Kickers Offenbach
Kickers Offenbach: A club with a storied history, from Gauliga titles to Bundesliga scandal and recovery.
Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs including Melitia, Teutonia, Viktoria, Germania and Neptun. From 1921 to 1925 they were united with VfB 1900 Offenbach as VfR Kickers Offenbach until resuming their status as a separate side, Offenbacher FC Kickers. The team plays its home games at the Stadion am Bieberer Berg.
Quick Facts
- Character
- Historic Rivalry
- Affiliation
- Bundesliga (1965–2024 context)
- Status
- Dormant due to league separation
- Key context
- Competition for Bundesliga survival and European spots
Lore & Background
The club became one of the founding members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, where it played until the outbreak of the war. In post-First World War Germany, Kickers played in the Kreisliga Südmain (I), winning this league in 1920, 1922 and 1923. The club played as a mid-table side in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen through the late 1920s and early 1930s. German football was re-organized in 1933 under the Third Reich into sixteen first division Gauligen. Kickers joined the Gauliga Südwest, where the team immediately captured the title and entered the national playoffs for the first time. They fared poorly there, but did manage to raise their overall level of play in the following seasons, going on to win five consecutive divisional championships from 1940 to 1944. In the early 1940s, the Gauliga Südwest had been split into the Gauliga Westmark and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, where Kickers played. Their best post-season result came in 1942 when the team was able to advance as far as the semi-finals in the national championship rounds before they were decisively put out 0:6 by Schalke 04. By 1944, Allied armies were rolling through Germany and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau did not play the 1944–45 season. In their 1953 Asian Tour, they played twelve matches. The club found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd (II) and play in the Bundesliga would have to wait until 1968. The team was immediately relegated, but returned to the upper league for play in 1970–71. In addition to their return to the Bundesliga, the club would win one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 German Cup victory over 1. FC Köln. However, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. The club president, Horst-Gregorio Canellas, went to the German Football Association after being approached by a player from another team looking for a cash bonus for that club's effort in beating one of Offenbach's rivals in the fight against relegation. Receiving no help from league officials, Canellas began gathering evidence of how widespread the payoffs were. In the end more than fifty players from seven clubs, two coaches, and six game officials were found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of games through bribes, but Canellas was unable to save his club from relegation.
Reader's Guide
The club's honours include: League – German football championship Runners-up: 1950, 1959; Regionalliga Süd (II) Winners: 1967, 1970, 1972; 2. Bundesliga Süd (II) Runners-up: 1981; Regionalliga Süd (III) Winners: 2005; Regionalliga Südwest (IV) Champions: 2015; Oberliga Hessen (III–IV) Winners: 1986, 1987, 1993; Cup – DFB-Pokal Winners: 1970; Regional – Kreisliga Südmain Winners: 1920, 1922, 1923; Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen Winners: 1934, 1940, 1941; Gauliga Hessen-Nassau Winners: 1942, 1943, 1944; Oberliga Süd Winners: 1949, 1955; Hesse Cup (Tiers III–VII) Winners: (12) 1949, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2022, 2024. The club's second team, Kickers Offenbach II, played in the Amateurliga Hessen (III) from 1971–74 until being disbanded after the 1973–74 season. The reconstituted side reappeared in the Amateuroberliga Hessen (III) in 1984, but were sent down after the relegation of the senior side from the 2. Bundesliga. The amateur's next appearance of note was in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) in 1999 in a campaign that ended in relegation after a 15th-place finish. In 2008–09, it returned to the Hessenliga and finished in fourth place. After six seasons in the league the team finished 18th in the Hessenliga in 2014 and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.
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