TSG Sprockhovel

TSG 1881 Sprockhovel is a German association football club based in Sprockhovel, North Rhine-Westphalia. With over 2,500 members, TSG is the largest sport club in the town and includes departments for athletics, badminton, basketball, budo, dance, gymnastics, handball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, and various fitness activities.

History

The roots of the club go back to the establishment in 1881 of Turngemeinde Sprockhovel which later became Turnverein Sprockhovel. In 1938, TV merged with Sportverein Sprockhovel, which was formed in 1907 and renamed Athene Sprockhovel in 1909, to create the current day club. Between 1922 and 1927 the team played in the highest level regional league where it faced sides such Schalke 04, MSV Duisburg, and Borussia Dortmund.

TSG spent several decades in lower tier local play until a series of promotions; first to the Landesliga (VI) in 1996, the Verbandsliga Westfalen Sudwest (V) in 1997, and to the Oberliga Westfalen (IV) for the first time in 2000. Since then the club has played as an elevator side, moving up and down frequently between fourth- and fifth-tier play, and last won promotion to the Oberliga Westfalen (V) again in 2012. A third-place finish in the Oberliga in 2015–16 earned the club direct promotion to the Regionalliga West after runners-up SpVgg Erkenschwick declined, but they were relegated back to the Oberliga after just one season.