SpVgg Unterhaching

Football club infobox
clubname = SpVgg Unterhaching


fullname = Spielvereinigung Unterhaching e.V.
nickname = "Haching"
founded = 1 January 1925
ground = Generali Sportpark
Unterhaching, Germany
capacity = 15,053
chairman = Engelbert Kupka
manager = flagicon|Austria Ralph Hasenhüttl
league = 3rd Liga
season = 2007-08
position = Regionalliga Süd, 6th
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich.

The club's football team is widely known for representing the city of Munich in the first-division Bundesliga alongside its more famous cousins Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich for two seasons between 1999 and 2001, while the bobsleigh department has captured several world and Olympic titles.

The team currently play in the 3. Liga, the German third division, having been relegated from the 2. Bundesliga in season 2006-2007 and then moved into the newly created 3. Liga for 2008-09 following a reorganisation of the German league system.

History

Early history

Originally part of the gymnastics and sports club "TSV Hachinger", "SpVgg Unterhaching" was established as an independent football club on January 1, 1925. Their first promotion to a higher division came in 1931 and they went on to be promoted to the A-Klasse a year later. However, the club was dissolved in 1933 as it was regarded as "politically unreliable" by the Nazis and was not re-established until after the end of World War II in 1945 to resume play in the amateur fourth division B-Klasse.

A rise through the ranks

"Unterhaching"'s football team was only an anonymous local amateur team with no significant successes until a climb through league ranks that began in 1976 with promotion from B-Klasse to A-Klasse play. A first place finished earned the club quick promotion to the Bezirksliga in 1977. Continued good play put the team into the fourth-division Landesliga Bayern-Süd in 1979 and then the Oberliga Bayern (III), the highest amateur division at the time, by 1981.

"Unterhaching" finished first there in 1983 to earn an appearance in the playoff round for the Second Bundesliga, but failed to advance. They suffered a similar fate in 1988 when they next appeared in the promotion round.

The club finally emerged out of the Oberliga to play in the 2. Bundesliga in 1989, but were quickly relegated after a 20th-place finish. Promoted a second time in 1992, they were once again sent down after a marginally better 18th place result. "Unterhaching" next appeared in the second division in 1995 after a first-place finish in the new Regionalliga Süd (III).

Unterhaching's Bundesliga adventure

With their return to the 2. Bundesliga in the 1995-96 season the club would begin a period that would see them earn their best ever results. They finished 4th that season, then slipped to 6th and 11th place results in their next two campaigns before securing promotion to the top-flight Bundesliga after a 2nd place finish in 1999 season.

They went on to surprise everyone with a respectable 10th place result in their inaugural Bundesliga season and also famously played the spoiler's role in deciding who would win the championship that year. Their first Bundesliga win came in just their second match of the season, with a 2:0 victory over "MSV Duisburg" at home. While struggling in away matches, "Unterhaching" remained undefeated at home in nine games before losing 0:2 to their stronger neighbours, "Bayern Munich". Prior to this loss, they had earned wins at home in matches against highly favoured teams like "VfB Stuttgart" and "Borussia Dortmund", beating them 2:0 and 1:0 respectively. They earned their first away win in the Bundesliga by beating "VfB Stuttgart" 2:0 once again.

On the final matchday of the season, visiting "Bayer Leverkusen" needed only a draw in Unterhaching to secure their first national title, but instead went down to defeat to the determined home side. Things took a sinister turn for "Leverkusen" when Michael Ballack scored an own goal that put home side ahead in the 20th minute. Their title hopes ended when "Haching" midfielder Markus Oberleitner made the score 2:0 in the 72nd minute. Meanwhile, "Bayern Munich" beat "Werder Bremen" 3:1 at home and were able to overtake "Leverkusen" on goal difference to snatch away the title. With a 10th place result, "Unterhaching" finished ahead of long-established sides "Borussia Dortmund" and "FC Schalke 04". They ended the season with the league's fifth best home record with 10 wins and 5 draws in 17 matches having lost only to "Bayern Munich" and "1. FC Kaiserslautern".

Goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel, defender Alexander Strehmel, midfielders Jochen Seitz and Markus Oberleitner, and strikers Altin Rraklli and André Breitenreiter – who scored 13 Bundesliga goals between them that season – were among the most memorable players of a team that impressed by its discipline.

However, the start of the 2000-01 Bundesliga season was a nightmare for "Unterhaching" as they would win only one and draw two of their first eight matches. While the team went undefeated in its next six matches, they were unable to maintain that form and at the mid-season break were only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. The second half of the season was just as dismal, and although they earned wins over local rivals "Bayern Munich" and "TSV 1860 Munich", their campaign would end with a 16th place result and relegation.

Interestingly, as the season drew to a close "Unterhaching" was once again in a position to help "Bayern Munich" win another title. Needing only to hold second-place "Schalke" to a draw in their final match to ensure "Bayern"'s win, "Unterhaching" held 2:0 and 3:2 advantages before finally succumbing 3:5 to "Schalke". "Bayern" then had to make their own way to the championship with at least a draw against "Hamburger SV" which they only narrowly managed on a Patrik Andersson equalizer (1:1) deep into stoppage time.

Ironically, in the middle of their poor season, "SpVgg Unterhaching" would emerge as winners of the last ever DFB-Hallenpokal, an indoor football tournament staged during the winter break of the Bundesliga season from 1987 to 2001.

Recent history

The club's struggles continued after their relegation to the 2.Bundesliga. Needing an away win in their final match of the season in order to avoid being sent down to the Regionalliga Süd (III), they instead went down to a 0:3 defeat to "Karlsruher SC" and finished in 15th place. They re-bounded the following season, taking the Regionalliga title, and making their way back to second division competition. Subsequently, 'Haching' has delivered poor results in the 2. Bundesliga, narrowly avoiding being relegated again in both 2004 and 2006 before finally dropping into the Regionalliga in 2007, finishing 16th in the table due to Carl Zeiss Jena's 2-1 win against FC Augsburg.

In the 2007-08 season, the club was never really in contention for a 2nd Bundesliga return but did qualify for the new 3rd Liga.

Reserve team

The "SpVgg Unterhaching II" (or "SpVgg Unterhaching Amateure") belong to the Oberliga Bayern since 2001, coming ninth in the 2007-08 season of this league. Due to a number of clubs in the league not receiving a licence for the Regionalliga, the team gained entry to the Regionalliga Süd for the 2008-09 season [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/presseschau/oberliga-bayern/aufstieg-regionalliga-sued/ Aufstieg Regionalliga Süd] (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 13 June 2008] [ [http://www.spvgg-bayreuth.de/index.php?ac=shownews&thisnews=2416 Keine Lizenz für die SpVgg] (in German) SpVgg Bayreuth website, accessed: 13 June 2008] .

Current squad

"For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008."

Team trivia

*In 2000, three teams based in Munich played in the Bundesliga – Unterhaching, Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich. It was the first time a city had been so heavily represented.

*For many years, Unterhaching received financial support from their bigger, wealthier cousins Bayern Munich until the smaller club's much improved performance transformed it into a potential rival.

tadium

SpVgg Unterhaching's home stadium is the municipal Stadion am Sportpark (capacity 15,053), now known as Generali Sportpark under a sponsorship arrangement with the club. The club's fan base is local in character, although it has developed a small following as one of Germany's "Kult" teams.

Until 1960, Haching played their home matches at the Jahnstraße football field and moved then to the Grünauer Allee stadium, which has about 4,000 standing places and where they played before the Sportpark stadium opened in April 1992. The Grünauer Allee stadium is now home ground of the club's reserve squad, Haching II, which is currently playing in the fourth-division Oberliga Bayern. The Grünauer Allee stadium is also the home ground of Fortuna Unterhaching, established in 1992 and playing close to the bottom end of the German league system. During winter, Fortuna Unterhaching shares the artificial football pitch owned by SpVgg Unterhaching.

Bobsleigh

In 1975, local entrepreneur and club sponsor Anton Schrobenhauser († 1982) founded the bobsleigh department, which he presided over until 1979. The club's bobsledders have since achieved a number of excellent results on the national and international level.

Numerous Olympic medals and world championship titles make Christoph Langen Unterhaching's outstanding bobsledder. His honours include:
*Olympics 2-man crew: 2002 (Gold); 1992, 1998 (Bronze)
*Olympics 4-man crew: 1998 (Gold)
*World champion 2-man crew: 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001
*World champion 4-man crew: 1996, 2001
*World Cup 2-man crew: 1996, 1999, 2004
*World Cup 4-man crew: 1996, 1999
*European champion 2-man crew: 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004
*European champion 4-man crew: 1996, 1999

Recent seasons

pVgg Unterhaching

pVgg Unterhaching II

Honours

*Regionalliga Süd (III) champions: 1994
*Oberliga Bayern (III) champions: 1983, 1988, 1989, 1992
*Landesliga Bayern-Süd (IV) champions: 1981

External links

* [http://www.spvggunterhaching.de Official website]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/unterhaching.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]

References