Bonner SC

Bonner SC is a German association football club based in Bonn. The club was formed in 1965 through the merger of Bonner FV and Tura Bonn. Its former women's football department won the German national championship in 1975.

History

Bonner FV was founded in 1901 and was known early on as the "Club of Academics" because many of its leaders and members were teachers and professors. The side achieved good results as a tier II team prior to World War II, playing in the tier one Gauliga Mittelrhein at times. In 1959, FV won the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein (III) championship and moved up to 2nd Oberliga West (Division Two West).

Tura was formed in 1925 through a merger of the clubs FC Normannia and FC Borussia and drew its membership from the working class. The combined side's lineage also included the club FC Regina Bonn founded in 1904. Like Bonner FV, Tura played as a tier II team and their greatest success was in winning the 1962 west German amateur championship and their subsequent appearance in the national amateur final, which they lost 0:1 to SC Tegel. Since its founding in 1965, Bonner SC has played as a tier III or IV side except for a handful of seasons spent in various level II leagues between 1966–67 and 1976–77.

Cuban connection

In 1999, the club drew a lot of attention when then owner Hans-Robert Viol signed the complete Cuba national football team for the remainder of the season with the approval of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who ordered the players to remain amateurs and only be paid pocket money. They were the first 15 Cuban football players to have a spell abroad during the Castro regime and only four of them were expected to play in the Germans fourth tier side.

In 2000–01, they fell as low as Verbandsliga Mittelrhein (V). Despite the drought of success, Bonner SC were able to muster-up a phenomenal season in the NRW-Liga in the 2008–09 season and become champions leading to t