Hamburger SV

History

Early years

Hamburger Sport-Verein (HSV) traces its origin to the merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub on 29 September 1887 to form Sport-Club Germania Hamburg, usually referred to as SC Germania. This was the first of three clubs that merged on 2 June 1919 to create HSV in its present form. HSV in its club statute recognises the founding of SC Germania as its own date of origin. The other two clubs in the June 1919 merger were Hamburger FC founded in 1888 and FC Falke Eppendorf dating back to 1906. The merger came about because the three clubs had been severely weakened by the impact of the First World War on manpower and finance, and they could not continue as separate entities.

SC Germania was formed originally as an athletics club, and did not begin to play football until 1891, when some Englishmen joined the club and introduced it. SC Germania had its first success in 1896, winning the Hamburg-Altona championship for the first of five times. Germania player Hans Nobiling emigrated to Brazil at the end of the 19th century, in the foundation of SC Internacional, the third oldest club of the country which became part of São Paulo FC, one of the major sports clubs of Brazil, in 1938 and SC Germânia of São Paulo, which later became EC Pinheiros.

Hamburger SC 1888 was founded by students on 1 June 1888. It later had links with a youth team called FC Viktoria 95 and, during World War I, was temporarily known as Viktoria Hamburg 88. SC Germania and Hamburger SC 1888 were among 86 clubs who founded the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB; German Football Association) in Leipzig on 28 January 1900. FC Falke was founded by students in Eppendorf on 5 March 1906, but it was never a successful team and played in lower leagues.

The newly formed Hamburger SV contested in the 1922 national final against 1. FC Nürnberg, who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called off on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2–2. The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called off at 2–2 when Nuremberg were reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB awarded the win to HSV, but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship (which they grudgingly did). Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.

Post-war era

HSV's first post-war season was in the newly formed Stadtliga Hamburg, and they won its championship in 1946. The club also won the championship of the British occupation zone in 1947 and 1948, the only two seasons this competition was staged.

In May 1950, HSV became the first German team to tour the United States after World War II, and came away with a 6–0 record.

Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in post-war West Germany in 1947, HSV became a dominant regional club. In 16 seasons from 1947 to 1948 to 1962–63, they won the Oberliga title 15 times, only posting an 11th-place finish in 1953–54. During this period, they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961 and 1962 seasons. In 1953, the club's all-time leading goalscorer Uwe Seeler debuted. In nine seasons, he scored 267 goals in 237 Oberliga matches.

In 1956, HSV reached the DFB-Pokal final, but were beaten by Karlsruher SC. This was followed by losses in the finals of the national championship to Borussia Dortmund, in 1957, and Schalke 04, in 1958.

In 1960, HSV became German champions for the first time since 1928, defeating 1. FC Köln 3–2 in the championship final. Seeler, who scored twice in the final, was named West German Footballer of the Year.

As national champions, HSV represented West Germany in the 1960–61 European Cup. The club's first ever match in European competition was a 5–0 defeat of Swiss club Young Boys in Bern, with HSV winning the tie 8–3 on aggregate. In the quarter-finals, they beat English champions Burnley before being defeated by Barcelona at the semi-final stage in a playoff game after the scores were level over two legs. The crowd of 77,600 at the Volksparkstadion for the first leg against Barcelona remains the record attendance for a HSV home match.

Entry into the Bundesliga

Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed, with HSV one of 16 clubs invited to join that first season. Hamburger SV was the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – from when the league was formed in 1963, until they were relegated in the 2017–18 season, finishing in 17th place. They had shared that special status with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 1996, and with 1. FC Köln until 1998. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on 24 August 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been nicknamed due to its old age, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side.

In August 1963, HSV defeated Borussia Dortmund 3–0 at Hanover's Niedersachsenstadion to win the club's first DFB-Pokal. In the same month, the club played its first Bundesliga match, drawing 1–1 with Preußen Münster. HSV finished the Bundesliga's first season in sixth place, with Uwe Seeler scoring 30 goals to secure the Torjägerkanone. He was also named Footballer of the Year for the second time. The DFB-Pokal victory enabled HSV to play in the 1963–64 European Cup Winners' Cup, where they reached the quarter-final, falling to Lyon.

In 1967, HSV again reached the final of the DFB-Pokal where they were defeated 4–0 by Bayern Munich. HSV, however, were admitted to the following season's European Cup Winners' Cup, where they lost to Milan in the final.

In 1970, Seeler was named Footballer of the Year for the third time. He retired at the end of the 1971–72 season in front of 72,000 fans at the Volksparkstadion. He ended his career with 137 goals from 239 Bundesliga matches and 507 goals from 587 appearances in all competitions. In the same season, HSV played in the UEFA Cup for the first time, but were knocked out in the first round by Scottish side St Johnstone.

Golden era

In 1973, HSV won the first edition of the DFB-Ligapokal, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–0 in the final. A year later, they reached the DFB-Pokal final, where they were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt. In 1976, HSV reached another DFB-Pokal final, beating 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2–0 to win the trophy for the second time in the club's history. The following year, HSV achieved its first international success with a 2–0 win over Anderlecht in the final of the 1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup. The club then signed English player Kevin Keegan from European champions Liverpool. After spending much of the previous decade in mid-table, HSV achieved their best Bundesliga position in 1974–75 by finishing fourth. The club bettered this in 1975–76, with a second-place finish. Keegan's first season there saw the club go down to tenth place, however, the player himself was named European Footballer of the Year.

In 1978, Branko Zebec was appointed trainer of HSV. The Yugoslav led the club to its first Bundesliga title in his first season in charge. Keegan was top scorer for die Rothosen, and was awarded the Ballon d'Or for a second successive year.

In the 1979–80 season, HSV returned to the European Cup for the first time since 1960–61. As had happened 19 years previously, HSV faced Spanish opposition in the semi-finals. After losing the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium 2–0, HSV beat six-time winners Real Madrid 5–1 at the Volksparkstadion to qualify for the final. HSV returned to Madrid to play Nottingham Forest in the final, where they were beaten 1–0. In the Bundesliga, HSV lost their title by two points, finishing in second place behind champions Bayern Munich.

In December 1980, HSV dismissed Zebec, who had been struggling with a drinking problem. His assistant Aleksandar Ristić was appointed caretaker for the remainder of the season and secured a second-place finish in the Bundesliga.

In 1981, Austrian coach Ernst Happel was appointed as Zebec's permanent replacement. In his first season, his HSV side regained the Bundesliga title, and reached the UEFA Cup final, where they lost 4–0 on aggregate to Sweden's IFK Göteborg.

Between 16 January 1982 and 29 January 1983, HSV went undefeated in the Bundesliga. The run stretched across 36 games and remained a Bundesliga record until November 2013, when it was broken by Bayern Munich.

Modern era

In the early 1990s, HSV fell in financial trouble. Thomas Doll was sold to Lazio for a then record 16 million Deutsche Marks in June 1991. On the pitch, meanwhile, the team was in decline. After a fifth-place finish in 1990–91, HSV finished in the bottom half of the Bundesliga in four consecutive seasons.

In October 1995, Felix Magath returned to HSV to become the club's trainer. The following month, Uwe Seeler also returned as the club president. Under the new regime, HSV finished fifth in the Bundesliga, securing European qualification for the first time in six years. The following season, HSV reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal. In May 1997, however, Magath was fired after a 4–0 defeat to 1. FC Köln, with the team one place above the relegation zone. HSV eventually finished in 13th place under reserve team coach Ralf Schehr.

In 1997, HSV appointed Frank Pagelsdorf, who would coach the team for over four years, making him the longest serving trainer since Ernst Happel. A ninth-place finish in 1997–98 was followed by seventh in 1998–99 and third in 1999–2000, the team's best performance since 1986–87.

On 2 September 2000, the new Volksparkstadion was officially opened as the national team played its first 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier, against Greece.

In 2000–01, HSV competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the competition's expansion from the old European Cup. Their first match was a 4–4 draw against Juventus, with Tony Yeboah scoring the club's first Champions League goal. HSV failed to qualify for the second round, but managed a 3–1 win over Juventus in the return fixture at the Stadio delle Alpi.

In July 2003, HSV won its first trophy in 16 years with a 4–2 defeat of Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Ligapokal final.

In August 2004, HSV lost in the early rounds of the DFB-Pokal by regional league side SC Paderborn. Referee, Robert Hoyzer, had accepted money from a Croatian gambling syndicate to fix the match, which he did, awarding two penalties to Paderborn and sending off HSV player Émile Mpenza.

Stadium

Hamburger SV plays its home games in the Volksparkstadion, which was previously known as the Imtech Arena between 2010 and 2015. Built on the site of the original Volksparkstadion, opened in 1953, the current stadium was opened in 2000, and has a capacity of 57,000 – approximately 47,000 seats with another 10,000 spectators standing. The first Volksparkstadion had been a venue for the 1974 World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988. The Volksparkstadion is a UEFA category one stadium, which certifies it to host UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was the site of four group matches and a quarter-final of the 2006 World Cup, hosted by Germany, and was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg during the event. It was also the venue for the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final.

HSV fans can be buried at a dedicated graveyard near the home stadium, covered in turf from the original Hamburg pitch.

Rivals and affinities

HSV contests the Nordderby with fellow Northern Germany side Werder Bremen. In Spring 2009, HSV faced Werder four times in only three weeks, and Werder defeated HSV in the UEFA-Cup semi-final, as well as in the DFB-Pokal semi-final.

Furthermore, HSV shares a cross-town rivalry with FC St. Pauli. When, after seven years in different leagues, the teams were due to meet again, disputes between fan groups began several weeks before the game. It started when about 100 HSV fans interrupted a St. Pauli concert because it took place on the "HSV-side" of the Reeperbahn. In a league game, the HSV fans showed a banner in the stadium with the inscription "Stellt euch endlich unsrer Gier – 100 Ihr : 100 Wir" ("Finally satisfy our lust – 100 of you vs. 100 of us"). After fans of St. Pauli attacked HSV fans working on a choreography for the game and destroyed parts of it, some HSV fans threatened them by hanging figures in the colours of the rival at several bridges throughout the city. In addition, one day later there was a march of about 80 HSV-Ultras across the Reeperbahn, where insulting chants against St. Pauli were screamed. In the hours leading up to first 2. Bundesliga Hamburg Derby on 10 March 2019 at the Millerntor-Stadion, the supporters groups of both teams were escorted by the Hamburg police to avoid conflict. They won with a 4–0 scoreline, the first time HSV had won at the stadium since 1962. In response to Benedikt Pliquett's celebratory kick of HSV's corner flag at the Volksparkstadion in 2011, Tom Mickel mimicked Pliquett with a "Kung-Fu Kick" of his own, according to MOPO.

HSV have an affinity with Scottish club Rangers. The link dates back to 1977, when Scots were moving to the German port in search of work and the Hamburg Rangers Supporters' Club was set up by HSV fans who had visited Rangers matches before and were thrilled by the atmosphere at Ibrox. The connections were further strengthened when Rangers signed Jörg Albertz from Hamburg in the 1990s, and was formalised in February 2021 with the establishment of an official club partnership. Conversely, St. Pauli has a long-standing friendship with Rangers' city rivals, Celtic, due to both the HSV-Rangers connections and the shared left-wing politics of Celtic and St. Pauli fans. When they played each other in the Europa League in 2009, HSV fans provoked Celtic (whose fanbase have historically been sympathetic to Irish republicanism) with a controversial tifo of a Union Jack bearing the words "No Surrender", a popular Ulster loyalist slogan which originated from the Northern Irish ethnoreligious conflict known as the Troubles.

Fans

The band Abschlach! has written the HSV anthem "Mein Hamburg lieb ich sehr". The band performs this song before every HSV games.

HSV has more than 700 officially registered fan clubs in Germany and abroad. These include "Rautengeil Fallingbostel", "Hermanns Treue Riege", "Totale Offensive e. V." and the "Wilhelmsburg Boys". HSV ultra groups are or were the "Clique du Nord", "Poptown", and "Chosen Few". The "Rothosen" supporters' association founded in April 1972 is the oldest HSV fan club. It still has around 40 members. The business fan club of Hamburger SV was registered by HSV as an official fan club in 2006. This fan club was founded by entrepreneurs and combines sporting interests with business interests. Since the 2006–07 season, the Hamburger Sport-Verein has had a fan club for gay and bisexual fans called "BLUE PRIDE", which merged into the "Volksparkjunxx" in January 2012. The members of fan club "Die Löwen" are aggressive. The group was associated with skinheads and right-wing radicalism in the 1980s. The Bremen fan Adrian Maleika was murdered by members of the group on 16 October 1982.

As a reaction to the murder of Adrian Maleika, the HSV fan project was founded, which still exists today and is financially supported by the German Football League and the Hamburg Authority for Labour, Social Affairs, Family and Integration. The fan project makes travel offers for away games and supports the Supporters Club with its offers. Numerous events take place in the fan house, also with the support of HSV itself.

The Supporters Club, founded in 1993, has (as of 1 June 2019) been joined by 66,489 fans, who have thus also become members of HSV. The 36 founding members include the former board member responsible for membership matters, Oliver Scheel, the former supervisory board members Henning Trolsen and Christian Reichert, and the current director of the HSV Museum, Dirk Mansen.

As a reaction to the spin-off, fans founded the "HFC Falke" – based on the model of FC United of Manchester – which started playing in the 2015–16 season, and as of 2024, are playing in the Hamburg district league north.

Club kit and colours

The club colours are officially blue, white and black, according to its statute, but its fans use the combination "schwarz-weiss-blau" (black-white-blue) in their songs and chants; they also chant "HSV" [haː ʔɛs ˈfaʊ̯]. The club crest is a black and white diamond on a blue background. These were the colours of SC Germania. The use of the blue background is a link with Hamburg's maritime tradition as the Blue Peter flag signal (meaning "All Aboard" or "Outward Bound") is a white rectangle on a similar blue background.

In contrast, the team's home kit is white jerseys and red shorts, which are the colours of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As a result, the team's most common nickname is die Rothosen ("the Red Shorts"). HSV was previously also known as der Dinosaurier ("the Dinosaur"), and used a dinosaur mascot called "Hermann" (named after long-time club physiotherapist Hermann Rieger) for marketing purposes.

HSV's kit was made by Adidas from 1978 to 1995 and the club re-engaged Adidas in 2007, having worked with a number of its competitors in the meantime. The first shirt sponsorship was introduced in 1974. The following is a list of shirt sponsors by date:

In international competitions

HSV's first participation in European competition came after they won the German championship in 1960 and were invited to take part in the 1960–61 European Cup. They had a match in the preliminary round, and their first round opponents were Young Boys. HSV won the two-legged tie 8–3 on aggregate, beating the Swiss side 5–0 in the away leg on 2 November 1960, and then drawing 3–3 at home on 27 November.

HSV reached the semi-final of the European Cup in 1961. Subsequently, they have twice played in the final, losing 1–0 to Nottingham Forest in 1980 and defeating Juventus 1–0 in 1983. Along with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, HSV is one of three German teams who have won the European Cup. HSV won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1976–77, and have been runners-up in both that competition (1968) and the UEFA Cup (1982). They reached the semi-finals of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, with the disappointment amplified as it was regional rivals Werder Bremen who eliminated them, then reached the same stage in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, missing the chance to take part in the final being played at their own stadium; that was the club's most recent European campaign.

Having lost the 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup final, the 1980 European Cup final and the 1982 UEFA Cup final, HSV became the first club in European football to have been runner-up in all three major UEFA club competitions. Additionally, having lost the European Super Cup for the first time in the 1977 edition, the 1983 Intercontinental Cup and in the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, they became the first and only club in Europe to have obtained the silver medal in all six confederation competitions.

HSV's biggest win in a European match occurred on 23 October 1974 when they defeated Romanian team Brașov 8–0 in a UEFA Cup second round tie. Their biggest defeat was in the second leg of the 1977 Super Cup when they lost 6–0 to Liverpool at Anfield on 6 December. Manfred Kaltz with 81 has made the most appearances for HSV in Europe and Horst Hrubesch with 20 is their leading goalscorer.

Based on data published by UEFA, a summary of HSV's European record to the end of the 2021–22 season is as follows:

According to UEFA, HSV is currently unranked among European clubs. The last year that the club had a coefficient was in 2014 when it ranked 64th (34.328).

Honours

HSV have the record in German football of having won the most regional titles, having won 31 regional titles. However, the regional titles do not count as a trophy or even as a title itself. Winning a regional title only guaranteed a club to battle, with other regional winning clubs, for the German Championship.

Hamburg's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine". Under the current award system, their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized, and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion.

After the replay of the championship final in 1922 had to be abandoned due to the opponents no longer having enough players on the ground, the German Football Association (DFB) requested HSV to renounce the title, which the club did.

During his first season with Hamburger SV (2000–01), Sergej Barbarez became the top scorer for his club with 22 goals and joint top scorer of the Bundesliga with Ebbe Sand.

Until the 2017–18 season, HSV took pride in its status as the only club to have played continuously in the Bundesliga since its foundation. A large clock in the northwest corner of the Volksparkstadion marked the time, down to the second, since the league was founded on 24 August 1963.

Domestic

German Champions:

Winners: 1923, 1928, 1960, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83

Runners-up: 1923–24, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1986–87

DFB-Pokal:

Winners: 1962–63, 1975–76, 1986–87

Runners-up: 1955–56, 1966–67, 1973–74

DFB-Ligapokal:

Winners: 1972–73, 2003

DFB-Supercup:

Runners-up: 1977, 1983, 1987

European

European Cup/UEFA Champions League:

Winners: 1982–83

Runners-up: 1979–80

European Cup Winners' Cup:

Winners: 1976–77

Runners-up: 1967–68

UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League:

Runners-up: 1981–82

UEFA Super Cup:

Runners-up: 1977, 1983

UEFA Intertoto Cup:

Winners: 2005, 2007 (Outright Winners)

Runners-up: 1999

Intertoto Cup:

Group Winners: 1970, 1994

Worldwide

Intercontinental Cup

Runners-up: 1983

Double

1982–83: League and European Cup

Regional

Northern German football championship (unrecognized)

Winners (10): 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933 (record)

Oberliga Nord (unrecognized)

Winners (15): 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 (record)

Gauliga Nordmark (unrecognized)

Winners: 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941

Gauliga Hamburg

Winners: 1945

Stadtliga Hamburg

Winners: 1946

British occupation zone championship

Winners: 1947, 1948 (record)

Players

Current squad

As of 24 July 2026

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

Other players under contract

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

Out on loan

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

Personnel

Head coaches since 1963

* Served as caretaker coach.

Other sections

HSV-Panthers (Futsal)

The Futsal section of Hamburger SV competes under the name "HSV Panthers", which emerged from the Hamburg Panthers. They play in the highest German Futsal division, the Futsal Bundesliga.

The team is a founding member of the Futsal Bundesliga of the German Football Association. The team has won the Deutsche Futsal Meisterschaft four times and is therefore German record champion. The HSV Panthers were also represented four times internationally in the UEFA Futsal Champions League, in 2015 they were the first German team to qualify for the elite round. With Michael Meyer, Onur Saglam, Dennis Oztürk, Sid Ziskin, Nico Zankl, and Ian-Prescott Claus, six German futsal national players play in the ranks of Hamburger SV.

Hamburger SV II

The reserve team serves as the second team for young players before being promoted to the main team.

Women's football

The women's section was created in 1970. The team played in the Bundesliga between 2003 and 2012.

Other sports

The club's rugby section was established in 1925, but ceased operation in the 1990s. It was re-established in March 2006. The club's men's baseball section, HSV Hamburg, known as the Stealers, was established in 1985, and plays in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga. Other sections include volleyball and cricket. Okka Rau qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics of volleyball. HSV Cricket plays in the league of the North German Cricket Federation (Norddeutscher Cricket Verband), winning several first places.