FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg.

A merger between Augsburg's two top clubs, TSV Schwaben and BC Augsburg The idea was being discussed from the beginning of the 1940s. However, a lack of trust between the two clubs and fears that one club would take over the merger made each side hesitate despite the financial difficulties each club was in. The first formal reunion between the two clubs took place in the year 1964. with both clubs had been eliminated from the top tier of football at that time. The management for the club with multi sports Schwaben was in complete agreement with the merger, but the club's football team was not , and yet again the process of the formation of FCA was put on hold. In the past, BCA saw itself as an 'working-class' club that was based in northern Augsburg and Schwaben is the one for the wealthier and more wealthy in the south of Augsburg, and the river Wertach being a sort of border between the two clubs' regions.

In 1968 in the year 1968, with BCA struggling to make it into the third division following their demotion from professional football in the previous year and the upcoming move to Schwaben A second attempt was also made. On April 29, 1969, an high-level discussion between the two club's managers led to the decision to join both clubs, and to give the new club the name of FC Augsburg. FCA would be an exclusively solely a football club with no other department for sports. The mayor of the time in Augsburg, Hans Breuer, was one of the main driving factors behind the decision.

The merger took place during a period of decline for both sides. Schwaben was just relegated from the tier-2 Regionalliga Sud and decided that trying to return to their status was financially unattainable and BCA was just a hair short of getting promoted to the league during the previous season. Then, in June, 265 out of the BCA's members present voted in favor of the merger as soon after the vote, 75 percent of Schwaben's members also voted in favor of the motion.

Schwaben, however, went to go with Schwaben, however, chose the "small solution"--the club would remain independent , with its football department integrating to form the newly formed club. However, this was not widely embraced by this club. There were a few former members joining an entirely new club football team, Eintracht Augsburg, and restarting at the bottom at the bottom of the ladder. Because of this, FCA is not generally considered to continue the tradition from TSV Schwaben, only those of BC Augsburg. In the year following the players from Eintracht joined Schwaben however, until then it has remain an amateur club. It took the newly formed football club until 1981 before they could get its third division status back and to join FCA to play league football for the first time. They also revived their participation in the Augsburg derby.

The brand new FCA had its first game on the 30th of July, 1969 in which it played 1. FC Nurnberg in Augsburg in front of 13,000spectators, but lost 3-3 in extra time.

Following the establishment of the team in 1969, the team was expected to spend the majority all of their time tier two and three leagues: the Bayernliga, Regionalliga Sud and the 2. Bundesliga. The new team is now concentrating Augsburg's football team, had not a quick success. The fourth place finish in the league, and declining number of supporters proved that the newly formed side was not yet a popular choice within the city. The next campaign, FCA finished one place higher in the league, however with an average attendance that was 300 fans per game, the team struggled to keep the best players. The 1971-72 season was a further decrease, with an eighth-place finish however the team improved, and won the league in the following season and bringing professional football back to the town. The team had gained acclaim in the town . And, during the final game during the campaign, more than 15,000 people attended in celebration of the Bayernliga title.

The 1973-74 season witnessed the return one of Augsburg's top footballers to the city. the FCA's former German international Helmut Haller come back to his club following more than 11 years spent in Italy with Bologna as well as Juventus. FCA offered DM 44,000 to secure the transfer of Haller.

FCA was a huge successful team in the Regionalliga which saw an average attendance of more than 22,000 fans for home games. When FCA traveled to Munich to play 1860 Munich in the then-new Olympic Stadium at the time, 80,000 fans attended the match and began what continues to be as an intense rivalry between two clubs. FCA was dominant throughout the season, ultimately winning the league title in a newly promoted team. The atmosphere of Augsburg had a sense of joy and the media reported the atmosphere at the stadium, stating "Augsburg as one of the Napoli for Germany."

Augsburg was selected for the promotion round of the Bundesliga by virtue of its league title, and played four other teams to determine the single vacant spot in the first division. FCA lost points at home, and was drawn three times over the course of four matches. At home, the team was defeated only once, to Rot-Weiss Oberhausen. However, they finished second, just one point in front of Tennis Borussia Berlin, who was promoted. However, FCA had qualified for the southern division of the brand new 2. Bundesliga by virtue of the league title.

The glory of 1973-74 was swiftly replaced by relegation issues in the 2. Bundesliga. The following five seasons were marked by lower table results, the temporary removal of Helmut haller and frequent replacements of the managers. The club in 1978-79 failed to stay out of the relegation process in spite of Haller aged of 40, playing for FCA one final time. The club, following six years as a second-tier club was relegated in the Bayernliga.

FCA was successful in breaking the fall and claim its first Bavarian league title, which earned them promotion into the 2. Bundesliga right away in 1979-80. Additionally the team was also able to participate in the German amateur football championship which they made it all up to the final, but lost to Stuttgart's reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. However, the club's move back to the second division faced an obstacle of major importance. The 2. Bundesliga was established in 1981. It was set to be one division, and with less clubs than before. This meant that FCA needed to meet the qualification norms it was not an easy feat for a team that had just been promoted. FCA was ranked 18th in the 1980-81 season but not enough to stay in the league during an ordinary season and definitely not enough in the year 1981.

The club again was victorious in the Bavarian league in the first round beating Schwaben in the initial two Augsburg league derbies after 1968. They were now required to participate in an election round to decide which two teams would be promoted from four Southern German league champions. FCA finished second behind FSV Frankfurt and then returned in the second. Bundesliga yet again despite gate receipts being processed in the match with FC 08 Homburg by the tax department due to the outstanding debts. But the team did not have the strength for the level they were playing at and was sent to the bottom of the table with a slightly lower score than the 16th placed Union Solingen, lacking three goals that could save them. Augsburg was to play its final season in the second-tier for more than half century.

FCA was scheduled to spend the next 11 seasons more in Bavaria's top league which was the Bayernliga that was still in the third tier of football played that was played in Bavaria. As the league slowed down the second divisions' numbers of five from 1974 to just one in 1981, a lot of Bavarian clubs that previously played at a higher level fallen to the current level and the there was a lot of competition. significantly higher than it was previously: 1860 Munich, SpVgg Bayreuth, SpVgg Furth, Jahn Regensburg, MTV Ingolstadt, FC Schweinfurt 05 and Bayern Hof had all played together with Augsburg within the 2. Bundesliga in recent times.

Although the club was considered to be one of the best teams within the Bundesliga, a second title did not be attainable; a second-place finishing in 1985 was the top result, only one point ahead of the champions SpVgg Bayreuth. Also, the club has had several managers but been able to settle into the Bayernliga for long enough, it seemed. It was only after Armin Veh became the manager of the team in 1991 that the fortunes for the team began to improve, and not be harmed by the fact that 1860 Munich made its "escape" from the league and then returned to professional football the following year.

As of 1993, it took home its first and only national championship in 1993, when 1. FC Kaiserslautern was defeated in the German U-19 final of the championship.

As of 1994, they tried another shot at promotion during the year that ended promotion play-offs. This time, they were in the 2. Bundesliga. But this time, the Bavarian champion was not included with different Southern German clubs as in the past, and faced strong clubs from the northern section, which comprised Eintracht Braunschweig and Fortuna Dusseldorf. Although they were overmatched and ineligible to make it to the next round, they enjoyed a huge support from the region, with more than 20,000 people attending the matches. Even though their performance wasn't enough to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga, FCA did qualify for the brand new Regionalliga Sud, which was located in between the 2nd division and Bayernliga as the third division.

Augsburg began the four seasons in the league of new players as a mid-table team but never making it to the ranks of promotion. The fifth season was a down year in the squad, which led to them finishing 14th and two points away from an relegation position.

The next year was more a qualifying year, with Regionalligas reduced from four to just two. FCA met the requirement of playing on the field by finishing in eighth place, the highest Regionalliga performance to date. However, financially FCA was in a dire state, and there was a good chance of folding. Although the threat to fold was avoided, FCA was refused a Regionalliga license after a potential investor pulled out, in the process and then The German Football Association (DFB) transferred it to Bayernliga which is now the fourth stage. The main sponsor Infomatec who had pledged to offer an DM three million guarantee to FCA in exchange for a licence from the DFB but was unable to make that promise and, despite being facing outstanding debts in the amount of DM 1.8 million the club was not in a financial position to secure an Regionalliga license.

The financial rescue came in by Walther Seinsch who was a local businessman who became the club's chairman and brought an efficient financial management system at the club. They were able put together a team that was competitive in the Bayernliga again and was able to secure promotion to the Regionalliga in the second season in 2002.

The team continued to be a force within the 3rd division securing the top four finishes throughout the subsequent four seasons. FCA came close to being promoted to the 2. Bundesliga the year 2005. However, they missed the chance after conceding 2 goals against Jahn Regensburg within the final 4 minutes in their last game in the league. The club won this year's Regionalliga Sud the next year by taking the title and winning their place in the 2. Bundesliga during the season of 2006/07.

It was their first time on the 2. Bundesliga in over 23 years. The team finished with a seventh-place finish with 52 points, just eight points from being promoted to the top division. The game in 1860 Munich was the highlight of the season, as Augsburg won 3-0 for Augsburg in the presence of 69,000 fans at the Allianz Arena. Ralf Loose was appointed to replace Rainer Horgl as the head manager in the month of October after the club was in the Relegation zone. The contract of Loose was terminated on April 16, 2008 following an uncharacteristic string of poor results. He was replaced by Holger Fach just two days later. The club was able to avoid relegation due to average goals scored, which was equal points with the relegated club Kickers Offenbach at the end of the season.

The home for the FCA, Rosenau Stadion, constructed from World War II rubble, finally found its long-awaited rest in 2009 after the stadium was reconstructed. The new arena also played host to games during this year's FIFA Women's World Cup.

The club was managed by Dutch coach Jos Luhukay Augsburg had a great season in 2009-10. Augsburg reached the semi-finals in the DFB-Pokal and also finished second in the 2. Bundesliga which enabled Augsburg to play in 1. FC Nurnberg for Bundesliga promotion. In just two games FC Nurnberg held the upper hand , and FCA was left to wait for another year. At the end of the 2010-11 season FC Augsburg finished second in the league and was elevated into the Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history.

On the 15th of October, the 15th of October, 2011 FCA was the first team to win in the Bundesliga, beating Mainz 05 1-0. On the 28th of April, 2012 FCA continued to be an official Bundesliga club for the second time with one game left. A week later, Luhukay resigned from the FCA job, citing concerns regarding the future of the club for the cause. On the 17th of May, 2012 the team named Markus Weinzierl as its new manager.

In the 2nd Bundesliga year, FCA struggled even more than it did in the first and only managed to score nine points over the initial half in the campaign. Yet, FCA secured its top-flight survival in its final match this season, in the final game of the season against Greuther Furth with a 3-1 victory.

The 2013-14 season saw FCA was eighth on the table. FCA also tried with no success for an UEFA Europa League place rather than fighting to avoid the possibility of being relegated.

FCA began their 2014-15 season by losing the first round DFB-Pokal defeat to amateur fourth division team 1. FC Magdeburg.

FCA was selected for their participation in the 2015-16 Europa League after finishing fifth in the 2014-15 Bundesliga the club's best ever result. After a 3-1 home victory in their final group game on Partizan, FCA advanced to the knockout stages in the tournament for only the first time, having been assigned to Liverpool for the final round. After a goalless start of the match at WWK ARENA Augsburg was beaten by a close 1-0 loss to Liverpool, who were the final Europa League runners-up at Anfield.

On the 2nd of June, the 2nd of June, Markus Weinzierl left FC Augsburg to take charge of Schalke 04, followed by the signing immediately to Dirk Schuster (then-outgoing manager at Darmstadt in Darmstadt, 98) to succeed him.

He was then succeeded by Manuel Baum on 14 December 2016. He was able to guide FCA to the best start in Bundesliga time of Augsburg.

Augsburg's kits tend to be predominantly white, but green and red kits being seen from time to time.

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Detail of the players as below mentioned.

As of 5 September 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL RafaÅ‚ Gikiewicz 2 DF  POL Robert Gumny 3 DF  DEN Mads Valentin 4 DF  ENG Reece Oxford 5 MF  GER Tobias Strobl 6 DF  NED Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (captain) 7 FW  GER Florian Niederlechner 8 MF  ECU Carlos Gruezo 9 FW  BIH Ermedin Demirović 10 MF  GER Arne Maier 11 FW  GER Mërgim Berisha (on loan from Fenerbahçe) 13 MF  GER Elvis Rexhbeçaj 14 MF  AUT Julian Baumgartlinger 16 MF   SUI Ruben Vargas 17 FW  NGA Noah Sarenren Bazee 19 DF  GER Felix Uduokhai 20 MF  GER Daniel Caligiuri 21 FW  GER Lukas Petkov 22 DF  BRA Iago 23 DF  GER Maximilian Bauer 24 MF  FIN Fredrik Jensen 25 GK  GER Daniel Klein 26 DF  DEN Frederik Winther 28 FW  GER André Hahn (vice-captain) 30 MF  GER Niklas Dorsch 32 DF  GER Raphael Framberger 39 GK  GER Benjamin Leneis 40 GK  CZE Tomáš Koubek 42 DF  GER Aaron Zehnter

The most recent manager at the club:

Period	Manager
1 July 1980 – 31 March 1981	Heinz Elzner
31 March 1981 – 31 May 1981	Heiner Schuhmann (interim)
1 July 1982 – 30 June 1984	Hannes Baldauf
1 July 1984 – 30 June 1986	Paul Sauter
Oct 1986 – March 88	Heiner Schuhmann
25 February 1989 – 4 October 1989	Helmut Haller
5 October 1989 – 6 December 1989	Jimmy Hartwig
22 January 1990 – 30 April 1990	Dieter Schatzschneider
1 May 1990 – 31 May 1990	Gernot Fuchs
1 June 1990 – 30 June 1995	Armin Veh
7 May 1995 – 30 June 1995	Helmut Riedl
1 July 1995 – 24 September 1996	Karsten Wettberg
25 September 1996 – 31 December 1996	Helmut Riedl
1 January 1997 – 18 April 1998	Hubert Müller
19 April 1998 – 30 June 1998	Helmut Riedl
1 July 1998 – 30 June 1999	Gerd Schwickert
1 July 1999 – 1 December 1999	Alfons Higl
2 December 1999 – 31 December 1999	Heiner Schuhmann (interim)
1 January 2000 – 30 June 2000	Hans-Jürgen Boysen
1 July 2000 – 30 June 2002	Gino Lettieri
1 July 2002 – 28 September 2003	Ernst Middendorp
13 October 2003 – 26 September 2004	Armin Veh
27 September 2004 – 25 September 2007	Rainer Hörgl
1 October 2007 – 16 April 2008	Ralf Loose
18 April 2008 – 13 April 2009	Holger Fach
14 April 2009 – 30 June 2012	Jos Luhukay
1 July 2012 – 2 June 2016	Markus Weinzierl
2 June 2016 – 14 December 2016	Dirk Schuster
14 December 2016 – 9 April 2019	Manuel Baum
9 April 2019 – 9 March 2020	Martin Schmidt
10 March 2020 – 26 April 2021	Heiko Herrlich
26 April 2021 – 14 May 2022	Markus Weinzierl

Augsburg Arena is currently referred to by its commercial name, the WWK Arena (German spelling [,ve:ve'ka:?a,Re.na and officially referred to by the name of WWK ARENA) can be described as a stadium for football that is located in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It is mostly used for football matches , and hosts home matches for FC Augsburg.

The stadium is capable of 30,660, with 19,060 seats and the capacity to stand for 11,034. The second stage of construction could boost the capacity to 49,000 seats in the near future. It replaces the previous venue, Rosenaustadion. FC Augsburg played their first game at the stadium in the year 2009.

When the stadium was being designed and building the stadium, it was named "Augsburg Arena" ['aUksbURk?a,Re:naIt was formerly known as "Augsburg Arena. It was first opened in the year "Impuls Arena" ([Im'pUls ?a,Re:nawhich is officially known in the form of impuls arena) The name was changed to "SGL Arena" ([,esge:'?el ?a,Re:naofficial stylised as SGL arena) following the time that SGL Carbon acquired the naming rights for the stadium in May 2011. The contract had a duration of seven years and started at the beginning of July 1st, 2011. The 1st of July, 2015 was the date that the rights to name the stadium were purchased by WWK an insurance company. They changed the stadium's official name in "WWK Arena".

Augsburg is one of the host cities for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup as well as the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Its Impuls Arena was also the site for a number of matches in the group stage as well as the quarterfinals. In the FIFA competitions, it was changed to "FIFA Women's World Cup Stadium Augsburg". The stadium has played host to just one Germany national team game , and was named"the "Anfield in the road B17" in the aftermath of FCA's Europa League Last 32 First Leg game against Liverpool.

WWK Arena was the very first football stadium with no carbon footprint anywhere in the globe. Carbon neutrality was achieved with the help of six eco-friendly heat pumps (40 meters deep) that produce the desired temperature using heat exchangers. Bio natural gas boiler provides the required energy during times of high load at games. The year 2017 will see a brand new stadium's facade will be constructed in WWK Arena. WWK Arena.

The most recent five season-by-season performances for the team:

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2. Bundesliga

• Runners-up: 2010–11

Regionalliga Süd (II-III)

• Champions: 1973–74, 2005–06

Bayernliga (III-IV)

• Champions: 1972–73, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1993–94, 2001–02
• Runners-up: 1984–85

DFB-Pokal

• Semi-finals: 2009–10

Schwaben Cup (Tiers III-V)

• Winners: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–1972, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05
• Runners-up: 1991–92

Under 19 Bundesliga

• Champions: 1992–93

Under 17 Bundesliga

• Runners-up: 1978–79

Under 19 Bayernliga

• Champions: 1977–78, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1996–97, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2015–16
• Runners-up: 1975–76, 1978–79, 1988–89, 2004–05, 2008–09

Under 17 Bayernliga

• Champions: 1978–79, 1980–81, 1994–95, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2014–15
• Runners-up: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1990–91, 2007–08, 2009–10

Under 15 Bayernliga

• Champions: 1995–96, 2009–10
• Runners-up: 1980–81, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1996–97

As per detail below.

The largely indifferent results of the older team is offset by the performance of the youth team that won the national championship for the under-18's group in 1993. It was the only non-Bundesliga side to do so. They also won 4 Cup title in the 1990s in the beginning under the direction under the coach Heiner Schuhmann. When Schuhmann left for Bayern Munich, the golden time of FCA youth football ended , and FCA could not get back to the level it was in. The formation of Under 19 Bundesliga (2004) and the Under 17 Bundesliga (2007) The club's youth teams dropped to second division however, they came back and in 2013-2014, the youth team were part of their own Under 19 Bundesliga and Under 17 Bundesliga as the first level of football for youth in Germany at the respective age levels.

The reserve team at the club enjoyed the greatest success prior to the merger. They played, under the name of BC Augsburg Amateure, for an entire year in the Southern Division of the Amateurliga Bayern in 1962-63. Sixth place in the division permitted the team to join the unification Bavarian league in the year following but, in conjunction with the demise of the senior team the reserve team was relegated as well in the 17th position.

The club retreated into lower amateur leagues afterwards however, it returned to the Bundesliga Bayern-Sud in the year 1976. It finished runners-up during its inaugural season. It is now known being known as FC Augsburg Amateure. In 1978, however the club was delegated yet again, and did not ever return to the same level for nearly a quarter of decade. However, it did win it's Schwaben Cup in 1977 and qualified for the opening stage of the 1977-1978 DFB-Pokal. After a series of away wins against second division team Arminia Hannover and fellow amateur side 1. FC Normannia Gmund in the initial 2 rounds of the tournament, this team advanced to the third round, but it fell 0-4 against Hertha BSC.

Following their founding as a part of the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben in 1988, the team was cut off at the close of the season, and then disbanded completely and did not return for over 10 years.

In 2004, the team was once again in the Landesliga Bayern-Sud generally getting good results, eventually getting moved into the Regionalliga Bayern in the conclusion in the season 2011-12.