Würzburger Kickers

Geschichte

Würzburger Kickers is a German association football club playing in Würzburg, Bavaria. In pre-Second World War football, the club has competed briefly at highest level, in the Bezirksliga Bayern and, during the war, in the Gauliga Bayern. Post-war, it made a single appearance in professional football when it played in the southern division of the 2. Bundesliga in 1977–78. After a long stint in amateur football, dropping as low as the seventh tier it made a recovery, reaching professional football again when winning promotion to the 3. Liga in 2014–15 and the following season, promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.HistoryFounded in 1907, the team has played for most of its history as an unknown local side, although they did manage three seasons in the Bezirksliga Bayern, from 1930 to 1933, and two single season appearances in the Gauliga Bayern (1940–41, 1942–43) one of sixteen top-flight division established in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich.The club became part of the Landesliga Bayern (II) after the Second World War. Kickers put on some strong performances through the 1950s in the Amateurliga Bayern (II-III) but never quite managed a breakthrough. Through the 1960s and on into the early 1980s, the club played as a third division side with the exception of a single season (1977–78) played in the 2. Bundesliga after their divisional title win in the Bayernliga (III) in '77. By 1983, financial difficulties contributed to a slide to fourth division play in the Landesliga Bayern-Nord which became a fifth tier circuit in 1994. Two difficult seasons over 2002–2004 saw the club descend through the Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken (VI) to the Bezirksliga Unterfranken (VII). Kickers recovered and returned to the Oberliga Bayern on the strength of a 2nd place in the 2007–08 Landesliga season. The club met local rival Würzburger FV there for the first Würzburg league derby since 1998–99.