ASV Neumarkt

The ASV Neumarkt is a German association football club from the town of Neumarkt, Bavaria.

The club has spent a number of seasons in the Bayernliga, the highest football league in Bavaria, the last occasion being the 2000–01 season. The club has also made three appearances in the DFB-Pokal, on each occasion going out without scoring a goal.

The town of Neumarkt is located in the Upper Palatinate but ASV has historically opted to play in the league system of neighboring Middle Franconia.

History

The club was formed on 26 June 1860 as the gymnastics club TV 1860 Neumarkt. However, football was not played in Neumarkt in an organised form until 1913. In 1921, the DJK Neumarkt was formed, which soon played in the local league system. In 1922, the Fohlenhof ("foal yard") became home to the local footballers of DJK and Freie Turnerschaft and would later be the home ground of ASV until 1974, when the club moved to new facilities. From 1894 to 1922, the area had been used to train horses for the Bavarian cavalry but became surplus to requirement when, after the lost First World War, the German Army, the Reichswehr, was shrunk in size.

In 1926, first attempts were made to merge the local sport clubs into one, but efforts remained fruitless. In 1932, the first local derby was played but 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, brought changes to the sports clubs in Neumarkt. TV 1860 remained untouched but DJK, associated with the catholic church, was renamed Germania and the working-class Freie Turnerschaft was outlawed altogether.

With the end of the Second World War, football slowly returned to Neumarkt. The Freie Turnerschaft was reformed but merged with another club in 1947 to form TSV Neumarkt. In December 1950, TSV then merged with Germania, TV 1860 and the local ski club to form the current ASV Neumarkt. ASV did however not become a successful football side immediately; it took until the reorganisation of the German league system in 1963 for the club to enter the higher reac