FC Würzburger Kickers facts for kids
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| Full name | Fußball-Club Würzburger Kickers e.V. | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Rothosen (Red Shorts) | ||
| Founded | 17 November 1907 | ||
| Ground | Akon Arena | ||
| Capacity | 13,090 | ||
| President | Michael Grieger | ||
| Manager | Marc Reitmaier | ||
| League | Regionalliga Bayern | ||
| 2024–25 | Regionalliga Bayern, 6th of 18 | ||
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Würzburger Kickers is a German football club from the city of Würzburg in Bavaria. They are also known as the Rothosen, which means "Red Shorts". The club has a long history, playing in top leagues before and during World War II.
After the war, they even played in professional football for one season in 1977–78. For a long time, they played in lower amateur leagues, sometimes as low as the seventh level. However, the club made an amazing comeback. In 2014–15, they returned to professional football by getting promoted to the 3. Liga. The very next season, they moved up again to the 2. Bundesliga.
Contents
Club History
How the Club Started
FC Würzburger Kickers was created on November 17, 1907. It was started by high school students in Würzburg. Georg Beer was the first chairman, but Alfred Günzburger soon took over. The team quickly improved and joined the Kreisliga Bayern in 1912.
For most of its early years, the Kickers were a local team. However, they did play three seasons in the top-level Bezirksliga Bayern from 1930 to 1933. They also had two short stays in the Gauliga Bayern, a top league during World War II.
Football Before World War II
Before World War II, the Kickers were the strongest football team in Würzburg. Their local rivals, FV 04 Würzburg, only started to catch up in the late 1920s.
The Kickers were relegated in the 1922–23 season. This meant they missed out on joining the new Bezirksliga Bayern the next year. But they worked hard and were promoted back to the top division for the 1930–31 season. They stayed there until the league ended in 1933.
When the new Gauliga Bayern was formed, the Kickers were not chosen to join. They did not reach the top division again until 1940–41, but were relegated quickly. As World War II was ending, the Kickers had to merge with FV 04. They played together as KSG Würzburg. This combined team finished last in the Gauliga Bayern for two seasons. Football stopped as the war continued, and the team broke up when the war ended.
Sadly, the Kickers' stadium on Randerackerer Straße was completely destroyed by bombs during the war.
After the War: Reaching Professional Football
After World War II, another club, TSV Würzburg, joined the Kickers. The club was then called SV Würzburger Kickers. They played in the Landesliga Bayern and had some good seasons in the Amateurliga Bayern in the 1950s. But they never quite made it to the very top.
In 1967, the club moved to a new stadium, the Stadion am Dallenberg. Finally, in the 1976–77 season, the Kickers were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga Süd. This was a big step into professional football. However, they were relegated back to the Bayernliga the very next season, in 1977–78.
From the 1980s to 2012
The Kickers stayed in the Bayernliga until 1983. They faced money problems and were relegated to the fourth division, the Landesliga Bayern-Nord. This league became the fifth tier in 1994. The club remained in lower amateur leagues for a long time. They only briefly returned to the Bayernliga in 1990–91 and 1997–98.
Between 2002 and 2004, the club had two tough seasons. They dropped down to the sixth-tier Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken and then to the seventh-tier Bezirksliga Unterfranken. But the Kickers fought back! They returned to the Oberliga Bayern after finishing second in the 2007–08 Landesliga season. Here, they played against their local rivals, Würzburger FV, for the first time since 1998–99.
The 2008–09 season was not successful, and the Kickers were immediately relegated back to the Landesliga. It took them until 2012 to win that league again. The team then applied for a license to play in the new fourth-tier Regionalliga Bayern. They won their promotion play-off matches and joined the Regionalliga in 2012. This meant the club jumped from the sixth tier directly to the fourth, skipping the fifth tier entirely!
Recent Success and Promotions
Since their promotion in 2012, the Kickers have had a lot of success. They won the Bavarian Cup in 2014 by beating SV Schalding-Heining in a penalty shootout. This win allowed them to play in the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal, a major German cup competition. In the league, they finished tenth in 2013 and eleventh in 2014.
In the 2014–15 DFB Pokal, the Kickers surprised everyone by knocking out Fortuna Düsseldorf. They were then defeated by Eintracht Braunschweig in the next round. In the 2014–15 season, the Kickers won the Regionalliga Bayern. This gave them a chance to be promoted to the 3. Liga. They played against 1. FC Saarbrücken and won 1–0 away, but lost 1–0 at home. In the exciting penalty shootout, the Kickers won 6–5 and were promoted to the 3. Liga!
In March 2016, the club's fans protested against a possible merger with local rival Würzburger FV. The Mayor of Würzburg had asked the Kickers to discuss merging with other local clubs. This was to get city support for expanding their stadium. The Kickers finished their first 3. Liga season in third place. This meant they qualified for the promotion play-off and the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal.
The club secured promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in almost 40 years. They won 4–1 on total score against MSV Duisburg. Despite starting the season strongly and being in sixth place at halftime, the Kickers were relegated. They finished seventeenth and went back to the 3. Liga at the end of the season.
The club won the 2018–19 Bavarian Cup again. They beat their neighbors and rivals Viktoria Aschaffenburg 3–0 in the final. In January 2020, it was announced that Felix Magath would become the sporting director for the Flyeralarm Global Soccer group. This group includes clubs like Admira Wacker Mödling and Würzburger Kickers.
The Kickers returned to the 2. Bundesliga after the 2019–20 season. They finished second behind Bayern Munich II, who could not be promoted.
Return to Regionalliga
After being promoted to the 2. Bundesliga in 2020, Würzburger Kickers started to struggle. They were relegated after just one season in the 3. Liga in 2021. Then, they were relegated again in the 2021–22 season. This was their second relegation in a row, sending them back to the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
Club Achievements
The Würzburger Kickers have won several important titles:
League Titles
- 3. Liga (Third Division)
- Second Place: 2019–20
- Third Place: 2015–16 (Promoted after play-off)
- Bayernliga (Third Division)
- Champions: 1977
- Bayernliga-Nord (Third Division)
- Second Place: 1955, 1960
- Regionalliga Bayern (Fourth Division)
- Champions: 2014–15
- Landesliga Bayern-Nord (Fourth–Fifth Division)
- Champions: 1990, 1997, 2012
- Second Place: 2008
- Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken (Sixth Division)
- Champions: 2005
- Bezirksliga Unterfranken (Seventh Division)
- Champions: 2004
Cup Titles
- Bavarian Cup
- Winners: 2014, 2016, 2019
Current Players
Here are some of the players currently on the team:
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Club Managers
Here are some of the recent managers who have led the Würzburger Kickers:
| Manager | Start Date | End Date |
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| Predrag Uzelac | April 1, 2009 | October 1, 2009 |
| Dieter Wirsching | October 1, 2009 | June 30, 2010 |
| Anton Kramer | July 1, 2010 | March 2, 2011 |
| Dieter Wirsching | March 3, 2011 | June 30, 2014 |
| Bernd Hollerbach | July 1, 2014 | June 30, 2017 |
| Stephan Schmidt | July 1, 2017 | October 2, 2017 |
| Michael Schiele | October 2, 2017 | September 29, 2020 |
| Marco Antwerpen | September 30, 2020 | November 8, 2020 |
| Bernhard Trares | November 9, 2020 | April 2, 2021 |
| Ralf Santelli Sebastian Schuppan |
April 2, 2021 | June 30, 2021 |
| Torsten Ziegner | July 1, 2021 | October 4, 2021 |
| Danny Schwarz | October 13, 2021 | February 10, 2022 |
| Ralf Santelli | February 10, 2022 | June 30, 2022 |
| Marco Wildersinn | July 1, 2022 | June 30, 2024 |
| Markus Zschiesche | July 1, 2024 | September 9, 2024 |
| Martin Lanig | September 22, 2024 | April 24, 2025 |
Home Stadium
The Kickers have played in three different home stadiums over their history. They started at Galgenberg, also called Kugelfang, for two years. They shared this ground with their local rivals, Würzburger FV.
From 1909 to 1967, the club played at the Randersacker Straße stadium in Sanderau. They had to move because the city was growing.
Since 1967, the club has played at the Stadion am Dallenberg. This stadium can hold 13,090 fans, with 4,000 seated. In 2013, a company called flyeralarm bought the naming rights. So, the stadium is now known as flyeralarm Arena. The stadium was updated in 2005 and got floodlights in 2014. For the 2016–17 season in the 2. Bundesliga, the stadium was made bigger. They also added under-soil heating, which cost about €2 million.
Fans and Rivalries
The Würzburg derby is a strong local rivalry with Würzburger FV. Kickers fans also have a rivalry with fans of 1. FC Schweinfurt 05.
The Würzburg Derby
The Würzburg derby is a football match between Würzburger Kickers and FV Würzburg 04. The first derby was played in 1908, and the Kickers won 5–0. The two clubs have played in the same league many times since 1963. FV Würzburg 04 even stopped playing for a while in 1981 before being reformed. The derby has only been played at a professional level once. This was during the 1977–78 2. Bundesliga Süd season.
DFB Cup Appearances
The Würzburger Kickers have qualified for the first round of the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) ten times. This is a big national competition in Germany.
See also
In Spanish: Wurzburgo Kickers para niños
