Dynamo Dresden

Football club infobox
clubname = Dynamo Dresden


fullname = SG Dynamo Dresden
nickname = The "Kreisel", Dynamo,

SGD,

Dresden, The black-yellows
founded = 12th April 1953
ground = Rudolf Harbig Stadion
capacity = 23,940
chairman = flagicon|Germany Hauke Haensel
manager = flagicon|Netherlands Ruud Kaiser
league = 3rd Liga (III)
season = 2007/08
position = Regionalliga Nord (III), 8th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_blackstripeonright
pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FBE311|body1=FBE311|rightarm1=FBE311|shorts1=000000|socks1=FBE311
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

Dynamo Dresden are a German football club, based in Dresden, Saxony.

History

In 1950, Dresden's most popular local club, "SG Friedrichstadt", ran afoul of the occupying Soviet authorities as being too bourgeois and not properly representative of East Germany's new socialist society. After their appearance that year against "Horch Zwickau" in a farcial national final manipulated by the authorities, the club was broken up and its players exiled to other cities with many fleeing to the west. What was left of the club was tacked onto the worker's side "BSG VVG Tabak Dresden" that April.

Uncertainty and success

(East German Cup) in 1952, and sent their first representatives to the national side.

The club was formally re-established as "SG Dynamo Dresden" on April 12, 1953 in the cinema Schauburg and changed its colors to wine-red and white. It was part of "Sportvereinigung Dynamo", one of a group of multi-sport clubs built on the Soviet model to promote sport for political and nationalistic purposes. Each of these societies was affiliated to or identified with a sector of the national economy or government: in the case of Dynamo that affiliation was with the state security and police forces, including the Stasi (Ministry for State Security).

Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi, was upset that Dresden was represented in the top-flight national league by several good sides while Berlin did not have even one. In late 1954, "Dynamo Dresden" was packed up and moved off to the capital to become "Berliner FC Dynamo". What was left of the team – reserves and younger players – ended up as a 2nd division side which fell to tier III after just one season of play. They made their way back to the 1st division in 1962.

From December 1965 to January 1966, 11 East German clubs including "Dresden" were separated from their parent sports clubs to be designated as Fußballclubs, football-only "focus clubs" where the country's best talent would be transferred with the object of developing players for the national team. In 1968, "Dynamo Dresden" took on the current team colors of black and yellow, the city colours of Dresden. They soon emerged as one of the DDR-Oberliga's best sides, enjoying a run of five championships and two Cup wins in eight years from 1971 to 1978 under trainer Walter Fritzsch. During this time "Dresden" was the country's most popular side, regularly drawing crowds of 25,000, when most other clubs were attracting less than a third of that.

econd place to the Stasi

"Dresden" and the rest of the league then came hard up against Stasi-sponsored "Dynamo Berlin". After a decade-and-a-half of football that had been relatively free of interference from above, there would not be a real opportunity to challenge for the title on fair terms for a decade as circumstances were manipulated in favour of Mielke's pet side: between 1979 and 1988, "Dynamo Berlin" won 10 consecutive titles. "Dynamo Dresden" earned six second-place finishes in that same period and could take some consolation in becoming East Germany's top performing side internationally. Once the hold of the secret police on the nation's football was loosened, "Dynamo Dresden" started winning titles again, making the double (national and cup titles) in 1989 and 1990.

German reunification and the Bundesliga

After German re-unification in 1990 the club was briefly re-named "1. FC Dynamo Dresden". Following the subsequent merger of the East and West German leagues, they played for four years in the top flight Bundesliga, always finishing in the bottom half of the slate. A last place finish in 1994-95 led to relegation, compounded by financial problems that saw the club's president imprisoned for fraud. The club was denied a license and sent all the way down to Regionalliga Nordost (III). "Dynamo" then struggled for some time, at one point falling to the Oberliga Nordost-Süd (IV), before clawing its way back to the 2.Bundesliga in 2004, despite on-going financial problems. "Dynamo" played there for two seasons, but were relegated to the Regionalliga Nord (III) in 2006. The 2006-07 campaign saw the team involved in the race for promotion early on, but a disappointing second half resulted in only a 7th place finish. In the summer of 2007 the club re-adopted its old East German name to play as "SG Dynamo Dresden".

Recent seasons

Managers

"Dynamo" enjoyed its greatest successes under Walter Fritzsch, capturing the first division DDR-Oberliga title in 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, as well as finishing as vice-champions four times. The team also took the East German Cup (FDGB Pokal) in 1971 and 1977.

Team trivia

* Playing internationally, the team was able to knock out such well-known teams as Roma, Juventus, and Benfica, but never reached a European final.
* Dynamo Dresden won the last two DDR-Oberliga championships before reunification (1989, and 1990), as well as the last East German Cup (1990).

Dynamo Dresden in Euro competitions

ponsorship

*Official Shirt Sponsor - Mister Lady
*Official Premium-Sponsor - Radeberger
*Official Premium-Sponsor - Sulo
*Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer - Nike, Inc.
*Official Stadium Sponsor - FIRA
*Official Communication Sponsor - Radio Dresden
*Official Communication Sponsor - T-Mobile
*Official Car Sponsor - Thyssen-Krupp
*Official Communication Sponsor - Sächsische Zeitung
*Official Sport Drink - Coca Cola
*Official Health Service Provider - Hamburg Mannheimer

References

Literature

*Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv] historical German domestic league tables (in German)
* [http://eufo.de/football/ger/dynasden.htm eufo.de] European football club profiles and current team rosters

External links

* [http://www.dynamo-dresden.de/ Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/dresden.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]