league in Germany.

KSC has a rich history. They won the German championship way back in 1909. They also won the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) twice, in 1955 and 1956. In Europe, KSC won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1996. This was their most recent big win.

The club was first formed as Karlsruher Fussball Club Phönix in 1894. The club you see today came from several mergers in 1952. Because they were successful early on, KSC was one of the first teams to play in the Bundesliga in 1963. For many years, KSC often moved between the top two leagues. Their best Bundesliga season was in 1996, when they finished 6th. They were relegated in 1998 and have mostly played in the second or third tiers since then. KSC has a big rivalry with VfB Stuttgart. This rivalry comes from old feelings between the regions of Badenese and Württemberg.

History of Karlsruher SC

How the club was formed

One of the most successful early clubs was Karlsruher Fussball Club Phönix. It started on June 6, 1894. Its founders were unhappy members of a gymnastics club. This team quickly became strong in their region. They won the national title in 1909. They beat the champions, Viktoria 89 Berlin, 4–2 in the final. In 1912, Phönix joined with KFC Alemannia, which started in 1897. Together, they became KFC Phönix (Phönix Alemannia).

The first logo of Phönix Karlsruhe in 1897

As Phönix Karlsruhe, the club joined the Gauliga Baden. This was one of the top leagues created when German football was reorganized. They dropped out of the first division for one season in 1936. But they returned and played as an average team for several years. In the 1943–44 season, Karlsruhe played with Germania Durlach. Their combined team was called KSG (Kriegssportgemeinschaft) Phönix/Germania Karlsruhe. After World War II, in 1946, Phönix started playing again. They joined the new first division, Oberliga Süd. They finished 15th in their first season. The club was relegated the next year.

Logo of VfB Karlsruhe around 1931

Other clubs also played a part in KSC's history. FC Mühlburg was formed in 1905. It came from 1. FV Sport Mühlburg (1890) and Viktoria Mühlburg (1892). Also, FC Germania (1898) and FC Weststadt (1902) merged to form VfB Karlsruhe in 1911. Later, FC Mühlburg and VfB Karlsruhe merged to create VfB Mühlburg in 1933. The clubs that formed VfB Mühlburg had not been very successful. But the new team started playing in the top-division Gauliga Baden right away in 1933.

VfB Mühlburg was a lower-table team in the 1930s. But their performance got much better in the 1940s. During the war, the Gauliga Baden was split into smaller local leagues. The team managed to finish second three times in their division. The Gauliga Baden stopped in 1944–45. After the war, the club did not play in the top league for a while. They were promoted to the Oberliga Süd in 1947. They usually played in the middle of the table. In 1951, they had a strong season. They almost made it to the national championship rounds. They finished third, just one point behind SpVgg Fürth.

The start of Karlsruher SC

KFC Phoenix and VfB Mühlburg joined together on October 16, 1952. They formed the Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V. The new team had good results for the rest of the 1950s. In 1955, they beat Schalke 04 3–2 to win the DFB-Pokal. They won it again the next year, beating Hamburger SV 3–1. That season, they also played in the national final. They lost 2–4 to Borussia Dortmund. KSC won the Oberliga Süd championship in 1956, 1958, and 1960. They were also runners-up in the DFB-Pokal in 1960. They lost the final match 2–3 to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Their success earned them a spot as one of the sixteen founding clubs in Germany's new professional football league, the Bundesliga, which started in 1963.

Karlsruhe found it hard to play in the top league. They never finished better than 13th place in five seasons. They were finally moved down to the second-division Regionalliga Süd. Over the next three seasons, the team finished first once and second twice. But they could not get promoted. After the 2. Bundesliga was formed in 1974, KSC finished first in the 2. Bundesliga Süd. They returned to the top league for the 1975–76 season. But they only stayed for two years. They returned to the first division in 1980. They spent four seasons there before being sent down again. After two years, they came back to the Bundesliga in 1987. This started a longer stay in the top league.

The Schäfer era: A time of success

Under the new coach Winfried Schäfer, KSC's return to the top league was successful. For the first time, the team started to move out of the bottom half of the league table. In the 1993–94 season, the club had a great run in the UEFA Cup. They reached the semi-finals but lost to Austria Salzburg on away goals. On their way, they beat strong teams like PSV, Valencia, Bordeaux, and Boavista. Their amazing 7–0 win over Valencia in the second round is often seen as a high point in the club's history. Edgar "Euro Eddy" Schmitt scored 4 goals in that game and became a club legend.

Between 1992 and 1997, the club finished in the top nine in the Bundesliga for six seasons in a row. They also played in two more UEFA Cups. They reached the third round in both the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. They were knocked out after losing to Brøndby and Spartak Moscow. In 1995, KSC won the DFB-Hallenpokal. This was an indoor football tournament held during the Bundesliga's winter break. They also played in the final of the DFB-Pokal in 1996 but lost 0–1 to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

As the 1990s ended, Karlsruhe's success began to fade. The club started the 1997–98 Bundesliga season well. They had two wins and a draw in their first three matches. But things went downhill after a 1–6 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. At the winter break, the club was not in the relegation zone. But a series of bad results pushed them down to 15th place. Coach Schäfer was fired in March 1998. But this did not stop the club from dropping to the Second Bundesliga. They finished 16th. The club needed a draw against Hansa Rostock on the last day to avoid relegation. But they lost 2–4. Meanwhile, Borussia Mönchengladbach won and moved ahead of KSC on goal difference.

Life after Bundesliga relegation in 1998

KSC finished fifth in their first season in the 2. Bundesliga after being relegated. They were only two points behind SSV Ulm 1846, who were promoted. However, they finished last in the 1999–2000 season. This was a very tough year for the club financially. They dropped down to the Regionalliga Süd (third tier). The club quickly bounced back. They finished first in the Regionalliga and returned to the second division. After four seasons of average play, where KSC just barely avoided going down further, the team improved a lot. They finished sixth in 2005–06.

From 2007 to today

KSC won the 2007 2. Bundesliga title with three games left. They beat SpVgg Unterhaching 1–0 on April 29. This, combined with a draw by second-placed Hansa Rostock, secured their title. KSC was very strong that season. They played 14 matches without a loss (nine wins, five draws) before losing to Erzgebirge Aue. They were the first team in the history of the single-division 2. Bundesliga to stay in the top spot all season.

In their return season to the Bundesliga in 2007–08, they finished 11th. They started strong and were in a position to qualify for European competitions. But they faded in the second half of the year. The club continued to play poorly in the 2008–09 season. They finished 17th and were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga again. In their next two seasons there, they finished 10th and 15th. Karlsruhe finished 16th in the second division. They faced Jahn Regensburg in relegation play-offs. The teams drew 1–1 in Regensburg and 2–2 in Karlsruhe. This meant Karlsruhe was relegated to the third tier after 12 years because of the away goal rule.

The club successfully came back in 2012–13. They won the championship in the 3. Liga and were promoted back to the 2. Bundesliga.

In 2014–15, the club almost returned to the Bundesliga. They finished third and played a promotion play-off against Hamburg. After a 1–1 draw in Hamburg in the first game, KSC was seconds away from promotion. But Hamburg scored a goal in the 90th minute to force extra time. Hamburg then scored a winning away goal late in the second half. This kept them in the Bundesliga for another season.

In 2019, Karlsruhe beat Preußen Münster 4–1 on matchday 31. This win meant they returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two years away.

A chart showing Karlsruher SC's league performance over the years

League journey over time

Honours and Trophies

Here are the main titles and awards the club has won:

• All titles before 1952 were won by Phönix Karlsruhe.

Players of Karlsruher SC

Current squad

No. Position Player 2 DF Sebastian Jung 4 DF Marcel Beifus 5 MF Robin Heußer 6 MF Leon Jensen 8 MF Noah Rupp 9 FW Andrin Hunziker (on loan from Basel) 10 MF Marvin Wanitzek (captain) 11 FW Budu Zivzivadze 15 MF Dženis Burnić 16 FW Luca Pfeiffer (on loan from VfB Stuttgart) 17 MF Nicolai Rapp 18 GK Aki Koch 19 MF Louey Ben Farhat

No. Position Player 20 DF David Herold 21 MF Lilian Egloff 22 DF Christoph Kobald 24 FW Fabian Schleusener 26 DF Benedikt Bauer 28 DF Marcel Franke 29 GK Max Weiß 29 FW Lasse Günther (on loan from Augsburg) 31 FW Bambasé Conté (on loan from TSG Hoffenheim) 32 DF Robin Bormuth 33 GK Robin Himmelmann 39 MF Efe-Kaan Sihlaroglu

Players out on loan

No. Position Player MF Eren Öztürk (at VSG Altglienicke until 30 June 2025)

Reserve team squad

Coaching Staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Christian Eichner
Assistant head coach	Zlatan Bajramović
Assistant coach	Sirus Motekallemi
Goalkeeper coach	Markus Miller
Fitness coach	Florian Böckler
Rehab coach	Wendelin Wäcker
Team Doctor	Dr. Marcus Schweizer
Physiotherapist	Matteo Poppert Kevin Benz
Kit man	Torsten Merkel Cafer Aydogan
Laundry	Gloria Schorb
Bus Driver	Thomas Laschuk Andreas Heinrich
Technical Director	Necat Aygün
Youth Chief Scout	Sebastian Freis
Team Manager	Burkhard Reich Sarah Saliba

Coaching history

Coaches of the club since 1952:

Recent Seasons for Karlsruher SC

Here's how the main club team has performed in recent seasons:

Key

See also

In Spanish: Karlsruher SC para niños