FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt is a German association football club based in Erfurt, Thuringia.

History Foundation to World War II The club has roots that go back to a cricket club founded in 1895. As they broadened their interests they came to be called Sport Club Erfurt. The club was a founding member of the German Football Association in 1900 and in 1904 they joined the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine (Central German Football League). The side won the league championship in 1908–09 and advanced as far as the semi-final of the national round where they lost to the eventual champion. While Erfurt did manage to play for a number of seasons in the premier level Gauliga Mitte, formed after 1933, they failed to earn any honours.

Post-World War II era

In the aftermath of World War II, the Allies banned all organizations, including sport and football clubs. In 1946, the Soviet occupation authorities permitted the organization of five district sports clubs in Erfurt. SG Erfurt West encompassed the area of the city once served by SC Erfurt 1895 and VfB Erfurt and drew footballers who had played for these clubs. Success came quickly with an appearance in the 1948 Thüringer final, followed by a title in 1949. A quick series of name changes went hand-in-hand with a series of failed cup and final appearances: as SG Fortuna Erfurt in 1949, KWU Erfurt in 1950, and BSG Turbine Erfurt in 1951. In 1954 and 1955, Turbine captured consecutive East German national titles, but then slipped back into the pack and out of tier I for the first time in 1959. The team moved up and down between the first and second divisions through the 1960s, being relegated three times, but always winning immediate promotion. Like other East German clubs at the time, they suffered as the best players were routinely chosen to play for clubs with politically powerful sponsors.

1960s–1980s East German football underwent major changes in 1965 with the creation of dedicated football clubs in the place of broadly generalised sports clubs. The number one football sides of SC Turbine Erfurt and BSG Optima Erfurt were merged in 1966 and revived the name FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, while the more junior sides stayed with their original clubs. The name (Rot-Weiß meaning the two colours red and white) was unusual for its time in that the club did not have a name that honoured a socialist virtue. In 1980, Rot-Weiß Erfurt appeared in the East German Cup final, losing 3–1 to Carl Zeiss Jena.

Reunification

German reunification and the merger of the leagues of East and West Germany in the early 1990s brought exciting times to Rot-Weiß. A third-place finish in the NOFV-Oberliga in 1990–91 earned them a spot in the 2. Bundesliga, as well as qualification for the UEFA Cup. They eliminated Groningen in the first round, and went out against the eventual winners Ajax in the second round. This fixture made them the last side to appear internationally for East Germany.

Through the 1990s and into the new millennium, Rot-Weiß remained a tier three side. They had a close call in 2001 when they avoided relegation only because SSV Ulm 1846 was denied a licence due to financial difficulties. During this period of time, the club went through to the regional cup final seven times. They came away as Thuringian cup winner each time which qualifies for the nationwide German cup (DFB-Pokal), although they never advanced beyond the first round. In 2004, the club was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga, but finished last and was relegated back to Regionalliga Nord (III). In 2008, Erfurt finished in seventh place in Regionalliga Nord (III) and therefore qualified for the new nationwide 3. Liga. They played at this level until they were relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost (IV) in 2018.

Bankruptcy and reformation On 4 February 2020, the club ceased operations due to financial difficulties, and as a result, withdrew from the Regionalliga Nordost, with all their results being annulled and all further matches cancelled. The club formed a new team and organisation, playing in the Oberliga in the 2020–21 season; their first home game against FC Grimma was sold out.

Honours League competitions DDR-Oberliga: Winners: 1953–54, 1954–55 Runners-up: 1950–51 Soviet Zone championship: Runners-up: 1948–49

Cup competitions FDGB-Pokal: Runners-up: 1949–50, 1979–80 DFV-Toto-Sonderrunde (de) Winners: 1974

Regional Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspiel-Vereine: Champions: 1908–09 Thuringia Cup: (tiers III–VII) Winners: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05‡, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17 Runners-up: 1995–96, 1996–97, 2003–04‡, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 ‡ Won by reserve team.

Players Current squad

Out on loan

Managers 1964–1966: Helmut Nordhaus 1966–1970: Martin Schwendler 1970–1971: Gerhard Bäßler 1971–1973: Siegfried Vollrath 1973–1978: Gerhard Bäßler 1978–1982: Manfred Pfeifer 1982–1984: Siegmar Menz 1984–1987: Hans Meyer 1987–1988: Manfred Pfeifer 1988–1989: Wilfried Gröbner 1990–1991: Lothar Kurbjuweit 1991–1991: Rüdiger Schnuphase 1991–1992: Josip Kuže 1992–1995: Klaus Goldbach 1995–1995: Horst Kiesewetter 1995–1997: Frank Engel 1997–1997: Hans-Günter Schröder 1997–1997: Rudi Gores 1997–2000: Jürgen Raab 2000–2000: Frank Engel 2000–2001: Hans-Ulrich Thomale 2001–2002: Jens Große 2002–2003: Michael Feichtenbeiner 2003–2003: Alois Schwartz 2003–2005: René Müller 2005–2005: Ján Kocian 2005–2008: Pavel Dotchev 2008–2008: Heiko Nowak 2008–2009: Karsten Baumann 2009: Henri Fuchs 2009–2010: Rainer Hörgl 2010: Henri Fuchs 2010–2012: Stefan Emmerling 2012–2013: Alois Schwartz 2013–2015: Walter Kogler 2015: Christian Preußer 2016–2017: Stefan Krämer 2017: David Bergner 2017–2018: Stefan Emmerling 2018–2019: Thomas Brdarić 2019–2020: Robin Kruger 2020–2022: Goran Miscevic 2022–present: Fabian Gerber

Recent seasons The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Rot-Weiß Erfurt at Fussball.de Tables and results of all German football leagues Year Division Tier Position 1999–2000 Regionalliga Nordost III 7th 2000–01 Regionalliga Süd 15th 2001–02 Regionalliga Süd 5th 2002–03 Regionalliga Süd 9th 2003–04 Regionalliga Süd 2nd ↑ 2004–05 2. Bundesliga II 18th ↓ 2005–06 Regionalliga Nord III 14th 2006–07 Regionalliga Nord 11th 2007–08 Regionalliga Nord 7th 2008–09 3. Liga 10th 2009–10 3. Liga 9th 2010–11 3. Liga 5th 2011–12 3. Liga 5th 2012–13 3. Liga 13th 2013–14 3. Liga 10th 2014–15 3. Liga 12th 2015–16 3. Liga 8th 2016–17 3. Liga 14th 2017–18 3. Liga 20th ↓ 2018–19 Regionalliga Nordost IV 5th 2019–20 Regionalliga Nordost 18th ↓ 2020–21 NOFV-Oberliga Süd V Abd-3rd 2021–22 NOFV-Oberliga Süd 1st ↑ 2022–23 Regionalliga Nordost IV 3rd 2023–24 Regionalliga Nordost 13th 2024–25 Regionalliga Nordost 3rd 2025–26 Regionalliga Nordost 5th 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

Reserve team The club's reserve team, FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt II, most recently in the tier five NOFV-Oberliga Süd. It first played at this level from 2005 to 2007, and again since 2008 with a third place in 2012 as its best result.Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv Historical German domestic league tablesFC Rot-Weiß Erfurt II at Fussball.de Tables and results of all German football leagues At the end of the 2015–16 season the team was withdrawn from competition.

The team also made a losing appearance in the 2004 Thuringia Cup final but won the competition in the following year. This win allowed the team qualification for the 2005–06 DFB-Pokal where it lost 0–8 to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

References

External links

Official website