Wuppertaler SV

This is truly one of the legendary clubs of German soccer, and anyone who doesn't think so is obviously a Dummkopf.

Don't be fooled by the current crap performance and mediocre standings in the Regionalliga. Once you become a fan of WSV, you'll never give it up!

OK enough of the crap from a long time fan. The reality is that this club has been going nowehere for several years, and a city of 400,000 has failed to get behind their team.

Soccer in Wuppertal tended to follow regional lines, as the city itself was only founded in 1929, as a merger between several independent towns, such as Elberfeld, Barmen, Vohwinkel, Cronenburg, Ronsdorf etc. All these towns had their own clubs, although Barmen tended to emerge as the strongest in the 1930s.

Many of the clubs perished in WWII, and after the restart, several mergers took place. Eventually, with encouragement of the mayor, the two leading clubs decided to form WSV: In 1954, the members of district clubs TSG Vohwinkel and SSV Wuppertal voted to band together as Wuppertaler Sport Verein.

WSV was a decent 2nd division club in the 1950s and 1960s. They often played in the top flight regional league, the Oberliga West. In the early 1970s, the club made it's legendary climb to the Bundesliga, finishing 4th in it's inaugural season of 72-73 and entering the UEFA Cup. In this period, their most famous player was Günter "Meister" Pröpper, who scored a record 52 goals in the 1972 campaign. Things looked bright for the future, but basically the squad got old and only crap players were brought in to replace the veterans. After 3 years, WSV was relegated back to the 2nd division, where they remained competitive for a while before dropping again.

Subsequent history has been less than glorious, as the club barely missed bankruptcy in 1998, and was merely trying to hang on in the 3rd division inthe hope of sneaking into the merged 3rd division structure that the DFB imposed before 2000.

After the bankruptcy fiasco, the 98-99 season was again one of "promises" of management and bold statements that were not kept. The team continued to stink up the joint half the time, and occasionally play brilliantly. However, the last laugh was when the league voted to kick WSV's ass out and forcibly relegate them for not paying required dues. WSV dutifully won the Oberliga the next season, and after more financial shenanigans, was finally allowed to play in the promotion playoffs. Here they failed, just another in a seemingly unending series of disasters. In the first year, WSV won the title, but crashed in the promotion playoffs. The next two years saw them finishing 2nd to the "amateur" squads of Bundesliga teams, before they finally secured automatic promotion in 2003.

WSV has basically bummed around, mostly disappointing their zillions of fans around the world. Every now and then, the club throws the fan a bone, like in the 2007/08 DFB Cup, when they knocked out Hertha BSC 2-0 and then faced Bayern München. Such was the demand for tickets, that the match was moved to Schalke. A sell out crowd of 61,000 saw WSV hold off Bayern 2-2 at half, before getting rolled 2-5.

The initial 3.Liga season was pathetic. 35 years removed from the Bundesliga, it certainly looks like another 35 is needed to go back up.

Things actually got worse. In 2013, WSV was bankrupt, and members were feuding with management. A fan initiative called "WSV 2.0" brought together interested parties that basically intended to kick out the long running control of Friedhelm Runge, which had seen the club continue to sink. It was successful, and the first step was to go into administration and voluntarily drop down the 5th division, the lowest in club history.

Fullname Wuppertaler Sport-Verein e.V.
City Wuppertal (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 365,000 (2002).
Address Hubertusallee 4, 42117 Wuppertal
Phone: (0202) 74 12 85

Colors Red/Blue vertical stripes, blue pants. Road uniform varies, sometimes yellow shirt. In 2000, they also occasionally played in white.

Nicknames Löwen (lions)

Stadium Zoo-Stadion, Capacity: some 28,000.
It is basically a decripit facility, that has the goofy bicycle track around the field. Wooden benches, could give you a case of Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung. There have been some additions, such as an electronic scoreboard.

Tickets 7-12 euros (2014). Kids under 11 are free in standing room, 5 euros in the Tribune. Walkup to ticket booth on game day. No need to scramble, as usually only about 2,000 loyal fans show up. In the good old days, it would overflow capacity, maybe 35,000. Now Wuppertal is disgracefully one of Germany's largest cities without full professional soccer.
Supporters About 2,000 in the 5th division Oberliga in 2014, which was actually pretty decent, similar to some of their 4th division years. Averaged 6,700 in 2004 (Regionalliga). There is a dedicated core of supporters, but the city is not really supporting the club. The biggest fan clubs are the Schwebende Jonges and the WSV-Szene-Westerwald. WSV has a bad reputation because of a hard-core of troublemakers. Several matches in the 2014 Oberliga season were postponed due to police fear of crowds showing up and overwhelming their villages.
Friends Many WSV fans are also supporters of Schalke, which is not much of a conflict of interest these days, as they will obviously never play each other the way WSV is going. There is also a relationship with Hertha BSC Berlin that goes back to the 2.Liga days. St.Pauli and VFB Leipzig have also been mentioned in a positive light. As far as rivals are concerned, Alemannia Aachen has generally drawn big interest and some good matches.
Foes RW Essen, RW Oberhausen are pretty much despised. Bochum and Düsseldorf, although there hasn't been much rivalry with them for a while.
Heroes Horst Syzmaniak, a boy wonder from the late 1950s, who went on to play in Italy. Famed for his exquisite skills, he was capped 43 times, 20 while playing for WSV. Another hero is Günter "Meister" Pröpper, whose 52 goals in 1972 remains a 2nd division record.
Zeroes Certainly Sven Christians would qualify. The club tried to fire him, and he sued for breach of contract in 1996. Then in 1998 there was the hilarious South African Benson Selea who was subbed in for about 5 minutes and then subbed out in 1998. Apparently the club thought they were signing a polished pro, but I guess he was just a fraud...
Beer Wicküler Pils. It was defunct for a while, but now back, albeit brewed in Köln, but headquarters in Wuppertal. Somehow that is very fitting. Dortmunder brews, especially Kronen and Union also popular. I know a few that like Küppers Kölsch, but they were ex-Kölners. Schwelm-Pils has also been mentioned.
Pub Grub The stadium has the Gastätte am Zoo, which overlooks the stadium. The Bratwürste are supposedly good. New management has been brought in.

Web Official site: www.wuppertalersv.com
As befits a legendary club, WSV has a strong presence on the web. The first place to start is at the original WSV page, the Wuppertaler SV Pacific Edition , published in English. There are also several German pages linked there. In fact, if you were to take the ratio of web pages to fans, WSV probably has the most dedicated cyberfans. For example, Bayern München would have to have about 12,000 web sites to be in the same league.


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

2013-14 (V)     Oberliga Niederhein     3rd
2012-13 (IV)    Regionalliga West	15th
2011-12 (IV)    Regionalliga West	5th
2010-11 (IV)    Regionalliga West	8th

2009-10 (III)   3.Liga                  20th
2008-09 (III)   3.Liga                  14th
2007-08 (III)   Regionalliga Nord       6th
2006-07 (III)   Regionalliga Nord       5th
2005-06 (III)   Regionalliga Nord       8th
2004-05 (III)   Regionalliga Nord       5th
2003-04 (III)   Regionalliga Nord       4th
2002-03 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein      1st
2001-02 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein      2nd
2000-01 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein      2nd 
 
1999-00 (IV)    Oberliga Nordrhein      1st
1998-99 (III)   Regionalliga West/SW    8th
1997-98 (III)   Regionalliga West/SW    12th
1996-97 (III)   Regionalliga West/SW    6th
1995-96 (III)   Regionalliga West/SW    4th
1994-95 (III)   Regionalliga West/SW    5th
1993-94 (II)    2.Bundesliga            18th
1992-93 (II)    2.Bundesliga            13th
1991-92 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   1st 
1990-91 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   3rd

1989-90 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   1st 
1988-89 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   3rd 
1987-88 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   3rd
1986-87 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   11th
1985-86 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   12th
1984-85 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   6th
1983-84 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   3rd
1982-83 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   9th
1981-82 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   6th
1980-81 (III)   Am.Oberliga Nordrhein   3rd

1979-80 (II)    2.Bundesliga Nord       20th
1978-79 (II)    2.Bundesliga Nord       17th
1977-78 (II)    2.Bundesliga Nord       11th
1976-77 (II)    2.Bundesliga Nord       3rd
1975-76 (II)    2.Bundesliga Nord       5th
1974-75 (I)     Bundesliga              18th
1973-74 (I)     Bundesliga              16th
1972-73 (I)     Bundesliga              4th
1971-72 (II)    Regionalliga West       1st
1970-71 (II)    Regionalliga West       3rd

1969-70 (II)    Regionalliga West       3rd
1968-69 (II)    Regionalliga West       5th
1967-68 (II)    Regionalliga West       15th
1966-67 (II)    Regionalliga West       7th 
1965-66 (II)    Regionalliga West       6th 
1964-65 (II)    Regionalliga West       5th 
1963-64	(II)	Regionalliga West	2nd

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

Fullname	Wuppertaler Sport-Verein e.V.
City	Wuppertal (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 365,000 (2002).
Address	Hubertusallee 4, 42117 Wuppertal Phone: (0202) 74 12 85
Colors	Red/Blue vertical stripes, blue pants. Road uniform varies, sometimes yellow shirt. In 2000, they also occasionally played in white.
Nicknames	Löwen (lions)
Stadium	Zoo-Stadion, Capacity: some 28,000. It is basically a decripit facility, that has the goofy bicycle track around the field. Wooden benches, could give you a case of Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung. There have been some additions, such as an electronic scoreboard.
Tickets	7-12 euros (2014). Kids under 11 are free in standing room, 5 euros in the Tribune. Walkup to ticket booth on game day. No need to scramble, as usually only about 2,000 loyal fans show up. In the good old days, it would overflow capacity, maybe 35,000. Now Wuppertal is disgracefully one of Germany's largest cities without full professional soccer.
Supporters	About 2,000 in the 5th division Oberliga in 2014, which was actually pretty decent, similar to some of their 4th division years. Averaged 6,700 in 2004 (Regionalliga). There is a dedicated core of supporters, but the city is not really supporting the club. The biggest fan clubs are the Schwebende Jonges and the WSV-Szene-Westerwald. WSV has a bad reputation because of a hard-core of troublemakers. Several matches in the 2014 Oberliga season were postponed due to police fear of crowds showing up and overwhelming their villages.
Friends	Many WSV fans are also supporters of Schalke, which is not much of a conflict of interest these days, as they will obviously never play each other the way WSV is going. There is also a relationship with Hertha BSC Berlin that goes back to the 2.Liga days. St.Pauli and VFB Leipzig have also been mentioned in a positive light. As far as rivals are concerned, Alemannia Aachen has generally drawn big interest and some good matches.
Foes	RW Essen, RW Oberhausen are pretty much despised. Bochum and Düsseldorf, although there hasn't been much rivalry with them for a while.
Heroes	Horst Syzmaniak, a boy wonder from the late 1950s, who went on to play in Italy. Famed for his exquisite skills, he was capped 43 times, 20 while playing for WSV. Another hero is Günter "Meister" Pröpper, whose 52 goals in 1972 remains a 2nd division record.
Zeroes	Certainly Sven Christians would qualify. The club tried to fire him, and he sued for breach of contract in 1996. Then in 1998 there was the hilarious South African Benson Selea who was subbed in for about 5 minutes and then subbed out in 1998. Apparently the club thought they were signing a polished pro, but I guess he was just a fraud...
Beer	Wicküler Pils. It was defunct for a while, but now back, albeit brewed in Köln, but headquarters in Wuppertal. Somehow that is very fitting. Dortmunder brews, especially Kronen and Union also popular. I know a few that like Küppers Kölsch, but they were ex-Kölners. Schwelm-Pils has also been mentioned.
Pub Grub	The stadium has the Gastätte am Zoo, which overlooks the stadium. The Bratwürste are supposedly good. New management has been brought in.
Web	Official site: www.wuppertalersv.com As befits a legendary club, WSV has a strong presence on the web. The first place to start is at the original WSV page, the Wuppertaler SV Pacific Edition , published in English. There are also several German pages linked there. In fact, if you were to take the ratio of web pages to fans, WSV probably has the most dedicated cyberfans. For example, Bayern München would have to have about 12,000 web sites to be in the same league.