Frankfurt FC Victoria 1899
The Frankfurt FC Victoria 1899 is a former football club from Frankfurt am Main . It was founded in 1899, merged in 1911 with the Frankfurter Kickers to form the Frankfurter Fußball-Verein (Kickers-Victoria) , which in turn became part of the gymnastics and sports community of Eintracht , which later became Frankfurt Eintracht . In the year after it was founded, Victoria was one of the founding clubs of the DFB and quickly developed into one of the most successful football clubs in the Main metropolis.
founding
The Frankfurt soccer club Victoria was founded on March 8, 1899 by 15 men in an inn at Hohenzollernstrasse 14, today's Düsseldorfer Strasse . The “Hundswiese” on Eschersheimer Landstrasse served as the venue, while the club's premises were “Schlesinger Eck” in Große Gallusstrasse 2a. The first game took place on March 19th against 1. Bockenheimer FC 1899 , the Viktoria players, who competed in red shirts and black shorts, won 4-1. Up to September of that year, a total of 16 matches were played against teams from Frankfurt, Hanau and Mannheim . They also competed against FC Germania Frankfurt , which had been in existence since 1894, and won this prestigious game 2-1. Although founded only a few months earlier, Victoria was one of the 86 founding clubs of the German Football Association in January 1900 .
Promotion to the top club in Frankfurt
Football in Frankfurt was still in its infancy at the turn of the century, and potential opponents were few and far between. The establishment of the Frankfurter Association Bund (FAB), in which Victoria was one of four clubs, was followed by the first round of championships in September 1900. At the end of the day, Victoria and Germania were tied with five points each. Germania won the play-off , which took place in Bockenheim in November , 1-0. In the same year, both clubs also took part in the VSFV's South German Championship . Victoria succeeded in taking revenge against Germania here, but then dropped out of the competition against the Darmstädter FC student team .
Numerous newcomers to round 1901/02 ensured that the team secured the championship of the FAB this season. Honorable results were also achieved in friendly games against away teams. The final round of the South German Championship ended early this year too, with the eventual runner-up FC Hanau 93 defeated in the first round . The 1902/03 season saw a similar result . Again the FAB championship was won, in the South German championship Victoria failed - after victories against Offenbacher Kickers (3: 0) and Viktoria 94 Hanau (2: 0) - but again to Hanau 93 (2: 3).
For the 1903/04 season , the southern German association organized a round of points for the first time. For this purpose, the association area of the VSFV was divided into two districts (north and south), which in turn were subdivided into districts. Twelve clubs from Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and the surrounding area played in the “Westmaingau” season of the northern district. Victoria was not very successful in this round, after the eleven games were 9:13 points to book. The FAB also organized a championship this year, which was not held until the spring after the VsFV round had ended. With a 1-0 defeat against Frankfurter Kickers in the first game, it was clear that Victoria would not defend their previous year's title. But the Victoria succeeded in the following season 1904/05, without losing points to win the Gaume Championship. In the final round of the Northern District Championship, however, they lost out to Hanau 93 and Union 97 Mannheim . The last FAB round held this year had to be decided by a replay between Victoria and FSV Frankfurt after both opponents had played a draw. Victoria finally had to admit defeat to the Bornheimers 2: 4 in Hanau.
After the Westmaingau round in 1905/06 , Victoria and FSV were again tied with 12: 2 points, the better goal difference decided the championship in favor of the defending champion. The Victoria could not prevail again in the subsequent North Circle Championship. In the following seasons, the squadrons were changed again several times, the Victoria only occupied places in the middle of her season. When a single-track league for the northern district was introduced for the 1909/10 season , the Victoria was barely included despite a sixth place and 7:17 points in the previous year. In the top division of twelve or 13 teams in the following season, the Victoria was just as unable to intervene in the battle for the championship as the Frankfurter Kickers. The championship in 1909 and 1910 was won by Viktoria 94 Hanau and SV Wiesbaden. The best Frankfurt club was the FSV, which had grown to become the Frankfurt soccer club with the largest number of members (335 members, Kickers 214, Victoria 133).
In 1911, Victoria finally merged with Frankfurter Kickers . On May 7, the first game of the Frankfurt soccer club Kickers-Victoria against Freiburg FC took place. Another merger followed just nine years later. Together with the Frankfurt gymnastics community , the "Gymnastics and Sports Community Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861" was founded, which still exists today under the name Eintracht Frankfurt .
Venues
At the beginning of the 20th century there was a lot of gaming activity in Frankfurt, but many clubs, including Victoria, had great problems finding or financing their own venues. By 1906, the number of Frankfurt clubs registered with the DFB had risen to 21. The main venue at that time was still the "Hundswiese", which was used by many clubs, which was not conducive to the quality of the soil, and also did not allow for an enclosed area, which means that the clubs lost income from entrance fees. The city of Frankfurt finally felt compelled to take action on the issue of sports facilities, so that closed sports facilities were created, especially in the north and east of the city. For example, the municipal "Sportpark Frankfurt" was created in the Ostpark , for whose sports fields, including a wooden stand, Hermannia paid 1,000 marks annually.
The Victoria finally got its own facility north of the "Hundswiese" on Eschersheimer Landstrasse, whereupon it entered the register of associations and issued shares for the expansion of the sports field, which on March 31, 1907 with a game against an association team from Paris was inaugurated. In 1910 the wooden grandstand of the now dissolved Hermannia was purchased for 350 marks and set up on the square on Eschersheimer Landstrasse.
literature
- Ulrich Matheja: Schlappekicker and sky striker. The story of Eintracht Frankfurt . Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-89533-538-9 , pp. 16–24