Fortuna Köln
Full nameSport-Club Fortuna Köln e.V.
Founded1948 (1948)
GroundSüdstadion
Capacity11,748
ChairmanHanns-Jörg Westendorf
Head coachMarkus von Ahlen
LeagueRegionalliga West
2022–236th

SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia.

History

Logo of predecessor side Victoria Köln 1911
Historical chart of Fortuna league performance

The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to bear the name), Bayenthaler SV 1920, and Sparkassen-Verein Köln 1927. Of these clubs, Victoria had the best results, winning its way to the first division of the Gauliga Köln-Aachen in 1941 and capturing the division title there the following season. Bayenthaler SV 1920 side also spent a season in the Gauliga in 1943–44 before the division collapsed as war overtook the region. In 1976, SC Fortuna Köln was joined by FC Alter Markt Köln.

Through most of the last four decades Fortuna has played as a second division side. Highlights of the club's history include promotion to the Bundesliga for the 1974 season and an impressive run through the 1983 DFB-Pokal. The team took out SC Freiburg in the first round and eked out a win on penalties over SSV Ulm 1846 in their next match. They then eliminated three first division sides in a row: first Eintracht Braunschweig and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before crushing Borussia Dortmund 5–0 in their semi-final match. This put them into the final against hometown rivals 1. FC Köln, the first time the Cup final had come down to a local derby. Although they outplayed their opposition, Fortuna's magic had run out and they lost 0–1 on a late goal by Pierre Littbarski.

In 1986, the side came close to a return to the Bundesliga, but was beaten by Borussia Dortmund in the promotion round. Each team had won their home match in a two-game series, which forced a third contest under the rules in effect at the time. Instead of advancing on the strength of away goals, Fortuna was crushed 0–8 by Borussia Dortmund. A handful of seasons later the club avoided relegation to third tier football at the end of the 1991–92 schedule only when division rivals Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin were denied a licence.

One of the key features of Fortuna's history was the presidency of deep-pocketed Jean Löring. Beginning in 1967, the millionaire's support of the club helped them to continue to field competitive sides for much longer than they might otherwise have. In 1982, he even helped out in another way: trained as an electrician, he personally fixed the floodlights when they failed during a match against SV Darmstadt 98 so the game could go on. Löring, who had been an Oberliga player himself with Alemannia Aachen in his younger years, was ousted as president in 2000 and the club soon deteriorated. In 2005 the club failed financially and was forced to withdraw from league play.

Since 2008, the club has been owned (like Ebbsfleet United F.C.) partially by the web-based venture deinfussballclub.de.[1] Until 2008, the SCF played in the fifth division Verbandsliga Mittelrhein, gaining promotion with a second place finish to the new Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen. Fortuna Köln finished Oberliga as ninth in 2008–09, as 15th in 2009–10 season and as third in 2010–2011 saison. From the 2011–12 season the club played in the Regionalliga West until in 2014 they won that league and beat the second team of Bayern Munich to get promoted to the German third league.

Despite insolvency, the club was able to salvage its youth department, one of the largest in Germany with over 500 players on 25 teams, through a fundraising campaign organized by the former chairman Egbert Bischoff that included a benefit game against 1. FC Köln.

Recent chairman Klaus Ulonska once competed in the 1962 European Championships in Athletics, co-winning the 4 × 100 m Relay.

Honours

League

Cups

Players

Current squad

As of 27 July, 2023[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 Germany GER André Weis (captain)
3 DF Germany GER Angelo Langer
4 DF Germany GER Dominik Lanius
5 DF Germany GER Tim Brdaric
7 MF Germany GER Kingsley Sarpei
8 MF Croatia CRO Stipe Batarilo
9 FW Germany GER Leon Demaj
10 MF Germany GER Maik Kegel
11 FW Germany GER Marvin Mika
14 MF Germany GER Henri Matter
17 MF Germany GER Arnold Budimbu
18 DF Germany GER Finn Bauens
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Germany GER Justin Steinkötter
20 MF Poland POL Adrian Stanilewicz
21 MF Germany GER Waiss Ezami
23 MF Germany GER Joel Vieting
25 MF Germany GER Timo Hölscher
26 DF Germany GER Younes Derbali
27 FW Germany GER Gianluis Di Fine
29 FW Germany GER Danny Breitfelder
30 GK Germany GER Lennart Winkler
32 DF Germany GER Jonas Scholz
33 GK Germany GER Felix Buer

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[3][4][5]

Year Division Tier Position
1967–68 Regionalliga West II 16th
1972–73 Regionalliga West II 2nd ↑
1973–74 1. Bundesliga I 17th ↓
1999–2000 2. Bundesliga II 16th ↓
2000–01 Regionalliga Nord III 4th
2001–02 Regionalliga Nord 18th ↓
2002–03 Oberliga Nordrhein IV 10th
2003–04 Oberliga Nordrhein 8th
2004–05 Oberliga Nordrhein 18th ↓
2005–06 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein V 7th
2006–07 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein 9th
2007–08 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein 2nd ↑
2008–09 NRW-Liga V 9th
2009–10 NRW-Liga 14th
2010–11 NRW-Liga 3rd ↑
2011–12 Regionalliga West IV 7th
2012–13 Regionalliga West 2nd
2013–14 Regionalliga West 1st ↑
2014–15 3. Liga III 14th
2015–16 3. Liga 11th
2016–17 3. Liga 16th
2017–18 3. Liga 8th
2018–19 3. Liga 19th ↓
2019–20 Regionalliga West IV 10th
2020–21 Regionalliga West 4th
2021–22 Regionalliga West 5th
2022–23 Regionalliga West 6th
Key
Promoted Relegated

References

  1. "Deinfussballklub.De" (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  2. Fortuna Köln squad 2017/18
  3. Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables. Retrieved 3 December 2015
  4. SC Fortuna Köln (in German) Fussball.de. Retrieved 3 December 2015
  5. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
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