Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football.
History
[edit]
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südkreis-Liga, Kreisliga Württemberg and then in the Bezirksliga Württemberg. With the reorganization of German football during the Third Reich in 1933, the team – now known as SV Stuttgarter Kickers – found itself in the Gauliga Württemberg, one of sixteen top tier regional leagues established in the country during that time. It continued to have good results locally, but was unable to impress beyond its own area. In the final year of World War II the Kickers fielded a combined wartime squad with Sportfreunde Stuttgart.
Historical chart of Stuttgarter Kickers league performance
After the war the club resumed play in the Oberliga Süd and performed as a mid-table team early on. By 1950 it had slipped to the lower half of the table with a seemingly solid grip in 14th place, constantly struggling to avoid relegation throughout the decade. Kickers spent the early 60s in tier II football, but after the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional league, in 1963, the club was moved to the Regionalliga Süd. In 1974, that league went professional and became the 2. Bundesliga. Between 1963 and the late 1980s the team had varying results, but finally stabilized in the upper half of the standings toward the end of that period. It has one losing appearance to its credit in the DFB-Pokal in 1987 and in 1988–89 it made it to the Bundesliga for the first time. It ended a run of 28 years as a second division outfit. The team was immediately relegated after a 17th-place finish, but continued to deliver some of its best performances. Die Blauen advanced to the semi-finals of the 2000 DFB-Pokal and then had a second turn in the Bundesliga in 1991–92, but with the same result as its earlier time up. Over the next decade the club played largely in the second division, before slipping to the Regionalliga Süd (III) in 2001, where they remained until 2008, when a tenth-place finish narrowly qualified them for the new 3. Liga. They finished last (20th) in the 3. Liga in 2008–09 and were relegated to the Regionalliga Süd. After three seasons at Regionalliga level, the Kickers returned to the 3. Liga in 2012 where they played for four seasons until relegation at the end of 2015–16, now dropping down to the Regionalliga Südwest. In 2018 they were relegated once more to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.
Other departments
[edit]
The Stuttgarter Kickers also have handball, athletics, table tennis, cheerleading, and lacrosse departments. The association is also recognized for its training of football referees and other game officials. They had a field hockey department too, which in 1957 became independent under the name of HTC Stuttgarter Kickers.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No.
Pos.
Nation
Player
1
GK
GER
Felix Dornebusch
4
DF
SRB
Milan Petrović
5
DF
GER
Jacob Danquah
6
MF
GER
Vico Meien
7
FW
MNE
Meris Skenderović
8
MF
SRB
David Tomić
9
MF
TUR
Sinan Tekerci
13
MF
GER
Nevio Schembri
14
MF
GER
Melkamu Frauendorf
15
MF
GER
Nico Blank
17
FW
GER
Marlon Faß
18
MF
GER
Maximilian Zaiser
19
DF
GER
Nico Fundel
20
MF
KOS
Lirjon Abdullahu
No.
Pos.
Nation
Player
21
MF
GER
Per Lockl
22
FW
GER
David Braig
25
DF
GER
Vincent Schwab
27
DF
GER
David Udogu
28
MF
GER
Lukas Kiefer
29
FW
GER
David Stojak
30
DF
GER
Brian Behrendt
34
MF
GER
Oskar Hencke
35
GK
GER
Léon Neaimé
36
DF
CRO
Mario Borac
37
FW
GER
Flamur Berisha
38
MF
GER
Christian Mauersberger
39
GK
CRO
David Mitrović
40
GK
SUI
Bela Dumrath
See also: List of Stuttgarter Kickers players
Reserve team
[edit]
Main article: Stuttgarter Kickers II
The Stuttgarter Kickers II, historically also known as Stuttgarter Kickers Amateure, have been playing in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg since 2000. Previously, the team fluctuated between the Landesliga and Verbandsliga Württemberg.
Honours
[edit]
The club's honours:
League
[edit]
German football championship
Runners-up: 1908
Southern German championship
Champions: 1908, 1913, 1917
Südkreis-Liga (I)
Champions: 1913, 1914, 1917
Kreisliga Württemberg (I)
Champions: 1921, 1923
Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden (I)
Champions: 1924, 1925
Bezirksliga Württemberg (I)
Champions: 1928, 1933
Runners-up: 1929
Gauliga Württemberg (I)
Champions: 1936, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942
2nd Oberliga Süd (II)
Champions: 1951, 1959
2nd Bundesliga (II)
Champions: 1988
Regionalliga Süd (III/IV)
Champions: 1996, 2012
Runners-up: 1995, 2011
Cup
[edit]
DFB-Pokal
Runners-up: 1987
Württemberg Cup (Tiers III–VII)
Winners: 2005, 2006, 2022
Runners-up: 2003, 2014, 2017, 2023
Youth
[edit]
The club's youth teams have enjoyed quite a bit of success on the national scene.
German Under 19 championship
Champions: 1979
German Junior Cup
Winners: 1990
‡ Reserve team.
Recent seasons
[edit]
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[2][3]
Stuttgarter Kickers
[edit]
Season
Division
Tier
Position
1999–2000
2. Bundesliga
II
15th
2000–01
2. Bundesliga
17th ↓
2001–02
Regionalliga Süd
III
12th
2002–03
Regionalliga Süd
15th
2003–04
Regionalliga Süd
9th
2004–05
Regionalliga Süd
9th
2005–06
Regionalliga Süd
8th
2006–07
Regionalliga Süd
4th
2007–08
Regionalliga Süd
10th
2008–09
3. Liga
20th ↓
2009–10
Regionalliga Süd
IV
9th
2010–11
Regionalliga Süd
2nd
2011–12
Regionalliga Süd
1st ↑
2012–13
3. Liga
III
17th
2013–14
3. Liga
8th
2014–15
3. Liga
4th
2015–16
3. Liga
18th ↓
2016–17
Regionalliga Südwest
IV
13th
2017–18
Regionalliga Südwest
17th ↓
2018–19
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
V
2nd
2019–20
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
3rd
2020–21
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
2nd
2021–22
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
2nd
2022–23
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
1st ↑
2023–24
Regionalliga Südwest
IV
2nd
Stuttgarter Kickers II
[edit]
Season
Division
Tier
Position
1999–2000
Verbandsliga Württemberg
V
2nd ↑
2000–01
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
IV
11th
2001–02
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
8th
2002–03
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
7th
2003–04
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
12th
2004–05
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
10th
2005–06
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
13th
2006–07
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
9th
2007–08
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
15th
2008–09
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
V
7th
2009–10
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
12th
2010–11
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
6th
2011–12
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
15th
2012–13
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
14th
2013–14
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
10th
2014–15
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
14th
2015–16
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
12th
2016–17
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
18th ↓
2017–18
Withdrawn
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.