FC Schalke 04

FC Schalke 04
society
Surname	Football club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V.
Seat	Gelsenkirchen , North Rhine-Westphalia
founding	May 4, 1904 (as Westfalia Schalke)
To dye	Blue White
Members	160,023 (September 1, 2019)
Board	Alexander Jobst (Marketing, Sales & Organization) Peter Knäbel (Sports & Communication) Christina Rühl-Hamers (Finance, Human Resources & Legal)
Website	schalke04.de
First team
Head coach	Dimitrios Grammozis
Venue	Veltins Arena
Places	62,271 54,740 (international)
league	2nd Bundesliga
2020/21	18th place ▼ ( Bundesliga )
home Away Alternatively

The FC Schalke 04 (officially Football Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V. ), short FC Schalke or S04 , is a 1904 Gelsenkirchen district Schalke established sports club . With seven German championships , five successes in the DFB Cup and victory in the 1997 UEFA Cup, FC Schalke 04 is one of the most successful football clubs in the country and is currently in seventh place in the Bundesliga all-time table . In 1937, Schalke was the first German club to win the championship and cup double .

With 160,023 members (as of September 1, 2019), FC Schalke 04 is the fourth largest German sports club in terms of number of members and the fifth largest in the world . It also has departments for basketball , blind soccer , e-sports , women's soccer , handball , athletics , referees , skiing and table tennis . The football professionals, traditionally known as Die Knappen or Die Königsblauen , have been playing their home games in the Veltins Arena since August 2001 .

story

1904 to 1912: Founding years as "Westfalia Schalke"

In the shadow of the mining tower of the Zeche Consolidation , the "Myth of Schalke" was born

A year after the town of Schalke, which was heavily influenced by mining ( Zeche Consolidation ) , was incorporated into the city of Gelsenkirchen , a dozen boys between the ages of 14 and 16 who wanted to play football together - according to legend, in a backyard near the trade street at the Schalke market . Josef Ferse, Wilhelm "Willy" Gies , Johann Kessel, Viktor Kroguhl, Heinrich Kullmann, Adolf Oetzelmann, Josef Seimetz and Willy van den Berg founded a loose association on May 4, 1904, to which they named "Westfalia Schalke". “It is the hour when the Schalke story begins”, writes Die Zeit 100 years later , “a story of passion, dizziness, power - the story of the most legendary German football club”.

By the end of the year, the number of members had doubled, because the founding generation was “of rather petty-bourgeois origin compared to the mass of immigrant workers” with a “relatively stable way of life”. For example, Willy Gies was an apprentice at the kitchen appliance manufacturer Küppersbusch . Like other clubs from the village, the Schalke players also played on the municipal sports field before the club host arranged for them to have their own on Grenzstraße. In 1907 the association had 40 - now paying - members ("five pfennigs a month for schoolchildren and ten pfennigs for school leavers"). In those years the club colors were not blue and white, but red and yellow.

In 1909, with the entry in the club register of the city of Gelsenkirchen, the recreational kickers officially became an association; The chairman became - since Willy Gies, who the kickers considered their head up until then, was not yet of legal age - Heinrich Hilgert, who worked as a weighing foreman at the colliery. The surroundings of the association and many of its football players came from this Bergmann environment , this brought Schalke nicknamed "the miners" one - a squire is a miner who has completed an apprenticeship.

1912 to 1924: From "Turnverein 1877" to "FC Schalke 04"

In the then football association, the West German game association , the Schalke kickers, even as a club, were not initially accepted. Therefore, in 1912 they joined the Schalke Gymnastics Club in 1877 under President Fritz Unkel , who was already a member of this association. The footballers remained an independent department within the club.

The beginning of the First World War in 1914 also influenced the sports club from Schalke. The game operation was discontinued. In 1915 Robert Schuermann tried to re-establish the Westfalia on the grounds of the gymnastics club, until 1917, when the game came to a standstill for the time of the war. On July 24, 1919, the Schalke Gymnastics Club 1877 and the Westfalia Schalke sports club finally merged, and they became the Schalke 1877 Gymnastics and Sports Club . A few weeks earlier, according to legend on May 25, 1919, there was an event that was just as important for the future: Ernst Kuzorra made his first game for the club as a B-youth against Erle 08.

In 1920 TuS 1877 had five senior and four youth teams in football; one team rose to the A-class that year, and a year later as champions in the Emscher district league. In August 1922, the club made its first game against a team from abroad - the semi-professionals of the Austrian first division and reigning cup winners Vienna Associationfootball Club - on Grenzstrasse, the "Knappen" were defeated by just 1: 2. The most important Schalke players during this time were the first team captain Thomas Student, the brothers Hans and Friedrich ("Fred") Ballmann. You were born in Dortmund; at the age of three they emigrated to England , where they were influenced by Scottish combination football with its short and flat passes. Fritz Unkel recalled in 1934: “When they returned to Germany in 1919, it was considered a sensation to see the 'English' play. Their system […] was not known in Germany. ”What they had brought back from the island were“ flat pass game. Dribble. To deceive. Running free. ”The foundations for what, later associated with the names Ernst Kuzorra and Fritz Szepan , became the team's recipe for success in the 1930s: the“ Schalker Kreisel ”.

On January 5, 1924, in the course of the " clean divorce ", the gymnastics department split off from the club's football department at a meeting with the club's host Oeldemann. The footballers chose football club Schalke 04 e. V. and the club colors blue and white. Hans J. König wrote the club song Blue and White, How I Love You , which with the line "A thousand fires in the night have brought us great happiness" also heralds Gelsenkirchen's heavy industry. The "thousand fires" were the many torches that were created by burning mine gas and glowed over the city in the dark. The city of Gelsenkirchen has long been nicknamed "City of 1000 Fires".

1924 to 1930: With the "Kreisel" to the West German championship

Probably the most famous player of the Schalke roundabout : Ernst Kuzorra (1987)

Hans Ballmann left the club in October 1923. He later became a sexton in Philadelphia , but his brother continued to improve the "gyro technology" until 1926. His most successful "students" were Ernst Kuzorra and his brother-in-law Fritz Szepan . In 1924 the men became district champions of the district league.

In 1925 the Gelsenkirchen team signed a real coach for the first time - the former national player Heinz Ludewig . With him they became champions of the Emscherkreisliga, Ruhrgaumeister of the Kreisliga and West German champions of the Kreisliga. With that, the Schalke team would have already climbed another step, had the association not imposed a ban on promotion. Years later, those active at the time suspected a conspiracy against the club. "They didn't want us to be in their top class," WAZ quotes former goalkeeper August Sobotka. The association and the “bourgeois” associations in the region, such as Schwarz-Weiß Essen , were meant by “those”, ie those who did not want to have anything to do with the Schalke workers' association .

In 1926 Schalke won the championship again and were now allowed to move up to the top division of the time, the Ruhr district class (Gauliga Ruhr). In this they became champions in 1927 and then West German runner-up. Thus they reached the final round of the German championship for the first time , but were eliminated in the preliminary round by a 1: 3 defeat against TSV 1860 Munich . However, the euphoria was great and so the general meeting decided to build a new stadium, which was started immediately. Ernst Kuzorra's league was honored this year with his first appearance in the German national team on November 20 against the Netherlands . He was the first Schalke in the selection.

In 1928, with the Austrian "Guggi" Wieser as coach, it was enough as a renewed district champion only to third place in the West German championship, which was enough to reach the final round . This time too, the Knappen were eliminated early, with a 2: 4 at the eventual final winner Hamburger SV . In September of that year there was the first game in the new Glückauf arena , named after the miners' greeting; in friendship it went to the opening against Tennis Borussia Berlin . Thankful that the city of Gelsenkirchen had contributed to the costs for the new venue, the club renamed itself FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 .

In 1929 Schalke celebrated the third district championship in a row and also won the West German championship for the first time by winning the final against the Meidericher Spielverein . In the DM finals there was again no success. With a 1: 4 against Hertha BSC the end came this time in the quarter-finals. It was similar in 1930: The West German champions were eliminated in the final round, also in the quarter-finals, with a 2: 6 against the then record champions 1. FC Nürnberg .

1930 to 1933: From "professional scandal" to German runner-up

The first "black day" in the blue and white history was August 25, 1930: The club was temporarily excluded from the West German Association, 14 FC Schalke 04 players were declared professionals and excluded from gaming. The club was guilty of a “violation of amateur behavior ” with “excessive expense payments ” to the players . Hans Tibulski , Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra , among others, are said to have collected up to twenty instead of the permitted five marks . In fact, decades later there were rumors about Kuzorra's financial conduct. Before big games he is said to have estimated the number of people in the stands and, if there were good visitors, delayed running out onto the pitch until those responsible had put "a hundred for each player" into their boots.

As amusing as the anecdote may be overall, it also had a decidedly sad note: Schalke's treasurer Willy Nier took his own life out of shame about the events by drowning himself in the Rhine-Herne Canal .

As early as January 1931, the club was re-admitted to the association, and the suspended players were pardoned on June 1, 1931. On that day, 70,000 spectators saw their players' comeback against Fortuna Düsseldorf on the Glückauf-Kampfbahn . Schalke will soon be considered again for the national team; in September Kuzorra, Szepan - for the only time together - and Tibulski played for the DFB against Denmark in Hanover .

Szepan and Kuzorra were the driving forces of the Schalke team these days, responsible for tactics and line-up, even if Hans Sauermann officially acted as coach. In 1932, the "Knappen" reached the finals of the German championship again ; they were only defeated in the semifinals against Eintracht Frankfurt (1: 2).

Also in 1933 Schalke reached the finals of the German championship as West German champions ; after victories against the Berlin FC Viktoria 89 and FSV Frankfurt they also won the semi-finals this time, in the Leipzig Probstheidaer Stadium against 1860 Munich. In the final it was in Cologne on June 11, 1933 against Fortuna Düsseldorf , which had landed behind Schalke in the West German championship. In front of 60,000 spectators in the Müngersdorfer Stadium , it was Fortuna who won the game 3-0. The defeat cost coach Kurt Otto , later coach of the Polish national football team , his post. It should be a year before the first German championship.

1933 to 1945: title collector under the swastika

In the course of the " Gleichschaltung " in what was then the German Reich, football clubs were also reorganized by the National Socialists from mid-1933 . In football, the DFB remained in existence until 1940, but in fact only played a role for participation in international competitions. The seven regional associations of the DFB disbanded in the course of 1933. Until 1945, the Reich Office for Football was responsible for football in Germany.

During the Nazi era, FC Schalke 04 became the most successful football club in Germany. Between 1934 and 1942, the team reached at least the championship or cup finals every year. She won the championship six times, and once (1937) the Tschammerpokal . After winning the first championship title in 1934, the Polish press reported that almost all of the players were Poles, "sons of immigrant miners". The club's management responded with an open letter stating that all eleven players in the championship team and two reservists were born in the Ruhr area. The birthplaces of their parents were also listed: eight of the pairs of parents came from Protestant Masuria , two were locals, one each came from Upper Silesia , one from the Poznan area and one from East Frisia . Miners were therefore not among the ancestors of the Schalke players, but some worked in mining after their arrival in the Ruhr area.

The successes of the team were exploited ideologically by the National Socialists, the players were instrumentalized or they let themselves be consciously harnessed. The championship finals were played in the Olympiastadion Berlin from 1937 and the fighting and team spirit of the players was placed in the foreground for propaganda purposes.

Auditorium during the final of the 1941 German soccer championship against Rapid Vienna

In 1933, the "Knappen" were assigned to the new Gauliga Westfalen , which they were to dominate in the years to come: in all eleven seasons up to 1944, Schalke was Westphalia champion and reached the final round of the German championship. On August 15, 1933, the former national player Hans "Bumbes" Schmidt became the new coach - one of the guarantors of future success. In the championship finals in 1934, the Gelsenkirchen team were subject to both VfL Benrath and Eimsbütteler TV in the group games , but they reached the semifinals by one point. In the Rheinstadion Düsseldorf , a victory over SV Waldhof 07 brought the blue-whites into the final as in the previous year . On June 24, 1934, the men of the former Nuremberg master player Schmidt met 1. FC Nürnberg in the Post Stadium in Berlin . Thanks to two goals from Szepan and Kuzorra shortly before the end, Schalke won their first German championship title. A year later they repeated the triumph with a 6-4 victory in the final against VfB Stuttgart . In December 1935 they were also in the final of the first German cup competition . In Düsseldorf they lost 2-0 to their great rivals of the 1930s, 1. FC Nürnberg .

After a year without a title in 1936, the “Knappen” made the double of championship and cup in 1937 ; Further German championships followed in 1939 , 1940 and 1942 . Although the players were exempted from military service for games in the first years of the war, after 1942 it was no longer possible to speak of normal gaming operations.

The Schalke Elf made several trips through occupied countries to " look after the troops ", playing against soldiers' teams. In 1941 she came to Warsaw for the first time and easily won 8-1. In the following year, however, it was subject to a selection of the German garrison 1: 2 at the same location.

1945 to 1963: Oberliga with German championship

From July 1945, the Schalke team returned to friendly games. Since the own stadium could not be used, the games were played away. In the time of food stamps , the players were often fed by the hosts. In March 1946 the Landesliga Westfalen started playing and in July 1946 the bombed-out Glückauf-Kampfbahn was reopened. The club could not build on its old successes. In 1947 he was defeated by the district neighbors Borussia Dortmund with 2: 3 in the playoff for the Westphalia Championship . In the same year the Oberliga West was founded, in which - in addition to the Schalke players - the STV Horst-Emscher , which was more successful at the end of the 1940s, represented Gelsenkirchen. In the first season Schalke reached sixth place, Horst-Emscher came third. While the city rivals were able to hold their position in 1949, only an increase in the league prevented Schalke from relegating to the second division. A little later, Fritz Szepan, who was now also serving as a coach, and the now 45-year-old Ernst Kuzorra ended their careers with a friendly against Atlético Mineiro from Belo Horizonte .

In 1951 Schalke became champions of the Oberliga West for the first time and reached the final round of the German championship again after seven years . After a bad start with defeats against St. Pauli and in Kaiserslautern and a draw in Fürth , the team won all the return games, but only came second in the group and had to give way to the eventual champions from the Palatinate. In the following year, the "Knappen" reached the championship finals again as second in the league . While the team in the DFB Cup was eliminated early in the first post-war competitions, after starting difficulties they reached the final against Karlsruher SC with two replays in 1955 , but were defeated 2: 3 in the final minutes despite a 2-1 lead.

In 1956 , Schalke finished second behind Borussia Dortmund . In the final round there was an exciting race in Group 1 for participation in the finals; In the end, Schalke, like Karlsruher SC and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, were tied with 7: 5 points each, so the goal quotient had to decide - and it was 7: 5 for KSC, which reached the final against BVB . If instead of the goal quotient at that time the goal difference  - Schalke had scored 16:12 goals - had been decisive, there would have been a pure West final.

1958 reached the Gelsenkirchen from since 1954 Edi Frühwirth trained for the second time champion of the league , the DM-finals . In a group with Eintracht Braunschweig , Tennis Borussia Berlin and Karlsruher SC, Schalke won all three games and prevailed with a goal difference of 16: 1. In the final they met Hamburger SV , which also had three group wins. On May 18, 1958, “Berni” Klodt , a World Cup participant from 1954, paved the way for clear victory; with two goals he put his team in the lead before half time; “Manni” Kreuz made the success clear with the third goal shortly before the end of the game: Schalke were German champions for the seventh and so far last time. Klodt later said: “It took us a long time to have a top team again. Everything went like clockwork against Hamburg. At 22.5 years of age, our team was still very young on average. But it was also very hard, could really reach. That was certainly no longer the style of the old Schalke champions, our strengths lay in a different area. ”The “ blues ”held their own in the following European Cup, not with the Schalke roundabout , but with fighting power and concentration . In three games they prevailed in qualifying against Kjøbenhavns Boldklub , in the round of 16 they eliminated the English champions Wolverhampton Wanderers . Only in the quarterfinals came the end against Spain's runner-up Atlético Madrid .

The league suffered from the efforts - Schalke was only eleventh, but was able to advance to top positions again in the coming seasons; with second place in the penultimate league season , the team qualified again for the championship finals after an elimination game against north second Werder Bremen . As Oberliga sixth 1963 FC Schalke 04 went to the first season of the new Bundesliga .

1963 to 1981: Bundesliga with scandal and relegation

In 1976, Klaus Fischer became the first Bundesliga top scorer from the ranks of FC Schalke 04

As a founding member of the Bundesliga, Schalke remained first class until 1981. However, in the first few years the club did not only have to fight for it in terms of sport. At the end of the first Bundesliga round, the license was at stake. The DFB feared that Schalke could no longer meet its obligations. The club then sold the Glückauf-Kampfbahn to the city of Gelsenkirchen; at the urging of the city, the board resigned, and Fritz Szepan became the club's president for the first time. Before that, the first change of coach for the "Knappen" in the league had already taken place: Georg Gawliczek had to leave, Fritz Langner took over.

In the second Bundesliga season 1964/65 , the team was eighth in the previous season, and in the end it was in last place. Schalke stayed in the elite class only because the league was increased to 18 teams and there were no further relegated teams after Hertha BSC's license was withdrawn . The following seasons the team fought more against relegation than for a midfield place. The low point was the 0: 11 defeat by Borussia Mönchengladbach on January 7, 1967. The 11: 0 from Gladbach's point of view remained the Bundesliga record victory for more than eleven years before the Gladbachers also scored another goal against Borussia Dortmund in 1978 .

At the end of the 1967/68 season, the Schalke team attracted attention, at least internationally, with good performances: at the Coppa delle Alpi 1968, the team prevailed in an international field with, among others, Eintracht Frankfurt , Juventus Turin and BSC Young Boys and won the final against the FC Basel . The upward trend continued in the 1968/69 season . After a coach change from Günter Brocker to Rudi Gutendorf, Schalke ended the season seventh in the Bundesliga and reached the cup final . Although the "Knappen" lost to FC Bayern Munich ; However, since this won his first double , "Royal Blue" represented the DFB in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1969/70 . Here Schalke failed in the semifinals at Manchester City ; a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Stan Libuda was followed by a 1: 5 in England. Two Schalke players traveled with the national team to the World Cup in Mexico: in addition to Libuda, the now established defensive talent Klaus Fichtel .

In 1971 the club was involved in the Bundesliga scandal . In exchange for bribes, the team had deliberately lost the game against Arminia Bielefeld 0: 1. Several players were suspended after the team finished the 1971/72 season as runners-up and cup winners . In 1973 the footballers moved to the Park Stadium in the Gelsenkirchen district of Erle, which had been built for the 1974 World Cup in Germany, but could also be used for athletics events.

In 1977 Schalke was runner-up again, behind Borussia Mönchengladbach; That season, Klaus Fischer's team achieved their highest Bundesliga victory to date with a 7-0 win at Bayern Munich on October 9, 1976. The club played in the first division for another four years before Schalke had to relegate to second division as Bundesliga seventeenth after 55 years at the end of a failed 1980/81 season .

1981 to 1997: crises and upswing to the UEFA Cup

Became manager of Schalke 04 for the first time in 1981: Rudi Assauer (here without a cigar)

In the 1980s, Schalke rose two more times in the second division and had to fear for his license due to financial problems. 1988 brought the renewed relegation to the second division, in the following season threatened the financially tight club even the fall in the third division. The wealthy clinic owner Günter Eichberg saved the day by providing considerable financial resources and gaining new sponsors. In 1991 the team was promoted to the Bundesliga again. From August 1 of this year to April 27, 1992, Günter Netzer was the manager of FC Schalke 04. Since he worked from his Swiss home in Zurich , he was called the “telephone manager”.

Eichberg's glamorous management style and his ambitious plans (including the construction of a new, modern stadium) earned him the title “Sun King at Schalke” in the press. Nevertheless, he also planned objectively and with foresight and hired Bodo Menze as a junior manager, who was to shape and professionalize the youth work in the club in the long term. Financial difficulties in his clinic empire led Eichberg to resign in 1993, which plunged the association into a serious crisis. His last official acts included Rudi Assauer's duties as manager and Jörg Berger's as coach to rescue the Bundesliga team threatened by relegation. Financially, Eichberg left behind a mountain of debt, to which expensive wrong purchases and an opaque contracts contributed.

In February 1994 the meat manufacturer Bernd Tönnies was elected as the new president. After his sudden death in July 1994 an amendment to the statutes was worked out, but the candidate Volker Stuckmann could not prevail against the former Schalke national player Helmut Kremers , who knew how to impress the club members with an emotional speech. Kremers resigned shortly afterwards and the association decided on the groundbreaking amendment to the statutes, which aimed to make management more professional and to end the influence of the often emotional general meetings. Since then, the board of directors is no longer directly elected by the association members, but appointed by the elected supervisory board. Gerhard Rehberg became the first chairman of the board . The other board members were Josef Schnusenberg , Peter Peters and Rudi Assauer.

In terms of sport, successes slowly returned under coach Berger. In 1996 , the team reached third place in the Bundesliga, making it the first time since 1977 to participate in the UEFA Cup competition. In the first round, the Gelsenkirchen team eliminated the Dutch competitor Roda JC from Kerkrade , whose coach Huub Stevens took over from Berger two weeks later. With Stevens succeeded a triumph in the UEFA Cup . About Trabzonspor , Club Brugge , Valencia CF and from Jupp Heynckes trained CD Tenerife in the course of the competition by fans and press to - which reached EUR fighters appointed - team led by Jens Lehmann , Olaf Thon , Andreas Mueller , Mike Büskens , Jiri Nemec , Ingo Anderbrügge , Martin Max or Youri Mulder surprisingly the finals against Inter Milan . After a 1-0 win in the Parkstadion, the penalty shoot-out decided the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium - with Marc Wilmots' last goal from the penalty spot , Schalke's greatest triumph to date was perfect on May 21, 1997.

1997 to 2006: “Master of Hearts”, cup victories and the end of the Assauer era

S04 player after winning the 2002 DFB Cup

In the 1997/98 season Schalke was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup against last year's final opponent Inter Milan and qualified again for the UEFA Cup with a fifth place in the Bundesliga. In the 1998/99 UEFA Cup they were eliminated in the first round against Slavia Prague . In the 2000/01 season Schalke was runner-up. On the last day of the match, Schalke felt they were German champions for the eighth time for four minutes, but a free-kick goal from Patrik Andersson , with which FC Bayern Munich drew in stoppage time at the game in Hamburg , broke their dreams. Schalke was named "Master of Hearts" by the media and entered the Champions League for the first time . There was little consolation that a week later in the Olympiastadion Berlin won the third cup against Union Berlin . The following season the “blues” defended the cup in the final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen .

In August 2001 the “Knappen” moved again, this time to the Arena AufSchalke, which has been called the Veltins Arena since 2005 . As a result of the large investments in "stones and legs", the club got into debt. In connection with the construction of the new stadium and the strengthening of the squad, a loan of 85 million euros was taken out in autumn 2002, which replaced short-term loans. According to the then deputy chairman of the board, Josef Schnusenberg, the association had liabilities of 195 million euros in autumn 2006; In various press organs even a sum of 225 million euros was mentioned.

Sporting successes went hand in hand with the financial risks. In the 2004/05 season , the team again had it in their hands to become German champions, but again only achieved second place. The team took part in the Champions League the following season , in which they played in a group with PSV Eindhoven , Fenerbahçe Istanbul and last year's finalists AC Milan . In the group, S04 took third place and continued to play in the UEFA Cup . In the sixteenth finals, the team met Espanyol Barcelona . In the first leg in front of their own audience, Schalke 04 defeated the Catalans 2-1. The second leg in Barcelona was won 3-0. In the second round, S04 met US Palermo . After a 0-1 defeat in the first leg in Palermo, there was a 3-0 victory in front of their own audience. Levski Sofia was defeated in the quarter-finals before Schalke 04 narrowly knocked out FC Sevilla in the semi- finals; while there was a goalless draw in front of their own audience, they lost the second leg in Seville with 0: 1 after extra time, whereby a draw from 1: 1 would have been enough for a place in the final. On the last day of the match, Ebbe Sand , Tomasz Wałdoch and Marco van Hoogdalem were bid farewell. The season ended after a 3-2 win, to which Sand and Waldoch also contributed, in fourth place in the table. On May 17, 2006, long-time manager Rudi Assauer resigned from all functions. Previously, he was suspected of disclosing classified financial information to the news magazine Focus . The newspaper had reported that Schalke had taken out personal loans to avert bankruptcy. Assauer's successor as responsible for the sporting area was Andreas Müller .

2006 to 2014: international permanent guest, cup win and Champions League semi-finals 2011

Felix Magath as coach of FC Schalke 04

With Jens Keller , FC Schalke 04 achieved the best second half of the club's history and qualified for the UEFA Champions League twice in a row

In the UEFA Cup , Schalke was considered a tournament favorite. In the first round they met AS Nancy . The first leg at Schalke was won 1-0 by a goal from Søren Larsen , while the second leg against the outsider from Lorraine was lost 3-1 and they were eliminated from the tournament early. In the 2006/07 season , Schalke played for the championship for a long time. On the 33rd match day they lost the championship lead through a defeat against Borussia Dortmund to VfB Stuttgart and became runner-up. On October 10, 2006, a sponsorship agreement was signed with the Russian energy company Gazprom . The Gazprom logo has been on the jerseys of the professional squad since January 1, 2007.

In the 2007/08 Champions League , Schalke survived the group stage for the first time and failed in the quarter-finals at FC Barcelona . In the Bundesliga they reached third place in the 2007/08 season . Since January 2008, FC Schalke 04 has also been one of four German members of the newly founded ECA , the lobby group for European football clubs. In the 2007 financial year, FC Schalke 04 posted record sales of 156 million euros, with a profit of 12.7 million euros. In addition, a royal blue Hall of Fame , known as the “Cabin of Honor”, ​​was set up. The 2008/09 Bundesliga season ended disappointingly with 8th place. In the DFB Cup they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by a 1-0 defeat at second division Mainz 05 and in the UEFA Cup they did not survive the group stage after failing to qualify for the Champions League at Atlético Madrid . Schalke was therefore not represented in any international competition in the 2009/10 season for the first time in eight years. On March 9, 2009, Andreas Müller was given leave of absence as a manager. Coach Fred Rutten was also released from his duties shortly afterwards.

On May 6, 2009 it was announced that VfL Wolfsburg's master trainer Felix Magath would take on both tasks - coach and manager - from July 1, 2009 onwards. In mid-October 2009, FC Schalke 04 got into financial difficulties again; the liabilities at this time should have amounted to around 250 million euros. The association posted a loss of 16.8 million euros in the 2009 financial year and a decline in annual sales of almost 15% to 119 million euros. The main reason for this decline was the fact that the club had not qualified for an international competition, as well as the early elimination from the UEFA Cup in the preseason. In terms of sport, the 2009/10 season was more successful; it ended in second place, the ninth runner-up and at the same time the fourth qualification for the Champions League in the club's history. In addition, the semi-finals of the DFB Cup were reached with victories over TSV Germania Windeck , VfL Bochum , TSV 1860 Munich and VfL Osnabrück . There Schalke lost to FC Bayern Munich 0: 1 a.d.

Since FC Bayern Munich was both champions and cup winners in 2010, FC Schalke 04 received the right to start in the newly introduced Supercup . The game played two weeks before the start of the 2010/11 season was lost 2-0. In the summer of 2010, Kevin Kurányi, the third-best goalscorer in the club's history, left the team for Dynamo Moscow . Prominent additions were Raúl from Real Madrid and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from AC Milan . On March 16, 2011, the club separated from Felix Magath with immediate effect, despite reaching the DFB Cup final and the quarter-finals of the Champions League . Horst Heldt took over Magath's position as manager and Ralf Rangnick was again head coach of FC Schalke 04 on March 21, 2011 (he was this from September 2004 to December 2005). After two wins against Inter Milan , Schalke reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. There they were eliminated with two defeats against Manchester United . The Bundesliga season ended in 14th place, the worst position since 1994. In the final cup final, a 5-0 win against second division MSV Duisburg set the record for the highest final win in the DFB Cup (1972 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern) and FC Schalke 04 won the fifth cup.

On September 22, 2011, Rangnick resigned with immediate effect due to an exhaustion syndrome . The new coach was Huub Stevens, who got a contract until 2013. In the Europa League they reached the quarter-finals, in which they were eliminated against Athletic Bilbao . The season ended on May 5, 2012 in third place in the table.

In the 2012/13 Champions League group stage , FC Schalke 04 played against Olympiacos Piraeus , HSC Montpellier and FC Arsenal . As group winners you qualified for the round of 16. On December 16, 2012, Huub Stevens was given leave of absence from eight games due to the sporting downturn in the league and replaced by the previous U-17 coach Jens Keller . With him, FC Schalke 04 were eliminated from the DFB Cup and the Champions League in the round of 16. At the end of the Bundesliga season, Schalke took fourth place, which entitles them to qualify for the Champions League.

After the original opponent in the qualifying round Metalist Kharkiv was excluded from all European competitions by UEFA due to involvement in a manipulation scandal, FC Schalke 04 competed at home on August 21, 2013 against the Greek runner-up PAOK Saloniki, trained by Huub Stevens, and separated themselves with a 1-1 draw. The game and the result were overshadowed by a controversial police operation in the Schalke fan block with almost 80 injured. Schalke decided the second leg 3-2 for themselves. In the group stage, the opponents were Steaua Bucharest , FC Basel and FC Chelsea . Schalke finished the group stage in second place and met Real Madrid in the round of 16 . However, the Madrilenians had to admit defeat 1: 6 and 1: 3.

After a disappointing first half of the season, which ended in 7th place in the table, and the elimination from the DFB Cup, the club played the most successful second half of the club's history. The season was marked by many injuries to high performers (including Klaas-Jan Huntelaar almost the entire first half of the season) and ongoing discussions about head coach Jens Keller. Sometimes up to ten potential regular players were missing. These were represented by young players who were able to distinguish themselves in this way. The discoveries of the season included Max Meyer , Leon Goretzka and Kaan Ayhan . The young Schalke team won 11 of 17 games in which they scored 36 points. In the end, they reached 3rd place and thus qualified for the Champions League for the third time in a row, which the club had never achieved before.

2014 to 2021: decline from the Champions League to the fourth relegation

After a false start in the 2014/15 season with only two wins from seven Bundesliga games and the elimination in the first round of the DFB Cup against Dynamo Dresden , the club Jens Keller took a leave of absence on October 7, 2014. Roberto Di Matteo was signed as the new head coach . In the Champions League , FC Schalke 04 took second place in a group with FC Chelsea , NK Maribor and Sporting Lisbon and met Real Madrid again in the round of 16. There they were eliminated despite a 4: 3 win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu due to the first leg result of 0: 2. After a disappointing sixth place in the league, the club announced the resignation of head coach Roberto Di Matteo on May 26, 2015. On June 12, 2015, André Breitenreiter was introduced as the new head coach.

In the 2015/16 season, the team was eliminated in the second round of the DFB Cup against Borussia Mönchengladbach and in the Europa League in the round of sixteen against Shakhtar Donetsk . The Bundesliga season was finished in fifth place in the table.

In the summer of 2016, Horst Heldt was replaced by Christian Heidel and André Breitenreiter by Markus Weinzierl . In the 2016/17 season , Schalke failed to return to the European Cup with tenth place in the table. In the DFB Cup they were eliminated in the quarter-finals against FC Bayern Munich and in the Europa League in the quarter-finals against Ajax Amsterdam .

For the season 2017/18 Markus Weinzierl was Domenico Tedesco replaced as head coach. At the age of 31, Tedesco was the youngest coach in Schalke's history. Amine Harit and Bastian Oczipka , among others, were newly signed . The captain Benedikt Höwedes left the club after ten years in the professional team at Juventus Turin . Under Tedesco, Schalke managed to make up a four-goal deficit in the Revierderby at Borussia Dortmund (4: 4). At the end of the season, FC Schalke 04 were runner-up, 21 points behind FC Bayern Munich, and qualified for the UEFA Champions League . In the DFB Cup they were eliminated in the semifinals against the eventual cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt .

In the 2018/19 season , the team lost the first five games. In the Champions League they finished second in a group with Lokomotiv Moscow , FC Porto and Galatasaray Istanbul and thus moved into the second round of the premier class. There they failed after a 2: 3 first leg and a 0: 7 away defeat at Manchester City . Tedesco was then released. "Century coach " Huub Stevens and "Eurofighter" Mike Büskens took over . Christian Heidel resigned as sports director on February 23 and was replaced by Jochen Schneider . At the end of the season, the club finished fourteenth in the table with 33 points and thus fell far short of expectations. The quarter-finals in the DFB Cup were lost 2-0 to Werder Bremen in the home stadium .

For the season 2019/20 took David Wagner the team. The first half of the season under Wagner was successful, at the winter break the team was fifth with 30 points. The second half of the season was the worst since the year of relegation in 1988: The first second half game, on January 17, 2020 against Borussia Mönchengladbach , was won 2-0, but the team was unable to repeat this success. Schalke did not win another Bundesliga game in the second half of the season and set a new club record of 16 Bundesliga games in a row without a win. At the end of the season, Schalke, who finished 17th in the second half of the season table with 9 points, took 12th place in the table with 39 points. The sporting problems coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic . Due to postponements and ghost games, the club lacked important income, so that the financial problems increased.

Long-standing board member Peter Peters , responsible for finances, resigned in June 2020. After the massive corona outbreak in the Tönnies meat factory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, numerous fans of FC Schalke 04 demanded the resignation of the chairman of the supervisory board, Clemens Tönnies . He had been a member of the Supervisory Board since 1994 and had been Chairman of the Supervisory Board since the end of 2001. With a human chain around the club's premises in Schalke, around 1000 supporters demonstrated against Tönnies on June 27, 2020 during the last game of the season in Freiburg. On June 30, 2020, Tönnies resigned as chairman of the supervisory board.

Schalke also got off to a bad start in the 2020/21 season . After an 8-0 defeat at the start of the season at the reigning triple winner FC Bayern Munich , the team also lost 3-1 to Werder Bremen on matchday 2 , which meant the worst start to the season for a Bundesliga team. David Wagner was therefore replaced by Manuel Baum . Even under the tree, the decline could not be stopped. The team got only 4 points from 10 league games and was only victorious in the DFB Cup against the regional league club 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 . After the 12th day of play, Baum was released again and temporarily replaced by supervisory board member Huub Stevens . Under Stevens they also lost to relegation competitor Arminia Bielefeld , but moved into the DFB Cup round of 16 against the regional division SSV Ulm 1846 . Before the 14th matchday and on relegation place 18 Christian Gross was finally signed as the new head coach. On New Year's Eve, Sead Kolašinac also returned from Arsenal , who took over from Omar Mascarell as captain. After a defeat, the team won Gross' second game on January 9, 2021 for the first time since January 17, 2020 in the Bundesliga, when TSG Hoffenheim were beaten 4-0 in their own stadium. With 30 consecutive games without a win , the club remained behind Tasmania Berlin , which had 31 consecutive wins in the 1965/66 season . After the 37-year-old Klaas-Jan Huntelaar returned as the second winter newcomer from Ajax Amsterdam , the first half of the season, which did not end until the end of January 2021 due to the late start of the season, was bottom of the table with 7 points - equal on points with 1. FSV Mainz 05 The deficit on the relegation place was 8 points and on the first non-relegation place even 10 points with a significantly worse goal difference in each case. Only Hertha BSC (6 points 2009/10 ), 1. FC Saarbrücken (5 points 1963/64 ) and Tasmania Berlin (4 points 1965/66) had fewer points after the 17th matchday and were relegated at the end of the season. On the last day of the winter transfer period, the world champion Shkodran Mustafi was signed by Arsenal, who compensated for the simultaneous departure of Ozan Kabak to reigning English champions Liverpool FC . After a 5-1 defeat in Stuttgart on the 23rd match day, in the run-up to which, according to media reports, some leading players from the sports director Schneider had requested the replacement of Gross, Schneider and Gross were released. Until further notice, overall responsibility for the sport was taken over by the Director of Young Talent and Development, Peter Knäbel . At this point, the team had been without a win since their win against Hoffenheim on matchday 15 and were 9 points behind the relegation place at the bottom of the table. The new head coach was Dimitrios Grammozis , making FC Schalke 04 the second club in Bundesliga history after MSV Duisburg in the 1977/78 season to employ five head coaches in one season. At the same time as the sporting decline, negotiations with Ralf Rangnick became public, but he refused a position as a sports director due to "numerous imponderables within the club". As a result, at the end of March 2021, Peter Knäbel was appointed to the Board of Management for Sport and Communication by the Supervisory Board . After a win, a draw and 5 defeats under Grammozis, on matchday 30 after 30 years in the first division, the fourth relegation to the second division after 1981 , 1983 and 1988 was determined. One win and three defeats followed from the last 4 meaningless games, so that FC Schalke finished the season with only three wins (no away win) and 16 points in last place, making it the worst relegation since the introduction of the three-point Became rule in 1995 . The gap to the relegation place was 17 points in the end, to a non-relegation place 19 points. In addition, they were by far the worst with a goal difference of -61 (followed by Arminia Bielefeld with -26).

FC Schalke 04 stadiums

FC Schalke 04 has so far played its home games in the following three venues:

Glückauf-Kampfbahn

Glückauf-Kampfbahn 2005

→ Main article : Glückauf-Kampfbahn

The Glückauf-Kampfbahn (officially Kampfbahn Glückauf) was built on the site of the former Consolidation colliery and opened on August 25, 1928 with a friendly game between FC Schalke 04 and SV Köln-Sülz. Until the Park Stadium was built in 1973, the arena served as a venue for the Gelsenkirchen team.

• The most important facts about the Glückauf arena in brief:
  • Capacity: 34,000 spectators
  • Inauguration on August 29, 1928
  • Record attendance: 70,000 in 1931
  • Until 2005 it was the venue for the youth teams and the second team of FC Schalke 04

Park Stadium

Park Stadium 1998

→ Main article : Park Stadium

The Park Stadium in Gelsenkirchen was a football and athletics stadium in which FC Schalke 04 played its home games between 1973 and 2001. The stadium initially held 70,600 spectators, after the renovation in 1998 it still held 62,004 spectators. After FC Schalke 04 moved to the Veltins Arena, the Park Stadium was largely unused; therefore it was partially demolished in 2004. A rehabilitation center and hotel were built on the site of the former southern curve. After the partial demolition, approx. 23,000 places were still available. The second demolition phase followed in 2008. Since spring 2015, training grounds and a stadium for 3,000 visitors have been built in place of the rest of the Park Stadium.

• The most important facts about the Parkstadion in brief:
  • Inauguration on August 4th 1973 against Feyenoord Rotterdam
  • Capacity: 70,600 spectators, after the renovation in 1998 62,004 spectators

Veltins Arena

Veltins-Arena 2010

→ Main article : Veltins Arena

The Veltins-Arena (until 2005 Arena AufSchalke) in Gelsenkirchen, the current stadium of FC Schalke 04, was completed in August 2001 after almost three years of construction and is one of the most modern stadiums in Europe. The arena holds 62,271 spectators for football matches at national level and 54,740 spectators for international matches due to the standing room ban. The multifunctional stadium also serves as a venue for concerts, opera performances and a regular biathlon competition. The audience capacity can be expanded to a maximum of 78,996 seats, depending on the type of event, by seating and standing in the interior. According to the UEFA stadium infrastructure regulations , the Veltins-Arena is a stadium of the highest category 4; therefore, the Veltins-Arena may host the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals , such as the 2004 UEFA Champions League final .

• The most important facts about the Veltins Arena in brief:
  • Inauguration on August 13 and 14, 2001
  • Capacity: 62,271 spectators, for international games: 54,740 spectators
  • houses the club museum of FC Schalke 04 and a chapel

History of the club logo

The club crest of FC Schalke 04 has shown a stylized "G" since 1928, which includes the lettering "S04". The "G" is supposed to stand for the city of Gelsenkirchen and was so cleverly designed in the post-war period that it forms a stylized mining mallet - as a reminiscence of the founding years . In the meantime, the outer border of the logo consisted of three concentric circles, which were intended to visualize the Schalke roundabout from the prewar period.

• 

  Club logo from 1924 to 1945

• 

  Club logo from 1945 to 1958

• 

  Club logo from 1958 to 1971

• 

  Club logo from 1971 to 1978

• 

  Club logo from 1978 to 1995

• 

  Club logo since 1995

successes

Between 1934 and 1942 Schalke received the Victoria six times

International

• UEFA Cup winner
  • 1997 (1: 0 and 0: 1 [4: 1 i. E.] against Inter Milan )
• UI Cup winner
  • 2003 (2-0 and 0-0 against SV Pasching )
  • 2004 (2-1 and 1-0 against Slovan Liberec )
• European Champion Clubs' Cup / Champions League
  • 1959 quarter-finals (0-3 and 1-1 against Atlético Madrid )
  • 2008 quarter-finals (0-1 and 0-1 against FC Barcelona )
  • 2011 semi-finals (0-2 and 1-4 against Manchester United )
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  • 1970 semi-finals (1-0 and 1-5 against Manchester City )

Championship successes

• German champion (seven times):
  • 1934 (2-1 against 1. FC Nürnberg )
  • 1935 (6: 4 against VfB Stuttgart )
  • 1937 (2-0 against 1. FC Nürnberg)
  • 1939 (9-0 against Admira Vienna )
  • 1940 (1-0 against Dresdner SC )
  • 1942 (2-0 against First Vienna FC )
  • 1958 (3-0 against Hamburger SV )
  • In addition, FC Schalke 04 were runner-up ten times, most recently in 2018
• Second division champions (two times):
  • 1982
  • 1991
  • S04 was also runner-up in the second division ( 1984 )

With a total of seven German championships, FC Schalke 04 is fourth among the titles awarded by the DFB . Taking into account the DFV title (GDR championships), the club ranks sixth in the number of championship titles in German men's football.

In the all -time league table of the Bundesliga, Schalke is in 7th place (as of 2021). This makes the Gelsenkirchen team the best-placed team ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt that has never won the championship in the Bundesliga.

Cup successes

• Tschammer and DFB Cup winners (five times):
  • 1937 (2-1 against Fortuna Düsseldorf )
  • 1972 (5-0 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern )
  • 2001 (2-0 against 1. FC Union Berlin )
  • 2002 (4-2 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen )
  • 2011 (5-0 against MSV Duisburg )
  • In addition, FC Schalke 04 reached the cup final in seven other seasons without winning, most recently in 2005
• DFL league cup winner
  • 2005 (1-0 against VfB Stuttgart )
  • In addition, FC Schalke 04 reached the league cup final in three other seasons without winning, most recently in 2007
• DFL Supercup winner
  • 2011 (4: 3 i. E. against Borussia Dortmund )
  • In addition, FC Schalke 04 reached the Supercup final in two other seasons without winning, most recently in 2010

With a total of five DFB Cup wins, FC Schalke 04 is the third most successful club in this competition (together with Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt). In terms of the number of finals (12 in total), only FC Bayern Munich (23) is ahead of FC Schalke 04.

Seasonal balances

See also : “Final tables” in the article: FC Schalke 04 / Names and Numbers

Club structure of FC Schalke 04

The FC Schalke 04 office near the Veltins-Arena

FC Schalke 04 is one of the last Bundesliga clubs to organize its licensed players' department in a registered club . The general assembly is the highest decision-making body of the association and elects six members of the supervisory board, which consists of a maximum of eleven members. Another member is appointed by the sports advisory board (departments of the club), and a member from the "Schalker Fan Club Association" (original spelling, abbreviated to SFCV) is sent. Furthermore, there is the possibility that the supervisory board can co-opt outside persons.

The supervisory board appoints and controls the management board. This is responsible for the proper performance of all association tasks and consists of a minimum of two and a maximum of four members. The Supervisory Board elects a chairman from among its members every year. The current chairman of the supervisory board is the lawyer Jens Buchta. All departments of the association each have a department head who leads the respective department assembly.

Board

• Alexander Jobst , Marketing, Sales & Organization (until June 30, 2021)
• Peter Knäbel , Sport and Communication (contract duration unknown)
• Christina Rühl-Hamers , Finance, Human Resources & Legal (contract duration unknown)

Supervisory board

• Jens Buchta, Chairman of the Supervisory Board since June 30, 2020, lawyer

Regularly elected by the general assembly:

• Peter Lange (until 2022), Managing Director of Kötter Aviation Security SE & Co. KG
• Moritz Dörnemann (until 2021), Head of Global Products and Solutions Germany at Deutsche Bank AG
• Huub Stevens (until 2021), former coach of FC Schalke 04 (coach of the century )
• Stefan Gesenhues (until 2020), Director of the Institute for General Practice at the University of Duisburg-Essen
• Uwe Kemmer (until 2020), managing partner of ClimaLevel Energiesysteme GmbH
• Matthias Rüter (2020), management consultant (moved up to Clemens Tonnies on July 2, 2020)

Sent by the Schalker Fan Club Association:

• Heiner Tümmers (until 2020), enforcement officer at the main customs office in Dortmund

Co-opted by the Supervisory Board:

• Ulrich Köllmann (until 2021), Managing Director of Stadtwerke Gelsenkirchen
• Dirk Metz (until 2021), communications consultant
• Matthias Warnig (until 2021), CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG

Financial situation

The total debts of FC Schalke 04 (long-term liabilities, short-term personal loans, bonds and investment loans combined) add up to at least 217 million euros (as of April 2021). The current balance sheet shows equity of zero euros, so the entire assets of FC Schalke 04 are based on liabilities of various creditors (banks, private individuals and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia). In 2017, FC Schalke 04 had only 158 million euros in debt. In order to reduce the financial burden, the professional players have been foregoing parts of their salary since April 1, 2020. For this reason, construction projects on the club grounds were stopped for the time being.

"The other sub-projects such as the gate on Schalke and the building with the professional and young talent center and the office will no longer be implemented."

- Christina Rühl-Hamers, Chief Financial Officer, Human Resources & Legal

According to information from the Handelsblatt, FC Schalke 04 receives public aid. As was confirmed in July 2020, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia will provide a guarantee for the financially troubled Bundesliga soccer team. The guarantee should cover an amount of at least 30 million euros. With over 500 permanent employees in the Ruhr area city of Gelsenkirchen (approx. 260,000 inhabitants), FC Schalke 04 is one of the larger employers.

First team

Squad 2021/22

• Status: July 24, 2021

The team's captain is Danny Latza. His deputies are Victor Pálsson, Simon Terodde, Ralf Fährmann and Malick Thiaw.

No.	Nat.	Surname	date of birth	In the team since	Contract until
gate
01		Ralf Ferryman	September 27, 1988	2011	2023
30th		Martin Fraisl	May 10, 1993	2021	2022
34		Michael Langer	January 6, 1985	2017	2022
Defense
02		Thomas Ouwejan	September 30, 1996	2021	2022
05		Matija Nastasić	March 28, 1993	2015	2022
15th		Dries Wouters	January 28, 1997	2021	2024
19th		Ozan Kabak	March 25, 2000	2019	2024
26		Salif Sané	August 25, 1990	2018	2022
31		Timo Becker	March 25, 1997	2019	2023
33		Malick Thiaw	August 8, 2001	2015	2024
35		Marcin Kamiński	January 15, 1992	2021	2023
midfield
04th		Victor Pálsson	April 30, 1991	2021	2023
06th		Omar Mascarell	2nd February 1993	2018	2022
08th		Danny Latza	December 7, 1989	2021	2023
16		Nassim Boujellab	June 20, 1999	2014	2022
17th		Florian Flick	May 1, 2000	2020	2023
24		Dominick Drexler	May 26, 1990	2021	2023
25th		Amines Harit	June 18, 1997	2017	2024
27		Reinhold Ranftl	January 24, 1992	2021	2024
36		Blendi Idrizi	May 2, 1998	2020	2023
37		Levent Mercan	December 10, 2000	2016	2023
38		Mehmet Can Aydin	February 9, 2002	2014	2022
39		Yaroslav Mikhailov	April 28, 2003	2021	2022
40		Can Bozdoğan	April 5, 2001	2019	2024
42		Kerim Çalhanoğlu	August 26, 2002	2020	2024
attack
09		Simon Terodde	March 2nd, 1988	2021	2022
11		Marius Bülter	March 29, 1993	2021	2024
14th		Rabbi Matondo	September 9, 2000	2019	2023
21		Marvin Pieringer	4th October 1999	2021	2022
43		Matthew Hoppe	March 13, 2001	2019	2023
44		Bleron Krasniqi II	May 18, 2002	2015	2022

^II also in the squad of the second team

Transfers of the 2021/22 season

Accesses
time	player	donating club
Summer 2021	Marius Bülter	1. FC Union Berlin
	Dominick Drexler	1. FC Cologne
	Martin Fraisl	ADO The Hague
	Ozan Kabak	Liverpool FC (Loan)
	Marcin Kamiński	VfB Stuttgart
	Danny Latza	1. FSV Mainz 05
	Rabbi Matondo	Stoke City (Loan)
	Yaroslav Mikhailov	Zenit St. Petersburg (loan)
	Thomas Ouwejan	AZ Alkmaar (loan)
	Victor Pálsson	SV Darmstadt 98
	Marvin Pieringer	SC Freiburg (loan)
	Reinhold Ranftl	LASK
	Markus Schubert	Eintracht Frankfurt (loanee)
	Simon Terodde	Hamburger SV
	Dries Wouters	KRC Genk

Departures
time	player	receiving club
Summer 2021	Nabil Bentaleb	End of contract; destination unknown
	Jonas Carls	SC Paderborn 07
	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	End of contract; destination unknown
	Sead Kolašinac	Arsenal FC (loanee)
	Ahmed Kutucu	Istanbul Başakşehir FK
	Kilian Ludewig	FC Red Bull Salzburg (loanee)
	Hamza Mendyl	Gaziantep FK (Loan)
	Shkodran Mustafi	End of contract; destination unknown
	Bastian Oczipka	End of contract; destination unknown
	Gonçalo Paciência	Eintracht Frankfurt (loanee)
	Vasilios Pavlidis	End of contract; destination unknown
	Benito Raman	RSC Anderlecht
	Frederik Rønnow	Eintracht Frankfurt (loanee)
	Sebastian Rudy	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
	Alessandro Schöpf	Arminia Bielefeld
	Markus Schubert	Vitesse Arnhem
	Luca Schuler	1. FC Magdeburg
	Suat Serdar	Hertha BSC
	Steven Skrzybski	Holstein Kiel
	Benjamin Stambouli	End of contract; destination unknown
	Mark Uth	1. FC Cologne
	William	VfL Wolfsburg (loanee)

Current coaching staff

Surname function Dimitrios Grammozis Head coach Mike Büskens Assistant coach Sven Piepenbrock Assistant coach Matthias Kreutzer Assistant coach Wil Coort Goalkeeping coach Quirin Löppert Athletics coach Lars Gerling Game analyst

Knappenschmiede

Since December 2011 the Schalke Youth Academy has been called Knappenschmiede . In January 2015 it was repeatedly awarded the highest score of three stars in the certification of the junior performance centers on behalf of the DFB and DFL after 2012.

Oliver Ruhnert was director from 2014 until the end of July 2017 . Peter Knäbel has been Technical Director of the Knappenschmiede since April 15, 2018 . Mathias Schober is responsible for the sporting management and Till Beckmann for the administrative management. Gerald Asamoah is the U23 manager .

Second team

FC Schalke 04 II
Venue	Park Stadium
Places	approx. 3,000
Head coach	Torsten Fröhling
league	Regional League West
2020/21	8th place
Website	schalke04.de/knappenschmiede

Squad in the 2020/21 season

As of May 15, 2021

According to the game rules of the DFB , only players who are not older than 23 years (U23) during the entire season (July 1 to June 30) may be used in second teams of licensed clubs. In principle, only players born on or after July 1, 1997 are eligible to play in the 2020/21 season. In addition, 3 older players can be in the game at the same time. Their birthday is marked in bold in the roster.

gate	Defense	midfield	attack
Nat. player date of birth Sören Ahlers 1 09/09/1997 Felix Wienand U19 06/27/2002 Michael Zadach 07/13/2000	Nat. player date of birth Noah Awassi 03/10/1998 Bastian Frölich March 8, 2000 Brooklyn Ezeh 1 06/23/2001 Phil Halbauer 08/17/1998 Mika Hanraths 06/04/1999 Bjorn Liebnau 05/10/1999 Fabian Lübbers 10/27/1991 Henning Matriciani 1 March 14, 2000 Henri Matter 05/08/2001	Nat. player date of birth Marouane Balouk 06/30/2002 Joselpho Barnes 12/12/2001 Diamond Berisha 07/22/2000 Jason Ceka 11/10/1999 Florian Flick 1 05/01/2000 Blendi Idrizi 05/02/1998 Jimmy Kaparos 1st December 25, 2001 Topaz Kronmüller U19 09/19/2002 Daniel Kyerewaa 05/10/2001 Léo Scienza 09/13/1998	Nat. player date of birth Fatih Candan 12/30/1989 Abdul Fesenmeyer 12/10/2001 Bleron Krasniqi U19 05/18/2002 Luca Schuler 1 03/22/1999

¹ also in the first team squad

^U19also in the A-Juniors squad (U19, born in 2002 or younger)

Venues

Home venues were the Glückauf-Kampfbahn until December 2005 , the Fürstenberg Stadium from January 2006 to 2008 , the Mondpalast Arena from 2008 to 2012 and the Mondpalast Arena and the Jahnstadion from 2012 to 2017 . Between 2017 and 2019, the home games were played on a training field on the club's premises. From 2019 until the completion of the Park Stadium , the Mondpalast Arena and the Bottrop Jahn Stadium were again used as home arenas.

League affiliation

The 2nd team has been playing in the top amateur division again since 2019. This was the case for the first time as early as the 1960s.

Period	League name	Division
1964-1966	Association League Westphalia 1	third rate
1966-1968	Regional League Westphalia 4	fourth class
1968-1988	Regional League Westphalia 3	fourth class
1978-1980	Association League Westphalia 2	fourth class
1980-1981	Regional League Westphalia 3	fifth class
1981-1983	District League Westphalia 13	sixth grade
1983-1986	Regional League Westphalia 3	fifth class
1986-1992	Association League Westphalia 1	fourth class
1992-1994	Oberliga Westfalen	third rate
1994-1995	Oberliga Westfalen	fourth class
1995-1997	Association League Westphalia 2	fifth class
1997-2003	Oberliga Westfalen	fourth class
2003-2004	Regionalliga North	third rate
2004-2008	Oberliga Westfalen	fourth class
2008-2017	Regional League West	fourth class
2017-2019	Oberliga Westfalen	fifth class
2019–	Regional League West	fourth class

DFB Cup

In 1994 and 2001, the amateur team qualified as a finalist in the Westphalia Cup for the DFB Cup . In the 1994/95 season she was eliminated in the first round with 0: 2 against VfL Wolfsburg and in the 2001/02 season she was eliminated in the first round with 0: 1 against VfL Bochum .

Trainer

1992–1995: Klaus Fischer 1995–2002: Klaus Täuber 2002–2005: Gerhard Kleppinger 2005–2008: Mike Büskens 2008: Sven Kmetsch 2008–2009: Markus Högner

2009–2010: Oliver Ruhnert 2010–2011: Michael Boris 2011–2014: Bernhard Trares 2014–2017: Jürgen Luginger 2017-2018: Onur Cinel 2018–: Torsten Fröhling

Youth teams

Both the A-youth and the B-youth play in the respective top division for these age groups, the U-17 and U-19 Bundesliga . The C-youth plays in the Regionalliga West . The A-youth is trained by Norbert Elgert , the B-youth by Frank Fahrenhorst and the C-youth by Jakob Fimpel.

Achievements A youth

• German champion : 1976 , 2006 , 2012 , 2015
  • Runner-up: 1975 , 1980 , 1981 , 2018
• DFB Junior Club Cup Winner : 2002 , 2005
  • Finalist: 1993 , 1997 , 2014

Achievements B-youth

• German champion : 1978 , 2002
  • Runner-up: 1977 , 1980

Well-known players from the youth department

Due to the relatively high number of players who have made the leap from the youth department to the professional field, the youth work of FC Schalke 04 enjoys an excellent reputation in the world of football. The following former players of the Schalke youth department were active for at least a year before their professional debut and have played at least 50 games in the five "big" leagues Bundesliga (or before 1963 in the Oberliga ), Premier League , Primera División , Serie A and Ligue 1 completed (the year of birth of the player is given in brackets). Players in bold are in the current professional squad of FC Schalke 04:

• Rüdiger Abramczik  (1956)
•  Kaan Ayhan  (1994)
• Alexander Baumjohann  (1987)
• Hans-Jürgen Becher  (1941)
• Karl-Heinz Bechmann  (1944)
• Ulrich van den Berg  (1949)
• Ulrich Bittcher  (1957)
•  Sebastian Boenisch  (1987)
• Siegfried Bönighausen  (1955)
• Hans-Günter Bruns  (1954)
• Niko Bungert  (1986)
• Dieter Burdenski  (1950)
• Michael Delura  (1985)
• Kerem Demirbay  (1993)
• Norbert Dörmann  (1958)
• Julian Draxler  (1993)
• Peter Ehmke (1953)
• Ralf Fährmann  (1988)
• Marvin Friedrich  (1995)
• Waldemar Gerhardt  (1939)
• İlkay Gündoğan  (1990)
•  Tamás Hajnal  (1981)
• Mike Hanke  (1983)
• Tim Hoogland  (1985)
• Benedikt Höwedes  (1988)
• Werner Ipta  (1942)
• Helmut Jagielski  (1934)
• Sascha Jusufi  (1963)
• Thilo Kehrer  (1996)
• Bernhard Klodt  (1926)
• Harald Klose  (1945)
•  Sead Kolašinac  (1993)
• Willi Koslowski  (1937)
• Thomas Kruse  (1959)
• Pierre-Michel Lasogga  (1991)
• Otto Laszig  (1934)
• Danny Latza  (1989)
• Jens Lehmann  (1969)
• Reinhard Libuda  (1943)
•  Joel Matip  (1991)
• Philipp Max  (1993)
•  Weston McKennie  (1998)
• Christoph Metzelder  (1980)
• Max Meyer  (1995)
• Winfried Mittrowski  (1938)
• Manuel Neuer  (1986)
• Michael Opitz  (1962)
• Mesut Özil  (1988)
• Christian Pander  (1983)
•  Stiven Rivić  (1985)
• Leroy Sané  (1996)
• Mathias Schipper  (1957)
• Mathias Schober  (1976)
• Klaus Senger  (1945)
• Sérgio da Silva Pinto  (1980)
• Jörg Sobiech  (1969)
•  Filip Tapalović  (1976)
• Bernd Thiele  (1956)
• Olaf Thon  (1966)
•  Filip Trojan  (1983)
• Moritz Volz  (1983)
• Hans-Joachim Wagner  (1955)
• Christian Wetklo  (1980)
• Wolfram Wuttke  (1961)
•  Carlos Zambrano  (1989)

Traditional eleven

The traditional team was founded in the 1960s by Günter Siebert , Heiner Kördell and Willi Koslowski as an independent department of FC Schalke 04. Former FC Schalke 04 players play for them. Olaf Thon has been the department head since 2015 , Martin Max is his deputy and Thomas Kruse is the sports manager. The squad consists of 118 members (as of 04/2021), of which 25–30 are regularly active and at the invitation of Schalke 04 partners, anniversary and benefit events, clubs and fan clubs, they play around 40 games per year with venues, among others. in Austria, USA, St. Petersburg and Uzbekistan. Training takes place once a week, at least forty times a year, under the head coach of the traditional team Klaus Fichtel and assistant coach Rüdiger Abramczik . The joy of football, advertising for football as well as representation for FC Schalke 04, its sponsors and leading partners are the motivation of the traditional team.

Traditional team Schalke 04

Members of the traditional team include:

Rüdiger Abramczik Ingo Anderbrügge Gerald Asamoah Mike Büskens Klaus Fichtel Klaus Fischer Bjarne Goldbæk

Matthias Herget Thomas Kruse Jürgen Luginger Martin Max Jiří Němec Peter Sendscheid Olaf Thon

Well-known former players, coaches and officials

The Schalke eleven of the century

Large sculptures of the players of the century by Jacques Tilly (2001)

More than 10,000 fans of FC Schalke 04 voted "their" team of the century in 1999:

• goalkeeper
  • Norbert Nigbur : World Champion 1974 - but without a role in the tournament because Sepp Maier was the goalkeeper ; was considered a "penalty killer", held three out of eleven shots on penalties in the 1972 cup semi-finals and converted himself.
• Defense
  • Klaus Fichtel : The oldest field player who ever played in the Bundesliga. 552 Bundesliga games between 1965 and 1988, 477 of them for Schalke - a club record. Using his name literally and because he stood like a tree in defense, he was called “fir”.
  • Rolf Rüssmann : Consistent defensive line, from 1969 to 1980 at Schalke. With 134 Bundesliga games in a row, royal blue record holder without injury, form crisis or suspension. Later manager of the club for a short time.
  • Olaf Thon : Just turned 18, he scored three goals in the semi-finals against Bayern 6: 6, took a regular place in midfield and made his debut in the DFB dress that same year. Returned as a defender after an interlude in Munich and was still part of the cup winners' squad in 2002. He is also one of the club's nine honorary captains (team captain from 1995 to 1996; 1997 to 2000).
• midfield
  • Marc Wilmots : A combative player from the team known as the “Eurofighter” , for whom he paved the way to victory in the UEFA Cup in 1996/97 with many decisive goals. Fans christened him "Willi, the fighting pig". In 2003 he also took over as a trainer for a few weeks.
  • Fritz Szepan : Six championships, cup victory, two World Cup appearances, captain of the German national team. Active for two decades and partly responsible for the rise in the 1920s and the successes of the 1930s. Not without controversy, as he benefited from the " Aryanization " when he bought his textile business in Gelsenkirchen . Nevertheless, he was club president for two years in the 1960s.
  • Ernst Kuzorra : The “ Schalke Kreisel ” revolved around him and his brother-in-law Fritz Szepan . Personified as player, coach, chairman (manager) and talent scout in one person the championship team of the 1930s and 1940s, of which he was the captain. Honorary citizen of the city; the path on which the association's office is located is named after him. He is also one of the club's nine honorary captains (team captain from 1928 to 1948).
  • Ingo Anderbrügge : The former Borussia player crowned his twelve years at Schalke by winning the UEFA Cup, but never received a call to the DFB-A selection. Seventh-best Bundesliga goalscorer for Schalke. Specialty of the left foot: free kicks and penalties.

Coach of the century Huub Stevens (2014)

• Storm
  • Reinhard "Stan" Libuda : Libuda got his nickname after Stanley Matthews , whose most famous soccer trick Libuda also mastered. As one of the “most technically adept and popular right wingers of his time”, he was third with the German national team in 1970. His career in Germany ended when he was involved in the Bundesliga scandal . He is also one of the club's nine honorary captains (team captain from 1969 to 1972).
  • Klaus Fischer : His acrobatic and successful overhead kicks made him famous. In 1977 he scored a goal with an overhead kick in the international match against Switzerland, which was later voted Germany's goal of the century . 182 Bundesliga goals for Schalke are still the club's record. He is also one of the club's nine honorary captains (team captain from 1976 to 1980; 1981).
  • Rüdiger Abramczik : The right winger, referred to by fans and in the press as the “god of flanks”, first crossed to Klaus Fischer and later became a dangerous scorer himself. When he made his debut in 1973, he was the youngest player of all time in the Bundesliga.

Huub Stevens was elected to coach the eleven of the century .

Honorary captain

At the 2008 annual general meeting, four players from the eleven of the century and the following five former team captains were named honorary captains :

• Thomas Student : team captain from 1916 to 1928
• Hermann Eppenhoff : team captain from 1949 to 1955
• Berni Klodt : team captain from 1955 to 1962
• Manfred Kreuz : team captain from 1962 to 1968
• Tomasz Wałdoch : team captain from 2000 to 2004

Booth of honor

The booth of honor is the club's own hall of fame . It was set up at the 2008 Annual General Meeting. Members are the players and the coach of the eleven of the century, the honorary captains, as well as the following players, coaches and officials elected by the club members at the annual general meetings:

Cult supervisor Charly Neumann (1987)

• Willy Gies : player from 1904 to approx. 1914; Club founder
• Eduard Frühwirth : coach from 1954 to 1959; German champion 1958
• Ernst Kalwitzki : player from 1933 to 1942; German champion 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942; German cup winner 1937
• Charly Neumann : Team supervisor from 1976 to 2008
• Ebbe Sand : player from 1999 to 2006; German cup winner 2001, 2002
• Herbert Lütkebohmert : player from 1968 to 1979; German cup winner 1972
• Jiří Němec : player from 1993 to 2002; 1997 UEFA Cup Winner; German cup winner 2001, 2002
• Otto Tibulski : player from 1930 to 1948; German champion 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942; German cup winner 1937
• Marcelo Bordon : player from 2004 to 2010
• Rudi Assauer : Manager from 1981 to 1986, 1993 to 2006
• Gerald Asamoah : player from 1999 to 2010, 2013 to 2015 (U23); German Cup Winner 2001, 2002; Assistant coach of the U-15 from 2015 to 2016; Manager of the U-23 since 2016; Association ambassador
• Raúl : player from 2010 to 2012; German Cup Winner 2011; German Supercup winner 2011
• Adolf Urban : player from 1926 to 1943; German champion 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942; German cup winner 1937
• Norbert Elgert : player from 1975 to 1976, 1978 to 1982; U19 coach from 1996 to 2002, since 2003; Assistant coach of the licensed team from 2002 to 2003
• Willi Koslowski : player from 1955 to 1965; German champion 1958
• Fritz Unkel : President from 1924 to 1932, 1933 to 1939
• Mike Büskens : player from 1992 to 2002, 2002 to 2005 (U23); 1997 UEFA Cup Winner; German Cup Winner 2001, 2002; Assistant coach of the U23 from 2002 to 2005; U23 coach 2005 to 2008; Interim trainer of the licensing team in 2008 & 2009

Members and fans

The Schalke fan curve known as the "North Curve" in 2006

The number of members of the club grew from 21,983 in 2000 to 92,876 in 2010 and 160,023 in September 2019. This puts FC Schalke 04 in fourth place in Germany and sixth worldwide on the list of sports clubs with the largest number of members . A representation of the membership structure in 2014 showed, among other things, a share of women of 20% and a share of the age group up to 10 years of 14%. Around 30% of the members did not come from North Rhine-Westphalia . In addition to Gelsenkirchen (10,197 members) and its immediate neighbors, the members also came from more distant cities such as Cologne (1117), Berlin (932) or Dortmund (800). The increase in membership is promoted by the association's advertising campaigns, such as the “Schalkers advertise Schalkers” campaign from February 2005 or the “Become buddies at Schalke” campaign from 2015.

Schalker Fan Club Association

The Schalke Fan Club Association (SFCV) was founded on August 12, 1978 by ten Schalke fan clubs in Gelsenkirchen. The aim of founding the club was to gain a wider audience, as there was no fan support at the S04 at the time it was founded. According to its own statement, the umbrella association represented around 1,000 fan clubs with over 80,000 members in 2014, and around 870 fan clubs in 2017.

The Fan Club Association has been a member of the “Our Curve Interest Group” since 2009, a cross-association mouthpiece and lobby for football fans towards the DFB , the DFL and politics. With the mouthpiece , the SFCV also publishes its own club magazine, in which current topics about Schalke 04 and the association are dealt with. In addition, the association offers several contact points in the vicinity of the arena and at Gelsenkirchen main train station for stadium visitors on match days . For away games there is a so-called “fan mobile” near the guest blocks that fans can turn to. The Fan Club Association also operates two fan bars that are open on match days. Furthermore, a board member of the SFCV has a permanent seat on the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04. In 2013, the Ultras Gelsenkirchen and later the Supportersclub and the Schalker Fan-Initiative e. V. removed several fan groups with a large number of members from the SFCV, as they no longer saw fan interests adequately represented after the SFCV merged with the club's fan department.

Fan friendships

Schalke jerseys in a 1.FC Nürnberg fan shop (2019)

Choreography for the away game against FC Twente Enschede in 2012

Mixed blocks and flags at a home game against 1. FC Nürnberg (1998)

The fans of the S04 have maintained a close friendship with the supporters of 1. FC Nürnberg since the early 1980s . So you can find Schalker in the Nuremberg block at almost every FCN game in the Ruhr area. Conversely, FC Schalke 04 is supported by the clubs in the south, for example in Munich or Stuttgart. There are numerous variants for the cause of this first intense fan friendship in Germany, the common core of which is an encounter between Nuremberg members of the Red Devils fan club and the Schalke Gelsen scene. Once it was a chance encounter on a train ride, another time it was a mutual fraternity during an argument with Bayern fans. Another variant goes back to a first indirect encounter through a report by Stern about Schalke fans who also wore 1. FCN patches on the photos. To this day, the quality of the bond between club fans and supporters of FC Schalke 04 is considered "unique in the German football landscape". The friendship was officially celebrated for the first time on December 14, 1991 with officially approved Bengal fires and a flag parade in the Frankenstadion.

There has been a friendship with the fans of FC Twente Enschede since the 1990s . Due to the proximity between Gelsenkirchen and Enschede (only around 80 kilometers as the crow flies), there are visits to the home games of the other club on almost every match day.

Since the game in the third round of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup against Vardar Skopje from Macedonia, there has been a friendship between the two fan camps, although Schalke believes that this is mainly supported by the ultra scene.

A friendship that no longer exists today is that of the Wuppertaler SV . It was created in the 1970s, when the Wuppertal people also stood in “ cowls ” between the Schalke fans in the north curve of the Park Stadium . During this time there was the fan chant "Schalke and the WSV" to be heard, as later "Schalke and the FCN". Due to the different leagues belonging to this fan friendship, however, received little attention in the media.

Rivalries

An extremely strong sporting rivalry traditionally exists between Schalke and Dortmund . The Revierderby regularly attracts a lot of attention not only among the residents of the Ruhr area.

There is also particular competition between Schalke and Rot-Weiss Essen , which, however, has lost its importance for the Schalke team due to the fact that they have been in different leagues for decades, but is still quite important for the Essen fans. Since the dramatic season finale in the 2000/01 Bundesliga , at the latest , which the club finished as the “champion of hearts” , there has been an antipathy for FC Bayern Munich among many Schalke supporters .

A one-sided aversion comes from supporters from Hertha BSC . This was preceded by the Bundesliga scandal and a Schalke victory against Hertha at the “ green table ”: After the Berliners lost the first leg in the first round of the DFB Cup 1: 3, they won their home game 3: 0. Due to the use of the pre-suspension player Zoltán Varga , however, the game was rated as a 2-0 victory for Schalke five weeks later. However, seven players were also used for Schalke, who were bribed by Arminia Bielefeld . To circumvent a suspension, they swore innocence under oath - at the end of the 1971/72 season Schalke won the DFB Cup. Since then, Hertha fans have been calling FC Schalke “FC perjury ”. In official announcements from Hertha BSC about games against Schalke 04, the club is often referred to only as "Gelsenkirchen". In the 1980s there were frequent riots between members of the violence-seeking groups “Gelsen-Szene” and “Hertha-Fösche” at away games of the Berliners in the Ruhr area. After Hertha rose to the Bundesliga and the hooligan scene declined, Schalke's interest in this rivalry also declined. Today it is maintained almost exclusively by Hertha fans.

Prominent fans of FC Schalke 04

Prominent fans of Schalke 04 are the actors Peter Lohmeyer (speaker in the documentary "100 Schalke Years"), Leonard Lansink , Peter Nottmeier , Veronica Ferres , Martin Brambach and Sophia Thomalla .

Schalke fans also include sports commentators Werner Hansch (from 1973 to 1978 stadium announcer on Schalke, speaker of the audio book for the 100-year documentary), Manfred Breuckmann and Ulrich Potofski , the presenters Matthias Killing , Charlotte Würdig Charlotte Roche and Vanessa Huppenkothen , as well as the TV chefs Mario Kotaska , Nelson Müller , Holger Stromberg , Frank Rosin and Björn Freitag , who also works as a team chef for Schalke.

Fans from the world of sports are the former triathlon professional Andreas Niederig and the Olympic decathlon silver medalist Frank Busemann . Pop singer Olaf Henning , singer Lary , rappers Pillath and Weekend , singer, author and theater director Schorsch Kamerun , DJ and music producer Moguai , cabaret artist and table football columnist HG from the music and entertainment industry . Butzko and Christos "Chris" Manazidis from the comedy trio Bullshit TV . A prominent fan from the scientific community is the sociologist Armin Nassehi .

The missionary and "chief of the Ashanti " Fritz Pawelzik was an honorary member of the association.

In November 2014, 11 SPD members of the Bundestag founded the “S04 fan club of the SPD parliamentary group”, among them the then Federal Foreign Minister and current Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier , the SPD finance expert Joachim Poss from Gelsenkirchen and Michelle Müntefering from Herne. In 2016, the fan club operated as “Kuppelknappen” with Martina Stamm-Fibich, member of the Bundestag, as chairman. Another fan from politics is the parliamentary group leader of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the German Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt .

The fan original Karl-Heinz "Catweazle" Olschewski (1943–2013), who for decades helped to shape the fan culture in the north curve of the Parkstadion, achieved national fame. His trademarks were long hair, a shaggy beard, a fan robe and a drum that he always carried with him, with which he sat on one of the loudspeaker masts and set the mood. Wilhelm Plenkers, who is known on Schalke as "Trumpet Willy", also enjoys a certain cult status among Schalke fans. He owes his nickname to his trumpet , which he always carries with him , on which he often plays a short signal during games, to which the fans respond with the exclamation “Attack!”.

Club songs and fan chants

Melody and first line of text to blue and white, how I love you

• Steigerlied in the version by Erwin "Ährwin" Weiss - is to be intoned before arriving.
• Blue and white, how I love you - the official club song is played when the teams arrive.
• For a lifetime - used as a goal anthem .
• Royal Blue S04 - after the game has ended.
• Songs by the singer Erwin "Ährwin" Weiss , known as the "Ruhrpott-Barde", are often played at home games.

• Schalke 04, love in the area
• Mäusken, will you go eat ice cream with me?
• When a Schalke boy cries

• We are Schalke - from 2005 with the team around coach Ralf Rangnick .
• Always on Schalke - in almost the same form, under the title Grandpa Luscheskowski , at Rot-Weiss Essen . It is not known who first used the song.
• We beat Roda - based on the tune of Oh My Darling, Clementine , which was written during the UEFA Cup season 96/97 and is sometimes played at European Cups.
• Get up if you're Schalke - was also created in the UEFA Cup season 96/97 as a counterfactor for Go West by the Village People and Pet Shop Boys .
• The myth of the Schalke market - is based on the fan chants of the Vardar Skopjes team .
• A tear from her - from Heino
• Schalke and the WSV - Fangesang in the 1970s
• Schalke and the FCN - later fan singing
• We are Schalke - Fangesang before the arrival of the special train in Berlin Central Station

mascot

The official mascot of FC Schalke 04 is the squire "Erwin". His shirt number is "04", based on the year the club was founded. Thanks to the Schalker Kreisel stadium magazine , Erwin was already known to fans before he took office as a mascot in 1995. In it, he humorously comments on current events in the world of football in the north curve comment . Its predecessor was a mole named "Wühli". However, this was not a club employee in costume, but a normal plush figure that Charly Neumann carried on his shoulders through the Park Stadium.

Community burial ground

Center circle of the Schalke fan field, behind one of the goals

With the approval of FC Schalke 04, a community grave field was set up for fans in 2012, the "Schalke Fan Field". It is located in the cemetery in the Beckhausen-Sutum district of Gelsenkirchen within sight of the Veltins-Arena (location) and contains 1904 grave sites for deceased of all denominations. The facility is modeled on a stadium, decorated with flowers in the club colors and provided with flags, a center circle, goals and floodlights. After Hamburger SV , Schalke is the second Bundesliga club whose fans have their own burial ground. At the time of the opening, 60 places were already firmly booked. The association itself does not earn any money with the burial ground.

In addition to fans of FC Schalke 04, long-time player Adolf Urban (1914–1943) received his final resting place in the center circle of the field after lying in a Russian military cemetery until 2013. Furthermore, in 2015 a memorial was created on the field in honor of the ten men around Willy Gies who were considered to be the founders of the S04 . This board is also in the center circle of the field.

Sponsors and suppliers

Period	Outfitter	sponsor	Branch
1963-1978	mainly Adidas , for a short time also Trigema and Erima (then daughter of Adidas)	no sponsor	-
1978-1979		German Cancer Aid 1	Nonprofit organization
1979-1983		Trigema	Clothing manufacturer
1983-1986		Paddock's
1986-1987		Trigema
1987-1988	Adidas	dual	Electronics manufacturer
1988-1991		RH aluminum wheel	Aluminum rim manufacturer
1991-1993		R'activ	Dairy product manufacturer (R'activ was a Müller product brand)
1993-1994		Müller
1994-1997		Kärcher	Cleaning equipment manufacturer
1997-2001		Veltins	Brewery
2001-2006		Victoria	insurance company
2007-2018		Gazprom	Natural gas production company
2018-2022	Umbro
from 2022	Adidas

¹ free of charge

Trivia

• On July 21, 1973, Carmen Thomas , then moderator of the current sports studio , erroneously referred to the club as " Schalke 05 ". In a massive campaign in particular by the Bild newspaper , her dismissal was demanded, but the ZDF let her moderate the sports studio for another two years. More than thirty years later, at the home game against Hansa Rostock on August 28, 2004 , she apologized to all Schalke fans in the arena for her lapse.
• Pope John Paul II was made an honorary member of the squires after delivering mass in the Park Stadium in 1987 . It is not known whether the Pope was also a fan of the club.
• The film Football is Our Life from 2000 revolves around FC Schalke 04, especially a fan club of the (fictional) player Pablo Di Ospeo . Many of the players and officials at the time had guest appearances in the film. B. Yves Eigenrauch , Huub Stevens and Rudi Assauer .
• Another cinematic “mention” can be found in the film Das Boot . There one of the sailors of the submarine brings the news that Schalke lost 5-0.
• In 2004, on the occasion of the club's hundredth anniversary, the musical Nullvier - Nobody Can Get Past God was performed in the Musiktheater im Revier .
• For the one hundred and eleventh birthday in 2015, another musical with the title Do you know the myth ...? Was played in the Veltins-Arena and in the Musiktheater im Revier . listed.
• In 2008 the association set up a foundation called Schalke hilft! . The aim of the foundation is to support social projects in the Ruhr area.
• The S04 Sports Academy has existed in cooperation with the University of St. Gallen since 2015 . This enables training to become a certified sports manager. This project is run jointly with the University of St. Gallen .
• The Auguste Victoria colliery in Marl , the penultimate colliery in the Ruhr area , closed on December 18, 2015 . To show the association's solidarity with the miners , the club invited the colliery's miners to the Bundesliga home game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim . On this occasion, the pit light of the last shift was handed over to the S04 supervisory board chairman Clemens Tönnies. On this occasion, the Steigerlied was sung live by a miner's choir instead of being played by tape as usual.
• In 2016, the Schalker Markt Foundation was created , which is to preserve special sites from the club's history in Gelsenkirchen and hold events to preserve memories.
• In 2017, the association created the Ernst Alexander Award . This award is endowed with 1904 euros and is given to groups, individuals, schools and projects that campaign against racism, extremism, anti-Semitism, discrimination and violence. The award is named after Ernst Alexander, a Jewish player from FC Schalke 04, who was murdered by the National Socialists in Auschwitz during the Holocaust . The award is presented annually on February 5th, Alexander's birthday.
• Due to the closure of the last German coal mine Prosper-Haniel ( Bottrop ) on December 21, 2018, FC Schalke played their home game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on December 19 with special jerseys. Each player called up wore the name of a different former colliery from the Gelsenkirchen area on his chest. One of them has been hanging in Gelsenkirchen Central Station since spring 2019 .

Other departments in the club

basketball

→ Main article : FC Schalke 04 (basketball)

The basketball department was established in 1974. The club's first team played in the 1982/83 season in the basketball league and from 2007 to 2009 in the ProA . In 2018 she rose again to the ProA.

Blind football

The blind football department was created in 2015 when FC Schalke 04 took over the department from VfB Gelsenkirchen. The club's own foundation “Schalke hilft!” Has been supporting VfB's blind football with financial means since 2012 . The team currently plays in the blind football league .

E-sports

→ Main article : FC Schalke 04 (e-sports)

The esports department was created in May 2016 through the takeover of the League of Legends team Elements . This team currently competes in the League of Legends Championship Series . The department was expanded to include a FIFA team in June 2016 and a Pro Evolution Soccer team in July 2018 .

Women's soccer

In women's football , FC Schalke 04 achieved some notable successes in the late seventies and early eighties of the 20th century. The team was five times Westphalia champion and two Westphalia Cup winners. In both the German championship and the DFB Cup , however, the first round was the final destination. The department was closed in the mid-1980s. Between 2007 and 2010 the club cooperated with the 1. FFC Recklinghausen .

The department will be brought back to life for the 2020/21 season. The first team should start in the district league B. First of all there will be a U17 team in the youth class, with further age groups to follow.

Handball

→ Main article : FC Schalke 04 (handball)

The handball department was founded in 1926. In 1929 they became Gaumeister and played in the Gauliga, the top division at the time, until the end of the war. After the Second World War , except for a year in the Oberliga Westfalen , they could not build on their successes. The first team has been back in the Oberliga Westfalen since 2018.

athletics

The athletics department of FC Schalke 04 was founded in 1922. Famous members were the multiple German sprint champion Erika Rost , the German shot put champion Gertrud Schäfer , the winner of the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympic Games Frank Busemann and the 2003 European junior champion over 200 meters Sebastian Ernst .

referee

The Referees Department was established in August 2015. The club had already had active referees before. The referees of FC Schalke 04 primarily lead games in Gelsenkirchen and the surrounding area. The head of department is Marcel Neuer, the older brother of the national player Manuel Neuer .

Skiing

The skiing department was founded in 2002. The department was created on the basis of plans by the then manager Rudi Assauer and ski driver Herbert Fritzenwenger to host the Biathlon World Team Challenge in the Veltins Arena . Since this is only allowed for local ski clubs that are members of the organizing association, this required the establishment of the department.

Table tennis

The table tennis department was founded in 1947. In 1952/53, FC Schalke 04 played in the major league for a year, which was the top division in Germany until the table tennis Bundesliga was founded in 1966. The first team is currently playing in the national league.

See also

• FC Schalke 04 / names and numbers
• List of players of FC Schalke 04
• Football in the Ruhr area

literature

• Stefan Barta : Schalke international - from Anderlecht to Zagreb . Neue Buchschmiede, Hamm 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816651-2-3 .
• Stefan Barta: Heroes in royal blue. 75 football legends from Schalke 04 . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3563-3 .
• Bodo Berg: More than a game: from the life of a football fan; with photos by Yves Eigenrauch . The workshop, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-89533-299-2 .
• Thomas Bertram: 111 reasons to love Schalke 04 . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86265-262-4 .
• Jenrich Burkh: Planet Royal Blue . Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-446-4 .
• Stefan Goch, Norbert Silberbach: Gray lies between blue and white. FC Schalke 04 under National Socialism. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-433-6 .
• Hardy Greens: Faith, Love, Schalke. The complete history of FC Schalke 04. 2nd edition. The workshop, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-89533-747-5 .
• Helmut Holz: Charly: ... only what is good for Schalke . Schnell, Warendorf 2009, ISBN 978-3-87716-701-4 .
• Helmut Holz: Schalke is priceless: experiences and encounters from twenty years with FC Schalke 04. Verlag Gelsendr., Gelsenkirchen 1991, ISBN 3-924984-30-1 .
• Helmut Holz: Schalke make you smile. Curiosities and specifics from fans and dreamers - experienced and collected. Verlag Gelsdruck, Gelsenkirchen 1984, ISBN 3-9800764-6-6 .
• Ulrich Homann: Schalke for smart asses. Popular Errors and Other Truths . Klartext Verlag (2nd Edition) 2020, ISBN 3-8375-2252-0 .
• David Kadel: With God on Schalke . Gerth Medien, Asslar 2007, ISBN 978-3-86591-288-6 .
• Wilhelm Herbert Koch : The Royal Blues. The Schalke 04 phenomenon . Droste, Düsseldorf 1975, ISBN 3-7700-0365-9 .
• Olivier Kruschinski: blue and white for a lifetime. A season with Schalke. Herten 2005, ISBN 3-938152-04-4 .
• Michael Rarreck (Ed.): Schalker Lieder - Fan hymn book and more… . Splitt Entertainment Music Publishing, Marl 2006, ISBN 3-00-020136-X .
• Ben Redelings: Schalke album: Unforgettable sayings, photos, anecdotes . The workshop, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-7307-0108-9 .
• Georg Röwekamp: The myth is alive. The history of FC Schalke 04 . Göttingen 1996 [and more recent edition], ISBN 3-89533-164-3 .
• Schalker Fan Club Association (publisher): 30 years of SFCV . Klartext, Essen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8375-0159-9 .
• Schalker Fan Initiative (ed.): The top of the Eichberg. The most beautiful scandals of FC Schalke 04 . Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-393-3 .
• Jörg Seveneick, Thomas Spiegel, Gerd Voss (eds.): 100 Schalke Years - 100 Schalke Stories . Klartext, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-89861-321-6 .
• Katharina Strohmeyer: Günter Eichberg - Schalke's forgotten savior? Neue Buchschmiede, Hamm 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816651-1-6 .
• Michael Vogt: Schalke - heroes from the bottom up . Konturblau, Dorsten 2008, ISBN 978-3-939565-04-8 .
• Friedhelm Wessel: Do you remember? Schalke 04. Stories and anecdotes. From pop singers, "Oskars" jaunt ... and Lehmann's "Bauerntrick" , Herkules, Kassel 2011, ISBN 978-3-94-14996-0-7 .

Movies

• Dominik Abel: 30 years of SFCV - the film for the anniversary . Dicksen TV, Düsseldorf 2009.
• Frank Bürgin: 100 years in Schalke . Studiocanal, Leipzig 2004, OCLC 315748474 .
• Judith Voelker: 4 minutes German champion . Klartext, Essen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8375-0818-5 .

Web links

Commons : FC Schalke 04  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Official website of the Knappenschmiede
• 100 Schalke years
• Official website of the Schalker Fan Club Association
• The most beautiful scandals of FC Schalke 04
• Schalke 04 on the brink - how it could come to this

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} ikz-online.de: Schalke and BVB: This club has 986 more members.
2. ↑ ^{a b} The wild years. In: 100 Schalke Years. Retrieved January 10, 2007 . 
3. ↑ Reference date May 4th. In: 100 Schalke Years. May 4, 2004, accessed August 2, 2019 .  Later, the association also named May 20th as the founding day, according to other sources also “Spring 1904” or “Summer 1904”. Heinrich Kullmann - one of the alleged founding members - had noted October 1904 in his membership card. May 4th is the date that was agreed - presumably in the 1960s - as the official founding date
4. ↑ ^{a b due} date January 5th. In: 100 Schalke Years. January 5, 2004, accessed August 2, 2019 .  Today's association was newly founded in 1922 by former members who did not approve of the merger with TV 1877 in 1919 Westfalia Schalke ( Memento from February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
5. ^ Zeit.de: Stefan Willeke: With a fart to victory. April 22, 2004, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Stefan Goch , Norbert Silberbach: Gray lies between blue and white. Essen 2005, p. 38.
7. ↑ 1904-1923: Myth. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 5, 2019 . 
8. ↑ In detail: Matthias Blazek: "The early days of FC Schalke 04". In other words: Polacy w Westfalii - Poland in Westphalia. Polish migration to the Ruhr area at the time of the German Empire. ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart 2021, ISBN 978-3-8382-1597-6 , pp. 91-93.
9. ↑ Reference date May 25th. In: 100 Schalke Years. May 25, 2004, accessed August 2, 2019 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} quoted from “bo”: gymnastics father Unkel remains loyal to Schalke's footballers. In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung . April 19, 2004.
11. ^ Wilhelm Hopf: Soccer: Sociology and social history of a popular sport. Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 1994, ISBN 3-88660-231-1 , p. 117 ( online version ), accessed on September 2, 2009.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Be a buddy and become a member ( Memento from July 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
13. ↑ Roman Kolbe: The most beautiful scandals of FC Schalke 04 Part 1. Schalke Unser e. V., December 1998, accessed October 22, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Markus Beims: The Schalke myth is alive. In: Schalke 04 - 100 years. Top in sport. Special issue, No. 2 / Hannover 2004, ISSN  0948-5333
15. ↑ “This mass visit, the Kampfbahn Glückauf actually only had 34,000 seats, not only showed that FC Schalke 04 had numerous supporters, but after the scandal these people stood by the supposed sinners, who were probably also victims in large circles of the population bourgeois sports officials were seen. ”Stefan Goch, Norbert Silberbach: Gray lies between blue and white. Essen 2005, p. 62.
16. ↑ 75 years ago Schalke was in a DM final for the first time ( Memento from December 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ Polkska-Niemcy 9: 5. In: buwcd.buw.uw.edu.pl. Przegląd Sportowy , June 30, 1934, p. 1 , accessed October 18, 2019 (Polish). 
18. ↑ See in detail under Ruhr Poland .
19. ↑ The football week. November 10, 1941, p. 15.
20. ↑ The kicker . November 24, 1942, p. 5.
21. ↑ Erika Harzer: When Schalke came to the Swabian province. In: 11Freunde.de. October 14, 2012, accessed February 2, 2018 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b} epochs. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
23. ↑ Katharina Strohmeyer: Günter Eichberg - Schalke's forgotten savior? Hamm 2014, p. 55 f.
24. ↑ Frank Leszinski: Eichberg stops, Assauer returns. In: ruhrnachrichten.de. August 13, 2012, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
25. ↑ Matthew Spiro: Dia and colleagues are not afraid. UEFA, November 2, 2006, accessed November 17, 2012 . 
26. ↑ kicker.de : Rummenigge chairman of the ECA . Retrieved September 18, 2019.
27. ↑ ^{a b} Association sets up 'Hall of Fame'. In: Reviersport.de. June 22, 2008, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
28. ↑ Ralf Rangnick is the new head coach of FC Schalke 04. ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
29. ↑ Ralf Rangnick resigns as head coach with immediate effect. ( Memento from December 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
30. ↑ Contract until 2013: Huub Stevens is the new head coach of FC Schalke 04. ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
31. ↑ No wonder in San Mamés. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , April 5, 2012, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
32. ↑ FC Schalke 04 on leave of absence Huub Stevens - Jens Keller takes over ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
33. ↑ PAOK replaces Metalist in the play-offs ( Memento from August 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
34. ↑ Police withdraw from Schalke-Arena. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 12, 2013, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
35. ↑ S04 separates from Jens Keller - Roberto Di Matteo takes over ( Memento from February 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
36. ↑ Very strong: S04 celebrates 4-3 victory at the Bernabeu ( Memento from March 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
37. ↑ Roberto Di Matteo resigns as coach of FC Schalke 04. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., May 26, 2015, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
38. ↑ The supervisory board will appoint Christian Heidel as the sports director. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., June 12, 2015, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
39. ↑ The supervisory board will appoint Christian Heidel as the sports director. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., February 21, 2016, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
40. ↑ Markus Weinzierl becomes head trainer at Schalke. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., June 2, 2016, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
41. ↑ Match report: Viergever torpedoed the Schalke race to catch up in the database of kicker.de . Retrieved September 18, 2019.
42. ↑ Domenico Tedesco is the new head coach of FC Schalke 04. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., June 9, 2017, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
43. ↑ Richard Leipold: In search of the game idea. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine, June 21, 2017, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
44. ↑ Match report: 4: 4 after 0: 4! Naldo puts the crown on the insane derby in the database of kicker.de . Retrieved October 15, 2019.
45. ↑ Match report: Jovics Hacke brings Frankfurt to Berlin in the database of kicker.de . Retrieved October 15, 2019.
46. ↑ FC Schalke 04 - club profile. Retrieved April 3, 2019 . 
47. ↑ Schalke separates from trainer Tedesco - Stevens & Büskens against RB on the bench. Retrieved April 3, 2019 . 
48. ↑ Jochen Schneider is to become the new sports director at Schalke 04. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on April 3, 2019 . 
49. ↑ FC Schalke 04 is just a catastrophe. N-TV , accessed June 29, 2020 . 
50. ↑ Freiburg celebrates - Schalke continues bankruptcy series. In: Süddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung , accessed on June 29, 2020 . 
51. ↑ Christoph Ruf: That is why Schalke fans are calling for Clemens Tönnies to resign. Spiegel Online , accessed June 29, 2020 . 
52. ↑ Clemens Tönnies resigns
53. ↑ https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/sport/fussball/fussball/schalke-04-clemens-toennies-tritt-zurueck-71599654,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html
54. ↑ Dream duo Hoppe and Harit ended the Schalke negative run. kicker.de, January 9, 2021, accessed on January 9, 2021.
55. ↑ Only three teams worse than S04 and FSV: The worst first round in history. spox.com, January 21, 2021, accessed January 23, 2021.
56. ↑ Schalke: Several leading players called for major replacement. kicker.de, February 27, 2021, accessed on February 28, 2021.
57. ↑ Five coaches in one season: The story of Schalke's only predecessor , kicker.de, March 3, 2021, accessed on March 3, 2021.
58. ↑ Rangnick cancels Schalke: "Numerous imponderables within the club" , kicker.de, March 20, 2021, accessed on March 31, 2021.
59. ↑ Peter Knäbel is the new Board Member for Sport and Communication , schalke04.de, March 31, 2021, accessed on March 31, 2021.
60. ↑ Park Stadium. FC Schalke 04, accessed on January 28, 2021 . 
61. ↑ Match report: Porto again European Cup winners: AS Monaco - FC Porto 0: 3 (0: 1) in the database of kicker.de . Retrieved September 18, 2019.
62. ↑ Supervisory Board. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
63. ↑ Dr. Jens Buchta new chairman of the supervisory board ; Schalke04.de, accessed on June 30, 2020.
64. ↑ schalke04.de
65. ↑ Matthias Rüter moves up to the S04 supervisory board ; Schalke04.de, accessed on July 2, 2020.
66. ↑ https://www.reviersport.de/artikel/schalke-steller-zahlen-vor-perspektiven-duester/
67. ↑ https://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/bundesliga-schulden-des-fc-schalke-04-stieg-auf-217-millionen-euro-an-a-255ff894-cd37-4b36-9203-a149c2eee766
68. ↑ https://www.sportbuzzer.de/artikel/217-millionen-euro-schulden-schalke-04-zahlen-stopp-bauprojekt-reaktion/
69. ↑ Schalke 04 is to receive a guarantee of 40 million euros from the NRW government. Focus.de, June 30, 2020, accessed on July 30, 2020 . 
70. ^ Hendrik Niebuhr: Report: Schalke 04 receives a million-euro guarantee from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Reviersport, June 30, 2020, accessed on July 30, 2020 . 
71. ↑ ^{a b} Schalke 04 confirms commitment for state guarantee. Kicker, July 28, 2020, accessed on July 28, 2020 . 
72. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Jakobs: The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to vouch for Schalke with 40 million euros. Handelsblatt, June 29, 2020, accessed on July 30, 2020 . 
73. ↑ Friedhelm Pothoff: More than 600 people work for FC Schalke 04.WAZ, March 16, 2015, accessed on July 30, 2020 . 
74. ↑ Kader , schalke04.de, accessed on June 21, 2021
75. ↑ Danny Latza is the new team captain of FC Schalke 04 schalke04.de, accessed on July 9, 2021
76. ↑ Roman Laczkowski: The "Knapp forging" of the FC Schalke 04 as an example of the young talent in the German Bundesliga clubs in football. (PDF: 315.68 kB) March 17, 2005, p. 16 , accessed on August 5, 2019 : “2.4.1. Founding of the Knappenschmiede, Mittweida 2015 " 
77. ↑ Knappenschmiede again awarded three stars. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 5, 2019 . 
78. ↑ Bundesliga - Schalke: Ruhnert new junior boss. January 17, 2014, accessed July 13, 2019 . 
79. ↑ Peter Knäbel becomes Technical Director of FC Schalke 04. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., April 4, 2018, accessed April 5, 2018 . 
80. ↑ Gerald Asamoah becomes manager of the Schalke U23 ( Memento from December 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
81. ↑ Data and figures on the Park Stadium ; on Schalke04.de, accessed on September 1, 2020.
82. ↑ See Section 12, Paragraph 1 of the DFB Game Regulations, available as a PDF (361 KB).
83. ↑ FC Schalke 04. Westfalenkick, accessed on January 28, 2021 . 
84. ↑ Youth work. In: transfermarkt.de. Retrieved October 18, 2019 . 
85. ↑ ^{a b} The traditional team of FC Schalke 04. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
86. ↑ 2017, personal communication by Olaf Thon
87. ↑ Manfred Hendriok: Thon and Max combine Schalke legends in the traditional team. In: WAZ. September 4, 2015, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
88. ↑ ^{a b c d e eleven of the} century. In: Schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
89. ↑ The Greatest Penalty Killers. In: RP online. Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
90. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Honorary captain. In: Schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
91. ↑ ^{a b} record lists. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., June 30, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
92. ^ ZDF broadcast Our Best Footballers (29th place) on May 26, 2006.
93. ↑ Honor Cabin. In: Schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
94. ↑ Number of members of FC Schalke 04 e. V. from 2000 to 2017. In: Statista.com. Retrieved October 18, 2019 . 
95. ↑ Schalke roundabout. Official club magazine. Edition of March 28, 2014, pp. 60–67.
96. ↑ Football map (BETA) Where the Bundesliga clubs have their members. In: Berliner Morgenpost. January 12, 2015, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
97. ↑ Schalke is happy about 80,000. Association member. In: Focus online. September 18, 2019, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
98. ↑ By fans for fans ( Memento from September 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
99. ↑ Christoph Winkel: Schalke: Tümmers sees the fan club association on the right path. In: reviersport.de. November 30, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
100. ↑ ^{a b c} SFCV internal. In: SFCV.de. Retrieved August 2, 2019 . 
101. ↑ Das "Sprachrohr" - Our official club magazine ( Memento from April 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
102. ↑ Next setback for the SFCV. In: reviersport.de. June 8, 2013, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
103. ↑ Leaving the SFCV. In: Fan-Ini.de. Retrieved August 2, 2019 . 
104. ↑ ^{a b} Christoph Bausenwein, Bernd Siegler, Harald Kaiser: The legend of the club. The history of 1. FC Nürnberg. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-89533-536-3 , p. 304 ff.
105. ↑ Blue and red, how I love you ( Memento from June 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
106. ↑ 3: 2 in Skopje - S04 wins against friends from FK Vardar ( Memento from October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
107. ↑ Stefan Barta: My Park Stadium. Verlag Eck Tor, Hamm 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-028437-3 , p. 45.
108. ↑ ^{a b} Lorenz Vossen: Hertha against Schalke is about more than football. In: morgenpost.de. April 27, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
109. ↑ Michael Jahn: Gelsenkirchen is coming to Berlin. In: berliner-zeitung.de. November 1, 2013, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
110. ^ Peter Lohmeyer: Actor and Schalke fan. In: faz.net. January 15, 2005, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
111. ↑ David Denk: Write what you want. In: taz.de. September 11, 2009, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
112. ↑ FC Schalke 04: Peter Nottmeier is also blue and white on YouTube , April 2, 2012, accessed on August 2, 2019.
113. ↑ Veronica Ferres likes royal blue. In: rp-online.de. December 12, 2007, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
114. ↑ "I have my own head". In: ntv.de. April 12, 2012, Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
115. ↑ February 24, 1973: Werner Hansch becomes stadium announcer. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., February 24, 2014, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
116. ↑ The most popular football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia (from 0:36:29) on YouTube , October 5, 2013, accessed on August 2, 2019.
117. ↑ S04 discusses with members of the Bundestag ( Memento from April 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
118. ↑ Charlotte Würdig: Facebook post. May 4, 2001, Retrieved October 18, 2019 . 
119. ↑ Andreas Ernst: Schalke fan Roche accuses Manuel Neuer of treason. In: derwesten.de. January 19, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
120. ↑ Vanessa Huppenkothen: I've always been a Schalke fan! ( Memento from March 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
121. ↑ Interview with Mario Kotaska - Addicted to good food. In: worldsoffood.de. Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
122. ↑ Kirsten Simon: Star chef Nelson Müller sings in the living room of FC Schalke. In: waz.de. October 23, 2018, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
123. ↑ "The players should click their tongues" '. In: Spiegel online. May 16, 2008, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
124. ↑ Interview with Frank Rosin ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
125. ↑ Silke Sobotta: A life between Schalke 04, TV and golden anchor. In: lokalkompass.de. June 29, 2014, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
126. ↑ Man of Extreme , Schalker Kreisel, August 30, 2014, pp. 100–110.
127. ↑ Fear of the beer shower in the royal blue football temple . Berliner Morgenpost, July 25, 2003
128. ↑ Christian Kitsch: Schlager star Henning sings Schalke's master anthem. In: bild.de. April 23, 2010, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
129. ↑ Maria Eckardt: Singer Lary: Even in Berlin she carries Schalke in her heart. In: WAZ. August 12, 2018, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
130. ↑ Jürgen von Polier: New album by rapper Pillath from Gelsenkirchen - one track has a particularly important message. In: derwesten.de. January 21, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2019 . 
131. ↑ Thilo Jahn: "It takes a lot of courage". In: Deutschlandfuink Nova. September 27, 2014, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
132. ↑ Christoph Biermann: When we dream of football . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2014. Excerpt from books.google.de.
133. ↑ DJ Moguai: That's why I wore the green Schalke jersey in Parookaville . Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, August 22, 2018
134. ↑ FULLY on the BUTT !! [FIFA14] (from 0:00:37) on YouTube , January 3, 2014, accessed on August 2, 2019.
135. ↑ Peter Unfried: “Anyone can formulate goals”. In: taz . June 15, 2019, p. 20 , accessed October 18, 2019 . 
136. ↑ Simon Sonntag: Short biography of Fritz Pawelzik - the "white chief" ( memento from February 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community of St. Christophori in Hohenstein-Ernstthal (PDF).
137. ↑ "For us, red and royal blue belong together", Schalker Kreisel season 2014/15, No. 13 from January 31, 2015.
138. ↑ Dome Squire. In: Facebook. Retrieved July 21, 2016 . 
139. ↑ S04 deserves better sponsorship. In: deutschlandfunk.de. May 4, 2014, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
140. ↑ Christoph Winkel: "When trumpet Willy blows the attack on Schalke". In: derwesten.de. February 11, 2014, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
141. ↑ Ährwin Weiß - Glückauf Der Steiger is coming. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
142. ↑ Steigerlied in the dark arena on Schalke. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
143. ↑ Blue and white how I love you. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
144. ↑ Blue and White, How I Love You Lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
145. ↑ The lyrics of the Schalke club song "Blau und Weiß. Retrieved on December 17, 2020 . 
146. ↑ Schalke songs: blue and white for a lifetime. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
147. ↑ Schalke Lieder: Königsblauer S04. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
148. ↑ Royal Blue S04 Lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
149. ↑ Ährwin Weiss - Schalke 04, love in the area. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
150. ↑ Ährwin Weiss - Mäusken will you eat ice cream with me? (1995). Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
151. ↑ When a Schalke boy cries. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
152. ↑ Schalke 04 - When a Schalke Boy Cries Lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
153. ↑ Schalke - Lieder: We are Schalkers, nobody likes ... Retrieved on December 17, 2020 . 
154. ↑ We are Schalke Lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
155. ↑ Always on Schalke (Grandpa Pritschikowski) - YouTube. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
156. ↑ Always on Schalke Lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
157. ^ RWE - MSV: Grandpa Luscheskowski. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
158. ↑ Grandpa Luscheskowski lyrics. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
159. ↑ Schalke vs. Essen: Rivals with a common cult grandpa. In: Spiegel Online. March 30, 2010, accessed September 18, 2019 . 
160. ↑ Schalke 04 We beat Roda Original. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
161. ↑ Freddy Quinn - Oh My Darling Clementine. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
162. ↑ Schalke Lieder - Get up if you are Schalke. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
163. ↑ Get up if you are a Schalke. In: revierkick.de. Retrieved August 5, 2019 . 
164. ↑ Curve songs: The myth of the Schalke market. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
165. ↑ A tear from her. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
166. ↑ Schalke and the FCN. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
167. ↑ We are Schalke. Retrieved December 17, 2020 . 
168. ↑ Did you know that ... ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
169. ↑ Schalke Fan Field - Royal Blue Beyond Death. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., March 12, 2015, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
170. ↑ 60 graves firmly booked - Schalke opens cemetery. In: The world . December 4, 2012, accessed December 4, 2012 . 
171. ↑ Moving ceremony: S04 says goodbye to Ala Urban for the second time . FCSchalke 04 website, November 20, 2013. Archived from the original in the Internet archive on March 4, 2016
172. ↑ S04 inaugurates memorial site for club founders. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., June 1, 2015, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
173. ↑ https://www.kicker.de/nach-vier-jahren-pause-adidas-ruestet-schalke-ab-2022-aus-807134/artikel
174. ↑ Bernd Fischaleck: Carmen Thomas' "Schalke 05" - A historical slip of the tongue . In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung . February 1, 2013, accessed on September 18, 2019 ( dapd interview). 
175. ↑ 1987: Pope John Paul II in the Park Stadium. In: Gelsenkirchen stories. Retrieved August 2, 2019 . 
176. ↑ Schalke has lost (Das Boot). In: fanartisch.de. Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
177. ↑ Stephan Drewianka: Musical Nullvier - Nobody can get past God. In: musical-world.de. Retrieved September 18, 2019 . 
178. ↑ The 111th birthday - to celebrate a big anniversary show ( Memento from March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
179. ↑ Schalke helps! In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 5, 2019 . 
180. ↑ S04 degree program (CAS). In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 5, 2019 . 
181. ↑ S04 invites buddy to the last shift. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., December 16, 2015, accessed on September 18, 2019 . 
182. ↑ District President presents Tönnie's certificate of recognition. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., December 16, 2016, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
183. ↑ S04 awards Ernst Alexander award. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., December 7, 2017, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
184. ↑ Mining jerseys: S04 is a Bundesliga novelty. In: weltfussball.de. November 27, 2018, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
185. ↑ Helmut Bünder, Brigitte Koch: Prosper Haniel: Last German coal mine closes. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine. December 16, 2018, accessed October 18, 2019 . 
186. ↑ FC Gelselnkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V. basketball. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on October 18, 2019 . 
187. ↑ New department for blind football starts into the Bundesliga season ( Memento from October 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
188. ↑ FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V. Esports. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on October 18, 2019 . 
189. ↑ Cooperation with female soccer players from 1. FFC Recklinghausen ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
190. ↑ https://schalke04.de/inside/gruendung-frauenfussballabteilung/
191. ↑ Homepage handball. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
192. ↑ Homepage athletics. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
193. ^ Referee. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
194. ↑ Ski. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed on August 2, 2019 . 
195. ↑ Homepage table tennis. In: schalke04.de. FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., accessed December 4, 2019 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 33 ′ 32.8 "  N , 7 ° 3 ′ 45.8"  E