VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart
society
Surname	Association for Movement Games Stuttgart 1893 e. V.
Seat	Stuttgart , Baden-Wuerttemberg
founding	September 9, 1893
Colours	White-red
Members	71,500 (June 2020)
president	Claus Vogt
Board	Bernd Gaiser (Vice President) Rainer Mutschler
Football company
Surname	VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG
Shareholders	88.25%: VfB Stuttgart e. V. 11.75%: Daimler AG
Board	Thomas Hitzlsperger (Chairman) (Sports, Strategy, Communication) Stefan Heim (Finance, Administration, Operations) Jochen Röttgermann (Marketing, Sales)
Website	vfb.de
First team
Head coach	Pellegrino Matarazzo
Venue	Mercedes-Benz Arena
Places	60,449
league	Bundesliga
2019/20	2nd place ▲ ( 2nd Bundesliga )
home Away

Table position development VfB Stuttgart from 1963/64

The VfB Stuttgart , official association for movement games Stuttgart 1893 e. V. , is a sports club from the Bad Cannstatt district of Stuttgart . It is (as of June 2020) with 71,500 members the tenth largest sports club in Germany and the largest in Baden-Württemberg . Its football department , which was spun off in 2017 to VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG , which is majority owned by the club, is best known . The first team became German champions five times ( 1950 , 1952 , 1984 , 1992 and 2007 ), and they also won the DFB Cup three times ( 1954 , 1958 , 1997 ). In the Eternal Table of the Bundesliga VfB ranked fifth. The club will play in the Bundesliga in the 2020/21 season.

In addition, the VfB Stuttgart has amateur sports departments. Athletes in the athletics department have won numerous titles and medals. Hockey is the second largest division of the club. In fistball , VfB won several German senior championships around 2005. There are also departments for football referees and table tennis . In addition, the VfB Guard is a non-sporting traditional department.

The VfB's first soccer team plays its home games in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Neckarpark . Right next to the stadium, behind the Untertürkheim curve on the opposite side of Fritz-Walter-Weg, is the club area with the Robert Schlienz stadium , training grounds and the clubhouse.

history

Around the year 1865, when football nor rugby was like, met English students, among them William Cail , a week to a game in CAN place where because of international popularity as a spa and boarding schools were created. Local students lived out the "English disease" in the 1880s, to the annoyance of many teachers and residents, on a meadow where the Stuttgart Tram World was later created. Many football clubs arose in Stuttgart, including the Nordstern from residents of Alexanderstraße in Stuttgart-Mitte and the Cannstatter football club in 1890 . Encouraged by this, a game community practicing on the Stöckach in Stuttgart-Ost founded the Stuttgart football club in 1893 . In 1911 there were already 30 clubs in Stuttgart. In 1912, the Cannstatter Kronen Club and the Stuttgart football club became VfB Stuttgart in 1893 .

1893 to 1912: From the beginnings to the merger

Both clubs were mainly founded by schoolchildren, most of whom had their roots in the commercial middle class.

FV Stuttgart

The FV's first rugby team in 1894

Coat of arms of the FV Stuttgart

The Stuttgart football club was founded on September 9, 1893 in the Zum Becher inn on Kernerstrasse (today Urbanstrasse) and had 20 founding members.

The Stuttgart FV regularly played training games against the Cannstatter football club. In 1893, Philipp Heineken , then an athlete and author of books about sport, later also Vice President of the German Football Association and an official in the Reich Committee for Preparing for the Olympic Games , moved from the Cannstatter Football Club to the Stuttgart Football Club and became its team captain. The FV had its home on the Stöckach ice rink and moved to the Cannstatter Wasen in 1894 . As early as 1895, the FV Stuttgart played in Switzerland . The team was mainly made up of students from Stuttgart's secondary schools and grammar schools and quickly achieved their first successes: In 1909, the FV became German runners-up in rugby when the team only lost 3: 6 points to FC 1897 Hanover in the final . Various players came to international missions; Sun won Hugo betting with the existing otherwise exclusively from Frankfurt players German rugby selection at the 1900 Olympic Games silver medal. Nevertheless, rugby versus football, then rugby football versus association football , was losing ground. The game was too complicated for many viewers. After the military administration had allowed the FV less and less time to use the Cannstatter Wasen, the players had to move more and more to the Stöckachplatz until the club was finally prohibited from using the Wasen. The FV therefore accused the military government of preferring gymnastics clubs, whose sport was known as more disciplined at the time . Now the players could only play on the crooked Stöckachplatz, which, according to many FV players, was apparently completely unsuitable at the time. For example, the club leased a field on the Adelsberg from the city , which was known to the FV as a rugby field .

Following an initiative by young players in 1907, the club joined the South German Football Association . The team was immediately assigned to the southern German B-class, although a C-class now also existed. Already in the second year the FV became district champion in a final against their later merger partner, the Kronen Club Cannstatt , of all points. The footballers did not achieve promotion after a defeat in the game for the Gaume Championship against FV Zuffenhausen . It was not until the following year that the promotion finally succeeded under applicable regulations, as the team became Gaumeister and B-Südkreismeister. Since the Association Day changed the regulations and decided to found a new southern district league as the top division of southern Germany, the rise was not guaranteed. The FV no longer decided the crucial games for itself, because before the promotion rounds against FV Germania Beiertheim and FC Mühlburg , the merger with the Kronen Club Cannstatt had already been completed.

Crown Club Cannstatt

The Kronen Club's first football team in 1898

Coat of arms of the Kronen Club Cannstatt

In the Cannstatter football club , football lost its importance after a few years, and so the Kronenklub was formed from former members of this club in 1897 . There they first specialized in football and later also did athletics. Nothing is known about the name of the association.

After the Süddeutsche Fußballbund had assigned the Kronen Club to the lower of two existing southern German divisions in 1903, the football team was already playing for promotion to the first southern German division in 1904, where the footballers competed against the second team of the Stuttgarter Kickers . The designated referee did not appear for this game, so the association's secretary Scivessy agreed to direct the game. The Crown Club won, but a replay was then ordered and lost.

In the years to come, the team played with the top in the B-Class, without ever reaching another playoff for promotion. The Kronen Club Cannstatt had its own soccer field in Stuttgart-Münster , which is still in existence today. In the meantime, TSVgg Stuttgart-Münster 1875/99 plays there .

Fusion and victory in the playoff

Coat of arms of the merged association

Advertising sign for the Concordia hotel where the merger took place.

The promotion team in 1912

The rugby field on the Adelsberg was not very suitable for league games, so that the FV came up with the idea of ​​a merger with the Cannstatt Crown Club, founded in 1897. Since the Kronen Club had only limited sporting prospects and the FV Stuttgart, which had a good chance of making it to the southern German A-class, had a team with good prospects, those responsible finally got closer. On April 2, 1912, both clubs merged to form the Association for Movement Games Stuttgart 1893 e. V. , who thanks to the B-Südkreismeisterschaft of the Stuttgart FV immediately competed for the qualification for the new Südkreisliga. The merger meeting took place in the Cannstatter Hotel Concordia . Wilhelm Hinzmann became the first chairman. The first competitive games after the merger played the VfB Stuttgart in the promotion round to the Südkreisliga, for which the club had qualified as FV Stuttgart . On August 25, 1912, VfB defeated FV Germania Beiertheim 4: 3 in its first competitive game after the merger and thus achieved a decisive game for promotion against FC Mühlburg . In this decisive game for promotion on September 1, 1912 in Karlsruhe-Durlach, VfB won 1-0 against Mühlburg with a decisive header from Copé Wendling in the last minutes . Thus, VfB was first class from the start and played in the Südkreisliga, the highest German division at the time.

1912 to 1933: First World War and first titles

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1912/13	6/ 08
1913/14	7/ 07
1914/15	7/ 08
1919/20	5/10
1920/21	5/10
1921/22	2/ 08
1922/23	6/ 08
1923/24	1/ 07 2/ 05
1924/25	5/ 08
1925/26	2/ 08	07,400
1926/27	1/10 5/ 06	10.111
1927/28	3/ 09 4/ 08	04,230
1928/29	3/ 08 5/ 08	05,142
1929/30	1/ 08 5/ 08	11,375
1930/31	4/ 08	04,833
1931/32	2/10 8/ 08	07,375
1932/33	3/10	05,688

In the next two years VfB only played for the lower places in the southern district league and was exposed to the risk of relegation. The First World War almost brought club life to a standstill. On August 1, 1914, they met for the last time for a friendly game. After most of the players and those responsible had already received their call-up, there was a farewell party in the old German pub . The rugby field at the Karl Olga Hospital was made available to the Red Cross, which immediately set up a military hospital there. After that, mainly young people met at Münster-Platz. After the president Wilhelm Hinzmann was drafted, the people in charge Julius Lintz, who represented Hinzmann as president, and Ernst Grimm took care of the youth players. Only in October 1914 did the club get an eleven back together. After a week there were only seven players left. The association now abolished the compulsory round and introduced iron football games .

For this one was allowed to join forces with other clubs to form war teams, and so VfB formed a team with FV Die Blauen Elf at short notice . A year later, after the wounded and the convalescent returned, the association provided three of its own war teams. At the end of 1917 the club had five teams together again. Ernst Grimm put together a war committee that kept the association alive, although three quarters of the members had moved in. The committee prevented the conversion of the Münster-Platz, the only remaining football field, into a potato field. After his return, Wilhelm Hinzmann took over an intact club; a little later, in 1918, he handed over his post to Gustav Schumm . A plaque of honor that was unveiled in 1925 still honors 90 dead from the ranks of VfB.

In 1923 Karl-Adolf Deubler became president of the association and held the office until 1931.

In the 1920s the number of members rose quickly to over 1000 - mainly young people were active in the association. However, the place in Münster turned out to be unsuitable for VfB, as it was far away from the supporters. Since the rugby field was used for agriculture in the First World War and also failed as a playing field, the club urgently needed a place. When the parade ground on the Cannstatter Wasen was no longer needed after the war, the idea of ​​returning to Bad Cannstatt was born. In 1919 the square was opened by the three poplars on the Cannstatter Wasen. It remained the home ground of VfB until the opening of today's Mercedes-Benz Arena in 1936. After the end of the war, the association immediately tried to get gaming traffic back on track. The Association Day decided to found a Württemberg league with eight clubs. The VfB belonged to this league, as he was also first class in the southern district league before the war. Until 1922, the soccer team always played at the top of this league, but never became champions. In 1923, a new game system was introduced by the Association Day, which provided for a new district league Württemberg / Baden as the highest division. In order to qualify for the top division, VfB should have ended up among the top four clubs in the Württemberg League in the 1922/23 season. This did not succeed, so that the team had to compete in the IL class of the newly founded district league in the following season 1923/24, where VfB immediately became district champion Cannstatt and thus qualified for the promotion games. There they achieved promotion to the Württemberg-Baden district league at the first attempt and thus an immediate return to first class. In the decisive game on June 1, 1924, the footballers defeated SC Freiburg, who had already qualified , 5-3.

Thanks to the good youth work, VfB succeeded in building a successful first team in the interwar period, which with players like Richard "Molly" Schauffele (later, among others, president of the Stuttgarter Kickers ) became champions of Württemberg and Baden in 1927. The team did not reach the final round of the German championship. In the same year, the Association Day in Mainz decided to split the young district league into the Württemberg and Baden departments. Ernst Blum became the first German international for VfB in 1928 when he made his debut against Denmark under Reich coach Otto Nerz . In both 1928 and 1929, the club reached the consolation round of the second and third of the district leagues. In 1929 there was a scandal: VfB had violated the amateur statutes by donating money to the players. Even then, the players were aware that they could have a positive influence on viewer income and were of the opinion that they were entitled to a share of it. So the club was initially ready to meet the demands of the players, but over time the club could no longer afford to pay players under the hand. After a voluntary disclosure, the association was punished with a heavy penalty. The players in question were no longer considered by VfB, which is why VfB was considered a relegation candidate. Nevertheless, a profoundly rejuvenated team under the then coach Lajos Kovács managed to win the Württemberg Championship in 1929/30, and they reached the South German championship round for the first time, in which the team participated unsuccessfully in 1932.

1933 to 1945: Support for National Socialism

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1933/34	3/ 09 1/ 04	5,437
1934/35	1/10 1/ 04	8,500
1935/36	3/10	5,000
1936/37	1/10 1/ 04	7,500
1937/38	1/10 3/ 04	7,090
1938/39	2/10	6,857
1939/40	1/ 06 2/ 04	4,220
1940/41	2/12	5,100
1941/42	2/10
1942/43	1/10
1943/44	4/10

The time of National Socialism is one of the dark chapters in the club's history. Even at VfB, some of those responsible found it difficult to accept the so-called “humiliations” caused by the Versailles Treaty . In 1919, written shortly after the end of the First World War , a club song rang out the wish for a strong Germany; so it says in the text of the song in relation to the German fatherland: ... that it is new and strong, that's what VfB plays for! Former President Egon Reichsgraf von Beroldingen attached great importance to the statement: “VfB has always had Germany on the flag!” In addition, the association has always had good relationships with military circles.

Many at VfB promised a new beginning from the emergence of National Socialism. In 1932, the club superiors willingly made their place on the three poplars available for NSDAP rallies. The city then immediately terminated VfB. After the seizure of power of the Nazi party in Stuttgart, this decision was reversed. The new mayor appointed by the NSDAP praised the VfB as "an association that was well- disposed towards National Socialism even before the upheaval ". The official announcements of the association's management did not reveal any dissent to the goals of the NSDAP, these goals were apparently supported.

The club president at that time, Hans Kiener, had already joined the NSDAP in 1932 and declared that the VfB was a “refuge of national sentiments” and a “stronghold against everything un-German”. From now on, Kiener was called the club leader and was given provisional powers "from above". At the urging of the Reich Sports Leader and the Wehrsport Association , there was now an SA storm in VfB . As early as 1933, the VfB was one of the first associations in the German Reich to anticipate Aryanization and excluded all Jewish members, even those who had made great contributions to the association.

"We don't just enjoy games, not just the joy of sport,
what binds our friendship says another word:
We want to be comrades, tried out in
joys and sorrows, envy and envy should be banished from our ranks
The slogan is for the good and out of love for the fatherland,
for his honor, more and more, we steadfastly steel ourselves.
And with every fresh, happy game, we think of our highest goal
that it is new and strong, that is what VfB “plays” !
Melody: O Germany in high honor "

The Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn, built in 1933 for the German Gymnastics Festival , also opened up new possibilities . Since the city needed the old VfB site for the Cannstatter Volksfest, the club had to find a new home ground again. The extensive identification with the new rulers enabled VfB to continuously develop in the sporting field. At that time Gauligen were introduced, in which the respective Gaumeister were determined.

In 1933 the club became South German Cup Champions , and in 1935 again Württemberg champions. Thus, the footballers were qualified for the finals of the German championship for the first time. After the team lost their first two group games, the situation seemed hopeless. In the last and decisive group match against direct rivals SpVgg Fürth , VfB reached the semi-finals, where VfL Benrath was defeated. And so the team penetrated for the first time into the final of the German championship, in which the finalist in Cologne was defeated 4-6 by the superior Schalke team . But the players were also celebrated by thousands of fans when they returned to Stuttgart.

Game dates for the final of the 1935 German championship

The third Württemberg championship followed in 1937 and the team qualified again for the final round of the German championship. After the footballers had survived the group stage as group winners, the club was defeated by FC Schalke 04 in the semi-finals and won the game for third place against Hamburger SV . In 1938 VfB defended the Württemberg championship title, but this time retired as third in the group stage of the championship final. In 1939 the Wuerttemberg team was runner-up. The Second World War had a serious impact on club life. Stuttgart was very often the target of bombing raids. The VfB club area was also badly hit after many explosive charges missed military targets such as the targeted railway line or the Daimler-Benz plant. But despite the crater landscape into which the home of VfB was transformed, and although players and club officials died more and more often as a result of the war, those responsible were able to maintain the club's life. In 1939/40 only one war championship was held in the narrowest framework, in which the footballers did not qualify for the championship finals in the end. In the Gauliga, which was regularly running again, VfB reached the runner-up in 1941 and 1942, was Gaumeister for the last time in 1943 and was eliminated in the preliminary round of the German championship in the knockout system against TSV 1860 Munich , before the Gauliga Württemberg in March 1945 finally came to a standstill due to the war. VfB always had enough players to form war teams without the help of other clubs. However, the club used many " guest players " both from home and abroad. Players from occupied countries also came voluntarily, because they were more easily accepted as footballers. Among them were prominent players such as Rudolf Gellesch .

When the “club leader” Hans Kiener was seriously injured in a bomb attack in 1944, the second chairman Fritz Walter took over responsibility after his evacuation . On April 2, 1945, VfB played the last game before the end of the war, which had to be interrupted in the meantime due to air raids.

Walter later tried to relativize the association's obvious closeness to the Nazi regime and to justify the Aryanization by declaring: "That was a stop, otherwise the association might have been finished." However, it is obvious that the VfB dem The regime met the regime far more than usual and far more quickly than necessary, which enabled the association to play an active role in the implementation of the National Socialist agenda. This is how the Stuttgart historian Nils Havemann , who dealt intensively with the role of football clubs in the Third Reich, described VfB as one of the four flagship national socialist clubs alongside FC Schalke 04 , Werder Bremen and TSV 1860 Munich .

1945 to 1963: Reconstruction and successes

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1945/46	01/16	10,264
1946/47	06/20	11,658
1947/48	05/20	17,895
1948/49	06/16	13,600
1949/50	02/16	18,000
1950/51	04/18	13,353
1951/52	01/16 01/ 04	19,467
1952/53	02/16 01/ 04	20,067
1953/54	01/16 02/ 03	15,133
1954/55	13/16	13,933
1955/56	02/16 03/ 04	21,266
1956/57	04/16	17.167
1957/58	09/16	16,767
1958/59	05/16	16,100
1959/60	07/16	14,633
1960/61	07/16	11,000
1961/62	05/16	13,833
1962/63	06/16	19,447

The club's coat of arms used from 1949 to 1994 and since July 2014

The first silver bay leaf to be awarded to a team

The Second World War marked a turning point for the club. Its own sports facilities were largely destroyed, and many club members had died in the war. The VfB goalkeeper Ernst Schnaitmann succeeded in convincing the city commanders to give VfB permission to play. VfB Stuttgart played its first game after the end of the war on July 15, 1945 against a selection from Cannstatt. As early as October 13, 1945, the South German Oberliga was founded in the Gasthaus Krone in Fellbach with the decisive contribution of VfB President Fritz Walter . Gustav Sackmann, who was responsible for VfB, had to travel on the coal wagon to promote the founding of the new league in southern Germany across previous Gau boundaries and zone boundaries at that time. The VfB succeeded in winning the first South German championship of the post-war period and thus also the American Zone Championship in the Oberliga, which was started on November 4, 1945 under the chairmanship of Walter . With 42 goals, Robert Schlienz was also the first top scorer in the new league. A German championship was not held at that time due to the different regulations in the various occupation zones.

The league quickly became popular with the fans and so money came into the coffers of the club, which rebuilt the destroyed infrastructure. VfB now gained important regional importance, and being able to play for VfB became the goal of many young people. Even after the introduction of the contract players' statute in 1948, the VfB players could not live on the earnings they received from their player contracts, and so the club encouraged the players to become independent. So led Robert Schlienz way a sporting goods store, Karl Barufka a liquor store and Erich Retter a gas station. At VfB, those in charge always tried to help the players combine football and work.

In the following years, the footballers romped only in the middle of the league and only landed second back in the table in 1950. At that time the most successful era of the club began, which now finally replaced the city competitor Stuttgarter Kickers as number 1 in the city. The southern German runner-up allowed VfB to take part in the knockout round of the German championship. There VfB moved into a final for the German championship for the second time, which they won 2-1 in Berlin against Kickers Offenbach . The first German championship of VfB was reached. Then VfB was the first football club ever to be awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf by Federal President Theodor Heuss . When they arrived at Stuttgart train station, the team was enthusiastically celebrated and received, among other things, by the final team of 1935.

Game dates for the final of the German championship in 1950

When the German Football Association was allowed to play international matches again in 1950, players were finally appointed by the German champions at the time, such as Karl Barufka . In 1951, the reigning champion narrowly missed the final round of the championship as fourth in the Oberliga Süd. But in 1952 VfB were again South German champions after the team intercepted 1. FC Nürnberg in the last game by winning a direct duel. By winning the group stage, VfB reached the final of the German championship for the third time, which the club won against 1. FC Saarbrücken in Ludwigshafen . To a large extent, the team corresponded to the championship team of 1950. At that time, Mercedes-Benz provided VfB with vehicles with which the team made a tour of the region, which was again celebrated enthusiastically.

Game dates of the final of the German championship in 1952

In the coming season, VfB reached the southern German runner-up after a weak start to the season and thus got the chance to defend the championship title. In the meantime, Erich Retter had become a national player. After the team had only just won the group this time due to the direct comparison in the preliminary round after a win in the last game against Borussia Dortmund , the football champions reached the final for the second time in a row. Karl Barufka was unable to play after his injury from the game against Dortmund in the final against 1. FC Kaiserslautern . After the bloody suppression of the workers' uprising on June 17, 1953 in Berlin, consideration was given to moving the venue. Nevertheless, the DFB stuck to the Berlin Olympic Stadium as the venue. The title was not defended, the team lost against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, which was studded with stars from the later world championship team of 1954, with 1: 4. Only Karl Bögelein had a positive experience, who saved a penalty against the future football legend Fritz Walter at the beginning . The latter nevertheless led the FCK to a clear victory.

Game dates for the final of the 1953 German championship

DFB Cup from 1954

In the following season, VfB was again South German champions. However, this time VfB retired in the preliminary round of the German championship as second in the group after a 1: 3 defeat against Hannover 96 . The highlight of the season in 1954 was the final of another competition. For the first time the footballers reached the final of the DFB-Pokal and met 1. FC Köln . Erwin Waldner scored the decisive goal on this Holy Saturday after an assist by Robert Schlienz . VfB won the DFB Cup for the first time in the year in which Germany won the football world championship for the first time.

Match dates for the 1954 DFB Cup final

In 1955, the reigning cup winner in the major league slipped to a disappointing thirteenth place. But in 1956 VfB became vice-champion in southern Germany and reached the championship finals again after the team had defeated TuS Neuendorf in qualifying for the finals . This time VfB retired as third party in the group stage. It was the last participation in the championship finals. In 1956/57, VfB started the season with good early form, Schweinfurt 05 was 7-0, defeated Bayern Munich 5-0, and Erwin Waldner was the guarantee of success until he was sent off against Augsburg. Then the goal machine stuttered, and VfB finished the season in fourth place in the league. In 1957 it was decided to introduce the Bundesliga and professional football, and VfB was one of the proponents. He had signed two talented young national players, Rolf Geiger from the Stuttgarter Kickers and Rudolf Hoffmann from Aschaffenburg, who were suspended for violating the amateur rules. At the end of 1958, VfB reached the DFB Cup final for the second time , this time against Fortuna Düsseldorf . Against the team around the future national coach Jupp Derwall , the club won with the two newcomers, but again only in the extension through the decisive goal from Lothar Weise .

Match dates for the 1958 DFB Cup final

In the years to come, VfB did not play a significant role in southern German football and always ended up between fifth and seventh place until the Bundesliga was founded. In 1959/60 it looked until the victory against reigning champions Eintracht Frankfurt as if the final round of the championship could be reached, but then the crash began. It was the year in which Schlienz was no longer used for the first time. Georg Wurzer wanted to rejuvenate the team with talents from his own youth, with the consequence of fluctuations in performance. 1959/60 then coach Wurzer left, Erwin Waldner moved to Zurich, and the new coach Baluses tried fighting football instead of playful finesse. As a result, the fans stayed away and it was questionable whether VfB would qualify for the Bundesliga with these performances. Before the last league season in 1962/63, Rolf Geiger also moved to Italy, but with Entenmann, Sieloff and Pfisterer, they had an unnamed but talented runner line. The season turned into a tremendous game, in which they slipped to 14th place and the Bundesliga qualification was a long way off. In the end, the Stuttgart team came in sixth. Because of the twelve-year rating, it was long uncertain whether VfB would belong to the new Bundesliga . Only a telegram on May 6, 1963 finally confirmed VfB's membership in the Bundesliga. Previously, the press reported: Karlsruhe (419 qualification points), Stuttgart (408) and Offenbach (382) are to be regarded as equivalent, which is why this year's standings are decisive . So it was possibly decisive that VfB was tied on points due to the better goal difference in 1962/63 in the Oberliga Süd, one place ahead of Kickers Offenbach.

1963 to 1976: From founding member to relegated

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1963/64	05/16	40,459
1964/65	12/16	31,167
1965/66	11/18	27,190
1966/67	12/18	30,558
1967/68	08/18	25,948
1968/69	05/18	21,440
1969/70	07/18	20,735
1970/71	12/18	18,654
1971/72	08/18	21,352
1972/73	06/18	15,185
1973/74	09/18	25,533
1974/75	16/18	26,504
1975/76	11/20	11,330

In 1963 VfB was one of the 16 founding members of the Bundesliga . With Fritz Walter , the association had a president at the time who did not want to take any financial risks and would rather rely on volunteer workers than on paid professional management and a team that consists only of full professionals. Nevertheless, after professional football was allowed, the team was able to strengthen itself with the returnees Rolf Geiger and Erwin Waldner. In addition there was Hans Arnold from Mannheim. A fifth place could be achieved in the first Bundesliga season. But after the football team was only in the midfield until 1968, more and more demanded modern management at VfB, which had already proven itself in the successful clubs of the league. Walter was not ready for this and so Hans Weitpert , who was at the head of those who called for a new purchasing policy, succeeded him. It was not long before Günter Sawitzki, the last VfB player to work on the side, ended his career in 1971.

Prominent coaches in the first few years of the Bundesliga were Rudi Gutendorf , Albert Sing and Branko Zebec . After the footballers were fifth again in 1969, the Stuttgart team lost contact with the top in the following years and played mainly in the midfield of the league for the next few years. Only in 1973 did the team reach the UEFA Cup and in 1974 they could reach the semi-finals for the first time. There, VfB was eliminated against Feyenoord Rotterdam . In April 1975, Weitpert, who had failed with his offensive purchasing policy, resigned from his presidential post. Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected as the new president of the association. Mayer-Vorfelders previous role as chairman of the administrative board was taken over by the previous board member Heinz Bandke . The VfB was at that time on a relegation zone. At the end of the season, VfB was relegated from the Bundesliga. Before that, VfB had only been second class for a single season in 1923/24.

The following season became one of the weakest sporting chapters in VfB history - the club only finished 11th in the 2nd division . The low point was the home game against SSV Reutlingen 05 in front of 1,200 spectators, which was lost 3-2.

1976 to 1992: ascent and return to the top

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1976/77	01/20	22,689
1977/78	04/18	53,567
1978/79	02/18	41,297
1979/80	03/18	33,405
1980/81	03/18	30,073
1981/82	09/18	26,126
1982/83	03/18	27,526
1983/84	01/18	31,076
1984/85	10/18	22,648
1985/86	05/18	21,638
1986/87	12/18	20,699
1987/88	04/18	26,313
1988/89	05/18	26,895
1989/90	06/18	24,684
1990/91	06/18	28,987
1991/92	01/20	33,553

For the 1976/77 season, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder and his new managing director Ulrich Schäfer signed Jürgen Sundermann as VfB coach. Due to financial constraints, VfB had to rely primarily on young players. With the hundred-goal storm at the time, VfB managed to return to the upper house of football. Ottmar Hitzfeld scored six goals in the home game against SSV Jahn Regensburg (final score 8: 0). This record still holds today.

In the 1977/78 season, the first season after returning to the Bundesliga, VfB reached fourth place in the table. With an average attendance of almost 54,000, he set a Bundesliga record that was valid for almost 20 years. In the following years, VfB was able to establish itself at the top of the Bundesliga.

Players during this time were u. a. Hansi Müller , Karlheinz and Bernd Förster , Karl Allgöwer , Dieter Hoeneß , Hermann Ohlicher and Helmut Roleder . Until 1980, the team qualified for the UEFA Cup every season after promotion. In 1979/80 the team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup for the second time, when VfB narrowly lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach after a 2-1 home win and a 0-2 defeat away.

Trophy for winning the Girondins Bordeaux centenary tournament (1983)

Jürgen Klinsmann as national coach - he had his breakthrough as a player at VfB

The infrastructure was adapted at the beginning of the 1980s: in 1981, after almost two years of construction, VfB moved into its new club center (costs at that time: approx. 5.2 million euros). After the club slipped to ninth place in 1982, the footballers qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1983 with a third place. In the summer of the same year, VfB Stuttgart took part in the tournament of the centenary of Girondins Bordeaux and defeated the hosts from Bordeaux, who had prevailed against FC Barcelona in the semifinals, after a semi-final victory against FC Nantes . In 1984 the club reached its third German championship under coach Helmut Benthaus . When the team was tied with Hamburger SV on match day 32 , a final on match day 34 against HSV in Neckarstadion threatened. But since VfB itself won against Werder Bremen and HSV was defeated against Eintracht Frankfurt at the same time, it was clear that HSV would have had to win with a 5-goal lead in the direct duel in Stuttgart to become German champions. HSV only scored the 1-0 winning goal in the last few minutes, when the VfB fans were already celebrating the championship. Represented for the first time in the European Cup , VfB failed in the first round against Levski Spartak Sofia .

In 1985 VfB reached 10th place. In 1986, under the coaches Barić and Entenmann , the club reached a DFB Cup final for the third time, which Bayern Munich won 5-2. Nonetheless, VfB came fifth in the Bundesliga season, not in the UEFA Cup, but in the European Cup Winners' Cup because Bayern had already played as champions in the European Cup.

Game dates for the 1986 DFB Cup final

In 1986/87 VfB retired when they first played in the European Cup Winners' Cup in the round of 16 against Torpedo Moscow . At the end of the 1980s, VfB qualified for the UEFA Cup again in 1988 and 1989 with players like Buchwald , Jürgen Klinsmann, Sigurvinsson or Immel and coach Arie Haan . The club’s chronicle is mainly the 1989 UEFA Cup final against SSC Napoli . The team had to do without Klinsmann due to a yellow card suspension from the semi-finals in the first leg. After a questionable referee performance, VfB lost the first leg in Naples 2-1 to Napoli . At 1: 1 Diego Maradona took the ball with his hand and the hand penalty to 1: 2 was also not justified according to the unanimous opinion of the football experts. In addition, captain Guido Buchwald was blocked for the second leg in Stuttgart with a yellow card. The Greek referee Gerassimos Germanakos from the first leg was subsequently suspended by UEFA, which had no effect as the referee had resigned anyway. Stefano Bizzotto and Roberto Beccantini reported seeing the referee and linesmen on the night after the game in Naples with female escorts on their way to the Hotel Excelsior. This led to speculation in Italy as to whether there was a connection with the methods of the then Naples manager Luciano Moggi . A 3: 3 in the second leg was no longer enough to win the title.

Match dates for the 1989 UEFA Cup finals

Master trainer Christoph Daum

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
1992/93	07/18	26,872
1993/94	07/18	27,434
1994/95	12/18	30,547
1995/96	10/18	29,087
1996/97	04/18	38,661
1997/98	04/18	36,700
1998/99	11/18	29,034
1999/00	08/18	28,971
2000/01	15/18	24,124

In 1990 Christoph Daum came to VfB as coach and Dieter Hoeneß , who took over from Ulrich Schäfer the tasks of sports manager. In 1992 VfB became German champions for the fourth time under Daum with Guido Buchwald , Fritz Walter and Matthias Sammer, among others . In a heartbeat final, the Stuttgart team prevailed with a goal in the 86th minute of the last game day (2-1 win in Leverkusen) in a long-distance duel against Eintracht Frankfurt (1: 2 at Hansa Rostock) and Borussia Dortmund (1: 0 at MSV Duisburg) through; Fritz Walter was the top scorer. At that time, VfB were only twice leaders before the last match day.

1992 to 2001: From the top to the relegation battle

In the following season, coach Daum made a serious mistake in the first round of the European Cup against Leeds United on September 30, 1992: With Jovica Simanić he changed a fourth foreigner who was not allowed at the time. The game was scored against VfB and after a deciding game in Barcelona in front of just 15,000 fans, the club was eliminated for the second time in its history in the first round of the European Cup. VfB thus missed participation in the Champions League . In the next three years, the team did not qualify for the European Cup and, as in 1984, initially failed to hold onto the top as champions. After the club separated from the master coach Daum in December 1993, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, together with Daum's successor Jürgen Röber , also dismissed manager Dieter Hoeneß in April 1995.

Under Rolf Fringer , the so-called Magic Triangle , which consisted of the players Krassimir Balakow , Giovane Elber and Fredi Bobic , played together for the first time in the 1995/96 season . Nevertheless, VfB only finished tenth, so VfB Fringer did not put any obstacles in the way of becoming Swiss national coach. It was only under Joachim Löw , who went from Fringer's assistant coach to interim coach and ultimately head coach, that VfB picked up on earlier successes. The “Magic Triangle” caused a sensation in the Bundesliga and won the DFB Cup in 1997 with a 2-0 win in the final in Berlin against the then regional league team Energie Cottbus . The team had only reached the semi-finals in the quarter-finals with a penalty shoot-out against SC Freiburg , in which the team defeated Hamburger SV 2-1. Of the 78 Bundesliga goals this season in 1996/97, Bobic, Élber and Balakow shot 49 alone, only 10 fewer than the entire team scored in the previous season. But as quickly as the magic triangle worked, the three of them parted ways again: Giovane Élber's two decisive goals in the cup final were his last two for VfB, then he moved to Bayern Munich .

Game dates for the 1997 DFB Cup final

A year later, VfB were in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 1-0 to Chelsea London in Stockholm after substitute Gianfranco Zola scored the decisive goal with his first ball contact. After that, Fredi Bobic became the second player in the magic triangle and he moved to Borussia Dortmund . Only Krassimir Balakow stayed with VfB until the end of his career.

Game dates for the final of the 1998 European Cup Winners' Cup

But despite the success, the club under the leadership of Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder , who had hired Karlheinz Förster as the new sports director in March 1998 , did not extend the contract with Löw, which expired at the end of the 1998 season. Instead, Winfried Schäfer was now committed. This decision was very unpopular, especially with the fans, as Schäfer came from arch rivals Karlsruher SC , where he had made a name for himself. The change of coach quickly proved to be a mistake, and so Schäfer was fired again that same year. Five trainers were employed within one calendar year ( Joachim Löw , Winfried Schäfer, Wolfgang Rolff , Rainer Adrion and Ralf Rangnick ).

The following years brought more sporting failure than success. Financial problems, which were mainly due to the risky transfer strategy under Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder and his managing board member Ulrich Schäfer , were also viewed critically within the club towards the end of the 20th century. The pension contract of Krassimir Balakow negotiated by Mayer-Vorfelder with Dušan Bukovac was a burden for VfB. This lavishly endowed contract (estimated 3 million euros annual salary) could be extended without notice by taking an option from Balakow and was only ended in 2003 after tough negotiations between Mayer-Vorfelder's successor Manfred Haas and Bukovac. In addition, the club suffered from some expensive purchases from players who did not or hardly appeared for the club. Examples are Didi , Srgjan Zaharievski , Mitko Stojkovski or Saša Marković . In June 1999 the Supervisory Board of VfB Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder expressed mistrust and announced that it would not support the re-election of the President in the following year. The chairman of the supervisory board, Heinz Bandke , who had mostly supported Mayer-Vorfelder's decisions since the beginning of his presidency, established a counterweight to the club president in September 1999 with Hansi Müller on the board. When Mayer-Vorfelder, shortly before he left the club voluntarily in October 2000 because of his upcoming job as president of the DFB , wanted to put the club at further financial risk, Hansi Müller and his board colleague Karlheinz Förster sat down , who wanted to rely on young players instead , against the outgoing President. Manfred Haas was elected to succeed Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder in October 2000.

A sporting consolidation process was initiated under coach Ralf Rangnick . Sports director Karlheinz Förster and his colleague on the board, Hansi Müller, resigned within a week in January 2001 due to disputes over competence. Reaching the UEFA Cup by winning the UI Cup for the first time in 2000 was now more of an obstacle in the relegation battle. After the club had crashed to 17th place in the table in February 2001, Förster's successor Rolf Rüssmann convinced coach Ralf Rangnick to provide the coaching office. Rangnicks successor was Felix Magath . Under Magath, VfB managed to stay up on the penultimate match day against Schalke 04 with a goal from Balakow shortly before the end of the game.

2001 to 2009: "Junge Wilde", championship 2007 and several Champions League participation

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
2001/02	8/18	26.097
2002/03	2/18	31,251
2003/04	4/18	41,728
2004/05	5/18	38,350
2005/06	9/18	36,266
2006/07	1/18	45,439
2007/08	6/18	50,899
2008/09	3/18	51,979

Due to the financial bottlenecks, VfB had to rely on its own youth, as in the mid-1970s - players like Andreas Hinkel , Kevin Kurányi , Timo Hildebrand and Aljaksandr Hleb formed a team that developed excellently and was nicknamed "the young wild ones " in the media received. VfB qualified for the 2002/03 UEFA Cup through the UI Cup . In October 2002 the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Heinz Bandke was replaced by Dieter Hundt after 27 years in this office . At the end of the 2002/03 season , the team was surprisingly runner-up behind Bayern Munich and qualified for the Champions League for the first time . The association was awarded the Hans-Peter-Stihl Prize because of its importance for the region . In the 2003/04 Champions League season , the team showed their class and a. by beating Manchester United 2-1 and reaching the round of 16. There was again the end of the line for Chelsea after VfB lost their chance of making it into the quarter-finals with an own goal by Fernando Meira in the first leg (0-1 at home, 0-0 away).

In 2003 Erwin Staudt became the new president. He became the first full-time president of VfB Stuttgart and with his membership campaign entitled “Wir packen Schalke” made a decisive contribution to more than tripling the number of members within two years. He also convinced Rudi Häussler to build a multifunctional complex with the Carl Benz Center right next to the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium . As the main tenant, VfB benefits most from the construction of the building. In the summer of 2004, Magath moved to Bayern Munich, his successor in Stuttgart was Matthias Sammer . Jochen Schneider and Herbert Briem took over Magath's tasks in sporting management . Although VfB achieved a UEFA Cup place in the 2004/05 season , the footballers gambled away a better placement with a weak season finale. Therefore, the club separated from Sammer at the end of the season. He was succeeded in summer 2005 by Giovanni Trapattoni .

Before the 2005/06 season there were major personnel changes at VfB; High achievers like Kevin Kurányi (for about 7 million to Schalke 04), Philipp Lahm (was loaned from Bayern Munich) and Aljaksandr Hleb (moved to Arsenal for an estimated 15 million ) left VfB, were newly signed and a. Thomas Hitzlsperger ( Aston Villa ) and Jon Dahl Tomasson ( AC Milan ). Due to the high transfer revenues, the club was able to significantly reduce its liabilities (which were 8.21 million euros before the season), but the team lagged behind their own sporting demands. At the beginning of February 2006, VfB separated from Giovanni Trapattoni, whose tactics and style of play had come under increasing criticism from fans and players.

Zvonimir Soldo - The captain of the "young wild ones" ends his career

Master trainer 2007: Armin Veh

The Swabians then hired Armin Veh as their new head coach, who was initially described by the chairman of the supervisory board, Dieter Hundt, as a temporary solution until the summer break. The preferred candidate of the ex-player Horst Heldt , who was signed up as a manager during the winter break , was nevertheless able to assert himself as a coach for the coming season. After the sportingly disappointing 2005/06 season, there were again some profound personnel changes before the 2006/07 season. After ten years with VfB, captain Zvonimir Soldo ended his career and after 14 years Andreas Hinkel left the club.

As in previous years, VfB has made a virtue out of necessity and relied on young players again for the 2006/07 season . With Mario Gómez , Serdar Tasci and Sami Khedira, the club has some talents from its own youth in the team. Since the VfB is now one of the richer clubs in the league, the club was able to deal with new players such. B. Pável Pardo , Ricardo Osorio and Antonio da Silva increase. After a rather weak start to the 2006/07 season, Armin Veh was criticized again by the chairman of the supervisory board Hundt, whereupon Veh was initially traded as a favorite for the next coach dismissal. However, VfB managed to match the successes of 2002 to 2004 with a very young team. On November 12, 2006, VfB took over the top of the table for the first time in almost two years with a 2-1 win at Hannover 96 . For the rest of the season, the club remained among the top four clubs in the Bundesliga. The team was nicknamed "the young wild ones II" by the media because of their offensive and successful style of play. On the penultimate matchday of the season, VfB took over the top of the table for the second time and went into the final matchday as leaders with two points ahead of FC Schalke 04 . VfB won the last home game against Energie Cottbus 2-1 and became German champions in 2007.

After victories against Alemannia Aachen II, SV Babelsberg 03 , VfL Bochum , Hertha BSC and VfL Wolfsburg , Armin Veh's team was back in the final of the DFB Cup in Berlin's Olympic Stadium after exactly ten years . There they lost on May 26, 2007 against 1. FC Nürnberg 3-2 after extra time.

Game dates for the 2007 DFB Cup final

In the 2007/08 Champions League , VfB played against Glasgow Rangers , FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyon . Of the six games in the Champions League preliminary round, VfB won one (3-2 in the home game against Glasgow Rangers). Due to the other five defeats, the team was eliminated from the European Cup as bottom group. At the same time, VfB bottomed out in the 2007/08 Bundesliga season . As the reigning German champions, after a few defeats at the start of the season, they slipped deep into the lower half of the table and after ten matchdays were ranked 14th in the table with just 10 points. From the eleventh day onwards, VfB worked its way up the table. VfB finished the season in sixth place and qualified for the 2008/09 UEFA Cup through the UI Cup . In the DFB Cup , VfB was eliminated in the quarter-finals at home against the penultimate of the 2nd Bundesliga Carl Zeiss Jena with a 6-7 penalty shoot-out.

After VfB was in eleventh place in the 2008/09 season after the fourteenth matchday with 18 points, coach Armin Veh was dismissed and replaced by Markus Babbel . Under Babbel's leadership, the team took 3rd place in the final table, which entitles them to qualify for the 2009/10 Champions League . In the DFB-Pokal they were eliminated in the round of 16 by a clear 1: 5 home defeat against Bayern Munich. In the UEFA Cup, after surviving the group phase, the defending champion Zenit St. Petersburg ended .

2009 to 2019: decline, spin-off and two relegations

season	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator
2009/10	06/18	41,065
2010/11	12/18	39,041
2011/12	06/18	55,089
2012/13	12/18	50,054
2013/14	15/18	50,498
2014/15	14/18	50,801
2015/16	17/18	50,693
2016/17	01/18	50,423
2017/18	07/18	56,278
2018/19	16/18	54,625

The departure of Mario Gomez in June 2009 meant the loss of the best Stuttgart striker in recent years. To replace him, the Russian national striker Pawel Pogrebnjak was signed . VfB also managed to bring Aliaksandr Hleb back to Stuttgart on loan after four years at Arsenal and FC Barcelona . In the European Cup season 2009/10, VfB first prevailed in August 2009 in the playoff round of the Champions League qualification against the Romanian representative FC Timișoara and thus moved into the group stage of the premier class for the third time in six years . There you got the Sevilla FC , the Glasgow Rangers and Unirea Urziceni drawn as group opponents. VfB Stuttgart finished second in the group and reached the round of 16, in which they defeated defending champions FC Barcelona 1: 1 and 0: 4. The 2009/10 cup competition was over for VfB in the round of 16 when they were eliminated by SpVgg Greuther Fürth . The 2009/10 Bundesliga season was similar to the previous 2008/09 season: the first half of the season was largely characterized by disappointing performances. After the 15th match day, when VfB was almost on a relegation rank, Markus Babbel was dismissed; his successor was the more experienced Swiss Christian Gross . Thomas Hitzlsperger , Ludovic Magnin and Jan Šimák left the club during the winter break, while Cristian Molinaro was loaned from Juventus Turin . As the best team in the second half of the season, VfB was able to reach the top third of the table and qualify for participation in the 2010/11 Europa League .

At the beginning of the 2010/11 Bundesliga season , the Sport Horst Heldt board moved to FC Schalke 04 . As a replacement, the former VfB striker Fredi Bobic was hired as sports director. There was also a major change in personnel on the pitch: the departures Jens Lehmann , Sami Khedira , Aljaksandr Hleb , Ricardo Osorio and Roberto Hilbert were new signings Christian Gentner , Mauro Camoranesi , Philipp Degen , Martin Harnik and Johan Audel . According to information from the club's management, the current personnel costs could be reduced by 15 million euros. After VfB had only managed to score 3 points after the first 7 match days and thus occupied 18th place in the table, head coach Christian Gross was relieved of his duties on October 13, 2010. The previous assistant coach Jens Keller became the new head coach. Even under Jens Keller there was no success, so that he was also released from his duties in December 2010. The new head coach was Bruno Labbadia on December 12, 2010 , who took over the team in 17th place and ended the season with it in 12th place.

On May 20, 2011 Erwin Staudt announced that he would not be available for another term as club president. The supervisory board then proposed Gerd E. Mäuser as the only candidate to succeed Staudt. Two days later, Helmut Roleder announced his opposing candidacy . Without a change in the articles of association with a majority of 75 percent, however, it was not possible to stand against the candidate of the supervisory board. After the corresponding amendments to the statutes had been rejected, Gerd E. Mäuser was elected as the new president of the association at the general meeting on July 17, 2011 with a majority of 58.7 percent. At the same general meeting, a motion to dismiss the chairman of the supervisory board, Dieter Hundt, was put on the agenda by a majority of 65.3 percent of the members entitled to vote and, with an approval of 50.7 percent, was unsuccessful with the required majority of 75 percent.

In the Mercedes-Benz Arena , which was converted into a pure football stadium , which the club took over in full at the beginning of the 2011/12 season for a lease of over 5 million euros per year, and with newcomers such as William Kvist , Maza and Ibrahima Traoré , VfB reached zur Winter break in December 2011 22 points. After the club had signed Vedad Ibišević and Gōtoku Sakai in January 2012 , VfB Stuttgart qualified at the end of the season with a total of 53 points as sixth for the playoffs of the UEFA Europa League 2012/13 .

With victories against SV Falkensee-Finkenkrug , FC St. Pauli , 1. FC Köln , VfL Bochum and SC Freiburg , VfB qualified for the final of the DFB Cup 2013 , in which FC Bayern Munich won 2 : 3 defeated. With the championship and the associated qualification for the UEFA Champions League of the final opponent FC Bayern Munich , participation in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League was confirmed. At the end of the day, the Stuttgart team finished twelfth in the Bundesliga . In the Europa League they survived the group stage, then eliminated KRC Genk and eliminated in the round of 16 against Lazio .

On April 10, 2013, the president Gerd E. Mäuser announced his resignation on June 3, 2013 after less than two years in office. At the same time, Fredi Bobic was appointed to the club's board as head of sport. On June 17, 2013, the previous chairman of the supervisory board, Dieter Hundt, resigned his mandate as a member of the supervisory board with immediate effect. On the following day Hundt's previous deputy Joachim Schmidt was elected by the remaining members of the supervisory board as the new chairman of the committee.

Game dates for the final of the DFB Cup 2013

On July 2, 2013, the Supervisory Board of VfB Stuttgart proposed Bernd Wahler to the members for election as club president at the general meeting on July 22, 2013. There he was elected as the new club president with 97.4% of the votes. It was also decided that the so-called traditional coat of arms, which was the official club coat of arms from 1949 to 1994, will once again become the official club emblem for the 2014/15 season. In addition, it was decided that this should also be anchored in the association's statutes. After a false start with three defeats on the first three days of the 2013/14 Bundesliga season , VfB parted ways with head coach Bruno Labbadia on August 26, 2013 and appointed Thomas Schneider , the previous U-17 coach, as his successor on the same day . In the DFB Cup , VfB were eliminated in the second round with a 1: 2 against SC Freiburg after they had eliminated the BFC Dynamo in the first round . It didn't go any better in the Europa League either. After surviving the third qualifying round against Botev Plovdiv , the end came in the playoffs against HNK Rijeka . On March 9, 2014, coach Thomas Schneider was dismissed one day after the 2-2 draw against bottom of the table Eintracht Braunschweig and replaced by Huub Stevens . Previously, VfB was in danger of relegation due to a series of eight defeats in a row. Under Stevens, VfB set itself apart from the competition for relegation, whereby the league and 15th place in the table on the penultimate matchday was established.

For Stevens, who only had a contract until the end of the season and did not want to extend it, Armin Veh was signed for the new season , who had already coached the club from February 2006 to November 2008 and became German champion with him in 2007. After four game days, the team was one point on the bottom of the table, whereupon the club separated from sports director Fredi Bobic. Two months later, Armin Veh drew personal consequences after nine points from twelve games and resigned as head coach of VfB. On November 25, 2014, Veh's predecessor Huub Stevens returned to the Swabians. Robin Dutt was introduced on January 6, 2015 as the club's new sports director. After the team had been relegated for the entire second half of the season, they were able to save themselves in 14th place with their third win in a row at rivals SC Paderborn on the last match day.

For the 2015/16 season , VfB signed Alexander Zorniger as the new head coach. On matchday 13, after a 4-0 home defeat against relegation rivals FC Augsburg , they were in 16th place with 10 points. As a result, Alexander Zorniger and his entire coaching staff were on leave, and the previous U-23 coach Jürgen Kramny was appointed interim coach and later head coach. Although VfB had meanwhile reached 10th place after a winning streak, the team fell to 17th place and thus rose for the second time in the club's history. At the same time, the second team of VfB could not hold the class in the 3rd division .

With the relegation, Kramny's head coach contract ended automatically. President Bernd Wahler resigned and the club parted ways with sports director Robin Dutt. On May 17, 2016, VfB Stuttgart signed Jos Luhukay as head coach for the 2016/17 season . On July 8th, Jan Schindelmeiser was appointed a new sports director. After disagreements with Schindelmeiser regarding player obligations, Luhukay resigned on September 15, 2016. His successor was Hannes Wolf , after Olaf Janßen had previously looked after the team as interim coach for two games.

After the end of the first half of the season, VfB Stuttgart was in third place, which entitles them to the relegation games for promotion. VfB finally finished the season in first place in the table and rose directly back to the Bundesliga on May 21, 2017 after a 4-1 win over the Würzburger Kickers .

At an extraordinary general meeting on June 1, 2017 in the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, the members voted with 84.2% to spin off the football division from the main club into a stock corporation . A three-quarters majority was required. Daimler AG had already promised in advance to take over 11.75 percent of the shares for the price of 41.5 million euros.

After the promotion, VfB will play in the Bundesliga again in the 2017/18 season. Sports director Jan Schindelmeiser was released from his duties on August 4, 2017. His successor was Michael Reschke , who had previously been Technical Director at FC Bayern Munich. On January 28, 2018, after eight defeats in nine competitive games, coach Hannes Wolf was dismissed. One day later, the club signed Tayfun Korkut as head coach with a contract until 2019. Due to the moderate success of Tayfun Korkut at his previous coaching stations, he was largely viewed critically by the supporters of VfB Stuttgart when he took office. On the 31st matchday they were able to stay early. With a 4-1 away win at FC Bayern Munich in the last game of the season, VfB Stuttgart ended the season after being promoted back to seventh place with 51 points and thus failed to qualify for the Europa League because of the subsequent defeat of FC Bayern in the DFB Cup final barely.

In the first competitive game of the 2018/19 season , VfB was eliminated in the 1st round of the 2018/19 DFB Cup against third division club Hansa Rostock after a 2-0 draw. After the seventh matchday, when the team was last in the table with five points, the club separated from coach Tayfun Korkut. Markus Weinzierl became his successor . On February 12, 2019, Michael Reschke was dismissed as sports director and replaced by Thomas Hitzlsperger . Since May 2019, Sven Mislintat has also been active as sports director at VfB. After the 6-0 defeat at FC Augsburg , Weinzierl and the assistant coach were released on April 20, 2019. Until the end of the season, the youth coach Nico Willig took over the team. VfB ended the points round on the 16th and thus the relegation place that had been occupied continuously since the 16th matchday. In the relegation , VfB Stuttgart rose against 1. FC Union Berlin after a 2-2 home game and a 0-0 away game because of the away goals rule for the third time after 1975 and 2016 from the Bundesliga. Tim Walter became the new trainer .

Since 2019: Renewed promotion and present in the Bundesliga

season	league	space	${\displaystyle \varnothing }$spectator	BL squad
2019/20	2nd Bundesliga	02/18	51,657	BL squad

At the general meeting on July 14, 2019, a motion to vote out President Wolfgang Dietrich was on the agenda. After the debate, the vote could not take place due to technical problems and the meeting was broken off. The following day Dietrich resigned. On December 15, 2019, Claus Vogt was elected as the new President of VfB Stuttgart. After the preliminary round with the highest budget of all second division teams had been completed in third place, the club separated from coach Walter. The new head coach was Pellegrino Matarazzo from January 2020 .

After a 6-0 away win against 1. FC Nürnberg on the penultimate match day of the second division 2019/20 season , VfB Stuttgart could only theoretically be overtaken with three points ahead of 1. FC Heidenheim and a significantly better goal difference. Therefore, despite a defeat at the end of the season against SV Darmstadt 98, the team achieved direct promotion in second place .

Club crest history

• 

  Stuttgart FV 93 ^A

• 

  Crown Club Cannstatt ^B

• 

  Württemberg deer antlers,
  1909 to 1949 ^C

• 

  Club coat of arms from 1949 to 1994 ^D

• 

  From 1994 to 1998 ^E

• 

  From 1998 to June 2014 ^F.

• 

  Club crest since
  July 2014 ^G

^A. The yellow six-pointed and framed star as the club coat of arms of the FV Stuttgart was used from 1893 to 1909.

^B. The club colors of the Kronenclub Cannstatt, founded in 1897, are black-white-green and not, as shown, red-white-green.

^C.The Württemberg deer antlers on a yellow background were first used in 1909 by the athletes of the FV 93 and from then on served as the club's coat of arms. It was taken over by VfB Stuttgart, to which the FV and the Kronenclub merged on April 2, 1912, and used until 1949. The club colors were set to red and white.

^D.The club's coat of arms with the traditional VfB Fraktur script and the year 1893 was used from 1949 to 1994. The VfB Fraktur typeface itself, which was created by the painter and VfB player Hermann Stammler, was used as early as 1924. It was used for the first time in 1924 on the cover of the VfB club newspaper, Nachrichten aus dem Leben, and later on letterhead.

^E. In 1994 the coat of arms was changed by simplifying the Gothic script, straightening the border of the deer antlers and adding a black frame.

^F.In 1998 the club's coat of arms was further changed. The Gothic script was simplified again, including the "V" opened, the deer antlers greatly simplified and the founding year 1893 replaced by the city name. The reason given for the renewed change was that the origin from Stuttgart should be expressed in order to increase the international and media presence.

^GAfter the initiative started in 2010 with the name “Pro old VfB-Wappen”, which was led by ultra groups, collected 25,000 signatures for the reintroduction of the coat of arms, which was used from 1949 to 1994, and held talks with the club's officials, the club announced to let the club members vote on a possible change of the coat of arms. At the general meeting in July 2013, a majority of almost 80 percent decided to reintroduce the old, historical coat of arms for the 2014/15 season as the official coat of arms of VfB Stuttgart and set it down in the statutes.

History of playwear until 2013

home

1894 1911 1925/26 1950s 1953 1975/76 1976/77 1978/79 1979/80 1982/83 1983/84 1986/87 1989/90 1992-1994 1994-1996 1996-1998 Final European Cup Winners' Cup 1998-2000 2000-2002 2002/03 2003/04 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

In 1894 , the rugby team of the previous club, FV Stuttgart 1893 , wore a white jersey with a black star and black trousers. 1911: In the year before the merger, the FV team wore the Württemberg deer antlers on their chests. 1925/26: After the idea of ​​some youth players, the white jersey adorned the red chest ring from 1925 . The red chest ring was originally continuous and is still the symbol that stands for VfB Stuttgart and is also used by fans on the so-called chest ring flags . 1950s: In the 1950s, the newly introduced coat of arms with VfB lettering and the year 1893 could be seen on the jersey. The team wore this jersey during the German championships they won in 1950 and 1952 and in the cup finals in 1954 and 1958 1953: In the lost championship final, the team wore black pants. 1975/76: In the second division season 1975/76 the traditional chest ring on the jersey was dispensed with. Final European Cup Winners 'Cup 1998: Red socks were worn in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup 1998 against Chelsea.

Away and alternative

Away 1989/90 Away 1992-1994 Alternatively 1993-1995 Away 1994-1996 Away 1996/97 Alternatively 1996-1998 Away 1997-1999 Alternatively 1998/99 Away 1999-2001 Away 2001/02 Away 2002/03 European Cup 2002/03 Away 2003/04 Alternatively, 2003/04 Alternatively, 2004–2006 Away 2006/07 Alternatively 2006/07 Away 2007/08 Alternatively 1 2007/08 Alternatively 2 2007/08 Away 2008-2010 Alternatively, 2008–2010 Away 2010–2012 Alternatively 2010–2012 Away 2012/13 Alternatively 2012/13

2007/08: The alternative jersey 1 was only worn on the 10th match day (October 20, 2007) in the game at Hamburger SV (4: 1 for Hamburg), the alternative jersey 2 was only worn on the 22nd match day (11 March 2008) at FC Energie Cottbus (0: 1 for VfB).

Football department: names and numbers

→ Main article : VfB Stuttgart / Names and numbers  and seasonal balance sheets of VfB Stuttgart

Championship successes

• German champion 1950 , 1952 , 1984 , 1992 , 2007
• German runner-up in 1935 , 1953 , 1979 , 2003
• Champion of the 2nd Bundesliga : 1977 , 2017
• South German master 1946 (also American zone master ), 1952 , 1954
• Wuerttemberg-Baden master 1927
• Württemberg Champion 1930 , 1935 , 1937 , 1938 , 1943 (together with Stuttgarter Kickers )

Cup successes

• DFB Cup winners : 1954 , 1958 , 1997
• DFB Cup finalist 1986 , 2007 , 2013
• German Supercup winner 1992
• South German cup winner 1933, 1958
• DFB indoor cup finalist 1989, 1993
• DFB league cup finalists 1997 , 1998 , 2005

International success

• 1989 UEFA Cup finalist
• UEFA Cup semi-finalist 1974 , 1980
• Finalist in the 1998 European Cup Winners' Cup
• UI Cup winner 2000 , 2002 , 2008

Professional squad 2020/21

• As of August 20, 2020

No.	Nat.	Surname	birthday	In the team since	Contract until
goalkeeper
01		Gregor Kobel	December 6, 1997	2019	2024
13		Jens Grahl	September 22, 1988	2016	2022
33		Fabian Bredlow	March 2, 1995	2019	2022
Defense
02		Waldemar Anton	July 20, 1996	2020	2024
04th		Marc-Oliver Kempf	January 28, 1995	2018	2022
05		Konstantinos Mavropanos	December 11, 1997	2020	2021
15th		Pascal Stenzel	March 20, 1996	2019	2024
17th		Maxime Awoudja	February 2, 1998	2019	2022
24		Borna Sosa	January 21, 1998	2018	2023
26th		Antonis Aidonis	May 22, 2001	2018	2023
35		Marcin Kamiński	January 15, 1992	2016	2021
36		Luca Mack	May 25, 2000	2012	2021
midfield
03		Wataru Endo	February 9, 1993	2019	unknown
06th		Clinton Mola	March 15, 2001	2020	2024
07th		Tanguy Coulibaly	February 18, 2001	2019	2023
08th		Gonzalo Castro	June 11, 1987	2018	2021
10		Daniel Didavi	February 21, 1990	2018	2021
11		Erik Thommy	August 20, 1994	2018	2022
16		Atakan Karazor	October 13, 1996	2019	2023
19th		Darko Čurlinov	July 11, 2000	2020	2024
20th		Philipp Forster	February 4, 1995	2019	2023
21st		Philipp Klement	September 9, 1992	2019	2023
23		Orel Mangala	March 18, 1998	2017	2023
25th		Lilian Egloff U19	August 20, 2002	2012	2024
29		Momo Cissé	October 17, 2002	2020
30th		Roberto Massimo	October 12, 2000	2019	2022
31		Mateo Klimowicz	July 6, 2000	2019	2024
Storm
09		Saša Kalajdžić	July 7, 1997	2019	2023
14th		Silas Wamangituka	October 6, 1999	2019	2024
18th		Hamadi Al Ghaddioui	September 22, 1990	2019	2021
22nd		Nicolás González	April 6, 1998	2018	2023

Under contract but not in the squad : Ailton (contract until 2021)

^II also in the squad of the second team

^U19 also in the A-Juniors squad

For a complete list of all players in the first team of VfB Stuttgart since the club was founded, see the list of players in VfB Stuttgart .

Squad changes 2020/21

Accesses
Time *	player	Transferring club
Summer 2020	Waldemar Anton	Hannover 96
	Momo Cissé	AC Le Havre (B)
	Konstantinos Mavropanos	Arsenal FC (loan)
	Erik Thommy	Fortuna Düsseldorf (loanee)

Departures
Time *	player	Receiving club
Summer 2020	Mario Gomez	End of career
	Nathaniel Phillips	Liverpool FC (Loan)

^*Due to the postponement of the end of the 2019/20 season and the start of the 2020/21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DFB, together with the DFL and in consultation with FIFA, adjusted the summer transfer period (generally July 1 to August 31). The transfer window is open on July 1st (changeover period I.1) and from July 15 to October 5, 2020 (changeover period I.2). The first, one-day phase is intended in particular for the registration of contracts that have already been concluded starting on July 1st.

Trainer and supervisor staff 2020/21

Pellegrino Matarazzo has been the head coach of the professional team since January 2020

(As of July 23, 2020)

Nat.	Surname	function	since
Coaching staff
	Pellegrino Matarazzo	Head coach	January 2020
	Michael Wimmer	Assistant coach	June 2019
	Peter Perchtold	Assistant coach	July 2020
	Michael Kammermeyer	Co-Trainer (Analysis)	July 2020
	Uwe Gospodarek	Goalkeeping coach	July 2019
	Marcus Fregin	Analyst	July 2014
	Emiel Schulze	Analyst	July 2017
	Matthias Schiffers	Athletic trainer	June 2010
	Martin Franz	Athletic trainer	April 2019
	Oliver Bartlett	Athletic trainer	July 2020
	Dino Poimann	Sports psychologist	July 2020
management
	Thomas Hitzlsperger	Sports director	February 2019
	Sven Mislintat	Sports director	April 2019
	Günther Schäfer	Team manager	July 2015
	Markus Rüdt	Director of Sports Organization	July 2019
	Peter Reichert	Supervisor of the licensed team	October 2004
	Helmut Schulte	Loan player supervisor	September 2018

The Eleven of the Century

For the 100th anniversary of the merger of the FV Stuttgart and the Kronen-Klub Cannstatt in 2012, a "century eleven" was chosen. Fans could choose their favorites.

Item	player	active for VfB
TW	Timo Hildebrand	1999-2007
V	Karlheinz Förster	1975-1986
V	Günther Schäfer	1980-1997
V	Marcelo Bordon	1999-2004
M.	Krassimir Balakov	1995-2003
M.	Guido Buchwald	1983-1994
M.	Karl Allgöwer	1980-1991
M.	Sami Khedira 1	2006-2010
M.	Robert Schlienz	1944-1958
A.	Jürgen Klinsmann	1984-1989
A.	Giovane Elber	1994-1997
Trainer	Joachim Löw	1996-1998

¹ still active player

Second team

VfB Stuttgart II
Venue	Robert Schlienz Stadium
Places	5,000
Head coach	Frank Fahrenhorst
league	Regionalliga southwest
2019/20	1st place ▲ ( Oberliga Baden-Württemberg )

Aljaksandr Hleb made his breakthrough with the amateurs

Andreas Hinkel , one of the “young wild guys”, played for VfB since the D-youth and later went abroad

history

The second team of VfB Stuttgart was founded in 1951 as an amateur team. Even then, the club wanted to create a substructure for the licensed team to gently build up young players. With an above-average number of titles for an amateur department, this substructure is one of the most successful amateur departments in German football.

The beginnings of the VfB second team were anything but easy; the Wuerttemberg Football Association mistrusted VfB, as at that time many clubs tried to use amateur teams to send money to players under the hand. And so the amateur team was initially only allowed to compete in the A-Class Stuttgart without the chance to advance. After the amateurs were superior champions out of competition in the seasons 1951/52, 1952/53 (at that time with 55: 1 points) and 1953/54, the association had an appreciation and let the team advance to the second amateur league.

After five years in the second highest amateur soccer division in Germany, the VfB amateurs finally rose to the first amateur league . Under coach Franz Seybold , the team surprisingly achieved the title of "Württemberg Amateur Champion" in 1960, although the squad consisted mostly of players fresh from the junior eleven (a bridge between the A-youth and the amateur team) or the third team. Both the junior team and the third team were abolished a short time later.

Due to the success, many players switched to the licensed team, so Seybold had to start a new build. Nevertheless, the VfB amateurs were German amateur champions in the 1962/63 season in the final against VfL Wolfsburg . After this triumph, the VfB amateurs were greeted euphorically in Stuttgart.

In the following season, Willi Entenmann, a player who joined the amateurs, would still perform many important functions at VfB and its amateurs in the future. It was Duck Man who made the amateurs German amateur champions again as a coach in 1980, 17 years after their first title. Previously, the team had achieved another respectable success in 1974 by reaching the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup.

Due to the increasing attention paid to the Bundesliga, the amateurs moved more and more into the background in the public perception in the following years. Nevertheless, the team played almost continuously in the top amateur league. However, the amateurs rose from the Oberliga in 1988 to the Association League. But Jochen Rücker led the team back to the league. There they did not initially qualify for the new regional league , which started in 1994/95. In the 1997/98 season then finally succeeded in promotion to the regional league. In the 1999/2000 season, the VfB amateurs managed to qualify for the new southern season with sixth place in the reduction of the regional league seasons from four to two.

In the 2000/01 season, the amateurs beat the first team of the then Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 in the first round of the DFB Cup in the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium . To date, this is the highest victory of an amateur team against a Bundesliga club in the DFB Cup. Then the amateur team was drawn in the 2nd round of the DFB Cup, their own licensed team, against which they lost 3-0. Second teams from professional clubs are no longer allowed to take part in the DFB Cup. It was in the VfB amateur team at the time that the young wild ones were born , a term that was initially coined by a headline in the Stuttgarter Zeitung ("The young wild ones shoot harmony out of the cup") after the triumph in the DFB Cup, and later as a slogan was taken on the team bus of the amateurs. The team around players like Aljaksandr Hleb , Andreas Hinkel , Ioannis Amanatidis and Kevin Kurányi , who later played with the first team of VfB in the Champions League, achieved a position in the new Regionalliga Süd with second place this season, the first teams entitled to promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga . The departure of the "young and wild" into the professional team led to 16th place in the following season and thus to relegation to the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga .

With a new, young team, the VfB amateurs achieved immediate promotion in the 2002/03 season. In the following years, Mario Gómez , Serdar Tasci , Sami Khedira and Andreas Beck again made the leap into the first team. This time the second team coped better and played in the top amateur division, the Regionalliga , until the end of the 2007/08 season . From the 2008/09 season, the second team played in the Gazi Stadium on the Waldau , as the venues for the new single-track 3rd professional league have to meet higher requirements that the previously used Robert Schlienz Stadium did not meet. From the 2011/12 season until his promotion to the Bundesliga team in November 2015, Jürgen Kramny was the team's coach. In the 2010/11 to 2012/13 seasons and in the 2014/15 season, VfB Stuttgart II was the best-placed second team in Germany. (In the 2013/2014 season, Borussia Dortmund's second team only had a goal difference one goal better with the same number of points.) The 2015/16 season was much worse, so that the team was relegated from the third division two game days before the end of the season was certain. With the relegation to the Regionalliga, the team returned to the Robert Schlienz Stadium. In the 2018/19 season, he went to the top division . In the following season, he was directly promoted to the Regionalliga Südwest .

Squad in the 2020/21 season

• As of August 18, 2020

goal	Defense	midfield	attack
No. Nat. player Jhg. 01 Sebastian Hornung 2001 12 Florian shock 2001 26th Niklas Heeger 2000	No. Nat. player Jhg. 02 Manuel Reutter 2001 03 Florian Kleinhansl 2000 04th Manuel Kober 1999 05 Marc Stein 1985 16 José-Enrique Ríos Alonso 2000 18th Hamza Çetinkaya 2001 19th Alexander head 2001 27 Matej Maglica 1998 Holger Badstuber 1989	No. Nat. player Jhg. 07th Marco Pašalić 2000 08th Joel Richter 1998 10 Nikos Zografakis 1999 23 Christian Mistl 2001 24 Falko Michel 2001 37 Richard Weil 1988	No. Nat. player Jhg. 09 Marcel Sökler 1991 11 Eric Hottmann 2000 17th Benedict Hollerbach 2001 30th Kevin Grimm 2001

Coaching staff

(As of July 1, 2020)

Nat.	Surname	function	Function since
	Frank Fahrenhorst	Head coach	2020
	Heiko Gerber	Assistant coach	2020
	Thomas Walter	Goalkeeping coach	2006
	Tobias Heizmann	Athletic trainer	2016

successes

• Württemberg amateur champion : 1960, 1964, 1965, 1971
• Württemberg Cup Winner : 1970, 1980, 1981, 2000
• German amateur champion : 1963 , 1980 , finalist 1971
• DFB youth round : runner-up in 1979, 1986
• South German amateur champion: 1963

Youth work of the football department

The club's A and B youth play in the A-Juniors and B-Juniors Bundesliga and thus in the highest German league. Both teams are German record champions in their age group . Players like Horst Köppel , Thomas Schneider , Andreas Hinkel , Thomas Brdarić , Michael Fink , Albert Streit , Mario Gómez , Hansi Müller , Karlheinz Förster , Gerhard Poschner and many others have made the switch from amateur or youth football to professional football at VfB.

history

Gustav Schumm - the pioneer of youth work

Timo Hildebrand - from the young savage from the youth to the vice-captain

The youth work at VfB began in 1918 with the then VfB President Gustav Schumm . He drew up a concept that is still fundamental today; He determined the division into A, B and C youth and provided for educational measures. This new division and the systematic support at VfB were quickly rewarded when the newspaper Stuttgarter Tagblatt donated a cup for an A-youth round, which could be described as a pioneer of the youth relay and which VfB finally won.

After the introduction of the German A-Jugend championship in 1969, the VfB team won the first championship in 1973. In 1980 VfB underlined its pioneering role with the construction of the VfB youth center in Cannstatt, named after the former president Fritz Walter . This football boarding school, which has the prerequisites for talent to bring school and football under one roof, can be described as a nationwide pilot project that has found many imitators. In 1984, after winning the fourth A youth championship, they became the sole record champions in this age group. In 1986 the German championship introduced in 1977 could be won for the first time in the B-Jugend. In the 2001/02 season, VfB was in all three finals ( German A youth championship , German B youth championship and DFB junior club cup ), but lost the final.

The VfB youth B team achieved a media-effective victory in a game against the German women's national football team , which was defeated 3-0. With the construction of the Carl Benz Center , the association made it possible to accommodate the VfB youth academy close to the association's premises.

strategy

Core elements of the Stuttgart youth development are clear structures, continuity in the youth coaches, the possibility of making independent decisions and rules of conduct - the so-called “ABC of VfB youth”. A concept is still used today, which was designed by Helmut Groß and Ralf Rangnick around 1990 and leads from the e-youth to the professional team. Every four weeks there is special training for the coaching staff and three times a year the youth players are assessed against the high requirements in order to be able to promote players individually according to strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to promote a strong character in the players. From the E to the B youth, VfB competes with two teams in the respective association rounds. In the A-youth, the club only competes with one team, in order to put the focus on performance. This is not so high in the F-Jugend, however, which is why VfB does not provide a team there and cooperates in this area with MTV Stuttgart , which runs a children's football academy in which VfB trainers conduct several training courses.

VfB also cooperates with commercial football schools, other regional football clubs and the official cooperation partner FC St. Gallen . The association makes use of connections with the Olympic base in Stuttgart and the elite schools of sport in the area, where students are released for training three times a week. VfB even offers training to become a sports and fitness clerk for the best talents. There are two permanent scouts who, in addition to the many contact persons, report talents as early as possible. The annual VfB youth and talent days also serve to spot talent. The club always focuses on regional talent, but especially from the B-youth onwards, it also likes to take on talent from abroad who are successful , such as Kevin Kurányi (who is a German citizen but could not speak German at the age of 15) can be integrated. 20 percent of VfB's youth players have foreign citizenship.

Greatest successes

A juniors

• German soccer championship of the A-Juniors
  • Master 1973 , 1975 , 1981 , 1984 , 1988 , 1989 , 1990 , 1991 , 2003 , 2005
  • Vice champion 1972 , 1977 , 1982 , 1999 , 2002 , 2019
• DFB junior club cup winner 1997 , 2001 , 2019
• Champion of the A-Juniors-Bundesliga South / Southwest 2005 , 2008 , 2010 , 2019
• Champion of the A-Junior-Regionalliga 1997, 1999, 2000

B juniors

• German soccer championship of the B-Juniors
  • Champion 1986 , 1994 , 1995 , 1999 , 2004 , 2009 , 2013
  • Vice champion in 1988 , 1990 , 1998 , 2002 , 2003 , 2012 , 2015
• Champion of the B-Junioren-Bundesliga South / Southwest 2011 , 2015 , 2016
• Champion of the B-Junior-Regionalliga 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

C juniors

• South German C-Junior Champion 1981, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008
• Champion of the C-Junior Regionalliga Süd 2010

Well-known former youth players

Below is a selection of players who were active in the youth department of the VfB Stuttgart and at least 50 games in one of the five "big" leagues Bundesliga (or before 1963 in the league ), Premier League , La Liga , 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:

Abdelaziz Ahanfouf  (1978)  Ioannis Amanatidis  (1981) Holger Badstuber  (1989) Oliver Barth  (1979) Timo Baumgartl  (1996) Andreas Beck  (1987)  Ermin Bičakčić  (1990) Fredi Bobic  (1971) Michael Bochtler  (1975) Marco Caligiuri  (1984) Marvin Compper  (1985) Daniel Didavi  (1990) Thomas Epp  (1968) Michael Fink  (1982) Christian Gentner  (1985)

Serge Gnabry  (1995) Mario Gómez  (1985) Timo Hildebrand  (1979) Andreas Hinkel  (1982) Loris Karius  (1993) Thilo Kehrer  (1996) Jens Keller  (1970) Rani Khedira  (1994) Sami Khedira  (1987) Joshua Kimmich  (1995) Bernd Klotz  (1958)  Sead Kolašinac  (1993) Horst Köppel  (1948) Kevin Kurányi  (1982) Bernd Leno  (1992)

Bernd Martin  (1955) Markus Miller  (1982) Hansi Müller  (1957)  Roberto Pinto  (1978) Gerhard Poschner  (1969) Thomas Reis  (1973) Helmut Roleder  (1953) Antonio Rüdiger  (1993) Sebastian Rudy  (1990) Günther Schäfer  (1962) Julian Schieber  (1989) Thomas Schneider  (1972) Uwe Schneider  (1971) Klaus-Dieter Sieloff  (1942) Thomas Sobotzik  (1974)

Thomas Stickroth  (1965) Alexander Strehmel  (1968) Albert Streit  (1980)  Ádám Szalai  (1987) Serdar Tasci  (1987) Jeremy Toljan  (1994) Sven Ulreich  (1988) Boris Vukčević  (1990) Roland Weidle  (1949) Tobias Weis  (1985) Timo Wenzel  (1977) Timo Werner  (1996) Reinhold Zech  (1948) Simon Zoller  (1991)

organization structure

President of VfB Stuttgart

Period	Surname
FV Stuttgart 93
1893-1894	Carl Kaufmann
1894-1908	Alexander glasses
1908-1910	Julius Dempf
1910-1911	Fritz Hengerer
1912	Wilhelm Hinzmann
Crown Club Cannstatt
1897-1901	Hermann Schmid
1901-1905	Karl Hahn
1905-1908	Hans Bittner
1909-1910	Richard Reissner
1910-1912	Eugen Imberger
VfB Stuttgart
1912-1918	Wilhelm Hinzmann
1914-1918	Julius Lintz (deputy)
1918-1919	Gustav Schumm
1919-1923	Egon Count of Berlodingen
1923-1931	Karl-Adolf Deubler
1931-1932	Albert Bauer
1932-1944	Hans Kiener
1944-1968	Fritz Walter
1969-1975	Hans Weitpert
1975-2000	Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (Honorary President)
2000-2003	Manfred Haas
2003-2011	Erwin Staudt (Honorary President)
2011-2013	Gerd E. Mäusers
2013-2016	Bernd Wahler
2016-2019	Wolfgang Dietrich
since 2019	Claus Vogt

Since 2017, the club's licensed players department has been outsourced to VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, the majority of which is owned by the club.

The association currently has a holding company (the wholly owned subsidiary VfB Stuttgart Beteiligungs-GmbH ). This was founded by then President Manfred Haas in 2000. The aim of the Beteiligungs-GmbH was to provide the association with liquid funds via an equity model. To this end, a number of silent partners paid capital into the holding company, which in turn was made available to the club (via this concept, for example, the club acquired the player Fernando Meira ). The managing directors of the GmbH are Stefan Heim and Jochen Röttgermann.

As an incentive for the silent partners, a large part of the shares in a second subsidiary, VfB Stuttgart Marketing GmbH , was transferred to the holding company. The latter currently holds 75.5 percent of the shares in Marketing GmbH, with the parent club holding 24.5 percent. De jure, VfB is one of the few Bundesliga clubs that has not sold its marketing rights to external companies. In fact, much of the marketing revenue does not go to the association; There is a profit and loss transfer agreement between the marketing company and Beteiligungs-GmbH, so that a large part of the income from the marketing area flows directly to the silent partners. The managing directors are Rainer Mutschler and Jochen Röttgermann.

With the "VfB-Shop" Vertriebs- und Werbe-GmbH , VfB still has a third subsidiary. The Shop-GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the association. It was founded in 1978. Its business purpose consists in the distribution of fan and merchandising articles. In March 2010, Rainer Mutschler and Jochen Röttgermann replaced Ulrich Ruf as managing directors.

In 2006, VfB founded another subsidiary, VfB Reha-Welt GmbH , whose business purpose is medical care and, in particular, rehabilitation and prevention measures. The company not only offers these services to VfB players, but also to third parties. VfB holds 60 percent of the shares in Reha-Welt, the remaining shares are held equally by the doctors Thomas Frölich and Udo Buchholzer. The managing directors of the Rehabilitation World are Stefan Heim and Markus Schmidt.

Stadium and infrastructure

Mercedes-Benz Arena

The Mercedes-Benz-Arena (1993–2008: Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion , 1949–1993: Neckarstadion , previously Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn , Century Stadium for four years after the Second World War ) was built in 1933. It is located on Mercedesstrasse in the Bad Cannstatt district at the intersection between the B 10 from Stuttgart to Ulm and the B 14 from Stuttgart to Nuremberg .

The club management agreed with the city of Stuttgart to convert the stadium into a pure football arena. As a silent partner, VfB Stuttgart is involved in the renovation costs and contributed EUR 26 million. The renovation began in May 2009 and was completed with the opening ceremony on August 4, 2011. The playing field was lowered, two new grandstands built behind the goals and the main and opposite grandstands expanded. The Scharrena sports hall was built below the grandstand at the Untertürkheimer bend . Before the renovation work began, the arena had a capacity of 54,000, and when used with standing room, around 57,000 spectators. Since the renovation, it has a capacity of 60,449 spectators.

The VfB Club Center is also located in Mercedesstraße - an area with 3500 m² of usable space, in which the office / administration, restaurant with adjoining room and bowling alley as well as the entire sports area are housed. The Robert-Schlienz-Stadion , the venue for games of the youth and amateur teams of VfB, is also located on the premises of the club center.

The VfB World was also built in the Carl Benz Center for the 2006 World Cup . It houses a large service center (ticketing, sports shop, VfB Marketing), the VfB youth academy, the rehabilitation center of the VfB Reha-Welt, several restaurants and event rooms for sports and leisure events. A VfB museum will also move there.

The association runs a city ​​shop on Stuttgart's shopping mile, Königstrasse , where tickets and merchandising products are sold.

VfB spectators and fans

season	Game class	VfB Stuttgart		League cut
		Season tickets	cut
Season 63/64	Bundesliga		40,959	24,624
Season 64/65	Bundesliga		31,167	27.052
Season 65/66	Bundesliga		27,190	23,185
Season 66/67	Bundesliga		30,558	23,299
Season 67/68	Bundesliga		25,948	20,090
Season 68/69	Bundesliga		21,440	21,407
Season 69/70	Bundesliga		20,735	19,979
Season 70/71	Bundesliga		18,654	20,661
Season 71/72	Bundesliga		21,352	17,932
Season 71/72	Bundesliga		15,185	16,387
Season 73/74	Bundesliga		25,533	20,566
Season 74/75	Bundesliga		26,504	22,021
Season 75/76	2nd Bundesliga	02,202	11,330	06,076
Season 76/77	2nd Bundesliga	01,372	22,689	05,973
Season 77/78	Bundesliga	05.125	53,567	25,937
Season 78/79	Bundesliga	07,800	41,297	24,024
Season 79/80	Bundesliga	08,887	33,405	23,026
Season 80/81	Bundesliga	08,722	30,073	22,535
Season 81/82	Bundesliga	08,526	26,126	20,524
Season 82/83	Bundesliga	06,768	27,526	20.198
Season 83/84	Bundesliga	07,081	31,076	19,340
Season 84/85	Bundesliga	08,144	22,648	18,841
Season 85/86	Bundesliga	06.003	21,638	17,665
Season 86/87	Bundesliga	06,506	20,699	19,402
Season 87/88	Bundesliga	06,510	26,313	18,646
Season 88/89	Bundesliga	07,526	26,895	17,631
Season 89/90	Bundesliga	08,746	24,684	19,765
Season 90/91	Bundesliga	09,271	28,987	20,508
Season 91/92	Bundesliga	10.148	33,553	22,634
Season 92/93	Bundesliga	11,257	26,872	24.173
Season 93/94	Bundesliga	09,609	27,434	26,100
Season 94/95	Bundesliga	09,352	30,547	27,702
Season 95/96	Bundesliga	09.227	29,087	29,107
Season 96/97	Bundesliga	10,653	38,661	28,681
Season 97/98	Bundesliga	14,782	36,700	31,112
Season 98/99	Bundesliga	13,174	29,034	30.901
1999/2000 season	Bundesliga	09,500	28,971	28,920
Season 00/01	Bundesliga	08,611	24,124	28,421
Season 01/02	Bundesliga	09.314	26.097	31,047
Season 02/03	Bundesliga	09,256	31,251	31,911
Season 03/04	Bundesliga	15,600	41,728	35,048
Season 04/05	Bundesliga	16,960	38,350	35,183
Season 05/06	Bundesliga	16,874	36,266	38.191
Season 06/07	Bundesliga		45,439	37,644
Season 07/08	Bundesliga	25,000	50,899	38,612
Season 08/09	Bundesliga	25,000	51,979	41,904
Season 09/10	Bundesliga	25,000	41,065	41,802
Season 10/11	Bundesliga	25,000	39,041	42,673
Season 11/12	Bundesliga	30,000	55,089	45.116
Season 12/13	Bundesliga	30,000	50,054	42,623
Season 13/14	Bundesliga	27,500	50,498	43.501
Season 14/15	Bundesliga	27,500	50,801	42,685
Season 15/16	Bundesliga	28,500	50,693	42,421
Season 16/17	2nd Bundesliga	26,500	50,423	21,738
Season 17/18	Bundesliga	31,500	56,278	43,879
Season 18/19	Bundesliga	33,000	54,625

After VfB was relegated to the second division for the first time in 1975, the club began selling season tickets. Many supporters took up this offer, and so the core moved into today's Cannstatter curve around the A block.

After the football team returned to the Bundesliga in 1977, the record set in the Bundesliga season 1977/78 of an average of over 53,000 spectators per home game up to the 1998/99 season meant the highest average attendance ever recorded in the Bundesliga. VfB now had 120 official fan clubs. However, as with other clubs, small, numerically insignificant right-wing radical groups caused problems for the club's management, and so the club began to create index cards about fan club members in an interest group that was founded with the fan clubs. When, after the euphoria of promotion at the end of the 1970s, there was no success, the number of viewers fell again. As a result, the community of interest and most of the fan clubs fell apart and only the most loyal fans remained.

It was only when FIFA announced that it wanted to abolish all standing room by 2000 and the standing room season ticket holders were supported by the club in their appeal for help against this decision that VfB and the fans came closer again. On July 11, 1990, the Official Fan Club (OFC) was finally created, which is still in existence today. Fan clubs that join the organization receive both perks and privileges as well as obligations such as a club statute with a clear commitment to nonviolence, a democratic structure, a minimum of ten members and an active club life.

In 1990 VfB won 70 OFCs with a total of around 2,000 members, and when the stadium was rebuilt, the A block with its standing room was retained. Since then, acts of violence among fans have been reduced to a minimum.

Success phases such as the German championship in 1992 or the successes at the time of the "magic triangle" with winning the DFB Cup in 1997 led to a short-term increase in the number of viewers. At the beginning of 1997, the fan scene began to reorganize when the “Commando Cannstatt 1997” (CC) was the first Ultras group that is now an influential part of the scene. The Commando relies on the support of the team, including with choreographies and lighting effects, and is based on Italian models. At first there were reservations from other fans as well as from the club. VfB accused the Commando Cannstatt of being close to the Red Army faction on the one hand because of the five-pointed star on the logo, which was banned in the summer of 1997, and on the other hand of right-wing radicalism because of the old German script in the logo. The command confirmed, however, that these symbols had no background meaning for the Ultras group and that the group did not pursue any political orientation at the same time. The Commando Cannstatt is considered to be the largest Ultras group in the Cannstatter curve.

The biggest crowd boom after the resurgence euphoria 1977-79 experienced the VfB in the times of the "young and wild", when in the 2003/04 season an average of 41,728 was achieved - two years earlier the average attendance was 26,097. The audience boom was due to the team's rapid athletic improvement; In the 2000/01 season , the footballers only secured relegation on the penultimate match day, but VfB reached the runner-up and the Champions League two years later.

The tickets for the Champions League preliminary round with opponents like Manchester United were sold out in record time, and so the VfB management team, with the new President Erwin Staudt, recognized an unexploited potential of fans in the region. VfB initiated a membership campaign under the motto “We pack Schalke” to make VfB the second largest German club. In the ranking of the largest German sports clubs , VfB temporarily reached 3rd place, but never caught up with FC Schalke 04 . Nevertheless, the number of VfB members quadrupled between 2000 and 2005 from 7,000 to 30,000 members, which is why the VfB's membership campaign is viewed as successful.

The enormous increase in the number of members can, among other things, be explained by the success of VfB in the Champions League; For example , if you wanted a ticket for the Champions League round of 16 against Chelsea in 2004 , you either had to be a club member, OFC member or season ticket holder.

The number of official fan clubs rose rapidly to 265. These are mainly located in the area, but there are also OFC in the rest of Germany and even abroad (e.g. Taiwan, Latri Kunda / Gambia and South Tyrol). In order to improve coordination among VfB fans, the Fan Committee was institutionalized in 2001 at the suggestion of the association's board as an official body of VfB legitimized in the association's statutes. The Fan Committee is set up by the Board of Directors and meets every five or six weeks. It consists of 15 members and is made up of all VfB fan groups; On the club side, the committee includes the two fan representatives and director Jochen Schneider. The committee should address fan-specific topics in dialogue and help to find solutions. The first successes were, for example, the founding of the VfB fan meeting with the help of the committee.

The Cannstatter curve of the stadium with the fan area of ​​the VfB

Storm of the VfB fans after the second division championship on matchday 34 of the 2016/17 season

To further improve the fan coordination, the VfB trailer association Stuttgart e. V. founded. When it was founded, the VfB Fan Committee set itself the goal of bringing the 265 official fan clubs together in one structure. Individuals can also join the trailer association. It is possible to join both registered and thus legally competent, as well as non-legally competent fan clubs, which are only legitimized by recorded representatives and a statute. The OFCs remain self-sufficient, but the benefits are transferred to the trailer association. This association is the first democratically elected body to represent the OFCs at VfB and is intended to be the only recognized fan representation for VfB. There are currently 171 official fan clubs and 74 individual members in the fan association.

By advertising the club for new club and fan club members, the core of the VfB fans expanded, from the A block to the B block and into other areas of the Cannstatter curve. Shortly after winning the championship title in 2007, the 40,000. Member to be reported. On December 17, 2017, VfB announced that the association now has over 60,000 members. The 70,000 member was honored before the opening game of the 2nd Bundesliga 2019/20 against Hannover 96 . Since the stadium renovation was completed in 2011, the average attendance has consistently been over 50,000.

mascot

For children and teenagers there is the VfB Fritzle Club , which offers 4 to 16 year old VfB fans various discounts. Fritzle has been the mascot of VfB Stuttgart since 1992, making it one of the oldest mascots in the Bundesliga. The mascot represents an alligator . In 1992, Dieter Hoeneß, at that time manager of VfB, had the idea of ​​creating a popular figure outside the team. VfB fans were then able to send in suggestions as to how this new mascot should look. In the end, six proposals were presented in the SDR broadcast Sport im third and put to a vote by viewers. In the vote, around a third of VfB fans voted for an alligator in the VfB jersey. On the team photo of VfB Stuttgart in the 1992/93 season, a large egg with red pentagons similar to a football was placed next to the front row of seats. the mascot was presented to the public for the first time on August 26, 1992 before the first home game against 1. FC Nürnberg. At first it was called "VfB Alligator". On June 6, 1993, shortly before his first birthday, the TV show Sport im Third was again decided on the name with a Ted vote. The choices were Fetz, Julius, Alwin, Joschi and Fritzle. 43.3 percent of the callers chose the name Fritzle. In 2015, Fritzle was voted the most beautiful mascot in the Bundesliga by viewers of the TV channel Sport1 .

Derbies, rivalries and friendships

The Stuttgart city derby

→ Main article : Stuttgart city derby

Direct league duels

season	Places
Southern District League
1912/13	1. 6.
1913/14	1. 7.
1914/15	2. 7.
District League Württemberg
1919/20	2. 5.
1920/21	1. 5.
1921/22	1. 2.
1922/23	1. 6.
District League   Württemberg / Baden
1924/25	1. 5.
1925/26	2. 4.
1926/27	1. 3.
Württemberg district
1927/28	1. 3.
1928/29	2. 3.
1929/30	1. 6.
1930/31	3. 4.
1931/32	2. 7.
1932/33	1. 3.

season	Places
Gauliga Württemberg
1933/34	2. 3.
1934/35	1. 3.
1935/36	1. 3.
1936/37	1. 5.
1937/38	1. 2.
1938/39	1. 2.
1939/40	1. 2. *
1940/41	1. 2.
1941/42	1. 2.
1942/43	1. 3.
1943/44	2. 4.
* 1939/40 they played in separate seasons, but the Kickers won the Gaume Championship in the championship round before VfB
Oberliga Süd
1945/46	01. 3. 0
1945/46	01. 3. 0
1946/47	06. 7. 0
1947/48	03. 5. 0
1948/49	06. 8. 0
1949/50	02. 16.
1951/52	01. 12.
1952/53	02. 14.
1953/54	01. 14
1954/55	12th 13
1955/56	02. 14.
1956/57	04. 14
1957/58	09. 16.
1959/60	07th 16th
2nd Bundesliga South
1975/76	12th 13
1976/77	01. 9. 0
Bundesliga
1988/89	05th 17th
1991/92	01. 17th

City Cup from 1945

In the first half of the twentieth century in particular, there was a tough battle between Bad Cannstatt- based VfB and the Stuttgarter Kickers from Degerloch . But there was no competition between social classes. The base on both sides was mainly the local bourgeoisie. The roots of the rivalry between VfB and Kickers already lie in the predecessors of VfB, the Kronen Club and the Stuttgart FV. When the Kickers decided against rugby early on , many rugby enthusiasts switched to the Stuttgart FV. This could be called the birth of rivalry. In the childhood days of football, the kickers were still clearly ahead of the predecessors of VfB and so the Kronen Club had to play against the second team of the kickers in a decisive game for promotion to the top southern German division. The crown club won, but a few days later the game was canceled because the referee who had actually been appointed was not present and the association secretary was in charge of the game. Since the Kronen Club learned of the cancellation only a few hours before the rescheduling at a Christmas party and accordingly many players were unable to play, the club lost the replay and felt that it was treated unfairly towards the Kickers.

Even after the merger to form VfB, the kickers initially dominated. As early as 1909, the blue were runner-up and were mostly ahead of VfB. In 1922/23, the Kickers even seemed to separate themselves from VfB when they were first in the table in the Württemberg district league to qualify for the new district league without any problems, while VfB failed in sixth place and even slipped into second division. But VfB came back after this one year of being second class and so this one year was the only one after the merger of VfB, in which the kickers were one class above VfB. The VfB now stood up to the Kickers and both clubs competed again and again for the Württemberg championship. After VfB's German runner-up in 1935, the club was finally on an equal footing. Up to the end of the Second World War , both teams were several more Württemberg champions and remained at the same level. It is therefore not true that VfB's overtaking maneuver is related to National Socialism. Although the VfB had always had better connections to the military and the Kickers were ascribed Jewish roots even before the Nazi era , the Kickers were later associated with the Nazi regime, just like the VfB. For example, the Social Democrat Paul Keller found that both clubs were the first to fully join the National Socialist movement. Before 1933, the VfB, like the Kickers, had Jewish members who were excluded during the Nazi era.

Immediately after the Second World War, the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart, Arnulf Klett, donated a bronze lion as a trophy for a city tournament. In the final of the tournament, VfB defeated the Kickers in the first battle of strength after the end of the war. The decision about supremacy in Stuttgart was only made in the Oberliga Süd . At the beginning the Kickers played just like VfB above. But 1950 was decisive for the future of both clubs. The Stuttgarter Kickers crashed into the Second Oberliga Süd and were thus a class below VfB for the first time. And just in that year, in which the Kickers suffered their first major setback, VfB won their first major title with the German championship. The Kickers recovered again and came back, but almost every season that the Degerlocher contested in the Oberliga Süd was a relegation battle for the Kickers, while VfB experienced its most successful period. And so the Kickers completed their last game in the Oberliga Süd in 1960 and played in the midfield of the Second Oberliga, while VfB qualified for the first Bundesliga season in 1963. Only in 1988 and 1992 did the Kickers each play a season in the Bundesliga in which they never held the class.

So it was not uncommon for one of the blue to switch to VfB, to the reds . It was not always easy for such a "defector" - players and officials on both sides had something to fear after such a change. The rivalry used to be much tougher than it is today. For example, when Rolf Geiger , the talented striker of the Kickers, switched to VfB in 1956 , the then president of the Kickers Philipp Metzler filed a voluntary report and claimed that the Kickers had paid Geiger on the hand. The revenge was obviously worth it to him to accept a penalty for the Kickers in order to have Geiger punished by the DFB at the same time. However, Metzler was banned for two years while Geiger was banned for only nine months.

The relationship between the two clubs improved over time, but there were always tensions. For example, the former Kickers player Albert Sing found a Kickers jersey in the locker room on his first day at work as a VfB coach, which should make it clear to him that he is not wanted as a blue man .

The then Kickers striker Jürgen Klinsmann declared after a tough youth derby to his then Kickers president Axel Dünnwald-Metzler : “I swear one thing: I'll never go to them!” A few years later he was released from this oath.

These derbies were not only heated when they were young. "If we hadn't won today, I wouldn't have dared to leave the house," said former VfB director Ulrich Schäfer once. The last big city derby in the Bundesliga was fundamental for the further sporting development of both clubs: In the season 91/92 it was about the championship for VfB and relegation for the Kickers. After 75 minutes the Kickers were leading 1-0, the VfB striker Fritz Walter collapsed due to severe stomach pain, which is why VfB even accused the Kickers of poisoning. Despite Walter's failure, VfB turned the game into a 3-1 win in the last few minutes; VfB became German champions at the end of the season and the Kickers were relegated. The rivalry between VfB and Kickers often went beyond football. So there were always differences between the two athletics departments. Nevertheless, the two clubs formed a joint starting community in this sport.

The Baden-Württemberg Derby

The strong competitiveness that exists between Württemberg and Baden residents is also reflected at the level of football: the two most successful clubs in the two parts of the state of Baden-Württemberg , VfB and Karlsruher SC , can look back on a long rivalry. As early as 1912, in what was probably the first final of the newly merged VfB Stuttgart, the club defeated FC Mühlburg, the forerunner of VfB Mühlburg, which later merged with Phönix Karlsruhe to form KSC, and thus qualified for the highest German division.

In many cases, the KSC challenged VfB as the most successful soccer club in Baden-Württemberg - mostly without success. The rivalry was intensified by the long-time KSC trainer Winfried Schäfer : he publicly showed his anger several times, for example when he expressed in 1992 that the good performance of the KSC in the shadow of the championship of the VfB was not appreciated enough. He even accused the then VfB coach, Christoph Daum , of making fun of the KSC's upward trend. After VfB were unlucky to be eliminated from the European Cup against Leeds United due to a mistake by Christoph Daum a little later , Schäfer sneered: “Daum sounds from Stuttgart, we are like the dog that wags its tail every now and then. Then why didn't he take us to Leeds as a guide dog? ”Schäfer also criticized sponsors: he accused Daimler-Benz of demanding higher leasing rates from the KSC players than the VfB players (“ We don't have a Daimler who is expanding the stadium for us . "). Media representatives such as those of the SDR , whom he accused of being VfB lobbyists (“They have a red touch”) , were also criticized .

When Winfried Schäfer became a VfB coach after all these incidents, there were great tensions between the fans and VfB as well as within the fan scene. Some VfB fans reacted to Schäfer's commitment by returning their season ticket.

After KSC was relegated to the Bundesliga in the 1997/98 season , there was a derby in the Bundesliga for the first time in the 2007/08 season . In the 2016/17 season , the derby took place for the first time in the 2nd Bundesliga.

VfB II was also successful against KSC: On the third matchday of the 3rd division in the 2012/13 season , it won 2-0 in front of 19,970 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Other rivalries

VfB supporters also have rivalries with other clubs; typical examples are SC Freiburg , Hertha BSC , FC Bayern Munich and FC Schalke 04 .

The rivalry with the Berliners is based on their friendship with the KSC. The one with SC Freiburg, also from Baden, is comparatively young and much less intense than the one with KSC and is not called a derby by VfB fans. It is due, among other things, to the lack of other regional derbies after KSC was relegated from the Bundesliga in the 1997/98 season.

A more traditional rivalry is that with FC Bayern. A Bundesliga game between the two clubs, which in the recent past are considered to be the two most successful southern Germany, is the so-called southern derby. Player changes to Munich are considered unpopular, so Jürgen Klinsmann first wanted to get his father's permission before signing a contract with Bayern. The changes of Giovane Élber , Felix Magath (as coach), Mario Gómez and most recently Sven Ulreich were also controversial among parts of the fans.

In recent years, especially the views about FC Schalke 04 have deteriorated. Even when Schalke wanted to bring Felix Magath to Gelsenkirchen , after he had just become runner-up with VfB in 2003, tensions began to grow. Above all, the then Schalke manager Rudi Assauer and Magath, who stayed at VfB for one more season, discussed in public at the time. In addition, it was received negatively in fan circles that the manager Horst Heldt and players such as Kevin Kurányi or Marcelo Bordon switched to Schalke 04.

To secure the 17 home games of the 2013/14 season, 32,000 hours of police work were necessary.

SSV Reutlingen

Ultras friendships with SSV Reutlingen, AC Cesena and AS Saint-Étienne

At the regional level there is a very close fan friendship with the fans of SSV Reutlingen 05 . In fan circles, the SSV is often referred to as "the little brother of VfB". Above all, the leading ultra groups of both clubs maintain close contact and sometimes support each other at some games.

There is also a friendship with the ultras of the Italian club AC Cesena and the French first division club AS Saint-Étienne .

FC Energie Cottbus

Former Ultras friendship with Energie Cottbus

The friendship with Energie Cottbus began in 2001. The friendship became closer after the last matchday of the 2002/03 season, when the Cottbusers who had already been relegated helped VfB to qualify for the Champions League directly by winning a point at Borussia Dortmund . After the last matchday of the 2006/07 season, fans of both clubs celebrated the VfB championship together. In the meantime, the friendship was officially declared over by the initiators at the time, but some of the fans still maintain it.

Cooperations

In 2005, Erwin Staudt and Dieter Fröhlich, the President of FC St. Gallen, signed a cooperation agreement between VfB and St. Gallen. In this cooperation, the clubs should support each other in training players and exchange players for mutual benefit. For example, some VfB players who had no chance of a regular place were loaned to St. Gallen . MTV Stuttgart and the sports agency SchwabenSport Management have been cooperation partners of the club since 2014 . In 2019, a cooperation with SG Sonnenhof Großaspach was agreed. In the following year, youth cooperations with SC Pfullendorf , VfR Heilbronn , VfB Friedrichshafen , SV Kickers Pforzheim and 1. FC Eislingen were announced.

Sponsors and Friends

Sponsors and suppliers of VfB Stuttgart since 1975
Period	Outfitter	sponsor
		Surname	Branch
1975-1976	Adidas	no sponsor
1976-1977	no outfitter known	Frottesana	textiles
1977-1988	Erima
1978-1979	Adidas
1979-1980	Erima	Canon	electronics
1980-1982	Adidas
1982-1986		Spelled field	brewery
1986-1987		Sanwald Extra	brewery
1987-1997		Südmilch	Milk processing
1997-1999		Göttingen Group	Finances
1999-2002		Debitel	telecommunications
2002-2005	puma
2005-2010		EnBW	energy
2010–2012		Gazi	Milk processing
2012-2019		Mercedes-Benz Bank	Finances
2019–	Jako

The birth of sponsorship at VfB goes back to 1976, when VfB was on the brink of the abyss in the 2nd Bundesliga. At that time, the Friends of VfB Stuttgart was founded, which not only supported the association financially, but also gave tips for marketing VfB itself and started selling souvenirs. For the 1976/77 season, the textile company Frottesana became the first shirt sponsor of VfB. The successors of this company were Canon, Dinkelacker, Sanwald Extra, Südmilch , the Göttinger Group , debitel and finally EnBW . At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Garmo and its dairy product brand GAZi became the shirt sponsor of VfB for two years. For the 2012/13 season, Mercedes-Benz Bank became the new main and jersey sponsor of VfB. The length of the contract is two years and can be extended through an option. This option was drawn and the contract was extended until 2019.

Over time, a sponsor pool was finally created, whose members could call themselves official partners of VfB Stuttgart . Erwin Staudt then finally created the reorganized sponsor pyramid , in which sponsors are the premium partners above the normal team partners and the service partners below in the pyramid . At home games, 336 running meters of perimeter advertising are currently presented. The supplier at VfB is Puma until the end of the 2018/19 season after the long partnership with Adidas ended in 2002. From the 2019/20 season Jako will be the new supplier to VfB Stuttgart.

The VfB Freundeskreis aims to promote and support football in general and the interests of VfB Stuttgart in particular, especially its youth work. The youth work is promoted, among other things, by a regular annual donation and additional donation payments for Christmas and master craftsmen's celebrations.

The Freundeskreis is led by a voluntary board. Dieter Hundt headed the Circle of Friends during his 15-year activity as 1st Chairman from 1988 to 2003, which ended with his move to the VfB Supervisory Board. He was followed by Arnulf Oberascher, CEO of Metallux AG based in Leutenbach near Stuttgart. On February 23, 2015 the Freundeskreis was founded as the Freundeskreis des VfB Stuttgart e. V. registered in the register of associations. On November 9, 2015, Arnulf Oberascher no longer stood for election. He was followed by Klaus-Dieter Feld. Jürgen Schlensog was elected chairman on November 27, 2017.

Other departments of the association

Football referee department

The referee department of VfB was founded in 1923, making VfB the first club in Germany with its own referee department. And so in the 1920s VfB had most of the referees in southern Germany. Today there is even a referee team that competes in friendly matches and tournaments. The current department head is Alfred Schütter. There are currently 68 active and 13 passive members in the department.

Fistball department

The fistball department was founded in 1937. The roots even go back to the 1920s. Even back then, VfB footballers used this sport to compensate, some of which were still played by VfB's predecessors, the Kronen Club and the Stuttgart FV. The VfB's fistball department now provides three senior men's teams in the age groups M40, M50 and M60. The teams play in the association leagues and, if they do well in these game rounds, are qualified for further rounds, such as the South German and the German championship round of the age groups. The M50 team (men aged 50 and over) won the German championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006 on the field and in 2005 in the hall.

Hockey department

The history of the hockey department also goes back a long way. It was founded in 1919. VfB currently provides three men's teams and two women's teams. The first women's team became champions in the 2017/18 indoor season and rose to the top division. On the field they also play in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, the fourth highest German league in hockey. The first men's team plays in both field and indoor hockey in the top league. This department has a numerically strong substructure down to the minis.

Athletics department

VfB also had successes outside of football.

The athletics department was already part of VfB when it was merged. In the past, the department was often used by footballers to compensate. Max Buffle, who guarded the goal of the first soccer team in 1912, was also successful as a discus thrower. In 1968, the department even had an Olympic medalist in its own ranks, Helmar Müller . The greatest achievements of the athletics department were:

• Medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City: Helmar Müller (bronze 4 × 400 m relay)
• Medals at European championships (open air): Karl Honz (European champion 400 m 1974 , 2nd place 4 × 400 m relay 1974), 1978 Martin Weppler (European champion 4 × 400 m relay), Yvonne Buschbaum ( 1998 and 2002 3rd place) Place pole vault )
• Medals at European Indoor Championships: Helmar Müller (1970 3rd place 4 × 400 m relay), Ulrich Strohhäcker (1970 3rd place 4 × 400 m relay), Dieter Hübner (1970 3rd place 4 × 400 m relay ), Karl Honz (1973 2nd place 4 × 400 m relay, 1975 European Champion 4 × 400 m relay), Falko Geiger (1973 2nd place 4 × 400 m relay), Herbert Wursthorn (1980 3rd Place 800 m, 1981 European Champion 800 m), Martin Weppler (1981 2nd place 400 m), Sabine Zwiener (1990 2nd place 800 m), Yvonne Buschbaum (1998 2nd place pole vault)
• German championships: In addition to numerous medals in individual competitions, the VfB Stuttgart relays were successful. The men's 4 x 400 meter relay was German champion in 1973 and 1974, while the indoor relay was champions in 1969, 1970 and 1975. The 4 x 800 meter relay, which was German champion from 1982 to 1986, was even more successful. In the hall, the 3-by-1000-meter relay won in 1981 and 1983–1985.

With the help of sponsors, the top German athletes Gregor Traber , Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch and Fabian Heinle were signed up in 2014 and 2015 .

Table tennis department

The table tennis department was only founded in 1949, making it the youngest sporting department at VfB. The association started with two teams in the district league and in 1952 the first team promotion to the Oberliga and thus the top German division at that time. 1957 succeeded again the promotion to the league. But over time the table tennis department lost more and more importance and in the meantime even had to withdraw its teams. In the last two years, however, the table tennis department was able to gain some newcomers, so that four teams can be reported again in the 2008/09 season. The first team plays in the district class, the other three teams start in the district classes A, B and C. In addition, the senior team competes in the district class.

Handball department

The handball department of the VfB once provided several men's and women's teams, which celebrated presentable successes such as the Württemberg championship and some of them competed in the district class . Like the hockey department, it was founded in 1919. In the eighties, the department collapsed because most of the players no longer saw perspective, and so, despite all efforts, the last team had to be withdrawn from play in 1985. All that remained was administrative work and the hope that one day the department would come back to life.

E-sports

There has been an e-sports team at VfB Stuttgart since July 2017 . The players compete in competitions of the soccer simulation FIFA series . The players Marcel "Marlut" Lutz and "Dr. Erhano “Kayman also take part in international tournaments, as well as in the Virtual Bundesliga .

VfB Guard

The VfB Guard, formerly the Old Guard , is not a sports department. It was founded in 1953 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of VfB. This department is mainly about socializing among the members, which is largely made up of former members of the VfB. Occasionally there are also representative tasks. In the meantime, the guard, whose members, the guardsmen , are considered to be the traditional bearers of the club, have become a fixture at VfB.

literature

• Oskar Beck, Hans Reski: The VfB Stuttgart - Swabian pranks. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-462-01976-7 .
• Stefan Radomski: Germany's great football teams Part 2: VfB Stuttgart 1920–1992. AGON-Sportverlag, Kassel 1993, ISBN 3-928562-27-4 .
• Thomas Haid, Thomas Plaßmann: VfB Stuttgart fan. Tomus Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-8231-1103-5 .
• Oskar Beck, Martin Hägele, Ludger Schulze: Stuttgart is coming, The VfB. Wero Press, 1997, ISBN 3-9805310-6-6 .
• German cup winner 1997. AGON-Sportverlag, 2000, ISBN 3-89784-117-7 .
• Klaus Schlütter: Smile with VfB. Wero Press, Pfaffenweiler 2003, ISBN 3-9808049-7-6 .
• Harald Jordan: Myth VfB. DMZG Print and Media Center Gerlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-927286-59-1 .
• Volker Jäger: soccer junkie. From the life of a follower. Books on Demand, 2005, ISBN 3-8334-2842-2 .
• Oliver Böhnisch: A journey through time in white and red. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2006, ISBN 3-8334-5020-7 .
• Gregor Hofmann: VfB Stuttgart and National Socialism. Hofmann, Schorndorf 2018, ISBN 978-3-7780-3133-9 .

Web links

Commons : VfB Stuttgart  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} portrait of the association. VfB Stuttgart, accessed on July 31, 2020 . 
2. ↑ VfB Stuttgart Athletics. In: vfb-leichtathletik.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 e. V., accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
3. ^ VfB Hockey. In: vfb-hockey.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 e. V., accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Fistball. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
5. ^ William Cail: County Football - Recollections of Northumberland Football . In: Francis Marshall (Ed.): Football - The Rugby Union Game . Cassell & Company, 1892, p. 447 ( online from the Internet Archive [accessed April 27, 2014]).
6. ^ Christoph Meyer: Cannstatt - Germany's first football city. In: Black Forest Messenger . April 3, 2013, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
7. ^ Edgar Rehberger: Exhibition in Bad Cannstatt is dedicated to the history of football. In: Schwäbisches Tagblatt . April 19, 2013, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Bad Cannstatt, a cradle of German football. In: stuttgart.de. State capital Stuttgart, April 10, 2013, accessed on October 24, 2019 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hardy Greens : With the ring on his chest - The history of VfB Stuttgart . 2nd Edition. Verlag Die Werkstatt , Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89533-593-8 , foreword, p. 7 .
10. ↑ 1893 founding of the "football club Stuttgart" ( Memento from May 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
11. ^ ^{A b} Philipp Heineken: Memories of the Cannstatter Football Club . Hermann Meister , Heidelberg 1930, p. 39, 86 .
12. ↑ Frank Rothfuss: A football pioneer from Bad Cannstatt founded VfB. In: StN.de . July 13, 2013, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Roland Binz: Spatial socialization and football in Europe. (PDF; 106 kB) Technical University of Dortmund , accessed on October 24, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Exemplary rugby match ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
15. ^ FV Stuttgart 1893 - Chronicle 1900 ( Memento from July 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Harald Jordan: Duration in Change . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 156, 162, 163, 167, 169, 170 .
17. ^ Season 1907 ( Memento from July 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
18. ^ Season 1911 ( Memento from July 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Hardy Greens: With the ring on the chest . S. 17, 18, 38, 40, 93 .
20. ^ Season 1897 ( Memento from September 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ September 1897: Founding of the Kronenklub Cannstatt. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b} Club Chronicle Kronen Club 1904 ( Memento from July 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ Season 1911/12 ( Memento from July 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ ^{a b} Tables up to 1963 ( Memento from August 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
25. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Audience statistics are extrapolated using existing figures - taken from With the ring on the chest. P. 255.
26. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Championship final round is included in the audience statistics - taken from With the ring on the chest. P. 255.
27. ^ Association chronicle 1914/15 ( Memento from July 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ ^{a b} Club chronicle 1917/18 ( Memento from August 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
29. ^ Association chronicle 1922/23 ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
30. ^ Association chronicle 1927/28 ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
31. ^ Association chronicle 1929 ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
32. ↑ ^{a b} Club chronicle 1945 ( memento of November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ): How it all began: “Sports capitalists” on coal trains
33. ↑ ^{a b} Peter Stolterfoht: Jersey with brown spots. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . April 6, 2012, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
34. ^ Third verse of the VfB song. Dedicated to VfB by member Wilhelm Ullrich. VfB song ( Memento from May 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
35. ↑ ^{a b} Club chronicle 1944 ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
36. ↑ Harald Jordan: The city and its association . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 254 .
37. ^ Nils Havemann: Football under the swastika. Campus Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-593-37906-7 . limited preview in Google Book search
38. ↑ Hans Dieter Baroth: Stuttgart: Remnants of the stadium become firewood . In: Hans Dieter Baroth (Ed.): Kickoff in ruins. Football in the post-war period and the first years of the upper leagues South, Southwest, West, North and Berlin . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 1990, ISBN 3-88474-454-2 , p. 8-10 .
39. ↑ Gerd Krämer: The first championship . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 114 .
40. ↑ Centenary of Girondins de Bordeaux 1983. In: rsssf.com. Erik Garin, September 29, 2019, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
41. ^ Association chronicle 1988/89 ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
42. ↑ Oliviero Beha: Indagine sul calcio . Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, Milan 2013, ISBN 978-88-586-5561-0 , p. 152 .
43. ↑ VfB plans radical rebuilding. RP Online , March 21, 2000, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
44. ↑ Oliver Trust: New attacks against DFB President Mayer-Vorfelder. Welt , October 31, 2002, accessed December 27, 2014 . 
45. ↑ Peter-Michael Petsch: An association accounts. In: taz . October 31, 2002, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
46. ↑ kicker.de : Supervisory boards in the Bundesliga . Retrieved July 31, 2012.
47. ↑ Björn Brinkmann: Stuttgart: Mayer-Vorfelder should abdicate early. In: world. May 2, 2000, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
48. ↑ Markus Berg: VfB Stuttgart: Hansi Müller also resigns. In: world. January 26, 2001, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
49. ↑ Rangnick resigned - is Magath coming? In: Spiegel Online. February 23, 2001, accessed October 23, 2019 . 
50. ↑ Dieter Hundt new chairman of the supervisory board. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine . October 29, 2002, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
51. ↑ Christian Gross exempted ( memento from August 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
52. ↑ Ex-professional Helmut Roleder wants to become VfB president. In: spox.com. May 23, 2011, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
53. ↑ Gerd Mäuser new VfB President ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
54. ↑ The circle closes. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
55. ↑ Michael Hedstück: VfB Stuttgart wants to sell shares to investors. In: finance-magazin.de. April 3, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017 . 
56. ↑ Change in the board. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, April 10, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
57. ^ Mandate resigned. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, June 17, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
58. ↑ New chairman of the supervisory board elected. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, June 18, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
59. ↑ The board of directors names presidential candidates. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, July 2, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
60. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Wahler is President. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, July 22, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
61. ^ Separation from Bruno Labbadia. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 26, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
62. ↑ Thomas Schneider is the new head coach. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 26, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
63. ↑ The gate falls too late. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, September 25, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
64. ↑ What a shame, a shame, a shame. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 29, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
65. ↑ Patrick Mayer: Stuttgart separates from Fredi Bobic. In: sport. February 10, 2015, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
66. ↑ Armin Veh resigns as head coach. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, November 24, 2014, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
67. ↑ kicker.de : A bang at VfB! Angrier must go . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
68. ↑ Gunter Barner: The next one! Dutt has to go, Luhukay on the approach. In: StN.de. May 17, 2016, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
69. ↑ kicker.de : Schindelmeiser new sports director at VfB . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
70. ↑ Christoph Ruf: Two different worlds. In: Spiegel Online. September 16, 2016, accessed October 23, 2019 . 
71. ↑ Hannes Wolf becomes the new head coach. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, September 20, 2016, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
72. ↑ Heiko Hinrichsen, Gregor Preiß: The 100 million euro question from VfB Stuttgart. In: StN.de. May 31, 2017, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
73. ^ Profile of VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG. In: firmenwissen.de. Retrieved August 4, 2017 . 
74. ↑ VfB ends cooperation with Jan Schindelmeiser. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 4, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
75. ↑ Michael Reschke becomes sports director of VfB Stuttgart. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 5, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
76. ↑ kicker.de : That's how the last few hours went with coach Wolf . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
77. ↑ Bundesliga: Tayfun Korkut is the new coach at VfB Stuttgart. In: Zeit Online. February 20, 2018, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
78. ↑ Network reactions: "Termination is out, season ticket is given away". In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. January 29, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 . 
79. ↑ kicker.de : VfB separates from coach Korkut - Will Weinzierl follow? . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
80. ↑ Michael Reschke recalled, Thomas Hitzlsperger new sports director. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, February 12, 2019, accessed on February 12, 2019 . 
81. ↑ kicker.de : Mislintat is already expected in Stuttgart today . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
82. ↑ VfB Stuttgart parted ways with coach Markus Weinzierl. In: SWR. April 20, 2019, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
83. ↑ VfB separates from Markus Weinzierl. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, April 20, 2019, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
84. ↑ The audience average only refers to the games from the 1st to the 25th matchday, as the remaining nine games took place to the exclusion of viewers due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
85. ↑ Wolfgang Dietrich resigns. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. July 15, 2019, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
86. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Written information by e-mail from July 9, 2012 by Peter Schmid, employee of the historical department of VfB Stuttgart.
87. ↑ Hardy Greens: With the ring on the chest . The history of VfB Stuttgart. 1st edition. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-89533-533-9 , p. 254 .
88. ↑ Statute of the Crown Club Cannstatt.
89. ^ Initiative “Pro old VfB coat of arms”: Retro is in ( Memento from June 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
90. ↑ Tobias Schall: The end of the coat of arms standstill. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. April 19, 2012, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
91. ^ Association FV Stuttgart 1893 born 1894 ( Memento from December 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
92. ^ Association FV Stuttgart 1893 born in 1911 ( Memento from December 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
93. ↑ Activities. In: cc97.de. Commando Cannstatt, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
94. ↑ June 25, 1950. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
95. ↑ June 22, 1952. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
96. ↑ April 17, 1954. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
97. ^ VfB Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (Ed.): November 16, 1958. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
98. ↑ June 21, 1953. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
99. ^ Henrik Lerch: VfB Stuttgart: The breast ring and the sponsors. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. April 17, 2012, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
100. ↑ May 13, 1998. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
101. ↑ Squad 2020/21. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on July 28, 2020 . 
102. ↑ Two changeover periods in summer - the first only lasts one day , kicker.de, June 29, 2020, accessed on June 29, 2020.
103. ↑ The VfB's eleven of the century. In: StN.de. April 2, 2014, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
104. ↑ Gunter Barner: The amateurs - successful, personable and valuable . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 208 .
105. ↑ DFB Cup: 6: 1 - Stuttgart's amateurs take Frankfurt apart. In: Spiegel Online . August 26, 2000, accessed October 23, 2019 . 
106. ↑ U21 Team 2020/2021. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on August 6, 2020 . 
107. ↑ Stadion Aktuell 2002/03 No. 11 of February 23, 2003 ( Memento of March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.6 MB) p. 8.
108. ↑ Gunter Barner: The big, little red ones . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 213 .
109. ↑ Markus Völker: Women's Soccer World Cup: The Fintenweiber. In: taz. June 27, 2011, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
110. ↑ Youth work. In: transfermarkt.de. Retrieved March 4, 2019 . 
111. ↑ For 30 years with VfB ( Memento from August 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
112. ↑ Data & facts. In: mercedes-benz-arenamercedes-benz-arena-stuttgart.de. VfB Stuttgart Arena Betriebs GmbH, accessed on October 24, 2019 . 
113. ↑ Statistics ( Memento from October 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
114. ↑ Visitor statistics ( Memento from February 25, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
115. ↑ 1. Bundesliga - viewers in the database of kicker.de . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
116. ↑ ^{a b} Bundesliga 2013/2014 »Spectators» Home games. In: weltfussball.de. Retrieved October 24, 2019 . 
117. ↑ Audience numbers . In: dfb.de. German Football Association V., September 24, 2018, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
118. ↑ Reiner Schloz: Tough boys and delicate girls . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 260 .
119. ↑ Sound barrier broken ( Memento from December 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
120. ↑ The greatest VfB of all time. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, December 17, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
121. ↑ 70,000 VfB members. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, July 29, 2019, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
122. ↑ Information on the VfB Fritzle Club. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
123. ↑ Südwest Presse Online-Dienst GmbH: Tradition meets modernity . In: swp.de . April 25, 2014 ( swp.de [accessed March 15, 2018]).
124. ↑ wonderful world of football VfB Stuttgart mascot Fritzle celebrates 25th birthday | ZwWdF on YouTube , September 28, 2017, accessed on March 15, 2018  ( page no longer available )
125. ↑ 25 years Fritzle - Krokostark since 1992. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, July 1, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
126. ↑ All the best, Fritzle! In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, August 22, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
127. ↑ SPORT1 users favor Fritzle. In: sport1. October 16, 2015, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
128. ^ Association chronicle 1902 ( Memento from July 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
129. ↑ Treasures of the VfB Archives: The Bronze Lion. (PDF; 4.5 MB) In: Stadion aktuell No. 15 2006/07. VfB Stuttgart 1893 e. V., April 21, 2007, p. 22 , accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
130. ↑ ' Main :: 1956-1957. In: The Kickers Archive. Retrieved October 24, 2019 . 
131. ↑ ^{a b} More than just a game in the grass ( Memento from November 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
132. ↑ Harald Jordan: Athletics - An ancient domain . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 220 .
133. ↑ ^{a b c d} Winni, beat the Swabians! ( Memento from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
134. ↑ Jürgen Bock: Over 100,000 hours of operation by the police in Monday demonstrations. In: StN.de. October 24, 2019, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
135. ↑ Friendship. Scene E Reutlingen 2005, accessed on January 15, 2012 . 
136. ↑ SchwabenSport Marketing becomes the official cooperation partner of the VfB Juniors
137. ↑ The VfB works with the SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the field of talent assessment and development
138. ↑ New cooperation partner in the junior sector
139. ^ Cooperation between VfB and VfR
140. ↑ Another cooperation partner
141. ↑ Two other cooperation partners
142. ↑ Two other cooperation partners
143. ↑ Autograph cards ( Memento from March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
144. ↑ Henrik Lerch: The breast ring and the sponsors. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. March 21, 2013, accessed October 24, 2019 . 
145. ↑ The Mercedes star on the chest. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, April 19, 2012, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
146. ↑ Despite the threat of relegation to the Bundesliga: Mercedes-Benz Bank extends with VfB. In: Focus Online. May 10, 2016, accessed July 1, 2018 . 
147. ↑ JAKO will be the official supplier of VfB Stuttgart from 2019. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, May 14, 2018, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
148. ^ VfB Freundeskreis statutes November 12, 1992.
149. ^ VfB Circle of Friends. In: vfb-freundeskreis.de. Friends of VfB Stuttgart e. V., accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
150. ↑ For 30 years in the service of the cause ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
151. ↑ VfB Freundeskreis is now a registered association. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, March 12, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
152. ↑ New VfB Freundeskreis Board. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, November 30, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
153. ↑ Fistball at VfB Stuttgart - a department with tradition ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) ( MS Word ; 2.0 MB)
154. ↑ Jungfleisch and Heinle in the VfB jersey. In: vfb-leichtathletik.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 e. V., November 10, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
155. ↑ ^{a b} Harald Jordan: Life in the shadow of football . In: 100 years . VfB Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-9802290-4-1 , p. 217/218 .
156. ↑ eSports at VfB. In: vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, July 19, 2017, accessed on October 23, 2019 . 
157. ↑ The world-class player Marcel Lutz. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de 2018-04-06. Retrieved November 29, 2018 . 

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on January 9, 2007 in this version .

Coordinates: 48 ° 47 '22.4 "  N , 9 ° 14' 5.2"  E