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FC Schalke 04

Germany

Fussballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (German: [ef tse: 'Salk@ nUl fi:a] (listen)), Schalke 04 (German: [,Salk@ nUl 'fi:a] (listen)), or abbreviated as S04 (German: ['es nUl fi:a] (listen)), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. "04" in the name is derived from "04" in Schalke's name is derived from the date of its founding in 1904. Schalke are among the most popular professional soccer teams in Germany despite it was a thriving club in the 1930s and the 1940s. Schalke are part of the Bundesliga which is the highest tier of the German football league system since 2022following their promotion out of the 2. Bundesliga in 2021-22. In 2022 the team counts 160,000 members and is the second-largest soccer club within Germany and the fourth largest club worldwide with regards to membership. Other sports provided by the club include basketball, athletics table tennis, handball, winter sports and eSports.

Schalke have been crowned champions seven times: seven German championships Schalke have won five DFB-Pokals One DFB Ligapokal, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. The year 1937 was the time Schalke made history as the only German club to complete the double. Since 2001, the stadium of Schalke has been called the Veltins-Arena. Schalke have been in a long-running battle with Ruhr close neighbors Borussia Dortmund, known as the Revierderby.

1.1. 1904–1927: Schalke's early years

The club was established on the 4th of May 1904 in the name of Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students . They initially, the team wore the colours yellow and red. The team failed to join the Westdeutscher Spielverband (Western German Football Association) and was a part of some of the "wild associations" of the early days of German football. In 1912, after a number of years of failing for admission to the league officially, they joined forces together with gymnastic clubs Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to make it easier for them to join. This arrangement was in place until 1915 which was the year that SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club. The split was not long-lasting and the two clubs merged again in 1919, as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club took home its first trophy in 1923, as winners in the Schalke Kreisliga. At this point that Schalke was given the name Die Knappen, from an old German term meaning "miners" due to the fact that the team attracted most of its supporters and players from coal miners in Gelsenkirchen.

In 1924 the team split with the gymnasts once again and this time, they brought the chairman of the club with the chairman. They were renamed FC Schalke 04 and adopted the popular blue and white jersey and their nickname was derived, Die Konigsblauen (English: The Royal Blues). In the next season, Schalke 04 was the top local team built on a style of play that relied on the short, sharp, and man-to man passing to play the ball. The system was later known for its Schalker Kreisel (English: spinning top or the gyroscope). The system was first used in 1927. took players into the top division of Gauliga Ruhr, on to the league championship and to the opening stages for the finals of national championships.

1.2. 1928–1933: Rise to dominance

The popular club built a new stadium, the Gluckauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the city's support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. They were the first to win their West German championship in 1929 in the year following, but were penalized for exceeding the salaries that were set by the league. They also during a time that was a time when professionalism in sport was considered to be a sin, they was banned from playing for over a year.

The ban, however, did not affect the team's popularity. In their first match following the ban, against Fortuna Dusseldorf, in June 1931, the team was able to draw more than 70,000 people to its home stadium. The fortunes of the club began to increase from 1931 onwards and they even made an appearance in the semi-finals in 1932's German championship, only losing 2 against Eintracht Frankfurt. The following year they made it to the final where Fortuna Dusseldorf proved the better team by winning the match 3-0.

1.3. 1933–1945: The championship years

Following the re-organisation of German football in 1933 under Nazi Germany, Schalke found themselves in the Gauliga Westfalen, 1 of 16 top-flight divisions created to replace the numerous local and regional leagues, all of which claimed top status. This was the most successful year in time: from 1933 until 1942 Schalke would be a participant in 14 out of 18 National finals (ten of them in the German championship and eight in the Tschammerpokal which was the precursor to the current DFB-Pokal) and would win their league in each of its 11 seasons.

The club did not lose an at-home match during the Gauliga Westfalen throughout eleven seasons. They just lost 6 away games as well as remaining unbeaten during the 1935-36, 1936-1937, 1937-38 and 1940-41, as well as the 1938-39, 1940-41, and 1942-43 seasons. This is an indication of the team's dominance.

The first time Schalke won a national title was in 1934, with a winning 2-1 over the favorite 1. FC Nurnberg. In the following year, they were able to defend the title they had won with a win against VfB Stuttgart with a 6-4 victory. The club was not able to make the 1936 final, however, they did make an appearance at the championship final throughout the following six years, winning triumphant in 1939, 1937 1940, 1937 and 1942. In all three of these national championships were played against Austrian teams which included Admira Wien, Rapid Wien and First Vienna - which played in Germany's Gauliga Ostmark following Austria's integration into the Reich after the 1938 Anschluss.

Die Konigsblauen also made frequent appearances in the final of the Tschammerpokal but had less success. They were eliminated from the inaugural Tschammerpokal 2 to 1. FC Nurnberg in 1935. They also missed out at the 1937, 1941 and 1942 finals, with their sole victory being in 1937 over Fortuna Dusseldorf.

In a period of 12 seasons, from 1933 until 1945 Schalke triumphed in 162 out of the 189 Gauliga matches winning 21 games, losing just 6. In that time the team scored 924 goals, and scored just 145 goals. Between 1935 and 1939, they didn't ever lose one league game. The dominance of the club throughout the period caused to them being cited to promote The Nazi government as an illustration in the direction of "new Germany".

1.4. 1945–1959: Football after World War II

With Germany being in turmoil at the close in World War II, Schalke only played two games in 1945. They returned to regular play after the war, and for a short time they continued to be an elite side. They set a record during the national championship round by a 20-0 win over SpVgg Herten, but that indicated more about the weakening state in German football than the skill of the squad. Schalke's performance deteriorated and the most they could achieve during the new Oberliga West in 1947 was sixth place. After 2 years they fell to 12th.

It took Schalke until mid-1950 to regain their form. They came third in a three-way battle for winning the 1954 Oberliga West title. The winner was determined on the final game of the year. The following year, they were at the DFB-Pokal final, but lost 3-2 to Karlsruher SC. The club's subsequent and, to date, the final, German championship came in 1958, when they won 3-0 against Hamburger SV. The large fan base for the team is well recognized in the small church in the city, St. Joseph, located in Gelsenkirchen. The church was renovated following the win in 1958 in which one of the windows depicts Aloysius Gonzaga sporting an football, as well as the uniform along with the colours of Schalke.

1.5. 1960–2000: Entry to the Bundesliga and the Euro Fighters

Schalke continued to be a good team with a string of top four finishes during the period before the establishment of the Bundesliga West Germany's brand new professional, federal league. These results earned them selection as one of the 16 clubs that were admitted to the league's top-flight.

The first few years of their time within the Bundesliga were tough. In 1964-65, they avoided from relegation through the league's expansion into 18 teams. There were several places at the bottom on the list of teams after which they saw a significant improvement in 1971-72which culminated in a second-place finish behind Bayern Munich and after having lead the league for the majority during the year. The same year, Schalke won the DFB-Pokal for the second time in the history of the league.

Despite their better results however, the seeds of an important reversal had already been planted. Some of the team's players as well as administrators were accused of taking payments in bribes as part the widely-publicized Bundesliga scandal in 1971. An investigation found that Schalke were deliberately playing to defeat their 17 May 28th round match in the 28th round against Arminia Bielefeld, 0-1. The result was that a number of Schalke players were barred for the rest of their lives, including three players - Klaus Fischer, "Stan" Libuda and Klaus Fichtel - who regularly were part of"Stan" Libuda and Klaus Fichtel. They were all players for West Germany national team at the time.

Although the sanctions were later reverted to bans that ranged between six months and one year, this incident affected what could have been one of the top German teams in the 1970s. The club was relegated to the park in 1973. team relocated to the Parkstadion constructed to host the 1974 FIFA World Cup and having an capacity of 70,000 fans. Following this scandal, however, the team's performance was not as good. They won a second place finish in 1976-77 but they finished one point in front of the champions Borussia Monchengladbach.

In the beginning of the 1980s, Die Knappen ran into trouble and were forced to drop into the 2nd division in the Bundesliga during the season 1981-82 and, following promotion, they were again promoted in 1983-84. They were promoted into the first tier in the season 1984, but fell back into the second division in 1988. The club returned to Bundesliga during the 1991-92 season and remained in the top league until 2021.

The club won their first trophy since the DFB-Pokal victory in 1972, with their victory during the semi-final of the 1996-1997 UEFA Cup over Inter Milan with penalties. The team was coached by Dutch head coach Huub Stevens The 1997 Schalke team earned the nickname "Euro Fighters" and is being used by supporters. Stevens was not well-known within Germany when he was in Germany, quickly gained himself a fan base among the Schalke fans.

Stevens has successfully implemented the system of discipline that he developed particularly in defence. The motto of his team "Die Null must stehen" (in English, "It must be read as nil") and emphasised the importance of his team's commitment to not concede any goals, has made its way into the language of everyday life in Germany.

1.6. 2000–2014: Top-table mainstay, European semi-final

The beginning of the millennium has seen improved performance from Schalke. Through the 1990s and the early 2000s, Schalke experienced the successful transition into a modern and commercial sports club and became one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Schalke won consecutive DFB-Pokals between 2001-02 and 2000-01. They also finished second on the Bundesliga in the seasons 2000-01, 2004-05, and 2006-07. The end of the 2000-01 season was a sigh of sadness for the Schalke fans since it required an unassisted goal in the 4th minute of the injury clock by Bayern Munich away to Hamburger SV to claim the title away from Die Konigsblauen.

The last couple of years have seen more success for Schalke which placed second in 2005. It was this result that saw Schalke being the second team to play at the UEFA Champions League. Then, Schalke finished in third in the group stage before progressing through their participation in the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by eventual winner Sevilla during the semifinals. The 2005/06 season, Schalke finished in fourth spot within the Bundesliga and then a year later they finished third runners-up, for the second time within the span of seven seasons.

In the 2007-08 campaign, Schalke moved beyond into the Champions League group stage for the first time. They advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Porto with penalties during the Round of 16. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Barcelona in the quarter-finals. losing both away and home matches 1-0.

On October 9, in 2006 Russian energy company Gazprom was named the club's new sponsor. Gazprom stated that it was planning to invest as high as EUR125 million for the club over a five and a half-year time period. Gazprom's sponsorship is seen by some as a political effort to purchase friendship with Germany. In the partnership, Schalke 04 and Zenit Saint Petersburg signed an "partnership agreement" and both clubs plan to collaborate closely in improving issues related to football.

On the 13th of April, 2008, The club made public the demotion of the manager Mirko Slomka following a crushing defeat against Werder Bremen and elimination from the Champions League. The former players Mike Buskens and Youri Mulder were given the charge of one of the teams in an interim capacity. In 2008-09, the Bundesliga year, Schalke signed a new coach in the form of Fred Rutten, previously of Twente. Rutten was signed on a contract through June 2010. Then, in March of 2009 Rutten got fired and the following year, Mike Buskens, Youri Mulder, and Oliver Reck took over the control.

On July 1, 2009, Felix Magath, who had managed VfL Wolfsburg to the top of the league in the Bundesliga and was named the head coach and general manager for the Konigsblauen. This appointment by Magath as manager was accompanied by a multimillion euro expenditure spree, which allowed Schalke to sign internationally renowned forwards like Klaas-Jan Hunterelaar and Raul. Magath's time at Schalke was successful at first, with the team score a lot of goals in the initial several months however, Magath's defensive shortcomings and uncertain selection of his squad was causing him to be unpopular among Schalke fans by the end of December.

On March 16, 2011 Magath was dismissed and replaced by Ralf Rangnick who, prior to that from 2004 to 2005, was in brief stint responsible for the club. Within two weeks of his appointment, Rangnick managed to win 5-2 against Inter Milan at the San Siro during the quarterfinals in the Champions League. Schalke reached the semi-finals which they lost the match 2-0 in the first leg to Manchester United in the first leg , and lost 4-1 in second match. Then, Schalke 04 managed to take home the 2010-11 DFB-Pokal with a crushing victory of 5-0 against MSV Duisburg. The 1st of June 2011 was the day that Schalke's captain Manuel Neuer, made his transfer for Bayern Munich.

On the 22nd of September, 2011 Ralf Rangnick declared his resignation as the head coach at Schalke 04 due to long-term exhaustion. The assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn coached the team as interim manager until the appointment of Huub Stevens on the 27th of September 2011. Stevens' contract was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2013.

Despite his legendary status in the eyes of Schalke fans, Stevens' return to Schalke was met with suspicions, as many feared Stevens was the coach who led Schalke through the 1997 UEFA Cup win with a very defensive approach, might change his approach to attacking in favor of returning to his defensive stance. The fears of supporters were proved to be unfounded. While Schalke had a somewhat inconsistent season, they finished third on the Bundesliga and, consequently, qualified to their place in the UEFA Champions League.

Schalke made a strong beginning in this 2012-13 Bundesliga season. They worked towards a second-place finish in the league in November, which was just a few points ahead of Bayern Munich. The 20th of October was when Schalke went towards Borussia Dortmund to play on match day 8 and managed to beat Borussia Dortmund by a score of 2-1. They were able to earn the club's first Revierderby win since February 2010, while also securing an UEFA Champions League place by finishing in fourth position. For the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League group stage Schalke's opponents were FCSB, FC Basel and Chelsea. Schalke eventually finished the group stage second in the second place, just in second place, behind Chelsea but was eventually eliminated Round of 16. The winner was Real Madrid CF.

The most notable Schalke addition was the signing of Kevin-Prince Boateng , who hails from Milan. After a disappointing start to the season of 2013-14 Bundesliga which saw Schalke placed seventh at the top of the Bundesliga table and an early departure of the 2013-14 DFB-Pokal in the knockout round, the club had the most successful second half of the season since the club's beginning. The season was characterized by numerous injuries to key players, such as Jefferson Farfan and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar throughout the season. The season also brought about discussion about performance-related issues with the head trainer Jens Keller. In part, Schalke fielded up to 10 promising young players that played in the Schalke youth program during the entire season. One of the most promising young players that were discovered during in 2013-14 were Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka. The new Schalke team won 11 of 17 games, accumulating 36 points. In the final stretch of the 2013-14 campaign, Schalke finished third position on the Bundesliga table, allowing them to make their third consecutive UEFA Champions League appearance, something that Schalke has never previously achieved.

On the 7th of October, 2014, following an 1-2 loss in a match against 1899 Hoffenheim in the final match of 2014, and accumulating only eight points in seven games, Keller was sacked and was replaced in the role of Roberto Di Matteo.

1.7. 2014–present: Signs of crisis and eventual relegation

For the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League, Schalke 04 was second in their group, which included Chelsea, Sporting CP and Maribor. In the following round, they played against current champion Real Madrid again in the round of 16, and they lost the opening leg at home by a score of 0-2, however they came out on top 4-3 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. After finishing in sixth place in the 2014-15 campaign, Schalke 04 announced the resignation of the head manager Roberto Di Matteo on 26 May, 2015. Schalke 04 then played in the Europa League, in the years 2015-16 and 2016-17, and was removed in both seasons by Shakhtar Donetsk, and Ajax respectively.

Beginning with the 2017-18 season Domenico Tedesco took over the management position for Schalke 04. In the final stages in the campaign, he was able to guide Schalke 04 in finishing the runners up at Bayern Munich. On July 29, 2018, the captain of the team, Benedikt Howedes, decided to quit the club following more than 10 seasons at Schalke 04. The 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, Schalke 04 were defeated 2-10 in the round of 16 to Manchester City in the round of 16. On March 14, the 14th of March, 2019, Tedesco had been relieved his duties.

On May 9, 2019, David Wagner was appointed as the head coach for Schalke 04 on a three-year contract that runs until June 30, 2022. In the second quarter of the season 2019-20, Schalke set a new club record with 16 league matches without a victory between the 25th of January until the 27th of June in 2020. Despite this loss streak, Wagner remained as manager as did Clemens Tonnies taking a break from his position as chairman of the Schalke supervisory board after 19 years of service. With an escalating financial crisis due to a large amount of debt, and a drop in revenue due to restrictions in place to fight the COVID-19 epidemic Schalke also opted to implement a salary cap for players of EUR2.5 million annually.

Schalke was a struggle to get off the ground throughout the 2020-21 season. After a 4-0 and 8-0 thrashing away against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig and a 1-3 defeat at home to Werder Bremen, Schalke was last in the league after just three matches, scoring only one goal scored and 15 conceded. After just two days of matches, Schalke dismissed David Wagner as coach on the 27th of September following the defeat to Bremen. With 1.08 Average points for each game Wagner was the lowest scoring head coach in Schalke's recent history.

A few days later, Manuel Baum was nominated as Wagner's successor. He was accompanied by Naldo an ex- Schalke player, serving as assistant coach. Baum was the coach who took the reins from Wagner with a winless streak of just 18 matches, was not able to win even a single Bundesliga match between the 12th and 3rd match days. He was dismissed before the 13th match day , which was against Arminia Bielefeld. Huub Stevens was back as the head coach, kicking off his fourth stint. Baum's tenure seen the streak of no wins increase between 18 and 28, Bundesliga games, and brought Schalke close to breaking the record of 31 games without a win that was established by SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin in the season 1965-66. Stevens did not affect Schalke's fortunes after the first game he played, but lost the game on the road with Arminia Bielefeld, themselves in 16th place , and thus in danger of being sacked with relegation, by the score of 0-1.

On the 27th of December, 2020, Schalke 04 announced that they have signed a contract to Swiss coach Christian Gross to be the head coach of Schalke 04 until the end of the season. This will make Gross the fourth coach of Schalke 04 during the 2020-21 season. Under Gross Schalke's streak of losing was not over, as they lost 3-0 in the match against Hertha BSC, marking the 30th straight game that was without a win with an unbeaten streak that lasted 358 days. In the 9th January of 2021, Schalke eventually won over 1899 Hoffenheim that meant they did not match the record of Tasmania Berlin. This was Schalke's sole victory under coach Gross who was dismissed as head coach after only 11 games on February 28 2021 following defeats against Borussia Dortmund (0-4) and VFB Stuttgart (1-5). Borussia Dortmund (0-4) and VFB Stuttgart (1-5). Alongside Gross the sports director Jochen Schneider, team manager Sascha Riether and the assistant coach Rainer Widmayer as well as Fitness coach Werner Leuthard were also relieved of their obligations. With 0.45 point average per game Gross was the most unsuccessful as head coach of Schalke prior to Karl-Heinz Makrotzke's appointment in 1967.

On March 2, 2021 Dimitrios Grammozis was announced as the new coach of Schalke 04. Grammozis began with a draw that was scoreless in the match against Mainz 05, but his team failed to score anything in their subsequent two games, which were lost to 5-0 VfL Wolfsburg and 3-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach. Schalke didn't score in the initial three games under Grammozis, which is a unfavorable record to the club (Helmut Schulte from 1992/93 as well as Markus Weinzierl in 2016-17 also were waiting for their first goal until the fourth game as the head coach of Schalke). When they played Borussia Monchengladbach Schalke lost its fifth goal of the season, another record of negative results.

Affirmation of relegation in the second. Bundesliga is confirmed April 20, 2021, after Schalke 04 fell 1-0 to Arminia Bielefeld, which led to riots from Schalke supporters.

The team, however, Schalke were promoted back to the Bundesliga on the 7th of May in 2022, following a 3-1 win against FC St. Pauli that assured them a top-two place at the top of the table in 2. Bundesliga. Fans took over the field to celebrate.

The following week, Schalke took home the 2. Bundesliga in dramatic fashion following an 88th minute goal by Simon Terodde. Schalke defeated 1. FC Nurnberg 2-1.

2. Sponsors and finances

From 2022, the primary sponsorship for Schalke 04 is China-based electronic manufacturer Hisense. The Russian-based giant of hydrocarbons Gazprom was scuttled in February 2022 because from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other sponsors include the Dusseldorf-based insurance firm ERGO Insurance Group; Munich-based automotive maker BMW as well as its motorbike division BMW Motorrad as well as Spain-based insurance firm for security Reale Seguros; China-based telecommunications company Huawei as well as cyber-based betting and gaming company bet-at-home.com and the beverage giant Coca-Cola as well as the North Rhine Westphalia's brewery Veltins and the present maker of Schalke's team kits German-based Adidas.

In terms of operating earnings, Schalke possesses an operating income of EUR13 million and it has a debt of 12 percent at the time of May 2019. Schalke has the 14th highest revenues for any soccer club around the globe with EUR291 million.

In May of 2019, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-richest football club in the world with a value of EUR683 million, a reduction by 3 percent over the year before.

Schalke 04 is among the Bundesliga teams hit most hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, the club announced that it was in danger of bankruptcy.

3. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

3.1. Current squad

As of 1 September 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Germany GER Ralf Fährmann
2 DF Netherlands NED Thomas Ouwejan
3 DF Austria AUT Leo Greiml
4 DF Japan JPN Maya Yoshida (3rd captain)
5 DF Netherlands NED Sepp van den Berg (on loan from Liverpool)
6 MF Germany GER Tom Krauß (on loan from RB Leipzig)
7 FW Sweden SWE Jordan Larsson
8 MF Germany GER Danny Latza (captain)[57]
9 FW Germany GER Simon Terodde (vice-captain)
10 MF Uruguay URU Rodrigo Zalazar
11 FW Germany GER Marius Bülter
13 GK Germany GER Alexander Schwolow (on loan from Hertha BSC)
17 MF Germany GER Florian Flick
19 FW Turkey TUR Kenan Karaman
20 MF France FRA Florent Mollet
22 DF Mali MLI Ibrahima Cissé
23 MF Germany GER Mehmet-Can Aydın
24 MF Germany GER Dominick Drexler
27 DF Switzerland  SUI Cédric Brunner
28 GK Germany GER Justin Heekeren
29 MF Germany GER Tobias Mohr
30 MF Czech Republic CZE Alex Král (on loan from Spartak Moscow)
34 GK Austria AUT Michael Langer
35 DF Poland POL Marcin KamiÅ„ski
40 FW Germany GER Sebastian Polter
41 DF Germany GER Henning Matriciani
42 MF Germany GER Kerim ÇalhanoÄŸlu

3.2. Out on loan

No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Belgium BEL Dries Wouters (at Mechelen until 30 June 2023)
16 MF Morocco MAR Nassim Boujellab (at HJK until 31 December 2022)
18 MF Kosovo KOS Blendi Idrizi (at Jahn Regensburg until 30 June 2023)
21 FW Germany GER Marvin Pieringer (at SC Paderborn 07 until 30 June 2023)
MF Germany GER Can BozdoÄŸan (at Utrecht until 30 June 2023)
MF Morocco MAR Amine Harit (at Marseille until 30 June 2023)
MF Austria AUT Reinhold Ranftl (at Austria Wien until 30 June 2023)

3.3. Reserve team

No Pos. Nation Player
43 FW Azerbaijan AZE Rufat Dadashov
44 FW Germany GER Sidi Sané
GK Serbia SRB Radomir Novaković
DF Netherlands NED Steven van der Sloot
MF Germany GER Tim Albutat
FW Romania ROU Andreas Ivan
FW Netherlands NED Nelson Amadin

3.4. Notable former players

No, Pos. Nation Player
GK Germany GER Norbert Nigbur
DF Germany GER Klaus Fichtel
DF Germany GER Olaf Thon
DF Germany GER Rolf Rüssmann
MF Germany GER Fritz Szepan
MF Germany GER Ingo Anderbrügge
MF Belgium BEL Marc Wilmots
FW Germany GER Ernst Kuzorra
FW Germany GER Klaus Fischer
FW Germany GER Reinhard Libuda
FW Germany GER Rüdiger Abramczik

3.5. Records

As of 26 May 2021.

3.5.1. Most appearances (Bundesliga)

# Player Nat. Apps
1 Klaus Fichtel Germany 477
2 Norbert Nigbur Germany 355
3 Rolf Rüssmann Germany 304
4 Klaus Fischer Germany 295
Olaf Thon Germany 295
6 Herbert Lütkebohmert Germany 286
7 Gerald Asamoah Germany 279
8 Mike Büskens Germany 257
9 JiÅ™í NÄ›mec Czech Republic 256
10 Benedikt Höwedes Germany 240

3.5.2. Top scorers (Bundesliga)

# Player Nat. Goals
1 Klaus Fischer Germany 182
2 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Netherlands 84
3 Ebbe Sand Denmark 73
4 Kevin Kurányi Germany 71
5 Olaf Thon Germany 52
6 Erwin Kremers Germany 50
7 Ingo Anderbrügge Germany 46
8 Helmut Kremers Germany 45
9 Rüdiger Abramczik Germany 44
Gerald Asamoah Germany 44

4. Stadium

Schalke's stadium, also known as the Veltins-Arena in a sponsorship deal that was signed with Veltins brewery. It was constructed at the end of the year 2001. It can accommodate 62.771 spectators. Schalke regularly attracts sell-out crowds to what is considered to be one of the latest and most multi-purpose stadiums in Europe. The stadium used to be known previously as Arena AufSchalke and replaced the Parkstadion (capacity of 62,000) constructed in 1973. Before that the club played their matches in the Gluckauf Kampfbahn, built in 1928 and with the capacity of 35,000. The stadium served as a venue for amateur match in later times, but with a capacity that was reduced to 5,500.

5. Fan culture

The number of Schalke 04 members Schalke 04 grew from 10,000 in 1991, to 160,000 in 2022. This is what makes Schalke 04 the second-biggest sports club in Germany and the fourth largest sporting club worldwide following Bayern Munich, Benfica, and CA Boca Juniors. Schalke has been rated as being the 30th-best soccer club within Europe and Continental Europe by UEFA's UEFA club rankings. The Schalke 04 membership structure in 2014 revealed the following: the female representation of 20 percent and a percentage of the age range up to ten years old of 14 percent. About 30 percent of Schalke 04's members are not located in North Rhine-Westphalia. Other than Gelsenkirchen (10,197 membership) along with its neighboring towns, Schalke 04 members Schalke 04 also come from cities further away, such as Cologne (1,117), Berlin (932) and Dortmund (800). The high increase in Schalke 04 membership is also supported by the promotion of Schalke 04, as from 2013 to further "advertise Schalke 04 brand".

On the 21st August 2013 Schalke 04 played their first home game in the 2013-14 season, the UEFA Champions League qualifier at the Veltins Arena against Greek winners PAOK (led by ex-head Coach Huub Stevens) with a draw of 1-1. The game and its outcome was much more than masked by a controversial operation conducted by the police within the "S04 Ultras Gelsenkirchen" block of the Veltins Arena against supporters who were home to the club, with over 80 of the supporters of the home team injured. The match returned was won 3-1 by Schalke with no supporters being permitted to attend the game.

5.1. Fan Club Association

Schalke 04 Fan Club Association (SFCV) is an umbrella association, in accordance with their statements estimates 1500 fan clubs. From the list of SFCV 860 Schalke fans clubs (October 2012) with an estimated 200 of them were located in Ruhr as well as 360 across the remainder of North Rhine-Westphalia and 300 in the other states of the federal system. The board member for SFCV holds a seat as a member of the Board for FC Schalke 04 and in 2013 SFCV joined with "Ultras Gelsenkirchen" and later with the supporters' group, Schalke Fan-Initiative eV with several fans from strong fan groups belonging to the SFCV It is evident from the merging with S04 and the SFCV with the section for fans of S04. The latter has not effectively been able to represent the interests of the fans.

5.2. Friendships

The Schalke fan base Schalke is linked in a warm way and with supporters of 1. FC Nurnberg and Dutch club Twente. The connection that exists between the two clubs with Nurnberg is the longest-running connection between two fan-bases of Germany. Before every match between the two clubs the official songs of both clubs are played.

5.3. Club songs

  • Blau and weiss Wie adore ich Dich ("Blue And White I Love You") is the official club track.
  • Das Steigerlied, traditional German mining song, is played prior to every game.
  • Blau and Weiss a Leben long ("Blue and white, a life-long") will be the aim of the song.
  • Konigsblauer S04 ("Royal Blue S04") played after every match
  • The most popular unofficial chants are

    • Der Mythos vom Schalker Markt ("The Myth of the Schalke Market"),
    • Opa Pritschikowski ("Grandpa Pritschikowski"),
    • Von der Emscher to the Bosporus ("From to the Emscher up to Bosphorus"),
    • Wir schlugen Roda... ("We beat Roda..."),
    • Die Eurofighter sind wieder da ("The Eurofighter are back again"),
    • Fur deine Farben leben und sterben wir ("For your colours we live and die"),
    • Wir lieben alle nur den FC Schalke ("We all love only FC Schalke"),
    • Wir sind the"Fans" ("We are the Fans"),
    • Hurra, we are the Schalker Knappen ("Hurray that we're the Schalke Knappen"),
    • Kohle unter unser'n Fussen ("Coal under our feet"), and
    • Steht on, if ihr Schalker is ("Stand up If You're Schalke") Sung to the beat that is "Go west" from The Pet Shop Boys (itself a version of a Village People song).

5.4. Revierderby

The Revierderby is the rivalry between local clubs Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund Both are located in the crowded Ruhr region. Due to the small geographic distances between the two clubs (roughly 30 km) and the fact that fans from opposing clubs usually have a meeting in their daily lives. The term can be employed in any match between two football clubs from the Ruhr region (such as VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiss Essen or MSV Duisburg), but the term is usually linked to an ongoing rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund because of the derby's reputation and popularity. Some fans believe that winning the derby can be more significant than what happens in the Bundesliga.

6. In popular culture

Schalke was the featured in a feature-length documentary known as Fussball ist unser Leben ("Football is our life"), which was released in 1999. The actors Uwe Ochsenknecht as well as Ralf Richter Both of them in the film that won awards Das Boot played the main role, while a variety of people who were associated with Schalke played cameo roles like manager Rudi Assauer and players Huub Stevens as well as Helmut Schulte, and player Yves Eigenrauch. In addition, there were famous supporters such as Manfred Breuckmann, Ulrich Potofski or DJ Hooligan. It's a fun comedy about "Hans" the Schalke fanatic and his three friends who are involved in kidnapping and attempt to re-invigorate the team's superstar athlete "Di Ospeo" and in the process, bet Hans his home on the fact that they'll score during the final game. A few critics thought Football is our Life as "one of the most sour German comedy films ever".

"Schalke" is featured in the movie Das Boot when the bosun informs the team in their ward room "I have bad news for you guys. Schalke was defeated 5-0 and it looks like we'll not be making Final this time."

7. Honours

As per detail below.

7.1. Domestic

German Championship

  • Winners: 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958

DFB-Pokal/German Cup

  • Winners: 1937, 1971–72, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2010–11

DFB-Ligapokal/German League Cup

  • Winners: 2005

DFL-Supercup/German Super Cup

  • Winners: 2011

2. Bundesliga

  • Winners: 1981–82, 1990–91, 2021–22

7.2. International

UEFA Cup

  • Winners: 1996–97

UEFA Intertoto Cup

  • Winners: 2003, 2004

7.3. UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 30 June 2022

Rank Nation Team Points
93  Belarus FC BATE Borisov 17,500
94  Norway FK Bodø/Glimt 17,000
95  Germany Schalke 04 17,000
96  Austria SK Rapid Wien 16,000
97  Belgium R. Standard de Liège 16,000

7.4. Youth

Domestic

Under 19 Bundesliga

  • Winners: 1976, 2006, 2012, 2015
  • Runners-up: 1975, 1980, 1981

Under 19 Bundesliga West

  • Winners: 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Under 17 Bundesliga

  • Winners: 1978, 2002
  • Runners-up: 1977, 1980

Under 17 Bundesliga West

  • Winners: 2013

7.5. Double

  • 1937: Championship and Cup

8. Corporate structure

As of 10 January 2022

Managing board
Role Person
Chairman Germany Bernd Schröder
Sport and Communications Germany Peter Knäbel
Finance Germany Christina Rühl-Hamers
Coaching staff
Role Person
Head coach Germany Frank Kramer
Assistant head coach Germany Sven Piepenbrock
Germany Matthias Kreutzer
Goalkeeping coach Netherlands Wil Coort
Athletics coach Germany Jörn Menger
Germany Michael Schwerhoff
Germany Alexander Storck
Analyst Germany Lars Gerling

 

9. Notable coaches

Name Nationality From To Honours
Hans Schmidt  Germany 1 July 1933 12 June 1938 3 German championships (1934, 1935, 1937)
German championship runners-up (1933, 1938)
5 Gauliga Westfalen championships (1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938)
1 Tschammerpokal (1937); runners-up (1935, 1936)
Otto Faist  Germany 13 July 1938 31 December 1942 3 German championships (1939, 1940, 1942)
German championship runners-up (1941)
4 Gauliga Westfalen championships (1939, 1940, 1941, 1942)
Tschammerpokal runners-up (1941, 1942)
Ernst Kuzorra  Germany 1 July 1946 30 September 1947  
Fritz Szepan  West Germany 1 July 1949 30 June 1954 1 Oberliga West championship (1951); runners-up (1952)
Edi Frühwirth  Austria 1 July 1954 30 June 1959 1 German championship (1958)
1 Oberliga West championship (1958); runners-up (1956)
DFB-Pokal runners-up (1955)
Ivica Horvat  Yugoslavia 1 July 1971
1 July 1978
30 June 1976
17 March 1979
Bundesliga runners-up (1971–72)
1 DFB-Pokal (1971–72)
Huub Stevens  Netherlands 8 October 1996
27 September 2011
14 March 2019
18 December 2020
30 June 2002
16 December 2012
30 June 2019
22 December 2020
Bundesliga runners-up (2000–01)
2 DFB-Pokals (2000–01, 2001–02)
1 UEFA Cup (1997)
DFB-Ligapokal runners-up (2001, 2002)
Felix Magath  Germany 1 July 2009 16 March 2011 Bundesliga runners-up (2009–10)
1 DFL-Supercup (2010)