Hamburger Sport-Verein is a German multi-sport club ("Traditionsverein" ) based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department. The football team is one of the country's oldest, most well known, and best performing clubs, with the unique distinction of having played continuously in top-flight German football since the end of World War I; the team has never been relegated from any top-flight league, a record in Germany.

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History

Early years

Hamburger Sport-Verein , or HSV , can trace its roots as far back as the 29 September 1887 merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub to form Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg . The current club was formed as Hamburger Sport-Verein in 1919 through the union of three city teams severely weakened by World War I: Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg ; Hamburger FC (1888); and FC Falke Eppendorf (1906). The club colors were the Hanseatic red and white in honor of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, Germania, being used on the team crest. It is through Germania that HSV can lay a claim to being the oldest team in the country. However, other clubs may dispute that honor, as Germania was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891, when a half-dozen Englishmen joined the club, bringing with them their enthusiasm for the game.

The newly formed Hamburger SV quickly became competitive and contested the 1922 national final against 1. FC Nuremberg, who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called off on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at (2:2). The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called at (1:1) when Nuremberg was reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off!) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund, or German Football Association in English) awarded the win to Hamburger SV but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship—which they grudgingly did. Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.

The club's first unblemished success on the pitch came in 1923 when they won the national title against Union Oberschöneweide. They failed to defend in 1924 against Nuremberg, but lifted the Viktoria again in 1928.

During the Third Reich, HSV enjoyed local success, first in the Gauliga Nordmark, from 1942 in the Gauliga Hamburg, taking out the league title in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1945, but on national level the club was a failure. Its main rival in the Gauliga in those years was Eimsbütteler TV.

Post war play in the Stadtliga Hamburg saw the club take out the championship there in 1946. The club also won the championship of the British occupation zone in 1947 and 1948, the only two seasons this competition was staged. ^[1]

Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in postwar Germany in 1947, Hamburg became a frighteningly dominant regional club. In sixteen seasons from 1947-48 to 1962-63 they laid claim to the Oberliga title 15 times, only posting an uncharacteristic 11th place finish in 1953-54. During this period, they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961, and 1962 seasons. However, national titles were harder to come by. Their last championship in 1928 was followed by a long drought not broken until 1960, after losing final appearances in 1957 and 1958. In the 1961 European Champions Cup competition, Hamburg were knocked out by FC Barcelona in the semi-finals. Hamburg had beaten BSC Young Boys from Switzerland and English champions Burnley on their way to the semi-finals.

Entry into the Bundesliga

Soon after, Germany's first professional football league, the Fußball-Bundesliga, was formed and HSV was one of 16 clubs invited to join that first season. Hamburger SV currently holds the distinction of being the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – since the formation of the league in 1963. They had shared that special status with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 1996, and with 1. FC Köln until 1998. Altogether, 49 other sides have come and gone since the league's inception. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on 24 August 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been affectionately nicknamed due to its old age, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side. What is even more remarkable is a related, but less well-known, distinction HSV holds: they have played in the country's top flight league continuously since 1919, never having experienced relegation.

In the mid-70s, HSV began a brilliant run that saw them capture numerous honors. In 1976 they won the German Cup and followed up the next year with a Cup Winners' Cup. The took their first Bundesliga championship in 1979, fell just two points short behind Bayern Munich in 1980, and then won consecutive championships in 1982 and 1983, led by national star Felix Magath. 1983 also brought a European Champions' Cup with a 1-0 win over Juventus, followed by another German Cup in 1987.

In August 2004, HSV was upset in the early rounds of the German Cup by regional league side SC Paderborn 07. The match became one of the most infamous in recent football history when it was discovered that referee, Robert Hoyzer, had accepted money from a Croatian gambling syndicate to fix the match, which he did, awarding two penalties to Paderborn and sending off Hamburg's player Emile Mpenza. The resulting scandal became the biggest in German football in over 30 years, and was an embarrassment to the country as it prepared to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign

Hamburg competed in the UEFA Champions League in the 2006–07 season for the first time since 2000–01, after they beat CA Osasuna on away goals in the third preliminary round, after they finished third in the Bundesliga. They competed in Group G alongside Arsenal, FC Porto, and CSKA Moscow, but finished last and were thus eliminated.

2006–07 Bundesliga campaign

The Bundesliga campaign started rather poorly for Hamburg. After a successful 2005–06 season, when they finished third in the league to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, they spent the first half of the season hovering around and in the relegation zone, with only one win (2–1 in against Bayer Leverkusen) to their points tally. A series of crippling injuries to the star players along with the departures of two of their best defenders, Khalid Boulahrouz and Daniel Van Buyten, severely influenced Hamburg's league campaign, with fans fearing that Hamburg's proud stay in the Bundesliga might be drawing to a close, as the club occupied the bottom spot of the league table after the first half of the season.

On 1 February 2007, the coach, Thomas Doll, was sacked and replaced by the Dutchman Huub Stevens. Stevens' disciplinarian style seemed to grab HSV by the scruff of the neck and shake them about, as the club went seven games undefeated and conceded just one goal between 10 February 2007 and 7 April 2007. During this streak, HSV won their first home game of the season against Borussia Dortmund and won away to arch-rivals Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 — two sides who were 2nd and 1st, respectively, when HSV came to town.

However, despite this good run of form (which would come to a crashing halt at home to eventual Champions Stuttgart in April), HSV still were not safe from relegation due to the teams below them also collecting points. At one point in March, 12 teams were involved in the relegation scrap with a gap of 10 points separating 18th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach and 7th placed Hannover 96.

HSV seemed to gain more success on their travels than at home, as wins at Borussia Mönchengladbach (which virtually relegated Borussia at the time), Bayern Munich, and 1. FC Nuremberg gave HSV valuable points whilst the home games in this period were the previously mentioned defeats to VfL Bochum and VfB Stuttgart, as well as a disappointing draw against fellow strugglers 1. FSV Mainz 05. Ironically, it was the 3-0 home defeat to Bochum on 5 May that mathematically secured HSV's Bundesliga status as struggling Alemannia Aachen (16th) and Mainz (17th) also lost their games on the same weekend and despite the points difference only being six points with two games left, the goal difference was too large to make up by either club.

With their status safe, HSV were now among a small pack of clubs - consisting of Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96, Arminia Bielefeld and Bochum — that were chasing 7th place and the qualifying spot for the following season's UEFA Intertoto Cup. With one game left, and following the 0–3 upset by Bochum, HSV surprised in-form Nuremberg to win 2–0 in the Southern sunshine. One week later, a resounding 4–0 home win (HSV's first since 1 April) over relegated Aachen coupled with Dortmund's 2–1 defeat in Leverkusen and Nuremberg's 3–0 win in Hannover meant that HSV had somehow slipped in at the last possible moment to snatch 7th place, moving from 18th place and certain relegation on 10 February 2007 to 7th place and two games away from UEFA Cup football on 19 May 2007.

Recent seasons

Year	Division	Position
1999-2000	Bundesliga (I)	3rd
2000-01	Bundesliga	13th
2001-02	Bundesliga	11th
2002-03	Bundesliga	4th
2003-04	Bundesliga	8th
2004-05	Bundesliga	8th
2005-06	Bundesliga	3rd
2006-07	Bundesliga	7th
2007-08	Bundesliga	4th
2008-09	Bundesliga	5th

Honours

National titles

German Champions: German Cup: German Supercup: German League Cup:

European titles

European Cup Winners' Cup: European Cup / UEFA Champions League: UEFA Cup: European Super Cup: UEFA Intertoto Cup:

International

Intercontinental Cup:

Other Trophies

Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu:

Dubai Challenge Cup:

Emirates Cup:

Regional titles

Northern German football championship

Gauliga Nordmark

Gauliga Hamburg

Stadtliga Hamburg

Championship of the British occupation zone

Oberliga Nord

• Hamburg's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine." Under the current award system, their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion.
• In addition to the championships listed below, Hamburger SV has a claim to the 1922 title which was never "officially" awarded due to the circumstances of the game and bureaucratic stumbling by the DFB.

Stadium

The club plays its home games in the HSH Nordbank Arena (capacity: 57.274 – approximately 47,000 seats with another 10,000 spectators standing), which was originally opened in 2000 as the new Volksparkstadion. On 1 July 2001, its name was changed to the AOL Arena. On 4 July 2007, it was given its current name. The first Volksparkstadion was opened in 1953 and had been a venue for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988. The HSH Nordbank Arena is a UEFA 5 star stadium, which certifies it to host UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was the site of four group matches and a quarter-final in the past 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Germany, and was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg during the event. In March 2008, UEFA awarded the rights to host the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final to the HSH Nordbank Arena. ^[2]

Players

See also List of Hamburger SV players

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 {{flagicon Frank Rost 2 {{flagicon Alex Sandro da Silva 3 {{flagicon David Rozehnal 4 {{flagicon Bastian Reinhardt 5 {{flagicon Joris Mathijsen (Captain (football)) 6 {{flagicon Dennis Aogo 7 {{flagicon Marcell Jansen 8 {{flagicon Zé Roberto 9 {{flagicon José Paolo Guerrero 10 {{flagicon Mladen Petric 11 {{flagicon Eljero Elia 12 {{flagicon Wolfgang Hesl 13 {{flagicon Robert Tesche 14 {{flagicon David Jarolím (Captain (football)) 15 {{flagicon Piotr Trochowski 16 {{flagicon Marcus Berg

No. Position Player 17 {{flagicon Jérôme Boateng 18 {{flagicon Romeo Castelen 19 {{flagicon Tolgay Arslan 20 {{flagicon Guy Demel 21 {{flagicon Jonathan Pitroipa 24 {{flagicon Christian Groß 25 {{flagicon Tomás Rincón ( on loan from Deportivo Táchira) 28 {{flagicon Mickaël Tavares 29 {{flagicon Tom Mickel 30 {{flagicon Collin Benjamin (Captain (football)) 31 {{flagicon Maximilian Beister 33 {{flagicon Miroslav Štepánek 34 {{flagicon Kai-Fabian Schulz 35 {{flagicon Tunay Torun 36 {{flagicon Hanno Behrens

Players out on loan

No. Position Player 22 {{flagicon Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (at 1. FC Nuremberg) 32 {{flagicon Änis Ben-Hatira (at MSV Duisburg) {{flagicon Macauley Chrisantus (at Karlsruher SC) {{flagicon Sidney Sam (at 1. FC Kaiserslautern)

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2009.

Hamburger SV II squad

As of 30 December 2008

Manager: Rodolfo Esteban Cardoso

No. Position Player {{flagicon Nick Hamann {{flagicon Raphael Wolf {{flagicon Wolfgang Hesl {{flagicon Marcel Hölscher {{flagicon Fabian Franke {{flagicon Tillmann Grove {{flagicon Matthias Haas {{flagicon Philip Unversucht {{flagicon Kai-Fabian Schulz {{flagicon Benjamin Gorka {{flagicon Timo Trefzger {{flagicon Viktor Maier {{flagicon Volker Schmidt

No. Position Player {{flagicon Daniel Nagy ( on loan from Újpest FC) {{flagicon Hanno Behrens {{flagicon Kosi Saka {{flagicon Mamadi Keita {{flagicon Christian Groß {{flagicon Levon Hayrapetyan {{flagicon Timo Kunert {{flagicon Corvin Behrens {{flagicon Joseph Olumide {{flagicon André Hahn {{flagicon Grgur Radoš {{flagicon Rafael Kazior {{flagicon Dani Schahin

Coaches

• 1945–1949 Hans Tauchert
• 1949–1954 Georg Knöpfle
• 1954–1956 Martin Wilke and Günter Mahlmann
• 1956–1962 Günter Mahlmann
• 1962–1964 Martin Wilke
• 1964–1966 Georg Gawliczek
• 1966–1967 Josef Schneider
• 1967–1969 Kurt Koch
• 1969–1970 Georg Knöpfle
• 1970–1973 Klaus-Dieter Ochs
• 1973–1977 Kuno Klötzer
• 1977–1977 Rudi Gutendorf
• 1977–1978 Arkoç Özcan
• 1978–1980 Branko Zebec
• 1981–1981 Aleksandar Ristic
• 1981–1987 Ernst Happel
• 1987–1987 Josip Skoblar
• 1987–1990 Willi Reimann
• 1990–1992 Gerd-Volker Schock
• 1992–1992 Egon Coordes
• 1992–1995 Benno Möhlmann
• 1995–1997 Felix Magath
• 1997–1997 Ralf Schehr
• 1997–2001 Frank Pagelsdorf
• 2001–2001 Holger Hieronymus
• 2001–2003 Kurt Jara
• 2003–2004 Klaus Toppmöller
• 2004–2007 Thomas Doll
• 2007–2008 Huub Stevens
• 2008–2009 Martin Jol
• 2009-Present Bruno Labbadia

^[3]

Women's section

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 {{flagicon Bianca Weech 2 {{flagicon Johanna Borkowski 4 {{flagicon Catharina Schimpf 5 {{flagicon Kathrin Patzke 6 {{flagicon Marisa Ewers 7 {{flagicon Tugba Tekkal 8 {{flagicon Aferdita Kameraj 9 {{flagicon Tanja Vreden 10 {{flagicon Silva Lone Saländer 11 {{flagicon Heike Freese 12 {{flagicon Jennifer Werth

No. Position Player 13 {{flagicon Denise Lehmann 14 {{flagicon Daniela Schacher 15 {{flagicon Imke Wübbenhorst 16 {{flagicon Vanessa Schröer 17 {{flagicon Janina Haye (Captain (football)) 18 {{flagicon Maja Schubert 19 {{flagicon Kim Kulig 20 {{flagicon Patricia Hanebeck 21 {{flagicon Janka Rohrberg 22 {{flagicon Angelina Lübcke

Other departments

Other important departments are volleyball, baseball, and cricket. Okka Rau was qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics of volleyball ^[4] . HSV Cricket is playing in the league of the North German Cricket Federation (Norddeutscher Cricket Verband ) and won several first places. ^[5]

Team trivia

• A visit to the club's reveals a clock that tallies up the time – down to the second – that Hamburger SV has spent in the Bundesliga.
• HSV went undefeated between 16 January 1982 and 29 January 1983 — a string of 36 games that still stands as a Bundesliga record.
• Hamburg became the first German team to tour the United States after the Second World War in May 1950 and came away with a 6-0 record.
• HSV share a cross-town rivalry with FC St. Pauli.
• HSV have an affinity with Scottish Club Rangers . HSV fans unfurl their club logo at Rangers away European matches. The link between Rangers and Hamburg dates back to the early 1970s when the Hamburg Rangers Supporters Club was set up by Rangers fans who had relocated to the Hamburg-area. The links were further strengthened when Rangers signed Jörg Albertz from Hamburg, but this was not the start of it. A further point which reinforces the affinity is the link between St Pauli and Celtic, main rivals of HSV and Rangers, respectively.
• HSV shares a rivalry to the other big club of northern Germany: Werder Bremen.
• HSV have a friendship bond with Hannover 96, due to both being known as HSV. Their meetings involve the visitors club song to be played, and fans chanting HSV from each end of the stadium.
• HSV held the record of post-World War II first-class league titles, having won 15 Oberliga Nord and three Bundesliga championships until 2006 when Bayern Munich won it's 19th Bundesliga title and overtook them.
• HSV fans can be buried at a dedicated graveyard near the home stadium, covered in turf from the original Hamburg pitch. ^[6]
• HSV are the current global holders of an unofficial title which passes to any team managing to score five or more goals in any competitive victory over the present holders dating back to the first ever competitive fixtures in England in 1872. Only official competitions are regarded.

References

1. ''kicker Almanach 1990'' {{de icon}} publisher: kicker, published: 1989, page: 248 & 249, accessed: 17 May 2009
2. Madrid and Hamburg awarded 2010 finals
3. Jol neuer HSV-Coach
4. Team Hamburg - Athleten
5. Trophies
6. Dead football fans get home ground advantage