VfL Wolfsburg

The Wolves of Lower Saxony

via Wikipedia: VfL Wolfsburg · see source

Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. It is best known for its football department, but other departments include badminton, handball and athletics. The men’s team plays in the 2. Bundesliga. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, the DFB-Pokal in 2015 and the DFL-Supercup in 2015. Professional football is run by the spin-off organization VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. Since 2002, Wolfsburg's stadium has been the Volkswagen Arena.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Die Wölfe (The Wolves); Die Weißgrünen (The White and Greens)
Founded: 12 September 1945
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Capacity: 30,000
Owner: Volkswagen AG (of GmbH)
Chairman: Dieter Hecking (Managing director sport); Jens Klingfurt (Managing director for Finance)
League: Wolfsbur
Position: Wolfsbur3

Lore & Background

The city of Wolfsburg was established on 1 July 1938 under the name Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben to accommodate workers for the newly constructed Volkswagen factory. The first football club associated with the Volkswagen plant was BSG Volkswagenwerk Stadt des KdF-Wagen. Following the end of World War II, a new club was formed on 12 September 1945, initially named VSK Wolfsburg. The team adopted green and white as its colors.

On 15 December 1945, the club faced a significant setback when all but one of its players left to join the newly formed 1. FC Wolfsburg. The sole remaining player, Josef Meyer, collaborated with Willi Hilbert to rebuild the team by recruiting new members. The reorganised club adopted the name VfL Wolfsburg.

Within a year, VfL Wolfsburg secured the local Gifhorn championship. In late November 1946, the club played a friendly match against Schalke 04 at the Volkswagen-owned stadium.

Reader's Guide

The club made slow but steady progress in the following seasons, capturing amateur level championships and breaking through to the top tier Oberliga Nord in 1954. Wolfsburg struggled in the top flight and were relegated in 1959. When the Bundesliga was formed in 1963, Wolfsburg was playing in the Regionalliga Nord (II). Wolfsburg remained a second division team over the next dozen years, then played as a third division side from the mid-1970s through to the early 1990s.

Consecutive first-place finishes in 1991 and 1992 saw the club advance to the 2. Bundesliga for the 1992–93 season. The team advanced to the final of the German Cup in 1995, then went on to the top flight on the strength of a second-place league finish in 1997. Wolfsburg developed into a mid-table Bundesliga side, qualifying for the UEFA Cup in 1999 and the Intertoto Cup in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Under Felix Magath, Wolfsburg won the 2008–09 Bundesliga, sealing the title with a 5–1 victory over Werder Bremen on 23 May 2009. The club won the DFB-Pokal in 2015 and the DFL-Supercup in 2015. Wolfsburg subsequently entered a period of sporting instability marked by relegation battles and frequent managerial changes, retaining Bundesliga status via relegation play-offs in 2017 and 2018. Under Bruno Labbadia, Wolfsburg finished sixth in 2018–19 and qualified for the Europa League. Under Oliver Glasner, Wolfsburg finished seventh in 2019–20 and fourth in 2020–21, qualifying for the Champions League.

Did You Know?

Wolfsburg's first football club was BSG Volkswagenwerk Stadt des KdF-Wagen, which competed in the Gauliga Osthannover during the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons.
The club's green and white colors originated from ten green jerseys provided by local youth coach Bernd Elberskirch and white shorts fashioned from donated bed sheets.
Kevin De Bruyne was sold to Manchester City in 2015 for a Bundesliga record transfer fee.