The SC Opel Rüsselsheim is a German association football club from the city of Rüsselsheim, Hesse.
Apart from its association with the company Opel, the club's most notable achievement has been playing in Germany's second division from 1965 to 1972.
History The club was formed on 12 August 1906 as SC Borussia 06 Rüsselsheim.SC Opel website – Chronik accessed: 5 April 2009 In the 1920s, the club merged with a local gymnastics club, the Turngesellschaft and took its current name in reference to the fact that many of its members were employed at the local Opel factory. However, the club was never directly connected with or dependent on the company.
In 1932, the club took out its first local second-division championship, beating FSV Mainz 05 but it took until 1935 to earn promotion to the first division in the region, the Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen. SC Opel spent five seasons in this league until the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945, mostly as an elevator team.
After the end of the Second World War, the club became part of the tier-two Landesliga Hessen, which was then staged in two regional groups. Upon the merger of the two leagues into one in 1947, the club had to step down one level.Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 146, accessed: 5 April 2009 SC Opel managed to return to Hesses highest league, which was now the tier-three Amateurliga Hessen, in 1950.Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 163, accessed: 5 April 2009 The club stayed at this level until 1954, when it was relegated once more.Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 176, accessed: 5 April 2009
After a decade in the lower levels of amateur football, the club experienced a revival in 1964, earning promotion back to the Amateurliga. In this league, it won the championship convincingly, beating second placed Westend Frankfurt by eleven points.Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 227, accessed: 5 April 2009 The champions of Hesse, alongside the Bavarian champions, were directly promoted to the Regionalliga Süd, one of Germany's regional second division below the Fußball-Bundesliga at this stage. The club also qualified for the DFB-Pokal 1965–66 where it lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–5 in a qualification round. The club was then mostly listed as SC Rüsselsheim as it was seen as illegal advertising to carry a sponsors name in its title.DFB-Pokal 1965/1966 .:. Spielplan Weltfussball.de, accessed: 5 April 2009
Despite support from Opel, the club was always financially struggling at this level, never drawing sufficient attendances for this level of play. A tenth place in the first of seven second-division seasons remained the best result archived in this era. In 1972, relegation ended the club's time in the Regionalliga and almost also its existence; in debt with DM 500,000, the club was only saved from folding by an administrative error when applying for insolvency.SC Opel website – Chronik accessed: 5 April 2009 The club played a good Amateurliga season in 1972–73 nevertheless, finishing third, but was relegated the year after.
SC Opel spent its next couple of season's stabilising its finances but declined rapidly on the field, dropping to the lower amateur levels. In the late 1980s, another attempt was made to rise through the ranks and in 1989, the Bezirksoberliga, the fifth tier, was reached but another financial collapse was only narrowly avoided.
In the new millennium, the club has stabilised itself financially as well as on the field, spending its time in the tier-seven Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West. In 2008, this league became the Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau. In 2010, the club suffered relegation to the tier nine Kreisliga A Gross-Gerau, where it played for two seasons. At the same time the club also came close to insolvency but was saved through a line of credit by members.
In 2012 the club won the league championship in the Kreisliga and returned to the Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau.
Honours The club's honours: Amateurliga Hessen (III) Champions: 1965 Kreisliga A Gross-Gerau (IX) Champions: 2012
Recent seasons The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv Historical German domestic league tablesFussball.de – Ergebnisse Tables and results of all German football leagues Season Division Tier Position 1999–2000 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West VII 2000–01 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 2001–02 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 2002–03 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 2003–04 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 2004–05 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 6th 2005–06 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 9th 2006–07 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 14th 2007–08 Bezirksliga Darmstadt-West 10th 2008–09 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau VIII 14th 2009–10 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau 14th ↓ 2010–11 Kreisliga A Gross-Gerau IX 2nd 2011–12 Kreisliga A Gross-Gerau 1st ↑ 2012–13 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau VIII 2nd 2013–14 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau 7th 2014–15 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau 8th 2015–16 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau 13th 2016–17 Kreisoberliga Darmstadt/Gross-Gerau 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. Also in 2008, a large number of football leagues in Hesse were renamed, with the Oberliga Hessen becoming the Hessenliga, the Landesliga becoming the Verbandsliga, the Bezirksoberliga becoming the Gruppenliga and the Bezirksliga becoming the Kreisoberliga.
↑ Promoted ↓ Relegated
References
Sources Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897–1988 History of Southern German football in tables, author: Ludolf Hyll
External links Official team site Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables