FK Pirmasens is a German association football club in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate. The team was formed as the football section of the gymnastics and sports club TV Pirminia Pirmasens in 1903 and became independent in 1914. They took on their current name in 1925. FK is one of the few teams that uses the German Klub in their name as opposed to the commonly affected English-style term Club.

FK Pirmasens
Full nameFußballklub 03 Pirmasens e.V.
Nickname(s)Die Macht vom Horeb
Founded1903
GroundSportpark Husterhöhe
Capacity10,000
ChairmanEmil Schweitzer
ManagerSteven Dooley
LeagueOberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar (V)
2022–233rd

History

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Historical chart of FK Pirmasens league performance

The club developed into a strong amateur side in southwestern Germany. In post-First World War play, the club was grouped in the tier-one Kreisliga Saar in 1919 but then moved to the Kreisliga Pfalz in 1920. From 1930 to 1933 the team made three consecutive appearances in the final of the Southern German championship, on the strength of four Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar titles, and between 1934 and 1936 were three times vice-champions of the Gauliga Südwest, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. World War II was hard on the club: following a 0–26 beating at the hands of 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1942 they withdrew from competition until after the conflict. After the war the club played in the Oberliga Südwest and captured league titles there in 1958, 1959 and 1960 while finishing as vice champions in 1954 and 1962. The club was so popular at the time that they often had to abandon their home ground in favour of the stadium in nearby Ludwigshafen in order to accommodate crowds of up to 65,000 spectators.

After the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional league, in 1963 Pirmasens found themselves in the second division Regionalliga Südwest where they consistently finished in the upper half of the league table over the course of the next decade. While they had several opportunities to advance to the Bundesliga through the promotion rounds they were unsuccessful. By the mid-1970s the club was faltering. They narrowly missed relegation in 1977, only staying up because rival SV Völklingen was denied a license. However, by 1980 they found themselves in the Amateur Oberliga Südwest (III), slipped to the Verbandsliga Südwest by 1993, and just two seasons later were playing in the Landesliga Südwest (VI). The club has recovered nicely and climbed as high as the third division Regionalliga Süd in 2006–07.

In 2006, the club stunned German football when they defeated Werder Bremen in the first round of the DFB-Pokal in a penalty shootout.

Since 2007 the club played in the Oberliga Südwest where the team has achieved good results, coming second in 2010 and 2011. From 2012 to 2013 the Oberliga Südwest was renamed Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, with FKP continuing in this league. The club won the championship in 2014 and earned promotion to the Regionalliga Südwest.

Reserve team

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The club's reserve team, FK Pirmasens II, achieved its greatest success in 2014–15 when it won promotion to the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar.

Current squad

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As of 23 September 2021

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   GER Benjamin Reitz
2 DF   GER Jonas Vogt
4 DF   GER Kevin Frisorger
5 MF   GER Daniel Bohl
6 MF   GER Yannick Griess
7 MF   GER Benno Mohr
8 FW   ANG Jabez Makanda
9 MF   GER David Becker
10 MF   GER Luca Eichhorn
11 FW   GER Philipp Herrmann
12 MF   GER Luka Dimitrijevic
14 DF   GER Kevin Klein
15 MF   GER Tim Hecker
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF   GER Sascha Hammann
17 DF   GER Manuel Grünnagel
18 GK   GER Ramon Büsken
19 DF   GER Moritz Zimmer
20 FW   GER Dennis Krob
21 MF   GER Arman Ardestani
23 MF   GER Salif Cissé
24 DF   GER Bastian Skorski
26 MF   GER Leon Ampadu Wiafe
27 GK   GER Jan Schulz
29 MF   GER Mike Scharwath
32 FW   GRE Konstantinos Neofytos

Honours

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The club's honours:

  • Denotes won by reserve team.

Recent seasons

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The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[1][2]

Season Division Tier Position
1999–2000 Regionalliga West/Südwest III 17th ↓
2000–01 Oberliga Südwest IV 8th
2001–02 Oberliga Südwest 7th
2002–03 Oberliga Südwest 13th
2003–04 Oberliga Südwest 12th
2004–05 Oberliga Südwest 10th
2005–06 Oberliga Südwest 1st ↑
2006–07 Regionalliga Süd III 17th ↓
2007–08 Oberliga Südwest IV 10th
2008–09 Oberliga Südwest V 3rd
2009–10 Oberliga Südwest 2nd
2010–11 Oberliga Südwest 2nd
2011–12 Oberliga Südwest 3rd
2012–13 Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar 8th
2013–14 Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar 1st ↑
2014–15 Regionalliga Südwest IV 14th
2015–16 Regionalliga Südwest 13th
2016–17 Regionalliga Südwest 14th ↓
2017–18 Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar V 2nd ↑
2018–19 Regionalliga Südwest IV 9th
2019–20 Regionalliga Südwest 16th
Promoted Relegated

Famous players

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Heinz Kubsch, played for West Germany's 1954 World Cup winning Miracle of Bern side.

References

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  1. ^ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables
  2. ^ Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
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