Arminia Bielefeld

DSC Arminia Bielefeld is a German football club that plays in Bielefeld, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. The side was formed in 1905 as 1. Bielefelder Fussball-Club Arminia and – a year after a failed merger with another local side, Bielefelder Turngemeinde – took on its current name, Deutscher Sportclub Arminia, in 1927. The name Arminia is a feminized version of Arminius or Hermann, the legendary hero of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest which halted the march of Rome into northern Germany .   While the First World War was going on, the young Arminia Bielefeld club won the Arminen Westphalia title and during that period they became twice West German champions. They managed to reach the final round for the German championship in 1922, but lost out and in 1923 they could only reach the quarter-finals.     During the Third Reich, Arminia played in the Gauliga Westphalia which was considered to be the highest league installed by the Nazis. They were very dominant during those years and went on to be the Vice Champions 1940, keeping behind the series winner’s FC Schalke 04 .   After the war, there were no major achievements by the club. They became more successful during the 1961 to 1963 seasons when they succeeded in the second Oberliga which immediately secured their qualification for the Seventh Regional League West, the substructure of the newly installed Bundesliga.   Arminia Bielefeld stood second in the regional league by beating the ascent round against teams like Karlsruher SC, the SV Alsenborn, TB Berlin and VfL Osnabrueck.   They did not stop there and marched ahead with five consecutive season wins during 1980 to 1985, of the Federal League and reached their best placement ever with a 8 th rank during the 1982-83 season.   However, just when the club seemed to establish themselves in the Bundesliga and even the "UEFA Cup" seemed within reach, they took an unexpected descent by losing Beletage and the Oberliga.   The club at the same time faced its biggest economic crisis where in the judicial intervention had to be sorted to bail out the club. Arminia Bielefeld was also at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal in 1971 when it was involved in a scheme to bribe players of other teams to secure their place in the Bundesliga. As a result, Arminia was stripped of all its points and demoted to the Regional liga West (II). This followed suspension of number of players from various sides.   Still everything was not lost, the new manager Rüdiger lamb, Coach Ernst Middendorp, and some new and experienced players like Thomas von Heesen, Fritz Walter, Joerg Bode, Armin Eck helped the Arminen club to force a comeback in professional football. They won the next three Bundesliga abstiegen in the years 1998, 2000 and 2003 along with three more climbs in 1999, 2002 and 2004, bringing a total of seven major titles by Arminia, the highest in the entire German league.   Arminia Bielefed is often referred to as "the elevator crew" as it holds the record for most promotions to the Bundesliga (7 times) and for the contrast mark for the most demotions (6 times) a record they share only with 1. FC Nürnberg. They qualified in the Bundesliga after their good show for the 2004-05 season. Their longest turn in the premier league was a five year run during 1980-81 to 1984-85 when they also managed to earn their best finishes (8th in 1982-83 and 1983-84).   In spite of its apparent ups and downs, Arminia has performed consistently well throughout its history. Early on in the 20's, they enjoyed a string of regional championships. Since the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the side has played in the Bundesliga or tier II leagues except for a seven year span from 1988-89 to 1994-95 spent in III division circuits which ended with a Regionalliga West/Südwest title and promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1995. Drei Bundesligaabstiegen in den Jahren 1998, 2000 und 2003 stehen drei weitere Aufstiege 1999, 2002 und 2004 gegenüber, womit Arminia insgesamt siebenmal in die höchste deutsche Spielklasse befördert wurde und sich Rekordaufsteiger nennen darf. The clubs current President Hans-Hermann Schwick is in office since 1991 and thus the standfesteste chairman in the history of Arminias. Als Geschäftsführer des in einer Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (KGaA) ausgelagerten Lizenzspielerbereichs fungieren Roland Kentsch (Finanzen) und Reinhard Saftig (Sport). Der Klassenerhalt in den drei vergangenen Spielzeiten verschafft dem DSC eine so günstige Perspektive wie seit vielen Jahren nic The class achieved in the three previous seasons gives the DSC such a good perspective for many years. The Arminia-Supporters Club was founded in December 2003 as an independent department in the DSC.   The Arminia Supporters Club (ASC) sees itself as an interface between the association on one hand and the fans and members on the other side.   The ASC offers its members the opportunity to actively participate in the association's life.   The DSC Arminia Bielefeld club is conscious of its social responsibility and as depicted the same on numerous occasions in the past, like their association for numerous projects against racism and xenophobia. Further their cooperation for the children's clubs Arminia "Arminis" with the German Agro Action is an example of preventive education work. Präsident Hans-Hermann Schwick ist seit 1991 im Amt und damit der standfesteste Vorsitzende in der Geschichte Arminias. Facts: Full name:         Deutscher Sport-Club Arminia Bielefeld Nickname:         Die Arminen Founded:           1905 Ground:            Schüco Arena (old name: "Alm"), Bielefeld, (Capacity 26,601) Chairman:         Hans-Hermann Schwick Manager:          Michael Frontzeck League:            Bundesliga Games played:    527 Victories:           152 - 28% Draw:                 123 - 23% Lost:                  252 - 47% Goals for:            641 - 1.22 goals/game Goals against:    880 - 1.67 goals/game Points:               498 - 38%                           Played    W          D           L           Points All                      527        152        123        252        498 Home                 264        116        63          85          347 Away                  263        36          60          167        151