Kickers Offenbach

Lore & Background

The club became one of the founding members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. 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. Under the Third Reich, Kickers joined the Gauliga Südwest, immediately capturing the title and entering the national playoffs for the first time. They won five consecutive divisional championships from 1940 to 1944. Their best post-season result came in 1942 when the team advanced as far as the semi-finals in the national championship rounds before being decisively put out 0:6 by Schalke 04. 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 won one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 German Cup victory over 1. FC Köln. The end of the 1971 season found 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. 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. The club central to the scandal – Arminia Bielefeld – would not be punished until the following season, too late to save Offenbach. Kickers immediately returned to the top level. The best finish was 7th in the 1972–73 season. They were leaders for 5 rounds and beat Bayern Munich 6–0 in the 1974–75 season but were relegated to the second level in the 1975–76 season. Kickers spent the next seven years in the 2. Bundesliga before making a return to the Bundesliga for just a single season in 1983–84. In 1985, financial problems led to the club being penalized points and driven into the third division amateur Oberliga Hessen. They recovered, only to be denied a licence in 1989, and were sent back down again. By the mid-1990s the

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the BayArena hummed with a nervous energy on a rainy Tuesday night in 1979. The score was level, and the air smelled of wet grass and anticipation. A Leverkusen striker broke through the defense, his boots splashing mud as he sprinted toward goal. From the stands, the roar of the 'Werkself' fans rose to meet him, a wall of sound that echoed the desperation of a season on the line. One touch, one shot, and history was made in the clash of two rising stars.

Reader's Guide

The club's honours are not detailed in the source article. The source does not provide a specific guide for visitors beyond noting the home ground is the Stadion am Bieberer Berg (renamed Sparda-Bank-Hessen-Stadion in 2012).

Did You Know?

• Kickers Offenbach was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant.
• The club won the German Cup in 1970 with a 2:1 victory over 1. FC Köln.
• In the 1974–75 season, Kickers Offenbach beat Bayern Munich 6–0.
• The club was at the centre of the 1971 Bundesliga scandal, with over 50 players found guilty of bribery.