History & Honours
On Friday 13th Febrzary 1948m Kölner BC 01 and SpVgg Sülz 07 fused to form 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e.V. – and a club was born like no other.
Franz Kremer was voted in as the first President. He belonged to a group of visionaries who, following the war, realised that small, traditional club needed to come together in order to form a side that would be successful outside of the city. For years, background work was done. With KBC and Sülz 07, two clubs and their members were ready to set aside the provincial identity in order to achieve much greater things. From the very first day, the setting of goals was always made with one question in mind. It was a question that Franz Kremer asked at the foundation meeting: “Do you want to be German champions with me?”
In 1962, Kremer’s vision became a reality. For the first time, 1. FC Köln were German champions. The picture of captain Hans Schäfer, after full-time in Berlin where he thrusts the title in the air, is one FC fans immediately recognise. Kremer, who was affectionately known as “the Boss”, pushed FC to professional structures early on and always came up with new and revolutionary ideas. The idea to turn a goat into the club mascot, to not only have a head coach but also a goalkeeper coach, to turn Geißbockheim and Müngersdorfer Stadion into important and modern infrastructural hubs, as well as not letting new signings be a game of chance. It was important to never lose the regional touch despite the professionalisation. Therefore, the team came largely from Köln or the area surrounding the city. But for success, FC were always ready to look beyond the borders. Spectacular signings from abroad made headlines. Many clubs took 1. FC Köln as their inspiration.
It was almost a logical consequence that the first Bundesliga title was celebrated in Köln. Franz Kremer stood firm despite doubters and questions from the conservative powers in German football in order to form a nationwide, professional league. From there on, FC were involved in the title fight. In 1978, the club enjoyed the most successful season in its history. A league and cup double. In five further seasons, FC finished as runners-up (1965, 1973, 1982, 1989 and 1990).
A symbolic record. Often, FC is close to the goals but the last step proves to be a problem. This is a part of FC history just like the success. But no defeat has completely thrown 1. FC Köln off course. Drama and emotions have never been lacking in the club and that is a huge part of the fascination surrounding the club.
1. FC Köln has produced many great footballers. The list is long. Be it Jupp Röhrig, Hans Schäfer, Wolfgang Overath, Wolfgang Weber, Heinz Flohe, Dieter Müller, Pierre Littbarski, Thomas Häßler, Toni Schumacher, Bodo Illgner or Lukas Podolski. Even with all their individual talent, they all have something in common: they were part of a team and coaches helped them to their incredible performances.
In 1998, FC were relegated for the first time, as the second-last founding member of the Bundesliga. A huge shock for everyone and all fans, who had a heart for FC. The sadness and grief were followed by an incredible wave of support, sympathy and loyalty. New fan clubs were started and the number of members grew. The number currently lies over 130,000 and there are around 900 official fan clubs. Despite the sixth relegation in 2018, the fans stayed true to their club. Kölner stick by their team. In the Hymne, it doesn’t say “when it must, go through the fire” for no reason.
In 2016-17, FC returned to the European stage for the first time in 25 years after qualification for the UEFA Europa League. As euphoric as the season began, so quickly that changed and disappeared. Despite their best efforts, FC were relegated to the second tier once more. 12 months that summed the club up. Most clubs would have broken apart but not FC. Jonas Hector, Marco Höger, Timo Horn, Marcel Risse and Matthias Lehmann went into the second division with the club and helped secure a return to the Bundesliga. Since then, FC have been in the top tier and continue to establish themselves in the Bundesliga. FC remains the same club that was founded by Franz Kremer all those years ago.
1. FC Köln is no ordinary club. It is special.
Because fans and members stay true to the club, even when it doesn’t win titles. Because the stadium is sold out in the 2. Bundesliga. Because it has humour and still remains professional.
It represents the heart and soul of Köln, the fourth biggest city in Germany. You feel it when Hennes runs into the stadium and when the team the wear the Karneval kits. Not many cities stand behind their club like in Köln: 80% of the Kölner feel a closeness to FC and are interested in how the club performances. The identification with the residents and the city can be felt through openness at Geißbockheim, in the middle of the Grüngürtel.
In 2023, the club surpassed the 130,000-member mark – with over half coming from Köln and the surrounding area. There are over 950 fan clubs, from Germany, from Belgium, England, Spain, USA and also Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil and Nigeria. Financially, FC are an important factor for Köln, and partners and sponsors of the club build the biggest business network in Rheinland.
With the 1. FC Köln Foundation, the club shows that social engagement is an important part of the philosophy. FC take their social responsibility on in the fullest. Part of that is securing a safe future for academy players, first-team members, employees and the coming generations. FC want to actively protect the environment within the club and to be a role model for others as well as being socially and ecologically conscious in the heart of all Köln residents.
The world of sports currently is undergoing a change. Digitalisation processes and new ideals aren’t just changing how training is managed and measured but also the experience within the stadium, communication and marketing. Startups across the world have many exciting ideas and business models and want to give new impulses to the entire sports branch. 1. FC Köln have been actively pushing this development since 2018 and support selected young companies in their own programme.
The 1. FC Köln Accelerator was the first Sport Tech Accelerator within the Bundesliga and offers innovative companies a 12-week intensive programme, in order to test their ideas and business models in a real-world environment and to network with sport and business experts. In eSports, FC are also at the forefront with their own team of professional FIFA players on the go since 2021-22.
That is 1. FC Köln. We are just different.
In March 2002, the business operations were spun off into 1. FC Köln GmbH & Co. KGaA.
The Generel Meeting of 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e.V. retained its statutory autonomy and still elect the club’s Presidents. This board exercises the control rights for the club and the rights to appoint the Managing Directors of 1. FC Köln Verwaltungs GmbH (liable for and manages the KGaA). At club level, the Board of Directors is controlled by the Members' Council elected at the General Meeting and advised by the Advisory Board. At the level of the main affiliated companies of the Association, the Board of Directors requires the approval of the Joint Committee for transactions of particular economic importance in the internal relationship.
1. FC Köln GmbH & Co. KGaA Managing Directors:
Dr. Christian Keller, Markus Rejek, Philipp Türoff
Honour
Year
German Championship/Bundesliga winners
1962, 1964, 1978
German Championship/Bundesliga runners-up
1960, 1963, 1965, 1973, 1982, 1989, 1990
DFB-Pokal winners
1968, 1977, 1978, 1983
DFB-Pokals runners-up
1954, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1980, 1991
West-German champions
1912 (as Kölner BC 01), 1928 (as SpVgg Sülz 07), 1954, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963
West-German runners-up
1953, 1958, 1959
West-German Cup winners
1953, 1964
West-German Cup runners-up
1958, 1960
2. Bundesliga winners
2000, 2005, 2014, 2019
UEFA-Cup Finalists
1986
German Amateur champions
1981
German under-19 champions
1971
German Youth Cup winners
2013
German under-17 champions
1990, 2011, 2019
Bundesliga Leading Goal-Scorer
1968: Johannes Löhr
27 Goals
1977: Dieter Müller
34 Goals
1978: Dieter Müller
24 Goals (tied with Gerd Müller)
1985: Klaus Allofs
26 Goals
1989: Thomas Allofs
17 Goals (tied with R.Wohlfahrt)
2005: Lukas Podolski
24 Goals (2. Bundesliga)
2008: Milivoje Novakovic
20 Goals (2. Bundesliga)
2019: Simon Terodde
29 Goals (2. Bundesliga)
Record Appearances Official Matches
Wolfgang Overath
542
Harald Schumacher
541
Hans Schäfer
507
Johannes Löhr
505
Pierre Littbarski
504
Record Goal-Scorer Official Matches
Hans Schäfer
304
Johannes Löhr
235
Dieter Müller
231
Christian Müller
179
Karl-Heinz Thielen
146
Record Appearances Bundesliga
Harald Schumacher
422
Wolfgang Overath
409
Pierre Littbarski
406
Johannes Löhr
381
Heinz Simmet
357
Record Goal-Scorer Bundesliga
Johannes Löhr
166
Dieter Müller
159
Pierre Littbarski
116
Klaus Allofs
88
Wolfgang Overath
83
Record Appearances Oberliga
Hans Schäfer
357
Josef Röhrig
242
Georg Stollenwerk
239
Hans Sturm
203
Hans Graf
199
Record Goal-Scorer Oberliga
Hans Schäfer
223
Christian Müller
82
Walter Müller
62
Hans Sturm
58
Berthold Nordmann
56
Record Appearances 2. Bundesliga
Matthias Scherz
148
Alexander Voigt
121
Carsten Cullmann
111
Christian Springer
98
Timo Horn
98
Record Goal-Scorer 2. Bundesliga
Matthias Scherz
45
Patrick Helmes
43
Dirk Lottner
30
Milivoje Novakovic
30
Simon Terodde
29
"Footballer of the Year"
1962
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
1963
Hans Schäfer
1984
Harald Schumacher
1986
Harald Schumacher
1989
Thomas Häßle
All FC Presidents from 1948 until today in overview
Name
Time period
Franz Kremer
13 February 1948 - 11 November 1967
Werner Müller
12 November 1967 - 8 August 1968
Oskar Maass
August 9, 1968 - October 12, 1973
Peter Weiand
October 12, 1973 - April 3, 1987
Dietmar Artzinger-Bolten
3 April 1987 - 21 November 1991
Klaus Hartmann
November 21, 1991 - December 4, 1997
Albert Caspers
December 4, 1997 - May 7, 2004
Wolfgang Overarth
June 14, 2004 - November 13, 2011
Werner Spinner
April 23, 2012 - March 11, 2019
Dr. Werner Wolf
since the 8th of september 2019
All FC coaches since the club was founded - from Karl Flink and Hennes Weisweiler to Timo Schultz.
Season
Trainer
1947/1948
Karl Flink (until 13.2.)
1948/1949
Hennes Weisweiler
1949/1950
Hennes Weisweiler
1950/1951
Hennes Weisweiler
1951/1952
Hennes Weisweiler
1952/1953
Helmut Schneider (until 17.5. / Karl Winkler (from 18.5.)
1953/1954
Karl Winkler
1954/1955
Kurt Baluses
1955/1956
Hennes Weisweiler
1956/1957
Hennes Weisweiler
1957/1958
Hennes Weisweiler
1958/1959
Peter Szabo
1959/1960
Oswald Pfau
1960/1961
Oswald Pfau
1961/1962
Zlatko Cajkovski
1962/1963
Zlatko Cajkovski
1963/1964
Georg Knöpfle
1964/1965
Georg Knöpfle
1965/1966
Georg Knöpfle
1966/1967
Willi Multhaup
1968/1969
Hans Merkle
1969/1970
Hans Merkle
1970/1971
Ernst Oswirk
1971/1972
Gyula Lorant (until 4.4.) / Rolf Herings (from 5.4.)
1972/1973
Rudolf Schlott
1973/1974
Rudolf Schlott (until August 6) / Zlatko Cajkovski (from 17.9.)
1974/1975
Zlatko Cajkovski
1975/1976
Zlatko Cajkovski (until 12.12.) / Georg Stollenwerk (from 1.1.)
1976/1977
Hennes Weisweiler
1977/1978
Hennes Weisweiler
1978/1979
Hennes Weisweiler
1979/1980
Hennes Weisweiler (until 15.4.) / Karl-Heinz Heddergott (from 16.4.)
1980/1981
Karl-Heinz Heddergott (until 13.10.) / Rolf Herings (14.10. until 15.10.) / Rinus Michels (from16.10.)
1981/1982
Rinus Michels
1982/1983
Rinus Michels
1983/1984
Rinus Michels (until 23.8.) / Hannes Löhr (from 24.8.)
1984/1985
Hannes Löhr
1985/1986
Hannes Löhr (until 6.2.) / Georg Keßler (from 7.2.)
1986/1987
Georg Keßler (until 22.9.) / Christoph Daum (from23.9.)
1987/1988
Christoph Daum
1988/1989
Christoph Daum
1989/1990
Christoph Daum (until 28.6.)
1990/1991
Erich Rutemöller (until 29.6.)
1991/1992
Erich Rutemöller (until 29.8.) / Udo Lattek (29.8. until 2.9.) / Hannes Linßen (3.9. until 9.9.) / Jörg Berger (from 10.9.)
1992/1993
Jörg Berger (until 27.2.) / Wolfgang Jerat (28.2. until 28.4.) / Morten Olsen (from 29.4.)
1993/1994
Morten Olsen
1994/1995
Morten Olsen
1995/1996
Morten Olsen (until 27.8.) / Stephan Engels (27.8. until 31.3.) / Peter Neururer (from 1.4.)
1996/1997
Peter Neururer
1997/1998
Peter Neururer (until 30.9.) / Lorenz-Günther Köstner (from 1.10.)
1998/1999
Bernd Schuster
1999/2000
Ewald Lienen
2000/2001
Ewald Lienen
2001/2002
Ewald Lienen (until 28.1.) / Christoph John (28.1. until 14.2.) / Friedhelm Funkel (from 15.2.)
2002/2003
Friedhelm Funkel
2003/2004
Friedhelm Funkel (until 30.10.) / Jos Luhukay (31.10. until 1.11.) / Marcel Koller (from 2.11.)
2004/2005
Huub Stevens
2005/2006
Uwe Rapolder (until 18.12.) / Hanspeter Latour (from 3.1.)
2006/2007
Hanspeter Latour (until 9.11.) / Holger Gehrke (9.11. until 26.11.) / Christoph Daum (from 27.11.)
2007/2008
Christoph Daum
2008/2009
Christoph Daum
2009/2010
Zvonimir Soldo
2010/2011
Zvonimir Soldo (until 24.10.) / Frank Schaefer (24.10. until 27.4.) / Volker Finke (from 27.4.)
2011/2012
Stale Solbakken (until 12.4.) / Frank Schaefer (from 12.4.)
2012/2013
Holger Stanislawski
2013/2014
Peter Stöger
2014/2015
Peter Stöger
2015/2016
Peter Stöger
2016/2017
Peter Stöger
2017/2018
Peter Stöger (until 3.12.) / Stefan Ruthenbeck (from 3.12.)
2018/2019
Markus Anfang (until 27.4.) / André Pawlak, Manfred Schmid (from 27.4.)
2019/2020
Achim Beierlorzer (until 9.11.) /André Pawlak, Manfred Schmid (until 19.11.) / Markus Gisdol (from 19.11.)
2020/2021
Markus Gisdol (until 11.4.) / Friedhelm Funkel (from 12.4.)
2021/2022
Steffen Baumgart
2022/2023
Steffen Baumgart
2023/2024
Steffen Baumgart (until 31.12.) / Timo Schultz (from 4.1.)
ALL FC'S GERMAN INTERNATIONALS
On 22nd November 1950, Josep "Jupp" Röhrig became the first 1. FC Köln player to appear for Germany. Almost exactly 64 years later on 7th November 2014, Jonas Hector became the 43rd FC player to make their debut for the DFB side. Here is the complete list of all players.
Name
Caps/Goals*
Titles* (*while at 1. FC Köln)
Overath, Wolfgang
81/17
1974 World Cup winner, 1966 World Cup runner-up, 1970 World Cup third place
Schumacher, Harald
76/0
1982 and 1986 World Cup runner-up, 1980 European Champion, 1984 European Championship squad
Littbarski, Pierre
71/18
1990 World Cup winner, 1982 and 1986 World Cup runner-up, 1984 and 1988 European Championship squad
Podolski, Lukas
69/26
2006 and 2010 World Cup third place, 2004 and 2012 European Championship squad
Illgner, Bodo
54/0
1990 World Cup, 1994 World Cup squad, 1992 European Championship runners-up, 1988 European Championship squad
Weber, Wolfgang
53/2
1966 World Cup runner-up, 1970 World Cup third place
Hector, Jonas
43/3
2016 European Championship squad, 2017 Confederations Cup winner, 2018 World Cup squad
Cullmann, Bernd
40/6
1974 World Cup winner, 1978 World Cup squad, 1980 European Champion
Schäfer, Hans
39/15
1954 World Cup winner, 1958 und 1962 World Cup squad
Flohe, Heinz
39/8
1974 World Cup winner, 1978 World Cup squad, 1976 European Championship runner-up
Allofs, Klaus
29/7
1986 World Cup runner-up, 1984 European Championship squad
Schnellinger, Karl-Heinz
24/0
1962 World Cup squad
Kohler, Jürgen
20/0
1988 European Championship squad
Löhr, Johannes
20/5
1970 World Cup third place, 1972 European Championship squad
Stollenwerk, Georg
19/0
1958 World Cup squad
Häßler, Thomas
17/1
1990 World Cup winner
Fischer, Klaus
15/9
1982 World Cup runner-up
Wilden, Leo
15/0
1962 World Cup squad
Zimmermann, Herbert
14/2
1978 World Cup squad, 1980 European Championship squad
Müller, Dieter
12/9
1978 World Cup squad, 1976 European Championship runner-up
Röhrig, Joseph
12/2
Strack, Gerhard
10/1
1984 European Championship squad
Schuster, Bernd
9/1
1980 European Champion
Engels, Stephan
8/0
1982 World Cup squad
Hornig, Heinz
7/0
1966 World Cup squad
Rahn, Helmut
6/2
Mebus, Paul
5/0
1954 World Cup winner
Helmes, Patrick
5/0
Ewert, Fritz
4/0
Pott, Fritz
3/0
Sturm, Hans
3/0
1958 and 1962 World Cup squad
Sinkiewicz, Lukas
3/0
Bonhof, Rainer
2/0
Dörner, Herbert
2/0
Görtz, Armin
2/0
Kapellmann, Hans-Josef
2/0
Konopka, Harald
2/0
1978 World Cup squad
Manglitz, Manfred
2/0
1970 World Cup squad
Thielen, Karl-Heinz
2/0
Allofs, Thomas
1/0
Labbadia, Bruno
1/0
Neumann, Herbert
1/0
Steiner, Paul
1/0
1990 World Cup squad
Euler, Georg (Sülz 07)
1/0
Flink, Karl (KBC)
1/0
Hense, Robert (KBC)
1/0
