Fortuna Koln

SC Fortuna Koln is a German association football club playing in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia.

History

The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Koln 1911 (one of two clubs to bear the name), Bayenthaler SV 1920, and Sparkassen-Verein Koln 1927. Of these clubs, Victoria had the best results, winning its way to the first division of the Gauliga Koln-Aachen in 1941 and capturing the division title there the following season. Bayenthaler SV 1920 side also spent a season in the Gauliga in 1943–44 before the division collapsed as war overtook the region. In 1976, SC Fortuna Koln was joined by FC Alter Markt Koln.

Through most of the last four decades Fortuna has played as a second division side. Highlights of the club's history include promotion to the Bundesliga for the 1974 season and an impressive run through the 1983 DFB-Pokal. The team took out SC Freiburg in the first round and eked out a win on penalties over SSV Ulm 1846 in their next match. They then eliminated three first division sides in a row: first Eintracht Braunschweig and Borussia Monchengladbach, before crushing Borussia Dortmund 5–0 in their semi-final match. This put them into the final against hometown rivals 1. FC Koln, the first time the Cup final had come down to a local derby. Although they outplayed their opposition, Fortuna's magic had run out and they lost 0–1 on a late goal by Pierre Littbarski.

In 1986, the side came close to a return to the Bundesliga, but was beaten by Borussia Dortmund in the promotion round. Each team had won their home match in a two-game series, which forced a third contest under the rules in effect at the time. Instead of advancing on the strength of away goals, Fortuna was crushed 0–8 by Borussia Dortmund. A handful of seasons later the club avoided relegation to third tier football at the end of the 1991–92 schedule only when division rivals Blau-Weis 90 Berlin were denied a licence.

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