VfL Halle 1896
Encyclopedia
VfL Halle is a German association football club
from the city of Halle
, Saxony-Anhalt
.
of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig
in January 1900.
In 1909 the club was the first in the country to purchase its own grounds and on 10 September 1910 hosted VfB Leipzig in their new stadium facility. The club merged with Kaufmännischen Turnverein Halle on 23 September 1919 to become VfL Halle von 1896. The short-lived union ended in April the following year, but the club kept its new name. Throughout this period Halle enjoyed numerous successes, winning seven VMBV regional championships, as well as overall league titles in 1917 and 1919.
German football was reorganized under the Third Reich in 1933 into sixteen top-flight Gauligen. VfL Halle joined the Gauliga Mitte
in 1937 and played first division football there until 1944, earning middling results. Play in the division ended with the advance of Allied armies into Germany as World War II drew to a close.
In the aftermath of the war occupying authorities banned all organizations in the country, including sports and football clubs. In November 1946 the club was re-established as SG Giebichenstein, becoming SG Genossenschaften Halle in May 1949, and BSG Empor Halle in 1951. The club played anonymously in the lower divisions of East German football over four-and-a-half decades, making only a single-season cameo appearance in the second division DDR-Liga in 1981–82.
After German reunification
in 1990 the team played in the seventh tier Berziksliga as SV Empor Halle where they won the division championship and earned promotion to the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (VI). They re-claimed the name VfL Halle the following year and continued to play well, advancing through the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V) and Oberliga Nordost/Sud (IV) on their way to a breakthrough into the Regionalliga Nordost (III) in 1999.
While the footballers put forward a decent effort it was not enough to stay up in the Regionalliga as the league went through restructuring. The following season the club was forced out of the Oberliga (IV) in spite of a sixth place finish because of financial difficulties. Today VfL plays in the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V).
Football in Germany
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
from the city of Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
.
History
The oldest club in the city of Halle was founded as Hallescher Fußballclub von 1896 on 16 July 1896. HFC was one of a dozen clubs that formed the VMBV (Verbandes Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine or Federation of Middle German Football Teams) on 16 December 1900 and was a founding memberFounding Clubs of the DFB
The DFB was formed January 28, 1900 in Leipzig. The commonly accepted number of founding clubs represented at the inaugural meeting is 86, but this number is uncertain. The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour . Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may...
of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
in January 1900.
In 1909 the club was the first in the country to purchase its own grounds and on 10 September 1910 hosted VfB Leipzig in their new stadium facility. The club merged with Kaufmännischen Turnverein Halle on 23 September 1919 to become VfL Halle von 1896. The short-lived union ended in April the following year, but the club kept its new name. Throughout this period Halle enjoyed numerous successes, winning seven VMBV regional championships, as well as overall league titles in 1917 and 1919.
German football was reorganized under the Third Reich in 1933 into sixteen top-flight Gauligen. VfL Halle joined the Gauliga Mitte
Gauliga Mitte
The Gauliga Mitte was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Saxony and the German states of Thuringia and Anhalt from 1933 to 1945, all located in the center of Germany...
in 1937 and played first division football there until 1944, earning middling results. Play in the division ended with the advance of Allied armies into Germany as World War II drew to a close.
In the aftermath of the war occupying authorities banned all organizations in the country, including sports and football clubs. In November 1946 the club was re-established as SG Giebichenstein, becoming SG Genossenschaften Halle in May 1949, and BSG Empor Halle in 1951. The club played anonymously in the lower divisions of East German football over four-and-a-half decades, making only a single-season cameo appearance in the second division DDR-Liga in 1981–82.
After German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 the team played in the seventh tier Berziksliga as SV Empor Halle where they won the division championship and earned promotion to the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (VI). They re-claimed the name VfL Halle the following year and continued to play well, advancing through the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V) and Oberliga Nordost/Sud (IV) on their way to a breakthrough into the Regionalliga Nordost (III) in 1999.
While the footballers put forward a decent effort it was not enough to stay up in the Regionalliga as the league went through restructuring. The following season the club was forced out of the Oberliga (IV) in spite of a sixth place finish because of financial difficulties. Today VfL plays in the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V).
External links
- Official team site
- Abseits Guide to German Soccer
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German football league tables (in German)