They have never won anything, both have always been noted for their scrappy play and fighting spirit since their promotion to the top flight in 1971. They remained for over 20 straight seasons. However, in the last few years they have really bounced around like a yoyo.
1998-99 continued the downward trend. After about half of season of decent results, Bochum started to slip into the danger zone, and once they got there, they basically gave up. Hello 2.Liga. But once again, their stay was short lived. Collapsing after a quick start, the team pulled itself together and sailed through the 2.Liga, qualifying with a couple of games to spare. But the elevator ride continued, as they were too crap and finished the 2000 season dead last in the Bundesliga. But they didn't remain in the doldrums. They bounced back quickly, and in 2004 qualified for the UEFA-Cup, after one of their best seasons ever. But by selling their top players, they essentially doomed themselves and got back on the elevator.
Full Name | Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft e.V. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
City | Bochum
(Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 390,000 (2002).
vAddress |
Castroper Straße 145, Postfach 10 28 22, 44728 Bochum | Phone: (0234) 951818 Fax: (0234) 951895 e-mail: info@vfl-bochum.de Colors |
Usually rather sane, blue shirt with white trim, blue shorts, white socks.
However starting 97-98, they decided they needed to join the "Rainbow
coalition", as undoubtedly some of their bureaucrats visited San
Francisco. So they added red, orange, green, yellow, and purple
hortizontal bars on the jersey. They looked like clowns. Sanity has since
prevailed, and they're back to traditional blue. | Stadium |
Ruhrstadion Capacity: 32,645 (16,756 seats)
| Tickets |
Range from 25 Euros for the best seats, down to 8 Euros for standing room.
(2003/04).
You
can write to the office for tickets, and the box office at the stadium is
open M-F 10:00am-6:00pm. You can also order online.
| Supporters |
The official web site trumpets "the best fans in the Bundesliga", which is
laughable. But VfL does have strong fan support, and at least 60 official
fan clubs. Averaged 27,000 in 2004. | The official fan rep can be contacted at e-mail: fanbeauftragter@vfl-bochum.de Friends |
If I'm not mistaken, there is actually fan sympathy with Bayern
München, which is unique among German (non-Bayern) soccer fans.
|
Foes |
Enemies with basically all other Ruhr clubs.
| Heroes |
A few German internationals, such as Darius Wosz, Josef
Tenhagen. Not capped, but goal scoring forward Hans Walitza was
key in the early 70s in Bochums rise into the Bundesliga. | Zeroes |
| Beer |
Fiege, a local brewery.
They have a Stammhaus on Bongardstraße that
supposedly has decent food. This is what you'll be drinking at the
stadium. There is a beer/supporters club with it's own website www.fiege-fanatics.de. Another
popular local brew is Vest. In the late 1990s,
Kronen, a Dortmunder beer, was an official sposnor at one time, but
apparently the Bochumers decided they were a Trojan Horse...
| Pub Grub |
If you're not catching a bite at the stadium, head for the city center,
which has several places to choose from.
| The Net |
The official site is
www.vfl-bochum.de
| |
1963-64 (III) Amateurliga Westfalen 2nd
1964-65 (III) Amateurliga Westfalen 1st
1965-66 (II) Regionalliga West 12th
1966-67 (II) Regionalliga West 4th
1967-68 (II) Regionalliga West 5th
1968-69 (II) Regionalliga West 3rd
1969-70 (II) Regionalliga West 1st
1970-71 (II) Regionalliga West 1st
1971-72 (I) Bundesliga 9th
1972-73 (I) Bundesliga 12th
1973-74 (I) Bundesliga 14th
1974-75 (I) Bundesliga 11th
1975-76 (I) Bundesliga 14th
1976-77 (I) Bundesliga 15th
1977-78 (I) Bundesliga 14th
1978-79 (I) Bundesliga 8th
1979-80 (I) Bundesliga 10th
1980-81 (I) Bundesliga 9th
1981-82 (I) Bundesliga 10th
1982-83 (I) Bundesliga 13th
1983-84 (I) Bundesliga 15th
1984-85 (I) Bundesliga 9th
1985-86 (I) Bundesliga 9th
1986-87 (I) Bundesliga 11th
1987-88 (I) Bundesliga 12th
1988-89 (I) Bundesliga 15th
1989-90 (I) Bundesliga 16th
1990-91 (I) Bundesliga 14th
1991-92 (I) Bundesliga 15th
1992-93 (I) Bundesliga 16th
1993-94 (II) 2.Liga 1st
1994-95 (I) Bundesliga 16th
1995-96 (II) 2.Liga 1st
1996-97 (I) Bundesliga 5th
1997-98 (I) Bundesliga 12th
1998-99 (I) Bundesliga 17th
1999-00 (II) 2.Liga 2nd
2000-01 (I) Bundesliga 18th
2001-02 (II) 2.Liga 3rd
2002-03 (I) Bundesliga 9th
2003-04 (I) Bundesliga 5th
2004-05 (I) Bundesliga 16th
2005-06 (II) 2.Liga 1st
2006-07 (I) Bundesliga 8th
2007-08 (I) Bundesliga 12th
2008-09 (I) Bundesliga 14th
2009-10 (I) Bundesliga 17th
2010-11 (II) 2.Liga 3rd Lost promotion playoff to M'Gladbach
2011-12 (II) 2.Liga
(c) Abseits Guide to Germany : www.abseits-soccer.com