The UEFA Champions League
European Union
The best teams from the European Competitions will try to become the best of Europe in this Champions League (CL). Mostly the winners of the big leagues and several 2nd/3rd ranked teams in their league are taking part in this competition. Who will be the best of Europe this season? Watch this and you will know!
Unirea Urziceni vs VFB Stuttgart
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Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart was formed through the 2 April 1912 merger of predecessor sides Stuttgarter FV and Kronen-Club Cannstatt following a meeting in the Concordia hotel in Cannstatt. Each of these clubs was made up of school pupils with middle class roots [1] who learned new sports such as rugby union and football from English pioneers.
[edit] FV Stuttgart
Historical logos of predecessor sides Stuttgarter FV 93 and Kronen-Club Cannstatt.
Stuttgarter Fußballverein was founded at the Zum Becher hotel in Cannstatt on 9 September 1893.[2] FV were initially a rugby club, playing games at Stöckach-Eisbahn before moving to Cannstatter Wasen in 1894. The rugby club established a football section in 1908. The team drew players primarily from local schools, under the direction of teacher Carl Kaufmann, and quickly achieved its first success; in 1909 they were runners-up to FSV 1897 Hannover in the national rugby final, losing 6-3.[3] Rugby was soon replaced by football within the club, as spectators found the game too complicated to follow.
In 1909 FV joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (Southern Germany Football Association)[4], playing in the second tier B-Klasse. In their second season FV won a district final against future merger partner Kronen-Klub Cannstatt before being defeated by FV Zuffenhausen in the county championship that would have seen the side promoted. They eventually advanced to the senior Südkreis-Liga in 1912.
[edit] Kronen-Klub Cannstatt
Cannstatter Fußballklub was formed as a rugby club in 1890 and also quickly established a football team. This club was dissolved after just a few years of play and the former membership re-organized themselves as FC Krone Cannstatt in 1897 to compete as a football-only side.[5] The new team joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (SFV) as a second division club and won promotion in 1904. Cannstatt possessed their own ground, which still exists today as the home of TSV Münster.
Following the 1912 merger of these two clubs, the combined side played at first in the Kreisliga Württemberg and then in the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, earning a number of top three finishes and claiming a title there in 1927. The club also made several appearances in the final rounds of the SFV in the late 20s and early 30s.
[edit] 1933–1945
In 1933 German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions called Gauligen. Stuttgart played in the Gauliga Württemberg and enjoyed considerable success there, winning division titles in 1935, 1937, 1938, 1940, and 1943 before the Gauliga system collapsed part way through the 1944–45 season. The club had an intense rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers throughout this period.
VfB's Gauliga titles earned the team entry to the national playoff rounds, with their best result coming in 1935 when they advanced to the final where they lost 4–6 to defending champions Schalke 04. After a third place result at the national level in 1937, Stuttgart was not able in subsequent appearances to advance out of the preliminary rounds.
[edit] 1950s championships
After the war VfB continued to play first division football in the Oberliga Süd, capturing titles there in 1946, 1952, and 1954. The team also made regular appearances in the German championship rounds emerging as national champion in 1950 and 1952, and finishing as runner-up in 1953. In the 1950s, the club also twice won the German Cup (1954 and 1958). The team which won four titles in eight years was led by Robert Schlienz who had lost his left arm in a car crash. No player from Stuttgart had been selected for the team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup though.
[edit] 1963 Bundesliga
Due to international competition that led to disappointing results in the 1958 and 1962 World Cup, DFB introduced a single professional league in 1963. Stuttgart's consistently good play throughout the 1950s earned them a place among the sixteen clubs that would make up the original Bundesliga. The club, as an amateur organisation and due to proverbial Swabian austerity, hesitated to spend money, and some players continued to work in an everyday job. Throughout the balance of the decade and into the mid-70s the club would generally earn mid-table results. One of the few stars of the time was Gilbert Gress from Strasbourg.
In 1972–1973 the team qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time and advanced to the semi-finals of the 1974 tournament where they were eliminated by eventual winners Feyenoord Rotterdam (1–2, 2–2)
Group G - Matchday #2 :: Uefa Champions League 2009/2010 :: Match also on TVR1 and SkySport Germany.
