VfR Aalen

VfR Aalen

Full name	Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V.
Founded	8 March 1921; 103 years ago (1921-03-08)
Ground	OSTALB ARENA (Rohrwang)
Capacity	11,183
President	Roland Vogt
Head coach	Christian Demirtaş
League	Regionalliga
2022–23	Regionalliga Südwest, 15th of 18
Website	http://www.vfr-aalen.de
Home colours Away colours

Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, table tennis, and cheerleading. The club's greatest success came in 2011–12 when it finished second in the 3. Liga and earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time.

History

Historical chart of VfR Aalen league performance

The club was founded on 8 March 1921 out of the football department of the gymnastics club MTV Aalen and has led a largely unremarked existence as a lower division side. In 1939, Aalen was promoted to the first division Gauliga Württemberg, one of sixteen top-flight leagues established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. They played there until 1945, typically finishing in the lower half of the table.

After the war the club was joined by Boxclub Aalen in 1950. They went on to the third tier Landesliga Württemberg and in 1951 captured the title in what had become the Amateurliga Württemberg (III). After a single season appearance in the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1951–52 they returned to play in the III and IV divisions over the next two decades. The club slipped to fifth division play in the late 1970s for a couple of seasons before recovering itself. At the turn of the millennium, Aalen managed an advance to the third division Regionalliga Süd and played at that level as a mid-table side from 1999 onwards. A fourth-place finish in 2007–08 qualified them for the new 3. Liga. They were immediately relegated after just one season, but captured the Regionalliga title in 2011, and returned to third-tier play. A second-place result in 2011–12 earned the team promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. After two good seasons in the league the club finished last in the league in 2014–15 and was relegated.

Following relegation the club experienced financial difficulties and was initially unable to provide coverage for the required €5.6 million for a 3. Liga licence but was eventually able to apply for one. It deregistered its reserve team, VfR Aalen II, playing in the fifth tier Oberliga, to save money.^[1] In December 2016, the club filed for bankruptcy while competing in the 2016–17 season, leading to a nine point-deduction decided by the DFB on 10 March 2017,^[2] a further relegation to the Regionalliga Südwest ensued in 2019

Honours

League 3. Liga Runners-up: 2012 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV) Champions: 1999 Amateurliga Württemberg (III) Champions: 1951 Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg (III) Champions: 1974, 1975 Verbandsliga Württemberg (IV–VI) Champions: 1980, 1983, 2014^‡

Cup Württemberg Cup Winners: 1972, 1979, 1986, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2024 Runners-up: 1987, 1992, 1999

• ^‡ Denotes title won by reserve team.

Players

Current squad

As of 2 February 2024^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Michel Witte 2 DF  GER Mario Szabo 3 DF  GER Frederik Rahn 4 DF  DEN Lasse Jürgensen 6 MF  GER Vico Meien 7 MF  GER Paolo Maiella 8 MF  GER Jascha Döringer 9 FW  FRA As Ibrahima Diakité 10 MF  ITA Alessandro Abruscia 11 MF  GER Benjamin Kindsvater 12 MF  GER Rilind Kabashi 14 FW  GER Levin Kundruwelt 15 DF  GER Michael Schaupp

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  GER Ali Odabas 18 GK  GER Maurice Brauns 19 MF  GER David Preu 20 FW  GER Ephraim Eshele 21 MF  GER Daniel Rapp 23 FW  GER Steffen Kienle 24 DF  GER Yannick Thermann 25 GK  GER Andreas Wick 27 DF  GER Johannes Kraus 29 FW  VIN Oryan Velox 33 FW  GER Marco Rienhardt 34 MF  GER Stefan Wächter

Recent managers

Recent managers of the club:^[4]

Manager	Start	Finish
Walter Modick	19 October 1997	15 April 2000
Helmut Dietterle	16 April 2000	30 June 2000
Willi Entenmann	1 July 2000	13 August 2001
Helmut Dietterle	14 August 2001	7 December 2002
Peter Zeidler	8 December 2002	30 August 2004
Slobodan Pajic	31 August 2004	30 June 2005
Frank Wormuth	1 July 2005	8 December 2006
Edgar Schmitt	15 January 2007	27 August 2008
Jürgen Kohler	28 August 2008	16 November 2008
Petrik Sander	21 November 2008	5 May 2009
Rainer Scharinger	6 May 2009	27 December 2010
Ralph Hasenhüttl	2 January 2011	30 June 2013
Stefan Ruthenbeck	1 July 2013	12 June 2015
Peter Vollmann	12 June 2015	30 June 2018
Argirios Giannikis	30 June 2018	10 February 2019
Rico Schmitt	13 February 2019	30 June 2019
Roland Seitz	1 July 2019	21 March 2021
Uwe Wolf	24 March 2021	17 February 2022
Christian Demirtaş	17 February 2022	Present

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:^[5][6]

VfR Aalen Season Division Tier Position 1999–2000 Regionalliga Süd III 10th 2000–01 Regionalliga Süd 7th 2001–02 Regionalliga Süd 4th 2002–03 Regionalliga Süd 10th 2003–04 Regionalliga Süd 6th 2004–05 Regionalliga Süd 12th 2005–06 Regionalliga Süd 6th 2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 6th 2007–08 Regionalliga Süd 4th ↑ 2008−09 3. Liga 19th ↓ 2009–10 Regionalliga Süd IV 1st ↑ 2010−11 3. Liga III 16th 2011−12 3. Liga 2nd ↑ 2012–13 2. Bundesliga II 9th 2013–14 2. Bundesliga 11th 2014–15 2. Bundesliga 18th ↓ 2015−16 3. Liga III 15th 2016−17 3. Liga 11th 2017−18 3. Liga 12th 2018−19 3. Liga 20th ↓ 2019–20 Regionalliga Südwest IV 14th 2020–21 Regionalliga Südwest 13th 2021–22 Regionalliga Südwest IV 12th 2022–23 Regionalliga Südwest 15th

VfR Aalen II Season Division Tier Position 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Bezirksliga Kocher/Rems VII 2nd 2004–05 Bezirksliga Kocher/Rems 10th 2005–06 Bezirksliga Kocher/Rems 1st ↑ 2006–07 Landesliga Württemberg 2 VI 1st ↑ 2007–08 Verbandsliga Württemberg V 8th 2008–09 Verbandsliga Württemberg VI 9th 2009–10 Verbandsliga Württemberg 5th 2010–11 Verbandsliga Württemberg 10th 2011–12 Verbandsliga Württemberg 11th ↓ 2012–13 Landesliga Württemberg 2 VII 1st ↑ 2013–14 Verbandsliga Württemberg VI 1st ↑ 2014–15 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg V 13th (withdrawn) 2015–present defunct

• With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.

Key

↑ Promoted

↓ Relegated

Stadium

The team plays its home matches in the OSTALB-ARENA – popularly known as the Rohrwang – which has a capacity of 11,183.^[7]

References

1. Aalen reicht Unterlagen für die 3. Liga ein (in German) kicker.de, published: 28 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015
2. "NEUN PUNKTE ABZUG FÜR VFR AALEN" (in German). dfb.de. 10 March 2017.
3. "Kader - VfR Aalen 1921 e.V." (in German). VfR Aalen. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
4. VfR Aalen .:. Trainer von A-Z (in German) weltfussball.de. Retrieved 18 September 2011
5. Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables
6. Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
7. Scholz-Arena (in German) weltfussball.de. Retrieved 18 September 2011

External links

• Official website
• VfR Aalen at Weltfussball.de
• Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv – historical German domestic league tables (in German)
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer