VfL Wolfsburg
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Short description{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox football club with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| alt | American | body1 | body2 | body3 | capacity | caption | chairman | chrtitle | clubname | coach | coordinates | current | dissolved | founded | fullname | ground | image | image_size | kit_alt1 | kit_alt2 | kit_alt3 | league | leftarm1 | leftarm2 | leftarm3 | manager | mgrtitle | nickname | owner | owntitle | pattern_b1 | pattern_b2 | pattern_b3 | pattern_la1 | pattern_la2 | pattern_la3 | pattern_name1 | pattern_name2 | pattern_name3 | pattern_ra1 | pattern_ra2 | pattern_ra3 | pattern_sh1 | pattern_sh2 | pattern_sh3 | pattern_so1 | pattern_so2 | pattern_so3 | position | rightarm1 | rightarm2 | rightarm3 | season | short name | shorts1 | shorts2 | shorts3 | socks1 | socks2 | socks3 | stadium | title | upright | website }}{{#if:| }}{{#if:| }} Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. It is best known for its football department, but other departments include badminton, handball and athletics.
The men's professional football team play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, the DFB-Pokal in 2015 and the DFL-Supercup in 2015.
Professional football is run by the spin-off organization VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since 2002, Wolfsburg's stadium is the Volkswagen Arena.
HistoryEdit
FoundationEdit
The city of Wolfsburg was established on 1 July 1938 under the name Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben to accommodate workers for the newly constructed Volkswagen factory, which was intended to produce the KdF-Wagen—later known as the Volkswagen Beetle. The adjacent factory and town were part of a broader initiative to create an affordable car for the German populace during the Third Reich.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The first football club associated with the Volkswagen plant was BSG Volkswagenwerk Stadt des KdF-Wagen, a typical works team of the era. This team competed in the Gauliga Osthannover, the top division of regional football, during the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following the end of World War II, a new club was formed on 12 September 1945, initially named VSK Wolfsburg. The team adopted green and white as its colors, a tradition that continues to this day. According to club lore, local youth coach Bernd Elberskirch provided ten green jerseys, and white shorts were fashioned from donated bed sheets sewn by local women.
On 15 December 1945, the club faced a significant setback when all but one of its players left to join the newly formed 1. FC Wolfsburg. The sole remaining player, Josef Meyer, collaborated with Willi Hilbert to rebuild the team by recruiting new members. The reorganised club adopted the name VfL Wolfsburg, with VfL standing for Verein für Leibesübungen, which translates to "Club for Physical Exercise."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Within a year, VfL Wolfsburg secured the local Gifhorn championship. In late November 1946, the club played a friendly match against the prominent Gelsenkirchen team Schalke 04 at the Volkswagen-owned stadium, marking its emergence as the company's officially supported team.
Postwar playEdit
The club made slow but steady progressTemplate:According to whom in the following seasons. They capturedTemplate:Tone inline a number ofTemplate:Quantify amateur level championships, but were unable to advance out of the promotion playoffs until finally breaking throughTemplate:Tone inline to the top tier Oberliga Nord in 1954 with a 2–1 victory over Heider SV. Wolfsburg, however, struggled in the top flight, narrowly missing relegation each season until finally being sent downTemplate:By whom in 1959. When Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed in 1963, Wolfsburg was playing in the Regionalliga Nord (II), having just moved up from the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen (III), reaching the German Amateur Championship Final that same year (0–1 vs. VfB Stuttgart Amat.).
Second division and advance to the BundesligaEdit
Wolfsburg remained a second division fixtureTemplate:Vague over the next dozenTemplate:Vague years with their best performance being a second-place finish in 1970. That finish earned the club entry to the promotion round playoffs for the Bundesliga, where they performed poorlyTemplate:According to whom and were unable to advance. From the mid-1970s through to the early 1990s, Wolfsburg played as a third division side in the Amateur Oberliga Nord. Consecutive first-place finishes in 1991 and 1992, followed by success in the promotion playoffs, saw the club advance to the 2. Bundesliga for the 1992–93 season.
Wolfsburg continued to enjoyTemplate:Tone inline some success through the 1990s. The team advanced to the final of the German Cup in 1995 where they were beaten 0–3 by Borussia Mönchengladbach, but then went on to the top flight on the strength of a second-place league finish in 1997.
Early predictionsTemplate:By whom were that the club would immediately be sent back down, but instead, Wolfsburg developed into a mid-table Bundesliga side. In the 1998–99 season, Wolfsburg, under Wolfgang Wolf, were holding ontoTemplate:Vague the fifth spot in the 33rd round of fixtures, and they had hopes ofTemplate:Tone inline making fourth place, to gain UEFA Champions League participation. Losing 6–1 away to MSV Duisburg in the final fixture, Wolfsburg finished in sixth place with 55 points and qualified for next season's UEFA Cup. They also qualified for the Intertoto Cup in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005, enjoyingTemplate:Tone inline their best run in 2003 after reaching the final in which they lost to Italian side Perugia. This was followed by a couple of seasons of little success for the club, just narrowly avoiding relegation with two 15th-place finishes in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.
2008–presentEdit
For the 2007–08 season, the club hired former Bayern Munich manager Felix Magath, with whom they managed to finish in fifth place at the end of the season, the highest finish for the club at the time. This also enabled the Wolves to qualify for the UEFA Cup for only the second time in their history.
In the 2008–09 season, under Magath, Wolfsburg claimed their biggest success by winningTemplate:Vague their first Bundesliga title after defeating Werder Bremen 5–1 on 23 May 2009. During this campaign, Wolfsburg equalled the longest winning streak in one Bundesliga season with ten successive victories after the winter break. They also became the only team in the Bundesliga to have had two strikers scoring more than 20 goals each in one season, with Brazilian Grafite and Bosnian Edin Džeko achieving this feat in their title-winning season, scoring 28 and 26, respectively, with Zvjezdan Misimović adding a record 20 assists.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result of their title win, Wolfsburg qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.
In the 2009–10 season, Wolfsburg dismissed their newly appointed trainer Armin Veh after the winter break due to lack of success,Template:Vague with the club sitting tenth in the league. In the Champions League, they came third in their group, behind Manchester United and CSKA Moscow, losing the chance for a placeTemplate:Tone inline in the competition's successive round. As a result, they qualified for the Round of 32 phase of the UEFA Europa League. They defeated Spanish side Villarreal 6–3 on aggregate and Russian champions Rubin Kazan 3–2. In the quarter-finals, however, they were beaten 3–1 by eventual finalists Fulham.
On 11 May 2010, the permanent head coach's position was filled by former England manager Steve McClaren. After having guided Twente to their first ever Dutch title, he was rewarded by becoming the first English coach to manage a Bundesliga side. On 7 February 2011, however, it was announced that McClaren had been sacked and that Pierre Littbarski would be taking over.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wolfsburg lost four times in five matches under him and they finally slipped intoTemplate:Tone inline the relegation places.
On 18 March 2011, Wolfsburg confirmed that Felix Magath would return as head coach and sporting director, almost two years since he led them to the Bundesliga title and just two days after being fired from his position at Schalke 04. He signed a two-year contract with the club.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Magath steered the club to safety, but though the club invested heavily, Magath could only achieve a mid-table finish in the following 2011–12 season. After only five points in eight matches (and no goals and points in the last four games) in the 2012–13 season, Magath left the club by mutual consent, and was temporarily replaced by former Wolfsburg reserve team coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner. On 22 December 2012, the former 1. FC Nürnberg head coach Dieter Hecking was appointed as Wolfsburg's new head coach on a contract lasting until 2016.
On 2 February 2015, Wolfsburg purchased the German international forward André Schürrle for a fee of €30 million from Chelsea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> With a reinforced squad, the club finished as runners-up in the 2014–15 Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich, thus automatically qualifying for the 2015–16 Champions League group stage. On 30 May, the team then won the 2015 DFB-Pokal Final 3–1 against Borussia Dortmund, the first German Cup victory in the history of the club.
On 1 August, to begin the 2015–16 season, Wolfsburg defeated the Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the 2015 DFL-Supercup on penalties. At the end of the 2015 summer transfer window, Wolfsburg sold the 2014–15 Footballer of the Year (Germany) Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City for a reportedTemplate:By whom Bundesliga record fee of €75 million.
The 2015–16 campaign saw Wolfsburg finish in eighth place. The Bundesliga match between Bayern and Wolfsburg saw an extraordinary five goals in nine minutes by Robert Lewandowski.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the Champions League, they reached the quarter-finals for the first time, where they faced Real Madrid and, despite a two-goal aggregate lead from the first match, were eliminated after losing 3–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
In January 2017, Wolfsburg signed a letter of intent to partner the American side Chattanooga FC, which includes women's football, youth development and local social responsibility.Template:Vague The two teams mentioned the future possibility of international friendlies.<ref name="Chattanooga FC and VFL Wolfsburg">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Wolfsburg struggled through the 2016–17 season, rotating through several managers and eventually finishing in 16th place in the Bundesliga with only 37 points, putting them in a playoff against Eintracht Braunschweig, which they won 2–0 on aggregate to remain in the top flight.
The 2017–18 season proved to be another disappointing season,Template:According to whom in which they finished 16th place in the Bundesliga, putting them inTemplate:Vague a play-off against Holstein Kiel, a game that they won 4–1 on aggregate.
In the 2018–19 season, Wolfsburg finished 6th in the Bundesliga, thus automatically qualifying for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
In the draw for the Europa League third qualifying round, Wolfsburg drew the Ukrainian Team Desna Chernihiv. Wolfsburg won 2–0 at the AOK Stadion, advancing to the play-off round.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the play-off round they lost 2–1 against AEK Athens.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 24 May 2022, Niko Kovač was appointed as Wolfsburg's new head coach, with a contract lasting until June 2025, prematurely terminated in March 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Home stadiumEdit
Wolfsburg plays at the Volkswagen Arena, a multi-purpose stadium which seats a total capacity of 30,000 spectators. Before construction was finished in 2002, Wolfsburg played their home games at the 21,600 capacity VfL-Stadium. The stadium is currently used mostly for the home games of Wolfsburg, and is the site where they won their first Bundesliga title in the 2008–09 season. The amateur squad and the women's association football section is playing since 2015 at the newly built AOK Stadion with a capacity of 5200 people. There is also a new VfL-Center with offices and training areas and the VfL-FußballWelt, an interactive exhibition about the VfL.
HonoursEdit
DomesticEdit
- Bundesliga:
- DFB-Pokal:
- DFL-Supercup:
- Winners: 2015
RegionalEdit
- Deutsche Amateurmeisterschaft:
- Runners-up: 1963Template:Cn
- Amateuroberliga Niedersachsen-Ost (II):
- Winners: 1952,Template:Cn 1954,Template:Cn 1963Template:Cn
- Regionalliga Nord (II):
- Runners-up: 1970Template:Cn
- Oberliga Nord (III):
- Winners: 1991,Template:Cn 1992Template:Cn
- Runners-up: 1976,Template:Cn 1978,Template:Cn 1988Template:Cn
- Lower Saxony Cup (Tiers 3–5):
- Winners: 1962,Template:Cn 2002,Template:Cn 2003Template:Cn
YouthEdit
- German Under 19 championship:
- Winners: 2010–11,Template:Cn 2012–13Template:Cn
- Runners-up: 2007–08Template:Cn
- Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast:
- Winners: 2007–08,Template:Cn 2010–11,Template:Cn 2011–12,Template:Cn 2012–13Template:Cn
- Under 17 Bundesliga North/Northeast:
- Winners: 2008–09,Template:Cn 2015–16Template:Cn
- Weifang Cup:
- Winners: 2015, 2017
PlayersEdit
Current squadEdit
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Players out on loanEdit
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Retired numbersEdit
- 19 Template:Flagicon Junior Malanda, midfielder (2013–15) – posthumous honour<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Starting from 2019–20, Kevin Mbabu would wear the number 19 in honour of Malanda.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Lovro Majer would wear the number 19 in honour of Malanda.
VfL Wolfsburg II squadEdit
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Women's sectionEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The women's team have won a treble of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2012–13.Template:Cn They defended their Champions League title in 2014.
Coaching staffEdit
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Managing director | Peter Christiansen |
| Sporting director | Sebastian Schindzielorz |
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Template:Flagicon Daniel Bauer |
| Assistant manager | Template:Flagicon Julian Klamt Template:Flagicon Tobias Holm |
| Goalkeeping coach | Template:Flagicon Pascal Formann |
| Athletic coach | Walter Gfrerer |
| Fitness coach | Jimmy Lohberg |
| Rehabilitation coach | Michele Putaro |
Record in EuropeEdit
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Records and statisticsEdit
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Most appearancesEdit
Includes appearances in all competitions.
| Rank | Player | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Flagicon Maximilian Arnold | 420 |
| 2 | Template:Flagicon Diego Benaglio | 323 |
| 3 | Template:Flagicon Marcel Schäfer | 285 |
| 4 | Template:Flagicon Koen Casteels | 275 |
| 5 | Template:Flagicon Yannick Gerhardt | 268 |
| 6 | Template:Flagicon Josuha Guilavogui | 265 |
| 7 | Template:Flagicon Robin Knoche | 226 |
| 8 | Template:Flagicon Miroslav Karhan | 201 |
| 9 | Template:Flagicon Alexander Madlung | 194 |
| 10 | Template:Flagicon Josué | 192 |
Top scorersEdit
Includes goals in all competitions.
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Flagicon Edin Džeko | 85 |
| 2 | Template:Flagicon Grafite | 75 |
| 3 | Template:Flagicon Wout Weghorst | 70 |
| 4 | Template:Flagicon Diego Klimowicz | 67 |
| 5 | Template:Flagicon Andrzej Juskowiak | 49 |
| 6 | Template:Flagicon Bas Dost | 48 |
| 7 | Template:Flagicon Maximilian Arnold | 46 |
| 8 | Template:Flagicon Martin Petrov | 38 |
| 9 | Template:Flagicon Tomislav Marić | 33 |
| Template:Flagicon Ivica Olić |
CoachesEdit
{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} Template:Div col
- Template:Flagicon Günter Mettke (1949–1954, player-coach)
- Template:Flagicon Ludwig Lachner (1954–55)
- Template:Flagicon Ernst Sontow (1955–56)
- Template:Flagicon Josef Kretschmann (1956–57)
- Template:Flagicon Ludwig Lachner (1957)
- Template:Flagicon Walter Risse (1957–58)
- Template:Flagicon Imre Farkaszinski (1958–59)
- Template:Flagicon Ludwig Lachner (1 July 1963 – 30 June 1966)
- Template:Flagicon Imre Farkaszinski (1 July 1966 – 31 December 1974)
- Template:Flagicon Fritz Schollmeyer (1 January 1975 – 29 April 1975)
- Template:Flagicon Günther Brockmeyer (April 1975)
- Template:Flagicon Paul Kietzmann (3 May 1975 – 28 November 1975)
- Template:Flagicon Radoslav Momirski (2 December 1976 – 4 March 1978)
- Template:Flagicon Imre Farkaszinski (March 1978 – Dec 1978)
- Template:Flagicon Henk van Meteren (Dec 1978 – April 1979)
- Template:Flagicon Wilfried Kemmer (April 1979 – Oct 1983)
- Template:Flagicon Imre Farkaszinski (Oct 1983 – June 1984)
- Template:Flagicon Wolf-Rüdiger Krause (July 1984 – June 1988)
- Template:Flagicon Horst Hrubesch (1 July 1988 – 30 June 1989)
- Template:Flagicon Ernst Menzel (July 1989 – June 1991)
- Template:Flagicon Uwe Erkenbrecher (1 July 1991 – 10 February 1993)
- Template:Flagicon Eckhard Krautzun (16 February 1993 – 4 April 1995)
- Template:Flagicon Gerd Roggensack (6 April 1995 – 22 October 1995)
- Template:Flagicon Willi Reimann (23 October 1995 – 17 March 1998)
- Template:Flagicon Wolfgang Wolf (23 March 1998 – 4 March 2003)
- Template:Flagicon Jürgen Röber (4 March 2003 – 3 April 2004)
- Template:Flagicon Eric Gerets (4 April 2004 – 29 May 2005)
- Template:Flagicon Holger Fach (1 July 2005 – 19 December 2005)
- Template:Flagicon Klaus Augenthaler (29 December 2005 – 19 May 2007)
- Template:Flagicon Felix Magath (1 July 2007 – 30 June 2009)
- Template:Flagicon Armin Veh (1 July 2009 – 25 January 2010)
- Template:Flagicon L-G. Köstner (interim) (25 January 2010 – 30 June 2010)
- Template:Flagicon Steve McClaren (1 July 2010 – 7 February 2011)
- Template:Flagicon P. Littbarski (interim) (8 February 2011 – 17 March 2011)
- Template:Flagicon Felix Magath (18 March 2011 – 25 October 2012)
- Template:Flagicon L-G. Köstner (interim) (25 October 2012 – 31 December 2012)
- Template:Flagicon Dieter Hecking (1 January 2013 – 17 October 2016)
- Template:Flagicon Valérien Ismaël (17 October 2016 – 26 February 2017)
- Template:Flagicon Andries Jonker (27 February 2017 – 17 September 2017)
- Template:Flagicon Martin Schmidt (18 September 2017 – 19 February 2018)
- Template:Flagicon Bruno Labbadia (20 February 2018 – 29 June 2019)
- Template:Flagicon Oliver Glasner (1 July 2019 – 26 May 2021)
- Template:Flagicon Mark van Bommel (1 July 2021 – 24 October 2021)
- Template:Flagicon Florian Kohfeldt (26 October 2021 – 15 May 2022)
- Template:Flagicon Niko Kovač (24 May 2022 – 17 March 2024)
- Template:Flagicon Ralph Hasenhüttl (17 March 2024 – present)
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:Official website Template:In lang
- VfL Wolfsburg at Bundesliga
- VfL Wolfsburg at UEFA
Template:VfL Wolfsburg Template:Bundesliga Template:2. Bundesliga Template:Regionalliga Nord Template:U19 Bundesliga North Northeast Template:U17 Bundesliga North Northeast Template:Volkswagen Group