Rathenow did have some footballing success before WW-II. In 1906, a local club SV Rathenow 06 was founded, and they merged with the gymnastics club Vater Jahn to form VfL Rathenow in the 1930s. In 1939, they had their highest achievement, promotion to the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg. After WW-II, some ex-players established themselves as the GDR squad BSG Mechanik, which became BSG Motor in 1953. The team basically kicked around in the lower divisions of GDR football.
In 1990, with the reunification, things started to go bad financially. The Rathenow Optics Works was struggling, and could no longer afford to run a club - which hads been renamed SV Optik after the fall of the wall. As a result, for the first time, the players actually had to work in the factory, so many started leaving to other clubs. In order to salvage a bad situation, the soccer section split into an independent club - FSV Optik. Although they were without financial resources, they were no longer solely dependent on the firm's largesse. To everyone's surprise, FSV Optik managed to compete on the field - in fact, by 1994 they had sensationally advanced to the Regionalliga. They again suprised observers by managing to stay up the first season, but the next year they were relegated. The best players were lured away by other clubs, and FSV could only establish themselves in the Oberliga.
Fullname |
Fußball Sportverein Optik Rathenow e.V.
City |
Rathenow (Brandenburg). Pop: 28,500
(2002). West of Berlin.
| Address |
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 10-11, 14712 Rathenow | Phone: (03385) 3248 Colors |
Green jersey with black trim, white breast. Black or green shorts, socks.
| Stadium |
Vogelgesang Capacity: 10,000 announced - but | It started around 1900 as a horse-racing field. Eventually a wooden stand was built, with about 400 seats. In 1994, it was destroyed by vandals during the Optik-Union Berlin match. The structure was closed by the city works department, and eventually torn down. In 2006, construction was supposed to start on new facilities, as the field had fallen into a decripit state. Progress has been slow, due to lack of money. But by mid 2007, they had at least put up some skeletons... Tickets |
Readily available.
| Supporters |
Small in number. Average crowds shrunk from 1,100 to around 300 after
taking the drop out of the Regionalliga. Averaged 285 in 2004 (Oberliga).
| Friends |
No official.
|
Foes |
No enemies or hot rivals.
| Heroes |
| Zeroes |
| Beer |
Rathenower Bier and Wahrsteiner.
|
Pub Grub |
| The Net |
Official site: www.fsv-optik.de
| |
BSG Motor Rathenow
1952-55 (***) Bezirksliga
1955-59 (****) Bezirksliga
1959-63 (***) 2. DDR-Liga
1963-65 (***) Bezirksliga
1965-68 (****) Bezirksklasse
1968-84 (***) Bezirksliga
1984-87 (****) Bezirksklasse
1987-90 (***) Bezirksliga
FSV Optik Rathenow
1990-91 (IV) Verbandsliga Brandenburg 1st
1991-92 (IV) Verbandsliga Brandenburg 1st
1992-93 (III) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 11th
1993-94 (III) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 7th
1994-95 (III) Regionalliga Nordost 14th
1995-96 (III) Regionalliga Nordost 18th
1996-97 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 7th
1997-98 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 12th
1998-99 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 13th
1999-00 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 8th
2000-01 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 10th
2001-02 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 14th
2002-03 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 14th
2003-04 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 12th
2004-05 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord 14th
2005-06 (V) Verbandsliga Brandenburg 3rd
2006-07 (V) Verbandsliga Brandenburg 1st
2007-08 (IV) Oberliga Nordost/Nord
(c) Abseits Guide to Germany : www.abseits-soccer.com