Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.

Rot-Weiss Essen
Logo
Full nameRot-Weiss Essen e. V.
Nickname(s)RWE[citation needed]
Founded1 February 1907; 117 years ago (1 February 1907)
GroundStadion an der Hafenstraße
Capacity20,650
ChairmanMarcus Uhlig[citation needed]
ManagerChristoph Dabrowski
League3. Liga
2023–243. Liga, 7th of 20
Websitehttps://www.rot-weiss-essen.de/
Current season

The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latter success qualified them to the first season of the European Cup.

History

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Early years

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The club was formed as SV Vogelheim on 1 February 1907 out of the merger of two smaller clubs: SC Preussen and Deutsche Eiche.[citation needed] In 1910, Vogelheim came to an arrangement with Turnerbund Bergeborbeck that allowed the two clubs to field a football side.[citation needed] The footballers left in 1913 to set up their own club, Spiel- und Sportverein Emscher-Vogelheim, which changed its name to Spiel und Sport 1912 after World War I. Finally, in 1923, this side turned again to Turnerbund Bergeborbeck to create Rot-Weiss Essen.

Breakthrough to the Gauliga

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In 1938, RWE broke into top-flight football in the Gauliga Niederrhein, one of sixteen premier divisions formed in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich, and came within a point of taking the division title in 1941. In 1943, they played with BV Altenessen as the combined wartime side KSG SC Rot-Weiß Essen/BV 06 Altenessen.[citation needed] The next season this club was in turn joined by BVB Essen, but played only a single match in a stillborn season as World War II overtook the country.

Rise and golden years

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Historical chart of Rot-Weiss Essen league performance

The club returned to first division football in the Oberliga West in 1948, where a series of strong seasons saw them win divisional championships in 1952 and 1955, as well as finishing runners-up in 1949 and 1954 and third in 1950 and 1953. The pinnacle of the club's success came with a 2–1 win over Alemannia Aachen in the 1953 DFB-Pokal final, followed by a national championship in 1955 when it beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4–3. The following season, Rot-Weiss became the first German side to qualify for the European Cup.

The club remained competitive for the remainder of the 1950s, continuing to finish in the division's top half, but 1961 saw a sharp decline leading to relegation from the Oberliga West at the end of the season. The club then played most of the 1960s as a second division side, though it did make a first appearance in the top-flight Bundesliga in 1966–67. It returned to the Bundesliga for two seasons in 1969–70, and again, for four seasons beginning in 1973–74.

Financial problems and slow decline

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Between 1978 and the end of the century Rot-Weiss was a second- or third-tier club, with just one season spent in the regional Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) in 1998–99. During this period, the club was plagued by financial problems that saw it denied a licence in 1984, 1991, and 1994, leading to relegation from the 2. Bundesliga each time as a result. Bright spots during this period included winning the German amateur championship in 1992 and an appearance in the 1994 DFB-Pokal final, which they lost 1–3 to SV Werder Bremen.

RWE returned to the Regionalliga Nord (III) in 1999, but dropped to the Oberliga (IV) the next season. In 2004, they won promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga, but stumbled to a 17th-place finish and were relegated once again.

In November 2005, Pelé became an honorary club member (membership number 23101940).[1][2]

The team reappeared in the 2. Bundesliga after winning the Regionalliga Nord in 2006, but narrowly missed staying up when they lost the critical final match of the 2006–07 season 3–0 to MSV Duisburg.

Rot-Weiss became a fourth division side following the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 and a fifth division team after insolvency in 2010.[citation needed] They won the fifth level NRW-Liga in 2010–11 and returned to Regionalliga West for the 2011–12 season.

Stadium

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Until 2012 Rot-Weiss played in the Georg-Melches-Stadion (capacity 15,000), named in honour of a former club president. In 1956, the team's home field became the first stadium in West Germany to have floodlights.[3]

Since August 2012, RWE has played in the new Stadion Essen (capacity 20,000). The naming rights to the stadium include RWE AG.

Supporters

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Rot-Weiss Essen visiting Magdeburg in May 2008

Rivalries

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Fortuna Düsseldorf, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Wuppertaler SV are local rivals when they are playing in the same league (as took place in the 2007–08 season). The club's fiercest rivalry is with MSV Duisburg.[4] The club is also has a big rivalry with FC Schalke 04, from nearby Gelsenkirchen, with whom they contest the Ruhrderby.

In the past, the local derbies versus Schwarz-Weiß Essen were big events, sometimes followed by more than 30,000 fans, however since their rivals decline the rivalry has waned in importance. [5][6] Although often described in political terms, with the "reds" allegedly being left-wing and the "blacks" right-wing, in reality there was no substantive distinction. The rivalry was more based on the geography of the city, a north (RWE) versus south (SWE) city divide.[7] and with northern Essen being predominantly working class historically and the south of the city being generally regarded as a wealthier area, inhabited by the upper-middle class.[8]

Friendships

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The RWE followers have a strong fan friendship with SV Werder Bremen. There is also a friendship with Borussia Dortmund, although some disagreements have taken place since 2018.[9]

Honours

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The club's honours:

League

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Current squad

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As of 3 September 2024[10]

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 Jakob Golz
2 DF   GER Julian Eitschberger (on loan from Hertha BSC)
4 DF   GER Michael Schultz (captain)
6 MF   GER Ahmet Arslan
7 FW   BEL Robbie D'Haese
8 MF   NED Jimmy Kaparos
10 MF   GER Thomas Eisfeld
11 FW   NED Ramien Safi
14 MF   GER Lucas Brumme
16 DF   GER Mustafa Kourouma
17 DF   GER Ekin Çelebi
18 MF   GER Nils Kaiser
19 DF   GER Eric Voufack
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW   GER Leonardo Vonić
21 FW   KOS Dion Berisha
22 MF   GER Joseph Boyamba
23 DF   GER José-Enrique Ríos Alonso
25 FW   GER Manuel Wintzheimer (on loan from 1. FC Nürnberg)
26 FW   GER Torben Müsel
28 MF   FRA Tom Moustier
29 FW   GUI Moussa Doumbouya
30 FW   GER Kelsey Meisel
31 GK   GER Ole Springer
33 DF   GER Tobias Kraulich
35 GK   GER Felix Wienand
39 DF   GER Gianluca Swajkowski

Notable players

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Former coaches

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References

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  1. ^ "RW Essen ernennt Pelé zum Ehrenmitglied" (in German). fussball.com. 28 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Pelé Ehrenmitglied bei RWE" (in German). Morgenpost.de. 29 October 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Vereinsgeschichte" (in German). Rot-weiss-essen.de. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. ^ Spletter, Martin (6 April 2024). "Rot-Weiss Essen gegen den MSV: Hochspannung vor dem Derby". www.waz.de (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Vor dem Essen-Derby: Die goldenen Jahre von RWE und ETB: Barfuß und Lackschuh". 11freunde.de. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  6. ^ Schmahld, Ralf. "ETB gegen RWE: Schwarz Weiss Essen gewinnt Derby und Pokalfinale". turus.net. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Schwarz-Weiss Essen". abseits-soccer.com. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  8. ^ Weiguny, Bettina (14 January 2013). "Armut und Reichtum: Essen: Die gespaltene Stadt". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  9. ^ Herten, David (15 May 2022). "Borussia Dortmund: Ultras zeigen überraschendes Spruchband – das steckt dahinter". DerWesten.de (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Team" (in German). Rot-Weiss Essen. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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