SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over 2,400.
History The club was founded 1907 and played in the second division of the Westkreis-Liga before the First World War. Waldhof became part of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1919 and won this league in 1920 and 1921. In each of those seasons, the club failed to advance in the Southern German championship because it was grouped with all-powerful 1. FC Nürnberg at the time. The club took a Bezirksliga Rhein championship in 1924 before joining the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar in 1927, where it won five out of the next six division titles without ever performing particularly well in the Southern championship.
It enjoyed its best performances in the Gauliga Baden, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. Waldhof dominated the division through the 1930s and into the early 1940s, capturing the title five times. They were unable, however, to translate that into success at the national level. Their best result came in 1940 when they went out in a semi-final against FC Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era, before settling for fourth place after losing a consolation round match to Rapid Vienna.
After World War II, Waldhof competed in the Oberliga Süd, where they earned mid-table results until being relegated to the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1954. They bounced up and down between first and second division play until the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, in 1963. The next season saw them in the tier II Regionalliga Süd alongside local rivals VfR Mannheim. A string of unimpressive results finally led to relegation to the Amateurliga Nordbaden (III) in 1970.
Support from a new sponsor, the snack chip maker Chio, revived the team and helped their return to the second division where they played as SV Chio Waldhof Mannheim from 1972 to 1978. They continued to play as a middling side there until they broke through to the Bundesliga in 1983. Waldhof spent seven seasons in the top flight until a 17th-place finish saw the club relegated at the end of the 1989–90 season. They played for seven seasons as a 2. Bundesliga club until slipping to the Regionalliga Süd for two seasons in 1997–99. A merger with VfR Mannheim was considered in 1998 but the club walked away from a deal at the last minute. Their return to the 2. Bundesliga in 1999 after a season-long struggle with Kickers Offenbach was cut short in 2003 when financial irregularities saw the German Football Association deny the team a licence, dropping them to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV). Another attempt at a merger with VfR failed that same year. The club played in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg until 2007–08, when a third-place finish allowed them to qualify for the Regionalliga.
After coming fourth in the Regionalliga Süd in 2008–09, the club moved to the Regionalliga West in 2009–10 to balance out the three Regionalligas.Der SVW spielt im Westen kicker sportmagazin, published: 15 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009
Waldhof again had their licence withdrawn in 2010 and were demoted back to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, now the fifth level of German football, despite having finished clear of the relegation zone with the league's smallest budget. Waldhof spent only one year in the Oberliga, winning the league in 2010–11 and advancing directly back to the Regionalliga. On 11 June 2011 they defeated FV Illertissen 6–0 in their final league match to clinch promotion and also set a new fifth division attendance record of 18,312. It surpassed the previous record, the 2009 Leipzig derby, by more than 3,000 spectators.Sebert will "absolut regionalligataugliche" Spieler kicker.de, published: 14 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011
At the end of the 2011–12, season the club was grouped into the new Regionalliga Südwest, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. Waldhof won the league in 2015–16 but lost to Sportfreunde Lotte in the promotion round. They also lost promotion play-offs in the following two seasons after finishing second in the Regionalliga Südwest, to Meppen on penalties in 2017 and to KFC Uerdingen in 2018 after crowd disturbances caused the second leg to be abandoned while Waldhof were losing 3–1 on aggregate. In the 2018–19 season, the team secured the Regionalliga Südwest championship and direct promotion to the 3. Liga on the 30th matchday with a 1–0 home win over Wormatia Worms.Aufstieg perfekt! Waldhof Mannheim nächste Saison in der 3. Liga Südwestrundfunk, published: 20 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019
Players Current squad
Reserve team The SV Waldhof II, historically also referred to as SV Waldhof Amateure, rose to the tier-IV league Verbandsliga Nordbaden in 1986 and remained there until gaining promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in 2001. After two seasons in the Oberliga with good results, the team had to be withdrawn due to the forced relegation of the first team. In the 2007–08 season, the team narrowly missed out on Verbandsliga promotion when it finished second on equal points to the SV Sandhausen II.
Honours The club's honours:
League Kreisliga Odenwald (I) Champions: 1920, 1921 Runners-up: 1922, 1923 Bezirksliga Rhein (I) Champions: 1924 Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar (Rhein division) (I) Champions: 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933 Runners-up: 1929 Gauliga Baden (I) Champions: 1934, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1942 Oberliga Süd (I) Runners-up: 1947 2. Bundesliga (II) Champions: 1983 2. Oberliga Süd (II) Champions: 1958, 1960 Amateurliga Nordbaden (III) Champions: 1971, 1972 Verbandsliga Nordbaden Runners-up: 2000‡, 2001‡ Landesliga Rhein/Neckar Runners-up: 2008‡, 2009‡ Regionalliga Südwest (IV) Champions: 2016, 2019
Cup German Cup/DFB-Pokal Runners-up: 1939 Baden Cup (Tiers III–VII) Winners: 1998, 1999, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2026
Youth German Under 19 championship Champions: 1980 Runners-up: 1996
‡ Won by reserve team.
Recent managers Recent managers of the club:Waldhof Mannheim .:. Trainer von A-Z weltfussball.de. Retrieved 17 April 2018Gerd Dais neuer Trainer bei Waldhof Mannheim swr.de. Retrieved 17 April 2018 Manager Start Finish Uwe Rapolder 29 March 1997 12 November 2001 Walter Pradt 12 November 2001 3 December 2001 Andy Egli 6 December 2001 10 September 2002 Walter Pradt 11 September 2002 2 April 2003 Stefan Kuntz 3 April 2003 26 May 2003 Viktor Olscha 27 May 2003 30 June 2004 Eugen Hach 1 July 2004 3 November 2004 Maurizio Gaudino 4 November 2004 6 January 2005 Slavko Petrović 7 January 2005 22 December 2005 Massimo Morales 23 December 2005 30 June 2006 Steffen Menze 1 July 2006 20 September 2007 Alexander Conrad 21 September 2007 30 June 2009 Walter Pradt 1 July 2009 30 June 2010 Reiner Hollich 1 July 2010 2 April 2013 Andreas Clauß 3 April 2013 30 June 2013 Kenan Kocak 1 July 2013 2 July 2016 Gerd Dais 7 July 2016 16 October 2017 Michael Fink 16 October 2017 3 January 2018 Bernhard Trares 4 January 2018 4 July 2020 Patrick Glöckner 20 July 2020 30 June 2022 Christian Neidhart 1 July 2022 30 June 2023 Rüdiger Rehm 1 July 2023 31 January 2024 Marco Antwerpen 31 January 2024 17 September 2024 Bernhard Trares 18 September 2024 9 April 2025 Dominik Glawogger 10 April 2025 11 August 2025 Luc Holtz 12 August 2025 present
Recent seasons The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv Historical German domestic league tablesFussball.de – Ergebnisse Tables and results of all German football leagues
SV Waldhof Mannheim Season Division Tier Position 1983–84 1. Bundesliga I 11th 1984–85 1. Bundesliga I 6th 1985–86 1. Bundesliga I 8th 1986–87 1. Bundesliga I 14th 1987–88 1. Bundesliga I 16th 1988–89 1. Bundesliga I 12th 1989–90 1. Bundesliga I 18th ↓ 1990–91 2. Bundesliga II 7th 1991–92 2. Bundesliga II 2nd (south) 1992–93 2. Bundesliga II 4th 1993–94 2. Bundesliga II 6th 1999–2000 2. Bundesliga II 12th 2000–01 2. Bundesliga 4th 2001–02 2. Bundesliga 9th 2002–03 2. Bundesliga 18th ↓ 2003–04 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg IV 3rd 2004–05 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 11th 2005–06 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 8th 2006–07 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 10th 2007–08 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 3rd ↑ 2008–09 Regionalliga Süd 4th 2009–10 Regionalliga West 14th ↓ 2010–11 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg V 1st ↑ 2011–12 Regionalliga Süd IV 12th 2012–13 Regionalliga Südwest 6th 2013–14 Regionalliga Südwest 5th 2014–15 Regionalliga Südwest 13th 2015–16 Regionalliga Südwest 1st 2016–17 Regionalliga Südwest 2nd 2017–18 Regionalliga Südwest 2nd 2018–19 Regionalliga Südwest 1st ↑ 2019–20 3. LigaIII 9th 2020–21 3. Liga 8th 2021–22 3. Liga 5th 2022–23 3. Liga 7th 2023–24 3. Liga 16th 2024–25 3. Liga 16th 2025–26 3. Liga 10th 2026–27 3. Liga
SV Waldhof Mannheim II Season Division Tier Position 1999–2000 Verbandsliga Nordbaden V 2nd 2000–01 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 2nd ↑ 2001–02 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg IV 6th 2002–03 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg 10th ↓ 2003–04 Verbandsliga Nordbaden V 16th ↓ 2004–05 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar VI 9th 2005–06 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 11th 2006–07 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 8th 2007–08 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 2nd 2008–09 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar VII 2nd ↑ 2009–10 Verbandsliga Nordbaden VI 5th 2010–11 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 12th 2011–12 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 7th 2012–13 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 11th 2013–14 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 8th 2014–15 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 13th ↓ 2015–16 Landesliga Rhein/NeckarVII 7th 2016–17 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 9th 2017–18 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 3rd 2018–19 Landesliga Rhein/Neckar 1st ↑ 2019–20 Verbandsliga NordbadenVI 12th 2020–21 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 6th 2021–22 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 6th 2022–23 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 6th 2023–24 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 8th 2024–25 Verbandsliga Nordbaden 9th
With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.
Key ↑ Promoted ↓ Relegated
Rivals Waldhof have a fierce rivalry with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. However, due to the league gap between the two sides, the rivalry was rarely competed until the 2019–20 season, where the two sides met for the first time in 22 years in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. Past meetings between the two have resulted in violence between the two sets of supporters, as well as between supporters and police. Another incident before a derby saw weapons seized by police.
Waldhof also share smaller rivalries with Kickers Offenbach and Mannheim city-rivals VfR Mannheim.
Stadium SV Waldhof plays its home games at the Carl-Benz-Stadion, which holds 27,000 and opened in 1994.Carl-Benz-Stadion weltfussball.de. Retrieved 18 September 2011
References
External links
SV Waldhof Mannheim at Weltfussball.de Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv – historical German domestic league tables