Eintracht Frankfurt

Club Profile at Glance   Full name: Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball A.G. Nickname(s): Die Adler (Eagles), SGE (Sportgemeinde Eintracht), and Launische Diva (moody diva) Founded: 1899 Stadium: Commerzbank-Arena Stadium capacity: 52,300 Chairman:  Heribert Bruchhagen Manager:  Friedhelm Funkel League: Bundesliga Club colors: red and black   Eintracht Frankfurt                                                                                Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club based in Frankfurt. It is considered to be one of the best known sports clubs in Frankfurt. In addition to the football team, it comprises 13 other sports divisions. The club colors are red, black, and white, and its emblem is the golden eagle.   It was founded in May 1911 when two prominent Frankfurt clubs, Frankfurter Fussball Club Viktoria von 1899 and Frankfurter Fussball Club Kickers von 1899 merged to form a single club. The new club was christened Frankfurter FV (Kickers Viktoria). In 1920, the merged club joined another gymnastics club called Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861 and became TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861. However, the gymnasts and the footballers had to separate in 1927 in accordance with the rules of the gymnastics governing authority.   The club had no major success till the 1930s. In 1932, it became the runner-up in the German national championship. In the 30s, the club played in the first division of German football, the Gauliga Sudwest. In 1938, it won the division after having spent several seasons finishing in the upper half of the table.   After the Second World War, the club continued playing in the first division. In 1953 and 1959, it captured the division titles. This success was closely followed by the German National title and a great performance in the European Champions Cup.   When the Bundesliga was formed in 1963, the club earned a place for itself in the top division. It played 33 seasons in the top league, finishing each season in the top half of the table. During the 60s and the 70s, it achieved five third-place finishes. At the same time, the club narrowly missed relegation several times. They were relegated during 1996-97 and found themselves in the second division along with 1. FC Kaiserslautern .   The last few years of the previous millennium were not happy ones for the club. They struggled to avoid relegation. The club was fined two points by the German Football Association for financial misdeeds. Due to its financial problems, the club suffered relegation once again in 2004. The last two years have seen Eintracht bouncing between the first and the second leagues.   In the course of its history, the club has enjoyed a lot of European success. It has won the German Cup in 1974, 1975, 1981, and 1988. In 1980, it beat Borussia Mönchengladbach and won the UEFA Cup. However, it lost the German Cup in 2006, just as it had lost the European cup back in 1960.   The media usually refer to the clubs-home stadium as Commerzbank Arena. But, the fans are more familiar with the name Waldstadion. It was inaugurated on May 21, 1925. It saw a record attendance of 81,000 during a match played between Eintracht Frankfurt and FK Pirmasens on May 23, 1959.   The club has over 10 million supporters in Germany alone. In 2006-07, it had the sixteenth highest attendance in Europe. With regard to popularity and stadium attendance, the club has beaten prominent clubs, such as AC Milan, Liverpool, and Atletico Madrid. The following are a few of the clubs famous fans: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the European politician; Joschka Fischer, the former Foreign Minister of Germany; Steffi Jones, the winner of FIFA Women’s World Cup; Ronald Koch, the Prime Minister of Hesse; and Alexander Waske, the tennis player.   The club’s logo sports an eagle, which has changed its form throughout the course of its history. In 1911, it was the logo of Frankfurter FV. In 1920, it became the red eagle of the TuS Eintracht Frankfurt. A black crest was used during the 80s before reverting back to the traditional logo.   The club has a real life mascot, the golden eagle, Attila, since 2005. Attila hails from the Hanuer Wildpark and belongs to the falcon trainer, Norbert Lawitschka. The bird was hatched on April 30, 2004. The fans are immensely fond of this bird, which now forms a very important part of Commerzbank Arena. Attila has even traveled with the team to the German Final Cup in Berlin. Moreover, he has also been a guest in a number of TV shows.   The Club’s Honors   ·         German Championship: 1958-59 ·         German Championship runners-up: 1931-32 ·         2nd Bundesliga Winners: 1997-98 ·         South German Championship Champions: 1929-30, 1931-32, 1952-53, and 1958-59 ·         South German Championship Runners-up: 1912-13+, 1913-14+, 1930-31, 1953-54, 1960-61, and 1961-62 ·         DFB Pokal Winners : 1974, 1975, 1981, and 1988 ·         DFB Poka Vice champions: 1964 and 2006 ·         UEFA Cup Winners : 1980 ·         UEFA Intertoto Cup Winners : 1967 ·         European Cup Runners up: 1960 ·         Coppa delle Alpi Winners : 1967 ·         German Floodlight Cup Winner: 1957 ·         Rappan Cup Winner: 1967 ·         Hessen Champion(Amateurs): 1969, 2002       Leagues   Until 1914: diverse regional leagues 1914-19: no games 1919-23: Kreisliga Nordmain (first division) 1923-33: Bezirksliga Main (first division) 1933-44: Gauliga Südwest (first division) 1944-45: no games 1945-63: Oberliga Süd (first division) 1963-96: Bundesliga (first division) 1996-98: Zweite Bundesliga (second division) 1998-01: Bundesliga (first division) 2001-03: Zweite Bundesliga (second division) 2003-04: Bundesliga (first division) 2004-05: Zweite Bundesliga (second division) Since 2005: Bundesliga (first division)   The Club’s Current Squad   Goalkeepers: Oka Nikolov, Markus Pröll, Jan Zimmermann Defenders: Patrick Ochs, Aarón Galindo, Aleksandar Vasoski, Christoph Spycher (vice-captain), Marco Russ, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Chris, Mounir Chaftar Midfielders: Christoph Preuß, Michael Fink, Benjamin Köhler, Markus Weissenberger, Alexander Meier, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Junichi Inamoto, Krešo Ljubičić, Caio, Faton Toski Forwards: Marcel Heller, Martin Fenin, Ioannis Amanatidis (captain), Martin Hess, Danny Galm, Juvhel Tsoumou