Wormatia Worms

VfR Wormatia 08 Worms

Full name	Verein für Rasenspiele Wormatia Worms 08 e.V.
Founded	23 May 1908
Ground	EWR-Arena
Capacity	5,724
Chairman	Tim Brauer
Manager	Marcel Geebhardt
League	Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar (V)
2019–20	7th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

VfR Wormatia 08 Worms is a German association football club that plays in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club and its historical predecessors were regular participants in regional first-division football competition until the formation of the national top-flight Bundesliga in 1963.

History[]

Logo used until 2010

SC Wormatia was formed on 23 May 1908 and renamed VfL Wormatia Worms in 1921 just before merging with VfR Wormatia Worms in 1922. VfR was the product of the 1919 merger of Union 08 and Viktoria 1912. Both VfL and VfR were playing in the Kreisliga Hessen (I).^[1]

The combined side played in the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar earning mid-table results. In 1927, SC joined the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen and enjoyed first- and second-place finishes in that league's Gruppe Hessen. German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen Gauligen, or regional upper class leagues, in 1933. Wormatia found themselves playing in the Gauliga Südwest (I) where they continued to play well, capturing the division title three times. The side was merged into Reichsbahn TuSV Worms in 1938 and then played on under that name. The Gauliga Südwest was broken up into a two divisions in 1941 and the club went to the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, playing there for only a couple of seasons before the end of World War II and the collapse of league play.

Historical chart of Wormatia league performance after WWII

The club re-emerged as VfR Wormatia Worms after the war and joined the Oberliga Südwest (I) earning finishes in the upper half of the table in its first decade of play there, but only once advancing into the national championship rounds. That performance slipped somewhat in the years leading up to the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's first professional league, in 1963. In the late 1960s, Wormatia became one of the first clubs to display advertising on its jerseys. Wormatia was seeded into the second division Regionalliga Südwest (2. Bundesliga after 1973) where, except for two seasons in the mid-1970s, the club played until 1981. The club's best results came in 1965, when it finished second and played in the Bundesliga promotion rounds, and in 1979, when it earned a third-place finish in the 2. Bundesliga.

The 1979 season was full of drama for Wormatia. At the mid-way point of the season the side led the 2.Bundesliga Süd as the Herbstmeisterschaft, or Autumn champions. Their second round German Cup match against Hertha BSC Berlin was called at 1–1 when the lights in Berlin's Olympiastadion failed and Worms then lost the subsequent re-match 0–2. The league championship remained within the club's grasp almost to the last, but crucial points were lost in drawing two of the season's final three matches. All of this took place against a background of steadily growing financial problems.

After struggling to avoid relegation through several poor seasons, the team finally slipped to the tier III Amateur Oberliga Südwest in 1982. A return to the 2. Bundesliga after a first-place finish in 1986 was frustrated when the club was denied a license because of its weak financial state. Wormatia continued to play third-division football until another financial crisis in 1994 drove them down to the Verbandsliga Südwest (V). The team returned to the Oberliga Südwest (IV) in 1998 and played there until 2008, when it qualified for the new Regionalliga West (IV) formed after the introduction of the 3. Liga. Finishing in the relegation zone at the end of its first season there, the club was saved from being sent down by the withdrawal of 12th-placed FSV Oggersheim from the league. Worms improved the following year and was moved to the Regionalliga Süd (IV) from 2010 to 2012. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club became part of the new Regionalliga Südwest (IV). They finished in a relegation position in 2014 but were spared from dropping back down to the Oberliga by the insolvency of SSV Ulm, but were relegated in 2019.

Honours[]

The club's honours:

Current squad[]

As of 11 November 2018^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Chris Keilmann 3 MF  GER Cedric Heller 4 DF  GER Tevin Ihrig 5 DF  GER Dominique Jourdan 6 MF  GER Perric Afari 7 DF  GER Eugen Gopko 8 MF  GER Andreas Glockner 9 MF  GER Luca Graciotti 10 FW  GER Jan-Lucas Dorow 11 FW  ITA Giuseppe Burgio 14 FW  GRE Dimitrios Ferfelis 16 DF  GER Ahmed Diack 17 MF  GER Leon Volz 18 DF  TUR Ünal Altintas

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  GER Aret Demir 21 GK  GER Niklas Reichel 22 DF  GER Malte Moos 25 DF  GER Niklas Kern 26 DF  COD Cédric Mimbala 27 MF  GER Sascha Korb 29 FW  GER Marc Anders 30 FW  JPN Koki Matsumoto 31 DF  GER Pasquale Marsal 33 MF  GER Niko Dobros 34 MF  GER Pascal Schmidt 37 DF  GER Linus Radau 44 MF  GER Dino Bajric — MF  GER Sandro Loechelt

Recent seasons[]

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:^[3][4]

• With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.

Key[]

Former coaches[]

The managers of the club:^[5][6]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in German)
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
• Wormatia Worms at Fussballdaten.de
• Wormatia Worms at Weltfussball.de