Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as Oberhausener SV in December 1904 out of the merger of Emschertaler SV (1902) and the football enthusiasts of Oberhausener TV 1873. The new side entered into a union with Viktoria Styrum BV to create SpVgg 1904 Oberhausen-Styrum, but within six months a number of the club's members left to form 1. FC Mülheim-Styrum. The remaining club members carried on and in 1934 took on their current name.

Quick Facts Full name, Nickname(s) ...
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
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Full nameSport-Club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen e.V.
Nickname(s)Die Kleeblätter (The Clovers)
Founded1904
GroundNiederrheinstadion
Capacity21,318
ChairmanHajo Sommers
ManagerSebastian Gunkel
LeagueRegionalliga West (IV)
2023–247th
Websitehttp://www.rwo-online.de
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History

The team was unremarked through its early history, simply playing local ball. After the re-organization of German football in the early 1930s under the Third Reich Rot Weiss played in the Gauliga Niederrhein but could never match the strength of division rival Fortuna Düsseldorf. During World War II the club played alongside ASV Elmar as part of the combined wartime side KSG Elmar/Viktoria Oberhausen.

Historical chart of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen league performance

The club worked its way into the upper league Oberliga West after the war and with the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional circuit, found themselves in the second division Regionalliga West. A first-place finish there in 1969 led to promotion to the Bundesliga for the workmanlike side. The club's turn in the top flight was tainted when they were implicated in the Bundesliga bribery scandal of 1971. While it was clear they were involved, the club and its players escaped sanction. After three years in the upper league without doing any better than a 14th-place finish, the club returned to its existence as a tier II and III side.

Financial problems in 1988 were the prelude to a slide into the Verbandsliga Niederrhein (IV) two years later. After nearly a decade spent bouncing up and down between the third and fourth divisions Die Kleeblätter returned to the 2. Bundesliga in 1998, winning the Regionalliga West/Südwest. They remained a lower table side for the most part, but did manage to put forward their best ever performances with sixth and fifth-place finishes in 2000 and 2004. Oberhausen was relegated again to the Regionalliga Nord (III) for 2005. Relegation to the Oberliga (IV) followed a year later. They returned to 2. Bundesliga after two successively promotions; which were first in the Oberliga Nordrhein in 2006–07 and second of Regionalliga Nord in 2007–08 season. The club dropped out of the 2. Bundesliga in 2011, was relegated again the following year from the 3. Liga and now plays in the tier four Regionalliga West.

Honours

The club's honours:

Recent seasons

The club's recent seasons:

More information Year, Division ...
Year Division Position
1963-64 Regionalliga West (II) 7th
1964-65 Regionalliga West 4th
1965/66 Regionalliga West 4th
1966/67 Regionalliga West 6th
1967/68 Regionalliga West 3rd
1968/69 Regionalliga West 1st ↑
1969–70 1. Bundesliga (I) 14th[1]
1970–71 1. Bundesliga 16th[2]
1971–72 1. Bundesliga 15th[3]
1972–73 1. Bundesliga 18th ↓[4]
1973-74 Regionalliga West (II) 2nd
1974-75 2. Bundesliga Nord (II) 18th ↓
1975-76 Verbandsliga Niederrhein (III) 5th
1976-77 Verbandsliga Niederrhein 8th
1977-78 Verbandsliga Niederrhein 2nd
1978-79 Oberliga Nordrhein (III) 1st ↑
1979-80 2. Bundesliga Nord (II) 15th
1980-81 2. Bundesliga Nord 14th
1981-82 Oberliga Nordrhein (III) 4th
1982-83 Oberliga Nordrhein 1st ↑
1983-84 2. Bundesliga (II) 16th
1984-85 2. Bundesliga 12th
1985-86 2. Bundesliga 11th
1986-87 2. Bundesliga 16th
1987-88 2. Bundesliga 16th ↓
1988-89 Oberliga Nordrhein (III) 19th ↓
1989-90 Verbandsliga Niederrhein (IV) 14th
1990-91 Verbandsliga Niederrhein 5th
1991-92 Verbandsliga Niederrhein 3rd
1992-93 Verbandsliga Niederrhein 1st ↑
1993-94 Oberliga Nordrhein (III) 7th ↓
1994-95 Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) 1st ↑
1995-96 Regionalliga West/Südwest (III) 8th
1996-97 Regionalliga West/Südwest 2nd
1997-98 Regionalliga West/Südwest 1st ↑
1998-99 2. Bundesliga (II) 12th
1999–2000 2. Bundesliga 6th
2000–01 2. Bundesliga 12th
2001–02 2. Bundesliga 12th
2002–03 2. Bundesliga 14th
2003–04 2. Bundesliga 5th
2004–05 2. Bundesliga 16th ↓
2005–06 Regionalliga Nord (III) 17th ↓
2006–07 Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) 1st ↑
2007–08 Regionalliga Nord (III) 2nd ↑
2008–09 2. Bundesliga (II) 9th
2009–10 2. Bundesliga 14th
2010–11 2. Bundesliga 17th ↓
2011–12 3. Liga (III) 19th ↓
2012–13 Regionalliga West (IV) 8th
2013–14 Regionalliga West 3rd
2014–15 Regionalliga West 4th
2015–16 Regionalliga West 5th
2016–17 Regionalliga West 4th
2017–18 Regionalliga West 9th
2018–19 Regionalliga West 2nd
2019–20 Regionalliga West 4th
2020–21 Regionalliga West 7th
2021–22 Regionalliga West 4th
2022–23 Regionalliga West 7th
2023–24 Regionalliga West 7th
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Key
Promoted Relegated

Players

Current squad

As of 15 September 2024[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...
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Famous players and successes

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen has seen three of its players capped for Germany.

The club's 1970–71 Bundesliga season was distinguished by the performance of Lothar Kobluhn, who won the league scoring title with 24 goals – 12 of those coming in the last 8 games of the season to save Rot-Weiß from relegation by just one goal. The team was embroiled in the Bundesliga scandal of 1971 and as a result Kobluhn was not awarded the Torjägerkanone trophy as top-scorer until October 2007, 36 years after his achievement.

In 1999, Oberhausen played a DFB-Pokal semifinal in Gelsenkirchen against Bayern Munich in front of 45,000 spectators, losing 1–3. On their way to their semifinal appearance they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hamburger SV.

In July 2010, midfielder Heinrich Schmidtgal was selected for the national team of Kazakhstan[6] and played his first international match in Kazakhstan's Euro 2012 qualification against Turkey on 3 September 2010.

Managers

Athletics

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen has also had an athletics section. Among its most prominent former members are Willi Wülbeck[7] and Fritz Roderfeld.[8] The team also became national champions in 4 x 400 metres relay in 1948[9] and 3 x 1000 metres relay in 1951.[10]

References

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