Rot-Weiss Oberhausen


Founded 1904 is a fairly pesky and annoying club. They were implicated in the scandals of the early 70s, although not with a smoking gun like Bielefeld or Offenbach. RWO spent a long time rebuilding their reputation.

In December of 1904, Emschertaler SV and Oberhausener TV 1873 got together to form Oberhausener SV. In January 1923, the Duisburg club Styrumer BV merged, and the club was now known as SV 1904 Oberhausen-Styrum. This however only lasted for some 6 months, as many members left to form 1.FC Mülheim-Styrum. The remainder stayed on, and renamed the club to SC Rot_Weiß Oberhausen in 1934. During the Nazi era, RWO was a decent club in the Gauliga Niederrhein, but that division was essentially owned by Fortuna Düsseldorf, so there wasn't much to achieve.

After WWII, RWO eventually established itself in the top regional Oberliga West, and was a founding memeber of the new Regionalliga West in 1963. In the early 1970s, RWO played 3 seasons in the Bundesliga, before finally dropping in 1973. Basically, it was a workhorse team of no-names, although Lothar Kobluhn did manage to win the scoring title for the Bundesliga one season. There were accusations of attempted bribery to sully the name of the club. The DFB penalized RWO 5 points (on 2 pt scale) before the start of the 72/73 season, which was essentially automatic relegation. The next season they finished runner-up in the Regionalliga West, but crashed out in the promotion playoffs. 1975 saw a disaster in the new 2.Liga Nord and relegation down to the 3rd division.

The elevator ride continued as after a few seasons in the 3rd, RWO was back in the 2nd division for about 5 seasons in the 1980s. However, once again the taint of scandal brought a close to the chapter, as financial difficulties led to the DFB denying a professional license. By 1990, RWO had fallen to the 4th division.

Club management started to clean things up, and the club stabilized, so by 1998, they were back at the 2nd level. The 1998-99 season started off poorly, and the pundits prediction of a quick drop to the 3rd division looke pretty obvious, with RWO dead last. But then a new coach, Alexander Ristic, managed to turn things around, and the team put together a great unbeaten run that carried them out of the hole. Although things remained tight, there was little doubt they would stay up, despite a weak finish. As things stabilized, it's not unbelievable to think that RWO may once again make an appearance in the top flight. The 5th place finish in 2004 seemed to indicate that. But the 2.Liga is merciless, and if you miss the boat, don't be surprised if you miss everything...Oberhausen was relegated in 2005.

Oberhausen started another elevator ride, once again climbing into the 2nd division by 2010, but quickly fell back to the 4th level a couple of years later. It's safe to say that RWO will remain one of the prime examples of elevator squads in Germany for the near future.

Fullname Sport-Club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen e.V.
City Oberhausen (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 222,000 (2002).
Address Rechenacker 62, 46049 Oberhausen
Phone: (0208) 25730
Colors Red and white. Away uniform White shirt, light green horizontal stripes, white pants, light green socks.
Nickname Die Kleeblätter (four leaf clovers)
Stadium Niederrheinstadion. Capacity: 21,318 (4,039 seats)
Built in 1926. From the visiting side, you can look into the harbour. The advertising board was apparently bought from Bayer Leverkusen when they refurbished their stadium.
Tickets 7.50-22 euros (2004)
Supporters Things slowly looking up, averaged about 6,300 in 2004 (2.Liga). About 27 registered fan clubs listed on web site.
Friends
Foes Heated rivalries with other Ruhr teams, Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Schalke etc.
Heroes 3 German internationals. Willy Jürissen (6 caps in th 30s), Jürgen Sundermann (1 cap in 1960). Also Erich Juskowiak, from the 50s, capped once for RWO, another 30 for Düsseldorf. Midfielder Lothar Kobluhn sensationally won the scoring title in 1971 with 24 goals - 12 in the last 8 games to save RWO by 1 goal.
Zeroes
Pub Grub RWO runs it own Gaststätte from the club house.
Beer König-Pilsner is a sponsor. www.koenig.de
The Net An official web site, RWO-Online, got started late, but is fairly decent: www.rwo-online.de .

Recent History:
--------------
2013-14 (IV)    Regionalliga West               3rd
2012-13 (IV)    Regionalliga West               8th
2011-12 (III)   3.Liga				19th
2010-11 (II)    2.Liga                          17th

2009-10 (II)    2.Liga                          14th
2008-09 (II)    2.Liga                          9th
2007-08 (III)   Regionalliga Nord               2nd
2006-07 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein              1st
2005-06 (III)   Regionalliga Nord               17th
2004-05 (II)    2.Liga                          16th
2003-04 (II)    2.Liga                          5th
2002-03 (II)    2.Liga                          14th
2001-02 (II)    2.Liga                          12th
2000-01 (II)    2.Liga                          12th

1999-00 (II)    2.Liga                          6th 
1998-99 (II)    2.Liga                          12th
1997-98 (III)   Regionalliga W/SW               1st 
1996-97 (III)   Regionalliga W/SW               2nd
1995-96 (III)   Regionalliga W/SW               8th
1994-95 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein              1st
1993-94 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein           7th
1992-93 (IV)    Verbandsliga Niederrhein        1st
1991-92 (IV)    Verbandsliga Niederrhein        3rd
1990-91 (IV)    Verbandsliga Niederrhein        5th

1989-90 (IV)    Verbandsliga Niederrhein        14th
1988-89 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein           19th
1987-88 (II)    2.Liga                          16th    license denied
1986-87 (II)    2.Liga                          16th
1985-86 (II)    2.Liga                          11th
1984-85 (II)    2.Liga                          12th
1983-84 (II)    2.Liga                          16th
1982-83 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein           1st
1981-82 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein           4th
1980-81 (II)    2.Liga Nord                     14th

1979-80 (II)    2.Liga Nord                     15th
1978-79 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein           1st
1977-78 (III)   Amateurliga Niederrhein         2nd 
1976-77 (III)   Amateurliga Niederrhein         8th 
1975-76 (III)   Amateurliga Niederrhein         5th 
1974-75 (II)    2.Liga Nord                     18th
1974-75 (II)    2.Liga Nord                     18th
1972-73 (I)     Bundesliga                      18th
1971-72 (I)     Bundesliga                      15th
1970-71 (I)     Bundesliga                      16th

1969-70 (I)     Bundesliga                      14th
1967-68 (II)    Regionalliga West               3rd 
1966-67 (II)    Regionalliga West               6th 
1965-66 (II)    Regionalliga West               4th
1964-65 (II)    Regionalliga West               4th
1963-64	(II)	Regionalliga West		7th


(c) Abseits Guide to Germany : www.abseits-soccer.com