SC Freiburg

The club traces its origins to a pair of clubs founded in 1904: Freiburger Fußballverein 04 was organised in March of that year; FC Schwalbe Freiburg just two months later. Both clubs underwent name changes, with Schwalbe becoming FC Mars in 1905, Mars becoming Union Freiburg in 1906, and FV 04 Freiburg becoming Sportverein Freiburg 04 in 1909. Three years later, SV and Union formed Sportclub Freiburg, at the same time incorporating the griffin head.

In 1918, after the devastation of World War I, SC Freiburg entered a temporary arrangement with Freiburger FC to be able to field a full side called KSG Freiburg. The next year, SC Freiburg associated themselves with FT 1844 Freiburg as that club's football department, until 1928 when they left to enter into a stadium-sharing arrangement with PSV (Polizeisportvereins) Freiburg 1924 that lasted until 1930 and the failure of PSV. SC Freiburg then picked up again with FT 1844 Freiburg in 1938. The club played on the highest level from 1928, first in the Bezirksliga Baden, then in the Gauliga Baden, from which they were relegated in 1934.

At the end of World War II, Allied occupation authorities disbanded most existing organizations in Germany, including football and sports clubs. The clubs were permitted to reconstitute themselves after about a year, but were required to take on new names in an attempt to disassociate them from the so-recent Nazi past. SC Freiburg was therefore briefly known as VfL Freiburg. By 1950, French-occupation authorities had let up enough to allow the clubs to reclaim their old identities. Finally, in 1952, SC Freiburg left FT Freiburg behind again.

Historical chart of Freiburg league performance

To this point, the history of the club had been characterised by only modest success. Through the 1930s, SC Freiburg played in the Bezirkliga (II), with the occasional turn in the Gauliga Baden (I), and captured a handful of local titles. After World War II, they picked up where they left off, playing in the Amateurliga Südbaden (III).

Although only a small club, SC Freiburg became known for the fight and team spirit in their play. This led them to the 2. Bundesliga in 1978–79, which they would compete in for a decade-and-a-half before making the breakthrough to the top-flight Bundesliga in 1993–94 under the management of Volker Finke. In their first Bundesliga season, Freiburg narrowly avoided relegation. They made an exciting run in their second season at the top level, finishing third, just three points behind champions Borussia Dortmund. It was at this time that they were first nicknamed Breisgau-Brasilianer (literally Breisgau-Brazilians) due to their attractive style of play.

SC Freiburg against Borussia Dortmund in 2012

The club's greatest success was reaching the UEFA Cup in 1995 and 2001.

Freiburg's first Bundesliga relegation was in 1997 after they finished in 17th position. While they have been relegated four times since first making the Bundesliga, they have thrice won immediate promotion back to the top league, only failing to do so in 2005–06. It was the first time since 1992 that Freiburg played in the 2. Bundesliga for two consecutive seasons.

Freiburg finished the 2006–07 season in fourth place in the 2. Bundesliga, missing out on the third automatic-promotion spot on goal difference to MSV Duisburg, although they won 12 of their last 16 league games. They were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the second round by VfL Wolfsburg on 24 October 2006.

On 20 May 2007, Volker Finke resigned as the club's coach after 16 years in the job. He was succeeded by Robin Dutt, who himself left the club for Bayer Leverkusen in 2011.

On 10 May 2009, Freiburg secured promotion into the Bundesliga once again, beating TuS Koblenz in an away game 5–2. In the 2011–12 season, Freiburg appeared to be unable to avoid another relegation for the most part of the season but a coaching change turned the sides fortunes around and the club eventually finished 12th and survived.

Under Christian Streich, the 2012–13 Bundesliga season saw the club finish in fifth place, their best league standing since 1994–95. The fifth-place finish secured a position in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, an accomplishment that the club had not achieved since the 2001–02 edition of the tournament. Had Freiburg defeated Schalke 04 on the final matchday of the season, Freiburg would have leapfrogged Schalke and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in club history. The 1–2 defeat to Schalke, however, saw Schalke secure fourth place in the league and qualify for the tournament instead.[3][4] During the 2012–13 season, Freiburg also advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in the club's history but lost to local rivals VfB Stuttgart 1–2 and missed the chance to play Bayern Munich in the final.[5]

In the 2014–15 season, after six years in the top flight, Freiburg was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga by a single point after a final-day defeat at Hannover 96. This was despite beating Bayern Munich in the second-last game. In the following season, however, the club earned its fifth promotion to the Bundesliga as league champions, with two matches to spare. The first season back in the Bundesliga saw them end seventh. This saw Freiburg qualify for the Europa League, as German cupwinners Borussia Dortmund were already qualified for the Champions League. The side were eliminated in the third qualification round against NK Domžale from Slovenia. Mostly thanks to 15 league goals by Nils Petersen, Freiburg stayed in the top flight, finishing 15th.

In April 2022, the team announced their sponsorship with car retailer Cazoo starting in July 2022. The Cazoo brand is visible on the front of the new jerseys as the team's main sponsor. In addition to the Bundesliga professionals, Cazoo will appear as shirt sponsor and advertising partner of the second team of SC Freiburg in the third division and as co-sponsor of the Freiburg Football School, and will be visible at all matches of the SC junior teams. Cazoo will also be a co-sponsor and sleeve sponsor of SC Freiburg's Bundesliga women.

Dreisamstadion interior in 2011

SC Freiburg formerly played its home games at the Dreisamstadion, named after the Dreisam River which flows through Freiburg. Because of sponsorship agreements, the stadium was known as the Schwarzwald-Stadion. The stadium has an approximate capacity of 24,000 spectators and was built in 1953. Forty years later, then manager Volker Finke began an initiative to transform the Dreisamstadion into Germany's first solar powered football stadium. There are solar modules on the north, south, and main tribunes. These panels generate 250,000 kWh of energy per year.[6][7]

The brand new Europa-Park Stadion[8][9] designed by HPP Architekten, was completed in October 2021. Located in the west of the city in a part of the city called Brühl — immediately to the west of Freiburg Airport — it has a capacity of 34,700.[10][11][12][13][14]

Statistics correct as of 23 October 2022.

• Most 1. Bundesliga goals scored: 68 – Nils Petersen 6 August 2022
• Highest transfer fee paid: €10 million for Baptiste Santamaria
• Highest transfer fee received: €21.1 million for Çağlar Söyüncü[18]
• Youngest goalscorer: Matthias Ginter – 18 years, 2 days[19]
• Player who has scored the most against club: Claudio Pizarro – 14 goals in 17 matches
• Biggest home win: 6–0 – against Rot-Weiß Erfurt on 24 August 1991
• Biggest 1. Bundesliga home win: 5–0 – against Hansa Rostock on 17 September 1999 and against VfL Bochum on 9 December 2000
• Biggest away win: 6–0 – against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 5 December 2021
• Biggest 1. Bundesliga away win: 6–0 – against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 5 December 2021
• Biggest home loss: 0–6 – against Bayern Munich on 16 December 2003 and against Werder Bremen on 4 December 2004 and 21 November 2009
• Biggest 1. Bundesliga home loss: 0–6 – against Bayern Munich on 16 December 2003 and against Werder Bremen on 4 December 2004 and 21 November 2009
• Biggest away loss: 0–7 – against Bayern Munich on 10 September 2011
• Biggest 1. Bundesliga away loss: 0–7 – against Bayern Munich on 10 September 2011

Most appearances

• Players marked in bold are still playing for the club.

Rank	Player	Position	Period	Appearances
1	Andreas Zeyer	MF	1989–1997, 1999–2004	441
2	Christian Günter	DF	2012–	342
3	Reinhard Binder	MF	1975–1984	306
4	Karl-Heinz Schulz	DF	1982–1991	297
5	Rolf Maier	DF	1980–1992	295
6	Alexander Iashvili	FW	1997–2007	281
7	Nicolas Höfler	MF	2010–	267
8	Joachim Löw	FW	1978–1980, 1982–1984, 1985–1989	263
9	Boubacar Diarra	DF	1997–2007	250
10	Nils Petersen	FW	2015–	247

Top goalscorers

• Players marked in bold are still playing for the club.

Rank	Player	Position	Period	Goals	Games
1	Nils Petersen	FW	2015–	102	247
2	Joachim Löw	FW	1978–1980, 1982–1984, 1985–1989	83	263
3	Wolfgang Schüler	FW	1976–1978, 1979–1980	65	102
4	Alexander Iashvili	FW	1997–2007	63	281
5	Vincenzo Grifo	MF	2015–2017, 2019–	59	189
6	Souleyman Sané	FW	1985–1988	58	113
7	Uwe Spies	FW	1990–1997	53	202
8	Andreas Zeyer	MF	1989–1997, 1999–2004	46	441
9	Soumaïla Coulibaly	MF	2000–2007	43	234
10	Reinhard Binder	MF	1975–1984	39	306
	Papiss Cissé	FW	2010–2012		67

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is not complete or all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.[23]

Coaches of the club since 1946:[24]

Volker Finke, former coach of SCF and longest serving coach in German football history

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[25][26]

• With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. In 2012, the number of Regionalligas was increased from three to five with all Regionalliga Süd clubs except the Bavarian ones entering the new Regionalliga Südwest.

Key

• Achim Stocker † (1972–2009)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SC Freiburg.

• Official website (in German)
• SC Freiburg at Weltfussball.de (in German)