SG Wattenscheid 09


They're basically a semi-obscure Ruhr club, but for a short period, they were a shining light. The most amazing thing about Wattenscheid is that they managed to play in the Bundesliga from 1990-1994. Other than that, it's basically a story of failure since then, and whether they ever bounce back seems pretty unlikely.

The history of the club is somewhat mysterious, to the point that the club website has a detailed historical analysis. And I mean detailed, about 200 pages!! And that only runs to 1960...In general, it would seem like that two "Ballspielvereine" got together in 1909 to form a single club. Throughout the years there were more mergers and even divorces, but by 1934, the club was known as SG Wattenscheid. Nevertheless, the club was unable to achieve anything, until they finally got pomoted to the gauliga Westfalen in 1944, only for Allied bombers to pretty much put an end to the season. After WWII, the club was clearly 2nd class, and it wasn't until the mid 1970s when W09 began moving up into the 2nd division. At this time, they pulled somewhat of a coup by enticing Argentine international Carlos Babington to join. Several non-descript years followed until in 1990 they were sensationally promoted into the Bundesliga. Under the leadership of coach Hannes Bongartz, they defied the odds and managed to last four seasons.

1998-99 brought relegation back to the 3rd division. Despite some decent efforts, they weren't good enough. They easily qualified for the new combined Regionalliga the next season. But things continued to go downhill. By 2007, Wattenscheid was relegated once again, dropping down to the 5th division Verbandsliga, the lowest point in history.

Fullname Sportgemeinschaft Wattenscheid 1909 e.V.
City Bochum (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 390,000 (2002). Wattenscheid was once an independent township, and was merged in 1975.
Address Postfach 600413, Lohrheidestr. 82, 44866 Bochum. Phone: (0 23 27) 32 11 06.
Colors All sorts, but basically yellow with black trim. Everynow and then they throw in some reds to confuse people.
Stadium Lohrheide-Stadion. Capacity: 19,500 (4,800 seats)
Nickname
Tickets Between 7-13 euros (2004). Almost always available, despite the small park
Supporters A very small bunch. They draw horrible for what has been a decent team many times. Averaged 1,600 in 2004 (Regionalliga).
Friends
Foes
Heroes Soleyman Sane scored 39 times in the Bundesliga for W09, midfielder Torsten Fink another 25 times. Carlos Babington was perhaps the first Argentine international to play in Germany.
Zeroes
Beer Warsteiner
Pub Grub Kicker Sportmagazin voted Wattenscheid as having the best Bratwurst in the 2.Liga back in 1999.
The Net Official site at www.sgwattenscheid09.de. However, long serving is a semi-official site as well www.sport-wat.de

Recent History:
--------------

1963-64	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	12th
1964-65	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	14th
1965-66	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	4th
1966-67	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	4th
1967-68	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	3rd
1968-69	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	1st
1969-70	(II)	Regionalliga West	8th
1970-71	(II)	Regionalliga West	13th
1971-72	(II)	Regionalliga West	12th
1972-73	(II)	Regionalliga West	5th
1973-74	(II)	Regionalliga West	1st
1974-75	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	7th
1975-76	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	8th
1976-77	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	15th
1977-78	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	6th
1978-79	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	10th
1979-80	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	5th
1980-81	(II)	2.Bundesliga Nord	10th
1981-82	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		17th	1860 Munchen denied license
1982-83	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		15th
1983-84	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		15th
1984-85	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		10th
1985-86	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		9th
1986-87	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		11th
1987-88	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		4th
1988-89	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		6th
1989-90	(II)	2.Bundesliga 		2nd
1990-91	(I)	Bundesliga		11th
1991-92	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
1992-93	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1993-94	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
1994-95	(II)	2.Bundesliga		9th
1995-96	(II)	2.Bundesliga		13th
1996-97	(III)	Regionalliga West/SW	1st
1997-98	(II)	2.Bundesliga		14th
1998-99	(II)	2.Bundesliga		17th
1999-00	(III)	Regionalliga West/SW	5th
2000-01	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	11th
2001-02	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	4th
2002-03	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	4th
2004-05	(IV)	Oberliga Westfalen	1st
2005-06	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	16th
2006-07	(IV)	Oberliga Westfalen	16th
2007-08	(V)	Verbandsliga Westfalen


(c) Abseits Guide to Germany