VfB Stuttgart

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Verein for Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart was founded as a result of the merger on April 2, 1912 of the predecessor clubs Stuttgarter FV and Kronen-Club Cannstatt after a meeting at the Concordia hotel in Cannstatt. Each of these teams comprised of middle-class school students origins who had learned about new sports like football union and football from English expatriates, such as William Cail who introduced rugby in 1865.

Stuttgarter Fussballverein was formed in the Zum Becher hotel in Stuttgart on the 9th of September, 1893. FV began as a club for rugby which played at Stockach-Eisbahn prior to shifting to the city of Cannstatter wasen around 1894. The club formed a football division in 1908. The team attracted players mostly from local schools under the guidance of teacher Carl Kaufmann. They quickly enjoyed its first win when, in 1909, they finished runners-up against FSV in 1897 Hannover at the final of the national rugby championship which they lost by 6-3. The sport was later replaced by association football within the club because the fans found the sport difficult to understand.

It was 1909 when FV joined the Suddeutschen Fussballverband (South German Football Association) which was in the second division B-Klasse. In their second season, FV had a win in the district final against their the future merge with Kronen Klub in Cannstatt but were defeated by FV Zuffenhausen at the County Championship, which could have seen the team elevated. They were eventually promoted into the Senior Sudkreis-Liga in 1912.

The Cannstatter Fussball Club was established as a club for rugby in 1890. They also set up an football team. The club was disbanded within a short period of playing and the old membership was reorganized in the form of FC Krone Cannstatt in 1897 and began competing as only a football team. The new team was a part of to the Suddeutschen Fussballverband (SFV) as an auxiliary club and gained promotion in 1904. Krone had their own field that is still in use in the form of home for TSV Munster.

Following the 1912 amalgamation of the two clubs the new team played beginning with the Kreisliga Wurttemberg and afterwards as part of the Bezirksliga Wurttemberg-Baden which earned a string of top three finishes , and winning a title in 1927. They also had a number of appearances in the final round of the SFV during the 1920s and into the early 1930s.

It was 1933 when VfB was relocated in 1933 into Neckar Stadium, the place where the stadium is now. German football was reorganized that same year under the rule of the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions known as Gauligen. Stuttgart participated in Gauliga Wurttemberg. Gauliga Wurttemberg as well. The club experienced a great success in the Gauliga and won division titles in 1935 and 1937, as well as 1938 1940, 1943, and 1935 prior to the Gauliga system fell apart halfway through the 1944-45 campaign in the wake of World War II. The club was in a fierce rivalry with the Stuttgarter Kickers throughout the period.

Stuttgart's Gauliga wins allowed the team to participate in the national playoff rounds and their most successful result came in 1935, when they made it to the final , where they fell 4-6 to the champions Schalke 04 the most dominant team at the time. Following a third-place finish at the national championship in 1937, Stuttgart did not make it through the preliminary rounds the following time around.

VfB played football in the first division within the Oberliga Sud and won championships in 1946 1953, 1952 and 1954. They regularly played at tournaments in the German championship rounds, and emerged as champions at national level between 1950 and 1952. and finishing in third place in 1953, as well as winning the Pokal DFB title both in 1953 as well as in 1958. The team that won four titles in the span of eight years was directed by Robert Schlienz, who suffered a loss of his arm following a car accident. Despite all these achievements however, none of the Stuttgart squad was selected on the squad that took home in the 1954 FIFA World Cup.

Because of the disappointing results from international competition , such as those at the 1957 as well as the 1962 FIFA World Cup, and as a response to the rise of sportsmanship and the rise of professionalism in the sport, in response to the rise of professionalism, the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund, also known as DFB) substituted those regional competitions in the top leagues in one professional league across the country in 1963. Stuttgart's consistent performance throughout the 1950s helped them to be in sixteen clubs which would eventually make the initial Bundesliga. Being an amateur club and in the wake of Swabian economic hardship the club was hesitant to invest money however certain players continued working at their regular jobs. In the remaining decade and into the mid-1970s the club was able to get mid-table results. The one of few notable players that was a part of the era included Gilbert Gress from Strasbourg.

The year 1973 the team qualified for UEFA Cup for the first time, and progressed to the semi-finals of 1974 tournament, but were defeated by the eventual champions Feyenoord (1-2, 2-3).

VfB Stuttgart was in crisis in the late 1970s, having been unable to catch up with the latest trends in football, like club sponsorship. In an attempt to get up to the latest standards of professionalism through spending money did not work. At the close of the 1974-75 season and with the team at risk of being dropped to Second Bundesliga, local politician Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected president for the first time. However, a draw during one of their final games meant VfB was ranked 16th , and lost the Bundesliga status. The season that began in the league second, which was regarded as to be one of the worst in the history of the league and ended by VfB being ranked at the 11th spot, losing even in a home match against their local Rival SSV Reutlingen at a stadium that was the presence of only 1,200 fans.

With a new head coach Jurgen Sundermann and new talent like Karlheinz Forster and Hansi Muller The team formed around Ottmar Hitzfeld scored a hundred goals between 1976 and 1977 and was able to return to the top of the table after only two seasons.

The youthful team was well-known for its offensive and high-scoring game however, it was a victim of a the lack of experience. By the end of 1977 and 1978, VfB was ranked fourth in the league, but their average attendance of more than 53,000 was the record for the league through the 1990s. They also made a UEFA Cup semi-final appearance in 1980 and also racked up a series in the top 4 places in their journey towards their very first Bundesliga title - VfB's third national championship - at the end of 1984 and are now under the direction of coach Helmut Benthaus.

It was in 1986 that VfB were defeated in the final of the DFB-Pokal by a score of 2-5 against Bayern Munich. At their 1989 UEFA Cup Final, with Jurgen Klinsmann as their coach the team lost to Napoli (1-2 3-3) in the stadium in which Diego Maradona was playing at the time.

It was in 1991 and 1992, Stuttgart clinched its fourth title in one of the tightest race in Bundesliga history. The team finished in front over Borussia Dortmund by a goal advantage. On the international stage, they had been removed out of UEFA Cup play that season ( 1991-92) following a loss in their second round game to Spanish club Osasuna (2-3). As national champions, the club qualified to play in the UEFA Champions League in 1992-93, but were eliminated in the first round by Leeds United following the tie-breaking third fixture in Barcelona that was needed because head coach Christoph Daum having substituted a fourth non-German player during the second leg of the tie.

VfB were not able to get into any European competition until 1997, as a result from their 3rd German Cup win, with coach Joachim Low. They enjoyed a measure of success on their return, advancing to the 1998 European Cup Winners' Cup final in Stockholm, where they lost to Chelsea in the year that ended the tournament. One player from the "magic triangle" the captain Krassimir Balakov who remained on the team following the departure of Giovane Elber and Fredi Bobic were let go. The contract of Low was never renewed, and the team was replaced by Winfried Schafer and, later, was dismissed after a single season.

Stuttgart's performancehowever declined after that because the club had only mid-table results in the following two seasons, despite spending money in the transfer market and having experienced players such as Balakov.

Due to the high amount of debt and the inability to produce performance, Gerhard Mayer/Vorfelder quit the VfB in 2000, and took charge of the offices at DFB, UEFA as well as FIFA. The new President Manfred Haas had to renegotiate expensive contracts for players who did not appear on the field in any way. In 1976, after Mayer-Vorfelder was in charge the club, it had to be rebuilt, taking advantage of talent from youngsters. The VfB is Germany's most effective program at the German youth Championship.

Director Ralf Rangnick Coach Ralf Rangnick begun a restructuring process for the team that took home the Intertoto Cup, but the added strain of UEFA Cup participation ended in being able to escape relegation 2001 by securing the 15th position at the top of the league. Rangnick was substituted in 2001 by Felix Magath.

With players such as Andreas Hinkel, Kevin Kuranyi, Timo Hildebrand, and Alexander Hleb earning themselves the nickname "the young and wild"[citation requiredThe club quickly rebounded and ended as Bundesliga runners-up during 2003-2004 season. The club was re-established in July of 2003. Gerwin Staudt was elected head of the club.

VfB qualified for their second Champions League appearance for 2003-04, beating Manchester United and Rangers once and Panathinaikos twice to make it to in the first round as runners-up Manchester United. They then faced Chelsea at their Round of 16 with a 1-0 loss and 0-0 over the course of two legs.

Stuttgart continued to be one of the best team in America, achieving fifth and fourth place Bundesliga finish during 2003-2004 in 2003-04 and the 2004 and 2005 seasons respectively, and participating at the UEFA Cup, however, without much results. In addition, coach Magath and several players left for another clubs: Kevin Kuranyi for Schalke 04, Philipp Lahm for Bayern Munich and Alexander Hleb for Arsenal.

After the dismal year 2005/06, Giovanni Trapattoni was dismissed and was replaced with Armin Veh. This new manager was chosen as a temporary replacement after resigning from Hansa Rostock in 2003 to be with his family and not having a football role since 2004, aside from coaching his own club FC Augsburg for one season. With the support of his new boss Horst Heldt, Veh could establish himself and his philosophy of focusing on promising cheap players instead of established stars. The captain of the team, Zvonimir Soldo was retired and a few others who were veterans quit the team, which was slipping to ninth and failed to be able to qualify for European tournament for the very first time in the last four years.

Despite the early season losses and the subsequent criticisms during 2006-07 and the 3-0 defeat at home against 1. FC Nurnberg, Veh managed to bring young players such as Mexicans Pavel Pardo, and Ricardo Osorio, Brazilian Antonio da Silva and a host of young local talent, such as Mario Gomez, Serdar Tasci as well as Sami Khedira, into a formidable contender to win the league on the 12th of November 2006 . It was the first time they had led in the past two years. Stuttgart placed themselves in the top five teams and put up an aggressive challenge to win the Bundesliga title after winning the last eight games. The final week of the season was 12 May 2007 Stuttgart defeated VfL Bochum 3-2 away from home, securing the Bundesliga lead over Schalke 04 and, at a minimum, being able to qualify for the 2007-08 Champions League. After losing 0-1 in the final game that season, with Energie Cottbus, Stuttgart returned to take the win by 2-1, claiming the debut Bundesliga title in the span of 15 years. The celebrations after the win in Stuttgart which drew 250,000 spectators exceeded those of Germany's third-place victory against Portugal during 2006's 2005 FIFA World Cup.

Additionally, VfB had their first ever chance of winning their own double since they reached Final of German Cup for the first time since winning the cup in the year 2000. The opponents they faced at the cup final that took place in Berlin included 1. FC Nurnberg, a team which had beat the Stuttgart team twice by three goals in the regular season, with 3-0 and 4-1. They had previously won the cup in 1962. When the score was 1-1 in the opening half Stuttgart's goalie Cacau was dismissed. Nurnberg scored a 2-1 advantage during the second period but the ten men of VfB came back to draw level. In the second period of extra time both teams suffered from fatigue and the humid weather, Nurnberg scored the winning goal.

As detail below.

The 2007-08 UEFA Champions League draw on 30 August 2007 paired the German champions with Spanish giants Barcelona, French champions Lyon and Scottish Old Firm side Rangers. Similar to the 2003-2004 UEFA Champions League season, Stuttgart's 2007-08 European campaign began with a game at Ibrox Park in Glasgow against Rangers. The match ended in the defeat of 2-1. The home match against Barcelona was also lost by a score of 0-2, as well as the final match with Lyon on the road, which saw Lyon coming out with a 2-0 win after two second-half goals. Five losses and only one victory (over Rangers) meant the early departure on the European stage. They were able to finish sixth after a slow beginning. New German international star Mario Gomez scored 19 goals.

In the following year, UEFA Cup qualification was secured in the summer of 2008 by winning the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

This season as the previous season started off with an unsatisfactory start. In November, after matchday 14, VfB was only 11th in the table . As it turned out, Armin Veh was sacked and was replaced with Markus Babbel. After being eliminated from the German Cup after a 1-5 loss to Bayern Munich during January the prospects improved dramatically and the team finished at third place in their table and second spot was just lost after a defeat to Bayern in the final matchday. The team had the possibility of being in it to the Champions League again.

On the world stage, VfB mastered the group stages of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, but lost to Cup Defenders Zenit Saint Petersburg during the final round of final 32 in February.

Stuttgart was in the 2009-2010 season with Mario Gomez leaving for Bayern Munich at the same time Pavel Pogrebnyak arrived from Zenit Saint Petersburg and Alexander Hleb returning on loan from Barcelona.

At the European scale, Stuttgart started the season with great success, being selected to participate in the preliminary stage of the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League. Stuttgart participated in the competition to win the tournament for the 3rd time over the last six seasons (after the 2003 and 2007) through a 2-0 win over Romanian team Politehnica Timisoara in the Champions League play-off stage on the 18th and 26th of August 2009. VfB were then placed in Grupe G against Spanish team Sevilla, Scottish champions Rangers which they were also faced previously in two Champions League Group stage appearances as well as Romanian Champions Unirea Urziceni. Two victories (one for each of Rangers in addition to Unirea) with three draws (one for each of their opponents) and one loss (to Sevilla) they managed second place on the table, getting into the round of the final 16, in which they were to take on the title holders Barcelona in the winter of. After a fantastic home match against Barca that Stuttgart but did not prevail in (1-1) They were eliminated after the 4-0 loss in the Camp Nou. Camp Nou.

The 2009-10 DFB-Pokal The team didn't go any further than the previous 16 teams, and lost to second-tier team SpVgg Greuther Furth. This defeat was at the end of an indifferent first half in the 2009-10 Bundesliga. After falling to 16th place in December, the team's young manager Markus Babbel was fired after matchday 15 and was replaced by an experienced Swiss Christian Gross. Under his guidance, VfB improved their situation in the domestic arena as well as internationally prior to they went on holiday for the duration of winter. In the course of that break, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Jan Simak and Ludovic Magnin quit the club. Cristian Molinaro was recalled from Juventus. In the latter portion of the season the team - just like the 2008-09 season, had an incredible, nearly uninterrupted winning streak. The team was regarded as the top of the 2nd (return) stage of the Bundesliga The Swabians under Gross were able to climb into the upper portion of the table. They after a spectacular victory, were able to ensure European playing rights for the next season through getting into the Europa League.

The 2010-11 season was a poor one. The team was again in the first portion of the season always in the zone of relegation (17th and 18th spots) after Christian Gross being fired and interim coach Jens Keller replacing him for the remainder of the first half. Bruno Labbadia was hired as new coach in January . He did his best to save VfB from being relegated. In the end, the team was 12th, despite a good second-half performance. In July of 2011, Erwin Staudt did not participate in the election of the president . Gerd Mauser was elected president. Mauser took over president.

In the subsequent season of 2011-12 VfB managed to continuously rise in the league table. This was particularly due to an unbeaten streak during the spring. Then, VfB qualified for the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League. One of the key players in that time were Martin Harnik, who scored 17 goals, as did the winger Gotoku Sakai as well as forward Vedad Ibisevic. Both were brought to Stuttgart in January 2012.

Effective from June 3rd, 2013 Gerd E. Mauser announced his resignation as the president of VfB Stuttgart. On the 2nd of July, 2013 the committee of the club's supervisory council appointed Bernd Wahler to be the presidential candidate. presidential election. On the 22nd of July, 2013 Wahler won the presidency with 97.4 percent of the votes that were cast.

After barely avoiding the relegation to the Bundesliga during the 2014-15 season, Stuttgart were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga for the year 2015-16 following finishing 17th in the league after failing to climb out of the lowest three spots until the final days in the year. On matchday 13, following the home game at home against FC Augsburg and their second consecutive loss of 4-0, Stuttgart decided to terminate Alexander Zorniger's deal and appoint Jurgen Kramny to be the manager of their team for an unspecified amount of time. Following the time that Stuttgart were dropped into the second. Bundesliga, Wahler resigned as president on the 15th of May, 2016. Kramny was later fired as coach.

On the 17th of May, Jos Luhukay was announced as the new head coach. Luhukay resigned on September 15 2016, and was succeeded by Hannes Wolf. Then, at the end of the campaign, Stuttgart was back in the Bundesliga as the two. Bundesliga champions. On the 22nd of December, 2017, almost 10-years since leaving, Bundesliga title winning striker Mario Gomez returned to the team from VfL Wolfsburg, a fellow Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, The team had a successful return in the Bundesliga and finished 7th. But, they fell to 16th in the next season and ended in relegation via play-offs with Union Berlin.

Stuttgart named Thomas Hitzlsperger as the sporting CEO. Then, in April Stuttgart selected Sven Mislintat as the sporting director, a former employee of Borussia Dortmund as well as Arsenal. In July, Stuttgart was relegated to the second division and they began rebuilding the team. In mid-season, in December of 2019 the the team's former coach Tim Walter was fired and Pellegrino Matarazzo was appointed coach. After a single campaign, Stuttgart returned to the Bundesliga after finishing second in the 2019-20 2. Bundesliga season. For 2020 the deal for Mislintat was extended to allow his more responsibility.

Stuttgart continued to play in the Bundesliga during the season 2020-21, and finished in ninth position on the table. The 2021-22 season was the only time Stuttgart narrowly avoided being relegated by winning against 1. FC Koln on the last game day ensured their place in the league's first division for a third time in a row.

For a complete development see VfB Stuttgart kits

• Current sports brand: Jako.
• Home uniform: White shirt with a horizontal red stripe, white shorts and white socks.
• Alternative uniform: Red shirt, red shorts and red socks.
• Third uniform: Dark green or yellow shirt, dark green or yellow shorts and dark green or yellow socks.

The home for VfB Stuttgart is the Mercedes-Benz Arena that was built in 1933. It is located near the River Neckar on Bad Cannstatt's Mercedes-Strasse, which is near the Mercedes-Benz Museum as well as the Mercedes-Benz factory. After numerous renovations it could hold the maximum capacity of 55,896 people (50,000 for international games). For the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion (its original name) was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosting five preliminary round matches, a first knockout round match (England vs. Ecuador) and the third place play-off (Germany vs. Portugal). In the 2008-09 season, it was named the Mercedes-Benz-Arena which was inaugurated with a pre-season match against Arsenal on the 30th of July. The stadium has recently was subject to extensive reconstruction and restructuring, when it was converted to a football stadium. In 2011 the capacity was raised to 60,449.

The longest rivalry between VfB has been the rivalry between Stuttgarter Kickers and VfB. Stuttgarter Kickers (Die Roten/Reds against Die Blauen/Blues). The teams from the first two clubs haven't played since Kickers were sent into the 2. Bundesliga in 1992. Thus, this derby has increasingly been overtaken in importance by the Baden-Wurttemberg-Derby between VfB and Karlsruher SC. In this derby, old Badenese-Wurttembergian animosities are played out. The rivalry between Bavarian club Bayern Munich ("Sud-/South Derby") is mostly only one-sided, because VfB supporters are furious at Bayern for purchasing the best Stuttgart players and coaches over the last few time, like Giovane Elber Felix Magath, Mario Gomez as well as Benjamin Pavard.

Regional connections exist between VfB as well as SSV Reutlingen 05, the South Wurttemberg side SSV Reutlingen 05 (the "little brother" of VfB) and with the North Wurttemberger side SpVgg Ludwigsburg. On a larger scale the supporters' groups of VfB were previously closely linked to those that of Energie Cottbus, 1. FC Saarbrucken, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt. These supporter group friendships have ended the present or are maintained by a few supporter groups. Ultras currently have friendships among the supers from SSV Reutlingen 05 and Italian club Cesena.

The year 2005 saw the signing of a collaboration agreement in 2005 between VfB as well as Swiss Super League side St. Gallen was signed with particular attention paid to the youth sections of both clubs.

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• Bundesliga:
  • Champions: 1950, 1952, 1983–84, 1991–92, 2006–07
• 2. Bundesliga:
  • Winners: 1976–77, 2016–17
• DFB-Pokal:
  • Winners: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1996–97
• German Super Cup:
  • Winners: 1992

• UEFA Cup:
  • Runners-up: 1988–89
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
  • Runners-up: 1997–98
• UEFA Intertoto Cup:
  • Winners: 2000, 2002 (record)

• Oberliga Süd:
  • Winners: 1945–46, 1951–52, 1953–54
• 2nd Bundesliga Süd:
  • Winners: 1977
• Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden:
  • Winners: 1926–27, 1929–30
• Gauliga Württemberg:
  • Winners: 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1942–43

• Claus Vogt, President since 15 December 2019
• Alexander Wehrle, Chairman, Executive board representative for Sport, Strategy and Communications
• Thomas Ignatzi, Executive board representative for Finances, Administration and Operations
• Rouven Kasper, Executive board representative for Marketing and Distribution
• Sven Mislintat, Sporting Director

Detail as per below.

As of 12 July 2022

Below are current and previous coaches.

The season-by-season performance of the club since 1963: