Offenburger FV

Offenburger FV is a German association football club based in the city of Offenburg, Baden-Wurttemberg.

History

Early years

The club was formed on 20 July 1907 under the name of FC 1907 Offenburg in what was then the Grand duchy of Baden. In its first couple of seasons, the club played mostly against teams from the other side of the river Rhine. The Alsace (German: Elsas) region was then part of Imperial Germany. The FK Neudorf, now the Racing Club Strasbourg, was one of those teams.

It merged in February 1913 with the FV 1910 Offenburg to form the current Ofenburger FV 1907. In October of the same year, the club moved to its new home ground Stegermatt which it would remain at until completion of its current stadium in 1958.

With the beginning of the First World War, the club had to cease playing games for the time but re-formed a team in 1915 with the help of local soldiers. In 1916, the club won its first local title, winning the Oberrheingau championship. As the war continued, young students took the place of the soldiers who were sent to the front line and eventually, football ceased to be played completely. The club suffered losses during the war with 22 of its members not returning from the battlefields.

1919 to 1933

Late in the year 1918, the club reformed its team and was able to reenter competitive football in early 1919. The OFV played in the A-Klasse Oberrheingau, the second tier of football in the region. The club played an epic decider for promotion on 28 March 1920, losing to SC Freiburg 1–2 after a game that lasted for 204 minutes, until Freiburg scored the winning goal.

For the 1920–21 season, the club entered the A-Klasse Schwarzwaldgau for the first time and won the championship in this league in its first season.