Germany is the largest consumer of Russian gas and the oldest partner of Gazprom. Since 2007, Gazprom has sponsored the most popular Bundesliga club, Schalke 04 (FC Schalke 04). Thanks to the establishment of partnership relations, the Gazprom logo can now be seen on sportswear a club with a rich football tradition.
Photo "Schalke 04"
The birthplace of the Schalke 04 club is the Ruhr region, located in the very center of the German energy industry. The club was created in 1904 and was originally called Westfalia-Schalke (Westfalen Schalke), and the first uniform colors were red and yellow. In 1924, the club changed its name to Schalke 04 and changed its colors to white and blue.
The club's trophies look impressive: Schalke 04 is a 7-time German champion, 5-time winner of the German Football Association (DFB) Cup, and in 1997 the team won the UEFA Cup sensationally. At the same time, Schalke 04 is one of the three most successful clubs in Germany over the past five years. In the 2010/2011 season, the team became the semi-finalists of the Champions League and the winner of the German Football Association (DFB) Cup.
For more than a century of its existence, Schalke 04 has experienced many ups and downs. Despite this, he always has a loyal fan base who passionately supports the team. To date, the club has almost 100,000 members.
Blue, white "Westphalia-Schalke" (1904-1914), "Schalke 04" (1915 -...)
Story
At the beginning of the 20th century, Gelsenkirchen, located in the center of the Ruhr region (a mining district in Germany), sheltered thousands of people of different nationalities who rushed there in search of work and means of survival. If there is a cult team in Germany, the love of which is passed down from generation to generation, then this is Schalke. The Rogues are the favorite team of miners in Germany. When asked what Schalke is for German football, the answer of any Cobalt fan is simple: the Blue and White are truly a "people's team". “In this regard, Schalke is significantly different from Bayern or the yellow-black Borussia. Identifying themselves with the club, fans come to its matches, regardless of tournament position team and opponent level. So it was from 1928 to 1973 at the old stadium "Wheel of Fortune", in the next thirty years at the "Parkstadion", this continues at the most comfortable arena in the country, "AufSchalke", - any Schalke fan with experience will say. But the fan of Borussia Dortmund, for example, can say the same thing.
Schalk in German is a rogue, a sneak, so in the Russian-language press the club is often called "rogues".
On May 4, 1904, the Westfalia Schalke club was founded in the urban area of Schalke. The club colors were yellow-red – without further ado, they were simply “licked off” from one of the Dutch teams that were then in Germany.
At first it was not clear why Nottingham County, founded in 1862, is considered the oldest of the current football clubs, and on the emblems and in the names of many German clubs are there earlier dates? Digging into their history, you can understand that there is no secret - just a German trick. Football players joined gymnastic clubs much later, but the date of their birth indicated the date of foundation gymnastic club! Here the Gelsenkirchians are just a pleasant exception, and 1904 is the year the football club was founded. The local gymnastic association, created 27 years earlier, has nothing to do with this date.
Another difference, "Schalke" - it was founded by eight fourteen teenagers. First, she wanders from place to place, from Taubenstrasse to Grenzstrasse, then to Industrialstrasse. By the end of 1904 the club already had sixteen members, and by 1907 forty. Schoolchildren paid 5 pfennigs a month, and those who were older paid 10 pfennigs. Due to the age of the members, the club began to have problems. According to the German laws existing at that time, a society was accepted into the West German Gaming Union only if it was established by adults (although in those years there were a great many "wild" clubs in the country). And the age of majority in Germany is 21 years. Finally, in 1909, one of the guys turns 21. Westfalia Schalke registers in the city, but the West German Gaming Association still refuses to accept teen club. The two-year lawsuit has not yielded results, and the guys have no choice but to follow the path of most clubs and unite with the gymnasts. In 1912 "Westfalia Schalke" is included in the gymnastic union "1877 Schalke" (becomes part of it), which, in turn, is included in the notorious West German playing union. Now they are called "Schalke Gymnastics Union". The word "Westphalia" disappears forever from the name of the club.
Then there was the First World War. Gymnasts went to the front, and football players began to run the club. At Schalke, the first real coach appears - Thomas Student. With team leader Ernst Rehmann, the Pitmen won the regional championship in 1920, got into the city class "A", the next year, in 1921, they became the city champion and received the right to play in the regional championship. And on August 3, 1922, Schalke played an international match for the first time - losing 1:2 to Vienna.
The gymnastics club became a burden, besides, they could not agree on payment in any way (in two different types sport, its principles cannot be equal). On January 5, 1924, the football players, led by Fritz Unkel, parted ways with the gymnasts and created an independent club, FC Schalke 04 - of course, the boys had already grown up! Club colors are also changing - now it is blue and white. In 1928 the club changed its name to FC Schalke Gelsenkirchen 04. The mayor's office, in gratitude, paid for the construction of a new stadium.
The process of becoming begins - the "circular" combination game in the style of Schalke (an elegant form of football based on the Scottish low-passing technique) becomes calling card commands. The charismatic captain Ernst Kutsorra, together with his son-in-law Fritz Szczepan, completely determined club politics. Playing style with the dominance of short fast passes, called the "blue cross". The team was nicknamed "miners in blue and white uniforms" or "cobalt knappen" (from the German "Knappe" - a miner who successfully completed a miner's training course). The club named its sports arena, solemnly opened in 1928, "Gluckauf" (Gluckauf - the miners' wish for good luck and a safe return). At this stadium, the team became the leader of regional, and then West German and, soon, German football.
In 1927, the Austrian Günther Wicker became the coach. August 25, 1930 "Schalke" is at the center of a big scandal in German football. The club paid 14 of its players an advance of 10 Deutschmarks - this was forbidden. The Cobalts were expelled from all tournaments and ordered to pay a fine of 1,600 marks. They forgave Schalke on June 1, 1931, and 70,000 spectators came to the stadium for the game against Fortuna from Düsseldorf.
The achievements of the team in this decade are quite understandable - it is documented that the "rogues" were sympathetic to the chairman of the NDAP, Adolf Schicklgruber. He is Hitler. On March 5, 1933, Hitler won the election, and in May of that year, Schalke made it to the first final in its history. But the Fuhrer's favor was not enough. good coach and great players - without them there would be no victories. By the way, the Pitmen's current fans do not stand out with pro-fascist views - everything is in the usual proportions for Germany. On August 15, 1933, Hans "Bumbas" Schmidt became the coach. He rebuilt the team's game, and in next year“Schalke” for the first time becomes the champion of the country, beating “Nuremberg” 2:1 in the final in Berlin. It is clear that Hitler was present at the match. By the way, in various tournaments in 1934, the Gelsenkirchens played 72 matches, and the Westphalia team consisted of them.
On June 1, 1935, Schalke joins the National Socialist Union of Athletes. By the way, they enter three weeks before the next final of the national championship. And the rival Gelsenkirchentsev became “Stuttgart”. And lost 4:6. In 1935, the German Cup began to be played. And in this tournament "Die Konigsblauen" performed successfully - they reached the final, but in Düsseldorf with 56,000 spectators they lost to "Nuremberg" 0:2. The club prospered - tournament successes, a powerful financial base, the help of politicians. Schalke decides to expand the stadium, which has become the largest arena in the country. The height of one of the stands reached 114 meters! However, after two consecutive league titles, the team did not reach the final of the championship, and the decisive match for the German Cup on January 3 in Berlin, in the presence of 70,000 fans, lost to Leipzig 1:2. In 1937, the club took both the championship gold and the Cup. In 1938, Schalke reached the final, but lost to Hannover. The coach resigned, he was replaced by Otto Feist, who led the team to the championship (in the final they beat the Vienna "Admira" 9:0). However, European cup matches were not played at that time, and the club could not try its hand at the international arena.
In 1941 Die Knappen lost both finals. In the championship, this was the only time in history when the title was won by an Austrian team - Vienna "Rapid", who beat on June 22! Schalke 4:3. The war was on, several leading players were drafted into the army, and the club's last resounding success was on February 27, 1944, when they won the regional final against Borussia Dortmund 4: 1. On this, in fact, in the history of the "great Schalke" you can put a bullet point ... Some statistics. For 11 years in a row, the Cobalt have become the champions of Westphalia. During this time, we scored 371 points out of 404 possible, scored 896 goals, conceded 144.
On November 4, 1944, the president of Schalke, Unkel, died, and the club's business began to decline. In addition, the stadium, which was restored only in 1947, was bombed, and the players took part in this. On November 12, 1950, Kutsorra and Shchepan ended their careers. The latter became the team's coach. After the war, the Knappens found it increasingly difficult to keep the bar - the champion title was won only in 1958, then Edi Fruwirth was the coach. It was the seventh and last gold. Until 1954, nothing remarkable, but the club celebrated its half-century anniversary widely - they modernized the stadium, strengthened the squad, signed an intelligent coach.
In 1958, Schalke made their debut in the European Cup and flew out to the 1/4 finals, losing to Atlético Madrid. At the same time, the tax police discovered a black cash desk in the club, from which the players were paid a total of 150,000 Deutschmarks. The president of the club and the treasurer were fined 4,000 and 3,000 marks, respectively.
In 1963, the Bundesliga was created, and the “pre-Bundesliga” statistics of Schalke: 469 matches, +224 = 107-137, 986-704.
For better preparation By the end of May 1963, and in order to earn extra money, the Pitmen went on a tour of America for the first time in their history, where they played four matches (two won, two lost). One of the rivals - "Santos" Pele (Gelsenkirchen lost 1:2). at the match due to expensive tickets($20!) There were only 15,000 spectators. And on his return he passed farewell match the legendary Bernie Klodt, the only player on the team to become world champion. The transition to the professional "Bundesliga rails" was difficult for the "cobalt" ones, due to bad results fired coach Georg Havlicek, and on June 15, 1964, Schalke was declared bankrupt. The German Football Union, in case of non-payment of debts before the appointed time, threatened to deprive the club of a professional license and send it to the amateur league. Königsoll's presidency came to an end, and Fritz Szczepan came in handy here. Remaining in the shadows, in five days he successfully negotiated with the city hall, which bought the stadium from the club for 850,000 marks (more than one club later went down this path in the same situation). A month later, Szczepan officially became president. Financial difficulties, including salary cuts, were overcome, but a wild game decline began - the next season the team confidently took the last place! Help came unexpectedly - it was decided to expand the Bundesliga from 16 to 18 teams, according to the regulations, one team flew out, and three came. And Schalke would have become this loser if the NSF had not deprived Hertha of the license for financial reasons!
Miraculously avoiding relegation, the Pitmen did not play better. Moreover, in 1967 they lost in Mönchengladbach 0:11. And this despite the fact that the goalkeeper saved the team from another five goals ... Having completed the task of saving the sinking club, Fritz Szczepan lost the presidential chair to 36-year-old Gunter Siebert. But before leaving, he did what, in fact, he started working at the club. Germany won the right to host the 1974 World Cup. Enlisting the support of the organizers, who promised to give some matches to Gelsenkirchen, he took a loan from the city authorities to build a new stadium. And a few years later, Schalke had a spacious, modern Parkstadion arena, worth 56 million marks! The next success was in 1971, when the team led by Ivica Horvath became the vice-champion of the country and won the German Cup for the second time.
Soon the club was shaken by the loudest scandal in the history of the Bundesliga with the surrender of the match. On April 17, 1971, Schalke lost 0-1 to Arminia at home, although they beat them 3-0 away in the first round. The match was declared fixed, as a result, 53 players, two coaches and six functionaries were disqualified. The amount that the players who leaked the match received was even calculated - 2,300 marks each. On August 4, 1973, the opening of the new stadium took place, and in the first match, Schalke lost to Feyenoord 1:3.
Then there were the next financial scandals: coach Friedel Rausch “earned” 25,000 marks on transfers, President Günther Siebert was accused of violating the charter and misusing credit funds in the amount of 180,000 marks. Siebert resigned, but Hans-Joachim Fenne, who replaced him, could not fix anything, and by May 1980 the club's debts reached 3.5 million marks. At the end of the 1980/1981 season, the Gelsenkirchens were relegated to the second league. Then there was a return, departure again, return again.
A period of recession has come. Three times the team slides into the second league (1981, 1983 and 1988). Twice they managed to immediately return back, but the third time the Knappens were stuck in the second division for three years. However, despite the failures, Schalke continued to be one of the most popular clubs in the country, and much more spectators came to its matches than to some Bundesliga matches. Things were getting worse. On April 2, 1988, Bayern take revenge on Schalke for the humiliation of 10 years ago (8:1), the final collapse of the team began.
In 1989, for the first time, Gelsenkirchians bought players from the USSR - Dynamo Moscow Alexander Borodyuk (November 30) and Dnepropetrovsk player Vladimir Lyuty (December 1). But this did not help the club return to the elite - the return occurred only in the summer of 1991. However, something broke - the debts reached 20 million marks, and again the change of president. December 12, 1994 President Gerhard Rechberg.
Then for several years the team struggled for survival, and in 1996 coach Jörg Berger led the Cobalt to the UEFA Cup. However, he fell out with management and club manager Rudy Assauer invited Huub Stevens to take his place. And did not lose! The Dutchman created a team of "workhorses", taught the players to fight for victory and, having beaten Inter in the final, Schalke won the UEFA Cup.
After that grandiose success, apart from two victories in the German Cup, the Gelsenkirchens had no other titles. Construction begins in 1998 new arena. "Veltins-arena" ("AufSchalke Arena") with 61,506 seats, equipped with a retractable turf, a closing roof, a mobile south stand and a video board, is rightfully considered one of the best stadiums in Europe. The cost of its construction (191 million euros) was fully financed by private investors. Fans also took part in this project - each of them, having paid 250 euros, received a symbolic piece of building stone from construction sites. Not far from the main entrance, a special stele was erected, on which the names of all the Schalke fans who took part in this project are carved. Shortly after the grand opening of the new stadium, the team almost managed to revive their former glory. "Cobalt" in 2001 took the German Cup and qualified for the Champions League.
In 2001, "Schalke" could get the "Silver Salad Bowl", but ... At the same time there were two matches: "Schalke" - "Unterhaching" and "Hamburg" - "Bayern". And that's when on last minute Munich fans sobbed (the hosts scored), in Gelsenkirchen the final whistle sounded (the match ended 2:2). Spectators rushed to the field, everyone sang and danced. But the match in Hamburg is not over yet… Uyfalushi, playing ahead of the game, kicked the ball back to the goalkeeper, and Schöber, instead of knocking it out, covered it with his hands. Merck is relentless - free from the penalty area! Jancker knelt down, Hoeness and Hitzfeld on the bench, and Jeremis and Beckenbauer in the stands held their breath, the fans raised their hands to the sky. In Gelsenkirchen, the jubilation continues, although the scoreboard has long included a picture from Hamburg. There are 22 players in Schöber's box. Kahn loitering around Schöber... Effenberg is at the ball, Hargreaves is nearby. But Stefan rolled back the projectile on Andersson. Why on him, because in that championship the Swede did not score even once. Be that as it may, Patrick's shot brought Bayern the championship. Mayer-Vorfelder breathed a sigh of relief - he did not have to urgently fly with a "salad bowl" to Gelsenkirchen! Munich rejoice, and grief in Gelsenkirchen - everyone sobbed ... A week later, Schalke took the Cup of the country, but Stevens left the team - to Hertha. After him, neither Neubart, who replaced him, nor Wilmots, Reck, Heynckes managed to pull Schalke to the forefront, and only Rangnik, who came in September 2004, managed to restore faith in the players and impose a fight for the championship on Bayern. But the Pitmen could not bear the burden of leadership.
In the 2005/2006 season, the Knappens played again in the Champions League, where they lost to Sevilla in the semi-finals.
Then the policy of management and team manager Andreas Muller at the beginning of the new century caused a lot of criticism - coaching leapfrog, dubious transfers. In 2006, in the off-season comes Fred Rutten, who successfully worked in Holland for the benefit of Twente. With him he brought two players - Farfan and Engelaar. Both were paid fairly decent amounts, but they did not play on the team, but only Jefferson played. Without waiting for the end of the season, Engelaar, together with Rutten, departed back to Holland.
In the spring of 2009, Oliver Kahn, after negotiations with the club management, refused to take the post of chief manager. Felix Magath took over at Schalke in 2009.
German Muslims were offended by the hymn "Schalke 04" (Schalke 04) and demanded that the leadership change the text of the old song "White and blue, how I love you." Of particular displeasure was the line: "The Prophet Muhammad did not understand anything in football, but of all the colors he chose white and blue." The club's e-mail address received a lot of indignant letters, the authors of which demanded that the mention of the prophet be removed, and although the letters did not contain specific threats, the Schalke management took this very seriously and notified the police. At the same time, representatives of the football club turned to an expert on Islam with a request to help them understand the current situation.
Awards and achievements
German Champion (7): 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958
Silver medalist of the German championship (9): 1933, 1938, 1941, 1972, 1977, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2010
German Cup winner (4): 1938, 1972, 2001, 2002
German League Cup Winner: 2005
Second Bundesliga winner (2): 1982, 1991
UEFA Cup Winner: 1997
Intertoto Cup Winner (2): 2003, 2004
In the 30s, Schalke progressed steadily, in 1928 the team moved to its own stadium, Glükauf-Kampfbahn, and received the modern name FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. In 1929, the first victory in the West German championship was obtained, and four years later the Pitmen entered the Gauliga Westfalen, which became the predecessor of the Bundesliga. In 1934, the team became the champion of Germany, repeating this achievement four more times before the outbreak of World War II. At the same time the club won its first German Cup (1937).
Postwar years
During World War II, Schalke managed to take the sixth league title, but then a lull followed. The next title came in 1947, when Herten was beaten 20-0 in the play-off final. However, this success became an isolated case at the turn of the decades. The next successes had to wait 11 seasons, until in 1958 the Pitmen managed to snatch the league title from Hamburg. In 1963, Schalke, together with 15 other clubs, founded the German Bundesliga. Until the end of the 60s, the Blues are fighting for survival, and in 1965 they do not fly out only thanks to the expansion of the league to 18 teams.
In 1972, Schalke won the German Cup, the first trophy for the Gelsenkirchens since 1957. Subsequently, Schalke would continue to achieve success in the cup field, while on the national stage the Blues would consistently be several points short of an eighth league title. In 1971, Schalke became involved in the first major scandal in the Bundesliga. The team's players were suspected of "leaking" several championship matches, and after a detailed investigation, it was decided to ban thirteen team players for life at once, but then so much severe punishment was replaced by terms from six months to two years.
80s
The 80s turned out to be quite “fun” in the life of the club. In 1977, the Pitmen finished second in the Bundesliga, losing the coveted trophy to Borussia M. And already in the 1982 season, the club leaves the top division, relegated to the second Bundesliga for the first time. Returning the following season, Schalke failed to re-establish themselves and went to the second division. In 1985, Schalke is in the top division of Germany, winning silver medals in the second division. After several seasons in the second part of the Bundesliga standings, the Pitmen are relegated to the second division, where they are stuck for three whole seasons.
In 1991, Schalke wins the Second Bundesliga championship and returns to the elite, from which it has never been relegated. Since the mid-90s, Schalke has managed to gain a foothold in the top of the Bundesliga standings, although there have been failures, such as fourteenth place in the 1993/94 season. In 1996, the team took third place in standings and gets a chance to debut in the UEFA Cup. In the 1/32 finals, the Blues beat the Dutch club Roda, then, thanks to a 3-3 draw on the road, they defeated Trabzonspor. In the quarter-finals, the team confidently beats Valencia (2-0, 1-1), in the semi-finals Tenerife (2-0, 1-0), and finally, in the final in the penalty shoot-out, it defeats Inter Milan.
Confident 2000s
In the new millennium, Schalke is becoming one of the key clubs in the German Bundesliga. In 2001, the Blues finished second in the league, one point behind Bayern. In the same year, Schalke reached the final of the German League Cup for the second time in a row, where they lost to Hertha Berlin. In 2005, the team still takes the coveted trophy, and also takes third place in the national championship. In October 2006, the Russian company Gazprom became the main sponsor of the team. She invests more than 150 million euros in the team and makes it one of the contenders for the championship title. In 2008, Schalke reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they lost to Valencia. In 2010, the Blues finished second in the Bundesliga for the fourth time in nine seasons.
In the 2010/11 season, Schalke embarked on their next league campaign, which ended at the semi-final stage, where the Blues lost to Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. On the national arena, Schalke was content with fourth place, but the German Cup was taken. In July 2011, the Gelsenkirchens won the German Super Cup, and the total number of trophies exceeded 20. At the end of the 2012/13 season, the club finished third in the Bundesliga standings, and reached the Champions League play-off stage for the second consecutive season.
In the 2014/15 season, Schalke finished only 6th in the German championship, which allowed them to reach the group stage of the Europa League. In the group, the Pitmen took first place very easily, ahead of Sparta, Asteras and APOEL. However, already in the first round of the playoffs, they could not oppose anything to Shakhtar Donetsk, having lost a two-match series in a clean sheet (0:0, 0:3).
In the same season, in the German championship, Schalke again failed to break into the top 4, and finished only on the 5th line, re-entering the Europa League.
Having scored five victories in six matches, and ahead of Krasnodar, Salzburg and Nice, the Pitmen advanced to the playoffs of the tournament from the first place. In the first round, Schalke easily beat PAOK (3:0, 1:1), and in the next round managed to knock out Borussia M (1:1, 2:2), thanks to more goals scored in a foreign field.
At the ¼ final stage, the Pitmen lost in a bitter struggle to Ajax (0:2, 3:2), which eventually reached the final of the tournament.
Due to the long participation in European competitions, Schalke could not focus on the championship, and as a result, for the first time in many years, did not get into the top six, finishing the season only on the 10th line.
But next season, Schalke managed to show their full potential already in the championship. With 18 wins in the Bundesliga, Goryanka finished in second place, just behind Bayern. Thanks to this, Schalke started the next season with group stage Champions League.
Being in the same group with Porto, Lokomotiv and Galatasaray, the Pitmen managed to take second place and reach the playoffs of the tournament. But the relegation matches turned out to be a real nightmare for Schalke.
Beating Manchester City in the first match, the Pitmen managed to miss the advantage, playing in the majority and even lost to the English champions (2:3). The away match was for Schalke the darkest day in history, because they lost with a crushing score of 0:7.
In the same season in the Bundesliga, the Pitmen could not leave the relegation zone for a very long time, and were only able to save themselves at the end of the season, gaining 33 points and finishing the season in 14th place.
Schalke 04 fans
It is one of the most supported clubs in Germany, ranking third after Bayern and Borussia D. During the first decade of the 2000s, the army of Schalke fans increased by more than 10 times and amounts to this moment about 120 thousand. The Schalke Fan Association brings together more than 1,500 fan clubs with total more than 90,000 members. About 300 communities are located outside of Germany.
Rivals and sister cities of Schalke 04
Schalke 04 maintains friendly relations with the Nuremberg football club. There are several reasons for this: firstly, they are united by their hatred of Bayern, and secondly, Nuremberg somehow helped Schalke win the league title by beating Borussia.
The principal rival of Schalke is the football club Borussia Dortmund. Both clubs were founded in the early years of the 20th century. However, Schalke immediately managed to gain a foothold in the high society of German football, while Borussia played in the amateur divisions. Until the Second World War, Schalke 04 beat the Dortmund club, and the apogee of this successful series was 10-0, mined in 1940. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the balance of power leveled off, and in 1967 Schalke suffered a painful defeat with a score of 7-0.
Other rivals for the Blues include North Rhine clubs Bochum, Rot-Weiss, as well as Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV.
Notable Schalke 04 players
- Klaus Fichtel (record holder for the number of matches played for the club - 577)
- Rolf Ruessman
- Jiri Nemets
- Gerald Asamoah
- Olaf Tone
- Claus Fischer ( top scorer in the history of the club - 182 goals)
- Olaf Tone
- Claes-Jan Hüntelar
- Kevin Kuranyi
- Mark Wilmots
- Fabian Ernst
- Rafinha
- Zlatan Bayramovic
- Vladimir Lyuty
- Alexander Borodyuk
- Ivan Rakitic
- Vicente Sanchez
- Raul Gonzalez
- Jens Lemmann
- Mesut Ozil
- Manuel Neuer
Team History
At the beginning of the 20th century, Gelsenkirchen, located in the center of the Ruhr region (a mining district in Germany), sheltered thousands of people of different nationalities who rushed there in search of work and means of survival. If there is a cult team in Germany, the love of which is passed down from generation to generation, then this is Schalke. The Rogues are the favorite team of miners in Germany. When asked what Schalke is for German football, the answer of any Cobalt fan is simple: the Blue and White are truly a "people's team". “In this regard, Schalke is significantly different from Bayern or the yellow-black Borussia. Identifying themselves with the club, fans come to its matches, regardless of the team’s standings and the level of the opponent. This was the case from 1928 to 1973 on the old stadium "Wheel of Fortune", in the next thirty years at the "Parkstadion", this continues at the most comfortable arena in the country - "AufSchalke" - any Schalke fan with experience will say. But the fan of Borussia Dortmund can say the same ", For example.
Schalk in German is a rogue, a sneak, so in the Russian-language press the club is often called "rogues".
On May 4, 1904, the Westfalia Schalke club was founded in the urban area of Schalke. The club colors were yellow-red – without further ado, they were simply “licked off” from one of the Dutch teams that were then in Germany.
At first, it was not clear why Nottingham County, founded in 1862, is considered the oldest of the current football clubs, and the emblems and names of many German clubs have earlier dates? Digging into their history, you can understand that there is no secret - just a German trick. Football players joined gymnastic clubs much later, but the date of their birth indicated the date of foundation of the gymnastic club! Here the Gelsenkirchians are just a pleasant exception, and 1904 is the year the football club was founded. The local gymnastic association, created 27 years earlier, has nothing to do with this date.
Another difference, "Schalke" - it was founded by eight fourteen teenagers. First, she wanders from place to place, from Taubenstrasse to Grenzstrasse, then to Industrialstrasse. By the end of 1904 the club already had sixteen members, and by 1907 forty. Schoolchildren paid 5 pfennigs a month, and those who were older paid 10 pfennigs. Due to the age of the members, the club began to have problems. According to the German laws existing at that time, a society was accepted into the West German Gaming Union only if it was established by adults (although in those years there were a great many "wild" clubs in the country). And the age of majority in Germany is 21 years. Finally, in 1909, one of the guys turns 21. Westfalia Schalke registers in the city, but the West German Gaming Association still refuses to accept the teenage club into its ranks. The two-year lawsuit has not yielded results, and the guys have no choice but to follow the path of most clubs and unite with the gymnasts. In 1912 "Westfalia Schalke" is included in the gymnastic union "1877 Schalke" (becomes part of it), which, in turn, is included in the notorious West German playing union. Now they are called "Schalke Gymnastics Union". The word "Westphalia" disappears forever from the name of the club.
Then there was the First World War. Gymnasts went to the front, and football players began to run the club. At Schalke, the first real coach appears - Thomas Student. With team leader Ernst Rehmann, the Pitmen won the regional championship in 1920, got into the city class "A", the next year, in 1921, they became the city champion and received the right to play in the regional championship. And on August 3, 1922, Schalke played an international match for the first time - losing 1:2 to Vienna.
The gymnastic club became a burden, besides, they could not agree on payment (in two different sports, its principles cannot be equal). On January 5, 1924, the football players, led by Fritz Unkel, parted ways with the gymnasts and created an independent club, FC Schalke 04 - of course, the boys had already grown up! Club colors are also changing - now it is blue and white. In 1928 the club changed its name to FC Schalke Gelsenkirchen 04. The mayor's office, in gratitude, paid for the construction of a new stadium.
The process of formation begins - the "circular" combination game in the style of "Schalke" (an elegant form of football based on the Scottish low-passing technique) becomes the hallmark of the team. The charismatic captain Ernst Kutsorra, together with his son-in-law Fritz Szczepan, completely determined club politics. The playing style, dominated by short, fast passes, was called the "blue cross". The team was nicknamed "miners in blue and white uniforms" or "cobalt knappen" (from the German "Knappe" - a miner who successfully completed a miner's training course). The club named its sports arena, solemnly opened in 1928, "Gluckauf" (Gluckauf - the miners' wish for good luck and a safe return). At this stadium, the team became the leader of regional, and then West German and, soon, German football.
In 1927, the Austrian Günther Wicker became the coach. August 25, 1930 Schalke is at the center of a big scandal in German football. The club paid 14 of its players an advance of 10 Deutschmarks - this was forbidden. The Cobalts were expelled from all tournaments and ordered to pay a fine of 1,600 marks. They forgave Schalke on June 1, 1931, and 70,000 spectators came to the stadium for the game against Fortuna from Düsseldorf.
The achievements of the team in this decade are quite understandable - it is documented that the "rogues" were sympathetic to the chairman of the NDAP, Adolf Schicklgruber. He is Hitler. On March 5, 1933, Hitler won the election, and in May of that year, Schalke made it to the first final in its history. But the Fuhrer's favor was not enough. A good coach and great players - without them there would be no victories. By the way, the Pitmen's current fans do not stand out with pro-fascist views - everything is in the usual proportions for Germany. On August 15, 1933, Hans "Bumbas" Schmidt became the coach. He rebuilt the team's game, and the following year, Schalke became national champion for the first time, beating Nuremberg 2-1 in the final in Berlin. It is clear that Hitler was present at the match. By the way, in various tournaments in 1934, the Gelsenkirchens played 72 matches, and the Westphalia team consisted of them.
On June 1, 1935, Schalke joins the National Socialist Union of Athletes. By the way, they enter three weeks before the next final of the national championship. And the rival Gelsenkirchentsev became “Stuttgart”. And lost 4:6. In 1935, the German Cup began to be played. And in this tournament "Die Konigsblauen" performed successfully - they reached the final, but in Düsseldorf with 56,000 spectators they lost to "Nuremberg" 0:2. The club prospered - tournament successes, a powerful financial base, the help of politicians. Schalke decides to expand the stadium, which has become the largest arena in the country. The height of one of the stands reached 114 meters! However, after two consecutive league titles, the team did not reach the final of the championship, and the decisive match for the German Cup on January 3 in Berlin, in the presence of 70,000 fans, lost to Leipzig 1:2. In 1937, the club took both the championship gold and the Cup. In 1938, Schalke reached the final, but lost to Hannover. The coach resigned, he was replaced by Otto Feist, who led the team to the championship (in the final they beat the Vienna "Admira" 9:0). However, European cup matches were not played at that time, and the club could not try its hand at the international arena.
In 1941 Die Knappen lost both finals. In the championship, this was the only time in history when the title was won by an Austrian team - Vienna "Rapid", who beat on June 22! Schalke 4:3. The war was on, several leading players were drafted into the army, and the club's last resounding success was on February 27, 1944, when they won the regional final against Borussia Dortmund 4: 1. On this, in fact, in the history of the "great Schalke" you can put a bullet point ... Some statistics. For 11 years in a row, the Cobalt have become the champions of Westphalia. During this time, we scored 371 points out of 404 possible, scored 896 goals, conceded 144.
On November 4, 1944, the president of Schalke, Unkel, died, and the club's business began to decline. In addition, the stadium, which was restored only in 1947, was bombed, and the players took part in this. On November 12, 1950, Kutsorra and Shchepan ended their careers. The latter became the team's coach. After the war, the Knappens found it increasingly difficult to keep the bar - the champion title was won only in 1958, then Edi Fruwirth was the coach. It was the seventh and last gold. Until 1954, nothing remarkable, but the club celebrated its half-century anniversary widely - they modernized the stadium, strengthened the squad, signed an intelligent coach.
In 1958, Schalke made their debut in the European Cup and flew out to the 1/4 finals, losing to Atlético Madrid. At the same time, the tax police discovered a black cash desk in the club, from which the players were paid a total of 150,000 Deutschmarks. The president of the club and the treasurer were fined 4,000 and 3,000 marks, respectively.
In 1963, the Bundesliga was created, and the “pre-Bundesliga” statistics of Schalke: 469 matches, +224 = 107-137, 986-704.
In order to better prepare for the season and in order to earn extra money, at the end of May 1963, the Pitmen went on a tour of America for the first time in their history, where they played four matches (two won, two lost). One of the rivals - "Santos" Pele (Gelsenkirchen lost 1:2). There were only 15,000 spectators at the match because of the expensive tickets ($20!) And upon his return, the farewell match of the legendary Bernie Klodt, the only player on the team who became the world champion, took place. The transition to the professional "Bundesliga rails" was given to the "cobalt" hard, because of the poor results, coach Georg Havlicek was fired, and on June 15, 1964, Schalke was declared bankrupt. The German Football Union, in case of non-payment of debts before the appointed time, threatened to deprive the club of a professional license and send it to the amateur league. Königsoll's presidency came to an end, and Fritz Szczepan came in handy here. Remaining in the shadows, in five days he successfully negotiated with the city hall, which bought the stadium from the club for 850,000 marks (more than one club later went down this path in the same situation). A month later, Szczepan officially became president. Financial difficulties, including salary cuts, were overcome, but a wild game decline began - the next season the team confidently took the last place! Help came unexpectedly - it was decided to expand the Bundesliga from 16 to 18 teams, according to the regulations, one team flew out, and three came. And Schalke would have become this loser if the NSF had not deprived Hertha of the license for financial reasons!
Miraculously avoiding relegation, the Pitmen did not play better. Moreover, in 1967 they lost in Mönchengladbach 0:11. And this despite the fact that the goalkeeper saved the team from another five goals ... Having completed the task of saving the sinking club, Fritz Szczepan lost the presidential chair to 36-year-old Gunter Siebert. But before leaving, he did what, in fact, he started working at the club. Germany won the right to host the 1974 World Cup. Enlisting the support of the organizers, who promised to give some matches to Gelsenkirchen, he took a loan from the city authorities to build a new stadium. And a few years later, Schalke had a spacious, modern Parkstadion arena, worth 56 million marks! The next success was in 1971, when the team led by Ivica Horvath became the vice-champion of the country and won the German Cup for the second time.
Soon the club was shaken by the loudest scandal in the history of the Bundesliga with the surrender of the match. On April 17, 1971, Schalke lost 0-1 to Arminia at home, although they beat them 3-0 away in the first round. The match was declared fixed, as a result, 53 players, two coaches and six functionaries were disqualified. The amount that the players who leaked the match received was even calculated - 2,300 marks each. On August 4, 1973, the opening of the new stadium took place, and in the first match, Schalke lost to Feyenoord 1:3.
Then there were the next financial scandals: coach Friedel Rausch “earned” 25,000 marks on transfers, President Günther Siebert was accused of violating the charter and misusing credit funds in the amount of 180,000 marks. Siebert resigned, but Hans-Joachim Fenne, who replaced him, could not fix anything, and by May 1980 the club's debts reached 3.5 million marks. At the end of the 1980/1981 season, the Gelsenkirchens were relegated to the second league. Then there was a return, departure again, return again.
A period of recession has come. Three times the team slides into the second league (1981, 1983 and 1988). Twice they managed to immediately return back, but the third time the Knappens were stuck in the second division for three years. However, despite the failures, Schalke continued to be one of the most popular clubs in the country, and much more spectators came to its matches than to some Bundesliga matches. Things were getting worse. On April 2, 1988, Bayern take revenge on Schalke for the humiliation of 10 years ago (8:1), the final collapse of the team began.
In 1989, for the first time, Gelsenkirchians bought players from the USSR - Dynamo Moscow Alexander Borodyuk (November 30) and Dnepropetrovsk player Vladimir Lyuty (December 1). But this did not help the club return to the elite - the return occurred only in the summer of 1991. However, something broke - the debts reached 20 million marks, and again the change of president. December 12, 1994 President Gerhard Rechberg.
Then for several years the team struggled for survival, and in 1996 coach Jörg Berger led the Cobalt to the UEFA Cup. However, he fell out with management and club manager Rudy Assauer invited Huub Stevens to take his place. And did not lose! The Dutchman created a team of "workhorses", taught the players to fight for victory and, having beaten Inter in the final, Schalke won the UEFA Cup.
After that grandiose success, apart from two victories in the German Cup, the Gelsenkirchens had no other titles. In 1998, the construction of a new arena began. "Veltins-arena" ("AufSchalke Arena") with 61,506 seats, equipped with a retractable turf, a closing roof, a mobile south stand and a video board, is rightfully considered one of the best stadiums in Europe. The cost of its construction (191 million euros) was fully financed by private investors. Fans also took part in this project - each of them, having paid 250 euros, received a symbolic piece of building stone from construction sites. Not far from the main entrance, a special stele was erected, on which the names of all the Schalke fans who took part in this project are carved. Shortly after the grand opening of the new stadium, the team almost managed to revive their former glory. "Cobalt" in 2001 took the German Cup and qualified for the Champions League.
In 2001, "Schalke" could get the "Silver Salad Bowl", but ... At the same time there were two matches: "Schalke" - "Unterhaching" and "Hamburg" - "Bayern". And when the Munich fans were crying at the last minute (the hosts scored), the final whistle sounded in Gelsenkirchen (the match ended 2:2). Spectators rushed to the field, everyone sang and danced. But the match in Hamburg is not over yet… Uyfalushi, playing ahead of the game, kicked the ball back to the goalkeeper, and Schöber, instead of knocking it out, covered it with his hands. Merck is relentless - free from the penalty area! Jancker knelt down, Hoeness and Hitzfeld on the bench, and Jeremis and Beckenbauer in the stands held their breath, the fans raised their hands to the sky. In Gelsenkirchen, the jubilation continues, although the scoreboard has long included a picture from Hamburg. There are 22 players in Schöber's box. Kahn loitering around Schöber... Effenberg is at the ball, Hargreaves is nearby. But Stefan rolled back the projectile on Andersson. Why on him, because in that championship the Swede did not score even once. Be that as it may, Patrick's shot brought Bayern the championship. Mayer-Vorfelder breathed a sigh of relief - he did not have to urgently fly with a "salad bowl" to Gelsenkirchen! Munich rejoice, and grief in Gelsenkirchen - everyone sobbed ... A week later, Schalke took the Cup of the country, but Stevens left the team - to Hertha. After him, neither Neubart, who replaced him, nor Wilmots, Reck, Heynckes managed to pull Schalke to the forefront, and only Rangnik, who came in September 2004, managed to restore faith in the players and impose a fight for the championship on Bayern. But the Pitmen could not bear the burden of leadership.
In the 2005/2006 season, the Knappens played again in the Champions League, where they lost to Sevilla in the semi-finals.
Then the policy of management and team manager Andreas Muller at the beginning of the new century caused a lot of criticism - coaching leapfrog, dubious transfers. In 2006, in the off-season comes Fred Rutten, who successfully worked in Holland for the benefit of Twente. With him he brought two players - Farfan and Engelaar. Both were paid fairly decent amounts, but they did not play on the team, but only Jefferson played. Without waiting for the end of the season, Engelaar, together with Rutten, departed back to Holland.
In the spring of 2009, Oliver Kahn, after negotiations with the club management, refused to take the post of chief manager. Felix Magath took over at Schalke in 2009.
German Muslims were offended by the hymn "Schalke 04" (Schalke 04) and demanded that the leadership change the text of the old song "White and blue, how I love you." Of particular displeasure was the line: "The Prophet Muhammad did not understand anything in football, but of all the colors he chose white and blue." The club's e-mail address received a lot of indignant letters, the authors of which demanded that the mention of the prophet be removed, and although the letters did not contain specific threats, the Schalke management took this very seriously and notified the police. At the same time, representatives of the football club turned to an expert on Islam with a request to help them understand the current situation.
