SC Victoria Hamburg, or Sport- Club Victoria Hamburg von 1895 e. V. to give them their full title are a sports club, with a football department who were formed in 1895 in the northern German city of Hamburg.
On the 5th May 1895 two youth sides Cito and Excelsior joined forces to form Victoria. After a brief affiliation with Hamburg SV, they became independent as a football club a couple of years later. The sports club also catered for those wishing to partake in badminton, handball, hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, baseball and softball.
In 1901 the club became founder members of the Deutscher Fussball Bund (German FA) and going on to be crowned north German champions in 1907 and 1908, going on to reach the national quarter finals on both occasions, and moving into Stadion Hoheluft. During the period of the Third Reich being in power the club were placed in one of sixteen top tiers; Gauliga Nordmark and then Gauliga Hamburg, where two titles were won.
In 1947 Victoria were one of four Hamburg clubs to join the newly formed Oberliga Nord. They didn't last long, and despite another couple of brief appearances at that top flight level they spent most of the 50's and 60's in the Amateurliga Hamburg. In 1963 the Bundesliga was formed with Victoria having three seasons in Regionaliga Nord before returning to their previous level.
They suffered a relegation, before an immediate return to the Amateurliga for the following eight seasons. In 1977 the club found themselves in the fourth tier Verbandsliga Hamburg for the following eighteen years. In 1994 league re-organising meant that the Verbandsliga became the fifth tier. The team won a couple of promotions to the Oberliga, but were subsequently relegated.
2007 saw Victoria win the Hamburg City Cup which enabled them to enter the DFB Pokal (German Cup) the following season after a long absence. Sadly they were soon knocked out in the first round by 1.FC Nurnberg . In 2010-11 Victoria once again played in the DFB Pokal and provided a big shock as they defeated 2.Bundesliga club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen before they went down to VfL Wolfsburg. However, the good form continued as Victoria regained their Oberliga place and then a place in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nord.
SC Victoria Hamburg will play in Regionalliga Nord in the 2013-14 season.
My visit
Monday 29th October 2012
I was ready to get back to visiting some new stadiums after the previous days football and drinking in Hamburg. It was my final day of four in Germany and I was determined to make the most of it, despite the biting winds and overcast conditions.
After heading the wrong way on the train and a brief look down on the waterfront, I soon found my correct way to alight at Hoheluftbrucke station. I was getting the hang of the transport network and new that my one day ticket was also valid, so I got on a long bendy bus heading up the road of the same name, which dropped me just past the ground.
To my joy the gates were open with the groundsman getting on with his work after the previous days match against FC St Pauli II. I walked in to find a wonderful old fashioned three sided football ground, the sort of which are slowly being swallowed up by developers in the UK in exchange for soulless out of town arenas.
The near end had an open terrace with a grass bank behind. Another larger open terrace ran down one side of the pitch with segregation barriers in place. There was nothing behind the far goal as it bordered some trees but the final side had a sizeable open terrace and then a majestic raised Main Stand painted in the club colours of yellow and blue, set back from the pitch with seating inside. It really was a beauty, especially that stand.
I took plenty of photos before heading back to the main road and a return bus ride, in search of my next venue at Altona 93.
No comments:
Post a Comment