Fortuna Dusseldorf

Fortuna Düsseldorf.

The beginnings of the association date back to an athletic team Turnverein Flingern on 5 May 1895, in the village of Flingern which is now one of the eastern parts of Dusseldorf. Two other teams are part of the club's beginnings: Dusseldorfer Fussballklub Spielverein, established in 1908 as well as FK Alemania 1911, which was established in the year 1911 and was later renamed Fortuna 1911 the following year. In the mid-1913 period, these two clubs joined to form Dusseldorfer FC Fortuna 1911, which began its inaugural season within the Westdeutschen Spielverband during 1913-14. TV Flingern joined Fortuna to establish Dusseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna on the 15th of November 1919.

In the 1920s, Fortuna won its first honors as a top first-tier side. It won the district level Bezirksliga championship in 1927. The team also the first representative of its team in the Germany national team in 1928 (Ernst Albrecht) and then won another Bezirksliga award in the year 1929. Fortuna continued to do throughout the 1930s, taking home its fourth and third district titles, en route to winning a Western German football championship in 1931. Its greatest achievement was that was the German league championship, against Schalke 04, which was nearing becoming the most dominant team in the history of football in Germany. Fortuna became the only team in history to take home this title with no goal conceded during the final round of the competition. Fortuna defeated Vorwarts-Rasensport in Gleiwitz (9-0), Arminia Hannover (3-0), Eintracht Frankfurt (4-0) and, finally Schalke 04 (3-0) in the process of becoming the first champion of national renown from the industrial Rhine-Ruhr region.

The next season, the club started playing in Gauliga Niederrhein one of the 16 top-flight divisions created in the reorganization of German football during the Third Reich. Dusseldorf was dominant in the division throughout the 1930s, winning five times in the period between 1936 and 1940 and also lost appearances in the final of the national championship during 1936 (1-2 against 1. FC Nurnberg) and the final of the Tschammerpokal which was the precursor of the current DFB-Pokal during 1937 (1-2 against Schalke 04). The club was delegated in 1942 but was able to make an immediate comeback to football's top league following the season. In 1944-45, it began play as the combined wartime side Kriegsspielgemeinschaft TSV Fortuna/SC 99 Dusseldorf with partner Dusseldorfer Sport Club 1899, but took part in only two matches as Nazi Germany fell before the advance of Allied armies.

The most prominent players of the time included Paul Janes, Germany's most captained player from 1942 until the year 1970 (71 caps), German team captain (1939-1942) and a member of the Breslau Eleven team that defeated Denmark by 8-0 at Breslau in 1937. They then went on to win 10 of the 11 games in that season; Stanislaus Kobierski, who won an impressive 26 caps, scoring Germany's first FIFA World Cup goal; Ernst Albrecht; and Jakob Bender.

Following World War II, Allied occupation authorities demanded that all sporting associations in Germany. Fortuna was revived in 1945, and played the majority of their soccer during the Oberliga West (I) in the period before 1947, and until beginning of the Bundesliga the West's top professional football league in 1963. Fortuna was a mid-table to lower team but earned three spots in the final of the DFB-Pokal in the years 1957 as well as 1958 and 1962 but it was unable to win the prize. They lost all three matches against Bayern Munich, VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Nurnberg. It was during this time the club was home to Toni Turek, goalkeeper for West Germany's "Miracle of Bern" team in the 1954 World Cup; Erich Juskowiak (30 caps and World Cup player in 1958) and later, the head coach of the national side Jupp Derwall, all of whom played for Fortuna.

Fortuna's performance wasn't good enough to secure them an entry into the initial 16 teams that were selected for the new Bundesliga during 1963 however, Fortuna did manage to get into the top league three years after, for an performance in the 1966/67 season. Even though they scored a thrilling victory in the away game against the newly crowned the European Cup Winner's Cup champions Borussia Dortmund in its Bundesliga debut, Fortuna was immediately relegated but returned in 1971 to play a stint lasting 16 years and also included two league third place finish (in 1973-74 and 1972-73). On the 9th of December in 1978, Fortuna scored a 7-1 win against Bayern Munich that is, to date, the most lopsided defeat suffered by Bayern in the entire Bundesliga history. Additionally, Fortuna continued its prosperous participation in the DFB-Pokal with another three appearances. After losing its fifth game in the final in 1978, against the local team 1. FC Koln (0-2), the club finally made it through and emerged as champions in 1979. They prevailed by 1-0 over Hertha BSC. They then repeated as champions in 1980 with a an 2-1 win over 1. FC Koln. In this time the club set the record for consecutive wins in DFB-Pokal matches in a row, which was 18 consecutive between 1978 between 1978 and 1981.

Fortuna is part of a group of four teams that frequently appeared in the final of the DFB-Pokal tournament but came away empty handed. As with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Fortuna has only two wins versus five defeats. 1. FC Koln has four wins and six losses in the Cup final and Schalke 04 has been frustrated frequently, with seven losses and five wins. Four of Schalke 04's losses were by one goal and two were in extra time.

The club's most successful run in European competition came in the 1979 European Cup Winners' Cup Final in which it was runners-up to Barcelona and lost 4-3 after extra time of an thrilling final in Basel. This was the first time in four years where the Catalan club took the trophy.

Fortuna enjoyed its success mainly by bringing in local players such as the well-known Allofs brothers (Klaus Allofs and Thomas Allofs) or players such as Gerd Zewe (440 games in the Bundesliga), Dieter Herzog, Reiner Geye, Wolfgang Seel and Rudi Bommer, who were unknown players but ended up as internationals. In the years 1960-67, Peter Meyer scored 119 goals in 173 games.

Since 1987, when it was relegated, Fortuna has bounced back and back between leagues, playing another five seasons playing in Bundesliga in 1995-97, 1989-92, and down to Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) in 2002-2004. In 2001, Fortuna was spared the relegation process to tier IV due to two clubs being not granted permission for tier III play due to financial reasons. Fortuna was facing its own financial issues at the time, however, they have managed to bring its finances back in the right order. In 2001-2003, the group was sponsored by the German punk rock group Die Toten Hosen.

The 2008/09 season saw Fortuna participated in the newly-established 3. Liga which finished second, receiving automatic promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in which it placed fourth in its comeback season 2009-10. This year, Fortuna was the only team to not lose at home in the three most prestigious German (nationwide) competitions.

After a successful 2009-10 season the 2010-11 season kicked off with a sour note for Fortuna. In the initial six games of the season Fortuna was last and had lost every game. Through the first six matches Fortuna was able to score just two goals - one which was an own goal scored from the opposing team. Despite this, Fortuna bounced back and ended the season in seventh position. The 2011-12 season started off very differently. during the first quarter of the season Fortuna was in the top spot in the table , with an impressive performance of winning 12 times, five draws and one loss. In the end, winning the "Herbstmeister" title provided the team and supporters hope that this would be the year that Fortuna was back in the Bundesliga. The second part of the season proved more difficult since Fortuna did not maintain its pace. It lost four times and suffered several draws, and fell to third at the top of the table. It was still enough for them to be able to enter the two-game playoff for relegation against the third-last team within the Bundesliga - Hertha BSC. The first match of the Relegation took place on 10 May 2012 , in Berlin and Fortuna winning 1-1. Fortuna did not win the game, which took place on the 15th of May in Dusseldorf. Hertha supporters, however, fired fireworks on the field and players. A minute before the end of the match Overexcited Fortuna fans swarmed the field.

Promotion to Bundesliga was an incredible personal feat for captain of the team Andreas Lambertz, as he was the first player of German sports history to be promoted three times by this same team, starting from the Fourth-tier Oberliga into the Bundesliga. For the striker Sascha Rosler, this was the fourth occasion in his career when was promoted from the Second Division into the Bundesliga.

In the wake of this recent boost, FC Bayern München set an all-time record for the first time in German sports history. They are the first German club to have been exiled out of Bundesliga Bundesliga down to an inferior league (time period of decline 1997-2002) and then promoted to the Bundesliga following (time interval of uprising from 2004 to 2012).

Fortuna began its 2012-2013 Bundesliga season in a positive way. After five games, the club was fifth in the table, and worries regarding relegation appeared to have gone away. However, Fortuna's victory at home against SpVgg Greuther Furth on the 16th of February proved to the club's ultimate win in the league. The season came to an end in Fortuna taking part at Hannover 96, a game Fortuna lost 3-3. The loss, along together with the FC Augsburg win over Greuther Furth, as well as a strange and unproven victory in 1899 Hoffenheim over second-placed Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Dortmund, led to Fortuna losing two spots. Fortuna was 17th in the league and again sent back into the second. Bundesliga.

Fortuna's demotion was not just the result of the improbable sequence of events on the last game of the year but also of a disappointing end to the season. In the final eight games they did not take home even one. Just one win would have guaranteed its place in the next season's Bundesliga. This performance was a reason for the demotion of director of the team Norbert Meier.

The relegation process to 2. Bundesliga was followed by an overall disappointing performance. Fortuna was a team that played between 2013 to 2017 in the middle in the league, frequently fighting to avoid relegation, but never fighting for promotion back to the Bundesliga. In the years between 2013 and 2017, the club was through a number of coaching changes. Oliver Reck, Frank Kramer as well as former footballer Mike Buskens among others leading the team at different times. But success was never guaranteed.

In March of this year, Friedhelm Funkel - a native of Neuss He was appointed head director at Fortuna Dusseldorf. In his debut game as coach, Funkel was able to lead the team to the victory of 4-3 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, ending a month-long streak of no wins. Funkel's appointment as coach signaled his first season of more reliability and success for Fortuna.

In the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign, Fortuna's two best players in the previous season namely goalkeeper Michael Rensing and forward Ihlas Bebou and forward Ihlas Bebou, both were ejected to the club due to Rensing having two broken ribs, and Bebou moving to Bundesliga club Hannover 96. Another setback was Funkel's personal assistant Peter Hermann asked to be removed from his contract at Fortuna to allow him to join his coach Jupp Heynckes after the return of FC Bayern. After three defeats and a shaky start to the season, it was clear like the season 2017-18 would be tough for Fortuna. But, the club began very strongly. On April 4 Fortuna was in first spot in the table by drawing and winning three victories. The rest of the season they were not able to fall to third place, enjoying the particularly impressive play by Rensing's replacement for goalie, Raphael Wolf, newly-acquired Belgian forward Benito Raman, striker Rouwen Hennings along with the midfielder Florian Neuhaus. The season ended with a slump that was a factor in Fortuna lose three times at the same time in early April, however Fortuna were victorious in their subsequent two games to secure their place in the Bundesliga. For the last game in the league having already secured promotion, Fortuna beat 1. FC Nurnberg 3:2 on a final-minute goal, thereby securing the first position in the league and then the 2. Division Championship. For the head coach Friedhelm Funkel, it is the sixth time that he has promoted a team, a German record.

Fortuna Dusseldorf's return back to first division football for 2018-19 welcomed with enthusiasm from their fans. The beginning of this season featured a strong but inconsistency in the game. Fortuna did exceptionally well against the top Bundesliga teams, taking one point from Leipzig and sweeping aside Hoffenheim and the first-place Borussia Dortmund. It was particularly encouraging to see an away draw against champions of the present Bayern Munich, when Fortuna was able to come back from a deficit of 3-1 and 2-0 to draw 3-3 in the 93rd minute and Dodi Lukebakio scoring three goals for Fortuna. The draw was not as impressive, however. Fortuna did not play the game with intensity and determination against teams lower on the list, with who they'll be fighting to stay in the top four, losing against Augsburg, Nurnberg and Mainz while only securing to draw with Stuttgart. Fortuna Dusseldorf entered the mid-winter break 14th in the table. They finished the first part of their season by securing three consecutive wins over Freiburg, Dortmund and Hannover. Fortuna Dusseldorf enjoyed a more regular second portion of the season with home victories against Augsburg, Hertha Berlin and one of their most impressive performance in recent years with a rout with a win of 0-4 against Schalke 04. A 4-1 home victory against Werder Bremen and a 3-1 win against Borussia Monchengladbach were highlights at home, and home victories over VfB Stuttgart, Nurnberg and the final day loss to Hannover 96 secured them the team a place in the top 10 within the Bundesliga. Fortuna Dusseldorf achieved their highest league score since the 1989-1990 Bundesliga season, when they placed 9th.

The 2017-18 season saw the online sports betting site Tipbet renewed its contract with Fortuna as Premium Partners of Fortuna. The agreement involves advertising campaigns to increase the brand's visibility, while also regular promotions are scheduled.

This is an inventory of German transfer to football in the window for summer transfers in 2019 by clubs. Only transfers from the Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga are included.

This is an overview of German football transfers during the transfer window for winter 2019-20 for each clubs. Only transfers that are part of the 2. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga are included.

The honours of the club are as the following:

Domestic

• German championship : 1932–33
  • Runners-up: 1935–36
• 2. Bundesliga (II) : 1988–89, 2017–18

Cup

• DFB-Pokal : 1978–79, 1979–80
  • Runners-up: 1936–37, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1977–78

International

• European Cup Winners' Cup
  • Runners-up: 1978–79
• Intertoto Cup : 1967, 1984, 1986
• Trophy Ciudad de Palma : 1989

Regional

• Western German championship (I) : 1930-31
• Western German Cup (I-II): 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1970–71 (II)
• Gauliga Niederrhein/Berg-Mark (I): 1926–27, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1946–47
• Regionalliga West (II): 1965–66
• Oberliga Nordrhein (III): 1993–94

Reserve team

• German amateur football championship (III) : 1976–77

• 1913–1914 C-Klasse (3rd tier) – Champions: 1914
• 1914–1918 B-Klasse (2nd tier) – Champions: 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
• 1918–1919 A-Klasse (1st tier)
• 1919–1920 A-Klasse (2nd tier) – Champions: 1920
• 1920–1921 Gauliga Berg Mark (1st tier)
• 1921–1922 A-Klasse (2nd tier)
• 1922–1933 Gauliga Berg Mark (1st tier) – Champions: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933
• 1933–1942 Gauliga Niederrhein (1st tier) – Champions: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
• 1942–1943 Bezirksklasse (2nd tier) – Champions: 1943
• 1943–1944 Gauliga Niederrhein (1st tier)
• 1944–1946 no contests (WW II)
• 1946–1947 Bezirksliga Berg Mark (1st tier) – Champions: 1947
• 1947–1949 Oberliga West (1st tier)
• 1949–1950 2. Liga West (2nd tier)
• 1950–1960 Oberliga West (1st tier)
• 1960–1961 2. Liga West (2nd tier)
• 1961–1963 Oberliga West (1st tier)
• 1963–1966 Regionalliga West (2nd tier) – Champions: 1966
• 1966–1967 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 1967–1971 Regionalliga West (2nd tier)
• 1971–1987 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 1987–1989 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier) – Champions: 1989
• 1989–1992 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 1992–1993 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier)
• 1993–1994 Oberliga Nordrhein (3rd tier) – Champions: 1994
• 1994–1995 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier)
• 1995–1997 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 1997–1999 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier)
• 1999–2000 Regionalliga West/Südwest (3rd tier)
• 2000–2002 Regionalliga Nord (3rd tier)
• 2002–2004 Oberliga Nordrhein (4th tier)
• 2004–2008 Regionalliga Nord (3rd tier)
• 2008–2009 3. Liga (3rd tier)
• 2009–2012 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier)
• 2012–2013 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 2013–2018 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier) – Champions: 2018
• 2018–2020 Bundesliga (1st tier)
• 2020–present 2. Bundesliga (2nd tier)

Fortuna Dusseldorf is a German football club located within Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. This list lists all the footballers who have played more than 100 games for the club from 1947. The statistics from prior to 1947 aren't complete.

A total of 25 Fortuna players have played for the national team, earning the equivalent of 240 caps. Except for Erich Juskowiak, all players were first introduced with the national team as Fortuna players:

•  Kuno Klötzer (July 1963 – June 1967)
•  Otto Knefler (July 1968 – June 1970)
•  Heinz Lucas (July 1970 – April 1975)
•  Manfred Krafft (April 1975 – April 1976)
•  Sepp Piontek (July 1975 – April 1976)
•  Dietrich Weise (July 1976 – June 1978)
•  Hans-Dieter Tippenhauer (July 1978 – October 1979)
•  Otto Rehhagel (October 1979 – December 1980)
•  Heinz Höher (December 1980 – June 1981)
•  Jörg Berger (July 1981 – October 1982)
•  Willibert Kremer (October 1982 – April 1985)
•  Dieter Brei (April 1985 – April 1987)
•  Gerd Meyer (April 1987 – June 1987)
•  Aleksandar Ristić (July 1987 – December 1990)
•  Josef Hickersberger (December 1990 – August 1991)
•  Rolf Schafstall (August 1991 – January 1992)
•  Hans-Jürgen Gede (January 1992 – March 1992)
•  Horst Köppel (January 1992 – August 1992)
•  Rudolf Wojtowicz (interim) (August 1992)
•  Aleksandar Ristić (August 1992 – November 1996)
•  Rudolf Wojtowicz (November 1996 – September 1997)
•  Uli Maslo (September 1997 – April 1998)
•  Enver Marić (interim) (April 1998 – June 1998)
•  Klaus Allofs (July 1998 – April 1999)
•  Peter Neururer (April 1999 – June 1999)
•  Jürgen Gelsdorf (July 1999 – May 2000)
•  Aleksandar Ristić (July 2000 – January 2001)
•  Uwe Fuchs (January –April 2001)
•  Tim Kamp (April 2001 – April 2002)
•  Stefan Emmerling (April –June 2002)
•  Slavko Petrović (July 2002 – May 2003)
•  Uwe Weidemann (May –June 2003)
•  Massimo Morales (July 2003 – November 2004)
•  Uwe Weidemann (November 2004 – November 2007)
•  Wolf Werner (interim) (November –December 2007)
•  Norbert Meier (January 2008 – June 2013)
•  Mike Büskens (June – November 2013)
•  Oliver Reck (interim) (November and December 2013)
•  Lorenz-Günther Köstner (January 2014 – June 2014)
•  Oliver Reck (June 2014 – February 2015)
•  TaÅŸkın Aksoy (interim) (April 2015 – June 2015)
•  Frank Kramer (July 2015 – November 2015)
•  Peter Hermann (interim) (November 2015 – December 2015)
•  Marco Kurz (December 2015 – March 2016)
•  Friedhelm Funkel (March 2016 – January 2020)
•  Uwe Rösler (January 2020 – June 2021)
•  Christian Preußer (July 2021 – February 2022)
•  Daniel Thioune (February 2022 – )

• Lichtplatz (1908–19)
• Vennhauser Straße (1919–30)
• Paul-Janes-Stadion (1930–53, 1970–72, 1975–76 (Evasive), 2002–05, 2005–07 (Evasive))
• Rheinstadion (1953–70, 1972–2002)
• LTU Arena/Esprit Arena/Merkur Spiel-Arena (since 2005)[1]
• Lena-Arena (April–May 2011)

• 1928: first German team to visit Africa for friendly competition
• 1960: first German team to sign an African player (Charles Gyamfi)
• 1978 – 7 Dec.: Fortuna obtained a 7–1 victory against Bayern Munich, to date the worst away defeat for Bayern in its entire Bundesliga history.
• 1978 – 1981: consecutive DFB-Pokal match victories (18)
• 2009: Fortuna set an all-time attendance record for third level football in Germany: 50,095 visitors saw a 1–0 victory against Werder Bremen U23 that meant promotion into the 2. Bundesliga.

Fortuna's greatest rivalry is 1. FC Koln, which stems from the geographical closeness of Dusseldorf and Cologne and the long-standing rivalry between both cities. However, in recent years, the clubs have seldom played in the same division, so head-to head matches have become more uncommon. The 2013-14 season was the last time that the two teams played in competitive matches , when both were as part of the Second Division. In the 2018-19 season Fortuna was elevated into the 1. Bundesliga specifically as 1. FC Koln was demoted from the Bundesliga to the Second Division, again avoiding the "Rheinland Derby".

Other historic rivals of Fortuna include Rot-Weiss Essen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Wuppertaler SV. In the 1970s All four clubs were within the Bundesliga. In the 1970s, both Essen and Wuppertal are now in lower leagues. Bayer Leverkusen, on the contrary is emerging as an influential powerhouse on the Bundesliga. Leverkusen's financial assistance by Bayer Chemical Conglomerate. Bayer Chemical conglomerate resulted in many Dusseldorf supporters praising the club for being "plastic" and unauthentic with no real history. In the time they were both at the top of the Second Division, Fortuna's matches against MSV Duisburg and Borussia Monchengladbach were highly contested and were often referred in the context of "Lower Rhein Derbys". Fortuna Dusseldorf and Rot-Weiss Essen have played each other for 59 times, and people still view this as an intense rivalry. However, the direct games have not been as frequent in recent times. Fortuna also has city rivalries that include Dusseldorf SC99 as well as TuRU Dusseldorf, yet these have also slowed down in intensity. In the post-war period there was no other club within of the Dusseldorf city limits been in an upper division than Fortuna.

Due to the dominance of FC Bayern Munchen in recent years, Fortuna also has a competition between the Bavarians. While Dusseldorf hasn't made any serious challenge for an Bundesliga title since the beginning of the 1970s, games with Fortuna with FC Bayern have been fiercely disputated. In a match in 1975, Bayern led at halftime 4:2, however Fortuna was able to come back and beat them 6:5. The 9th December of 1978 saw Fortuna won against FC Bayern 7:1, an result that to this day is FC Bayern's most embarrassing away defeat. In the 1985-86 season Fortuna is the sole club to have won two its matches against the final champions from Munich with a score of the games 4:0, and 3:2. The group Die Toten Hosen, many of whom are enthusiastic supporters of Fortuna Dusseldorf, have celebrated Fortuna's victory in the match against FC Bayern in their song "Bayern" that is featured in their compilation album "Immortal". The final Bundesliga game ended in drawn after Munich was leading 3-1. Fortuna had two goals scored, 3:3 in just 10 minutes.

Dusseldorf has connection to English League One side Ipswich Town Ipswich Town's supporters regularly visiting the team at their home stadium, Portman Road, since 2003. Ipswich supporters have also been doing the same as they have made visits to support Dusseldorf to victory at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.

Fortuna Dusseldorf enjoys a strong crowd and fans who are within the "ultra" curvature that surround the venue are famous for their elaborate choreographed performances and enthusiasm for their team and sometimes include lights the of "Bengalos" and fireworks from the stands.

The members of the group Die Toten Hosen, including their lead singer Campino is often seen at Fortuna games at home as well as when on the road. Additionally, when Fortuna recently celebrated its 2. Division title in front of thousands of fans in the city hall in Dusseldorf on May 14, 2018, the band was there alongside them. Also, the band has been highly valued by the club for having served as sponsors in the 2002-03 and 2001-02 seasons, during which the club was relegated into the Regional League and faced financial difficulties.

Since June 1, 2015 Fortuna Dusseldorf has its futsal department. From that date, the futsal department has evolved into one of the best in Germany. They were part of the Deutsche Futsal Meisterschaft 2021 of the DFB as the winners from the Futsalliga West during the season 2020-21 and are one of the first participants of the Futsal Bundesliga. The team will be wearing their jersey on September 3rd, 2021 at their home venue in that of the Castello in Dusseldorf which will host the first match in the Bundesliga against the HSV Panthers.