MSV Duisburg - last updated on 28 February 2008
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: Meidericher Spielverein 02 e.V. Duisburg
Foundation: September 17th 1902
City: Duisburg
Colours: Blue and white
Website: www.msv-duisburg.de
Honours:
MSV Duisburg has currently no honours.
A bit of history:
The club was founded in 1902 as Meidericher Sportverein representing that district of the city. Three years later they absorbed the club Sport Club Viktoria Meiderich. In 1967, they took on their current name, acknowledging their role as the city's most popular and successful side.
While Duisburg has always been a competitive side, real success has so far eluded them. Early in their history they captured a number of local championships, and even enjoyed a pair of undefeated seasons (1913-14) when they scored 113 goals while only giving up 12. In 1929 they won the first Niederrhein championship and qualified for the first time for the national championship rounds, repeating the feat in 1931.
However, the club then went into a tailspin from which they didn't really recover until the 1950s when they began once again to field decent sides. During World War II the club came close to folding, but returned to play after the war emerging as city champions in 1946. In 1951, Duisburg earned promotion to the top-flight Oberliga West with their first place finish in the 2.Oberliga West. The Oberliga West was the most competitive division of German football at the time, and except for the 1954-55 season, Duisburg would play first division football there right up to the time of the formation of the Bundesliga.
The club's play was good enough to earn a place as one of the original sixteen teams in Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga, in 1963. That first season was their most successful as they went on to a second place finish to champions FC Köln. The "Zebras" spent nearly twenty years in the upper league before slipping to the 2.Bundesliga in 1982-83 and then becoming one of German football's "elevator teams", named for their frequent up and down moves between divisions. Even so, they managed another eight seasons in the Bundesliga over two-and-half decades.
For the 2007-2008 season MSV Duisburg has again been promoted to the 1.Bundesliga by finishing third in the 2006-07 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, behind Karlsruher SC and Hansa Rostock. MSV defeated Rot-Weiss Essen in a dramatic contest on the last day of the season by three goals to none, which secured their promotion for the fifth time in the last two decades while relegating Essen.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
MSV Duisburg
