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KSV Hessen Kassel

Full name	Kasseler Sport-Verein Hessen Kassel
Nickname(s)	Die Löwen
Founded	1893
Ground	Auestadion
Capacity	18,737
Chairman	Jens Rose
Manager	Tobias Cramer
League	Regionalliga Südwest (IV)
2016–17	Regionalliga Südwest, 10th
Home colours Away colours

KSV Hessen Kassel is a German association football club based in Kassel, Hesse. The club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893 and just two years later joined FC Hassia 93 Cassel to form Casseler FV 95. In 1919, fusion with VfK Kassel created SV Kurhessen Kassel.

Overview

It was as Kurhessen that the club joined the Gauliga Hessen, one of sixteen top flight divisions established in the re-organization of German football in 1933 under the Third Reich. They were relegated at the end of the 1935–36 season and made their way back in 1938, but continued to perform poorly, narrowly missing relegation in subsequent seasons. They earned their best result in 1942 in the newly formed Gauliga Kurhessen, finishing just two points shy of division winners 1. SV Borussia 04 Fulda. In 1944, they joined CSC 03 Kassel to form the combined wartime side KSG SV Kurhessen/CSC 03 Kassel and again finished two points behind the division leaders, this time in third place on goal difference. The Gauliga Kurhessen was re-organized into three groups for the following season and the club assigned to the Gruppe Kassel, but the region was overtaken by World War II, bringing a stop to league play.

After the war, SVKK was one of a number of clubs merged to form the Gründung der Sportgruppe Süd, an association active in a number of sports. This club became VfL Kassel in 1946, and finally, merged with Kasseler SV Kassel in November 1947 to become today's KSV Hessen Kassel.

Historical chart of Hessen Kassel league performance after WWII

Kassel quickly established themselves as a stolid, but largely unremarked, second tier side. They played their way into what was at the time the first tier Oberliga Süd and then found themselves in the Regionalliga Süd (II) after the formation in 1963 of Germany's new premier level professional league, the Bundesliga. A first place Regionalliga finish in 1964 saw them compete unsuccessfully in the promotion rounds for the Bundesliga . The club continued to play tier II ball until the mid 70s when their performance dropped them to Amateur Oberliga Hessen (III) until the start of the next decade brought an advance to the 2. Bundesliga. Through the 80s, the team flirted with promotion to the senior circuit, but could never quite put themselves over the top. In 1985 the club just missed being promoted: a loss to Nurenburg (0–2) in the last game of the season against wins by three other clubs in the hunt saw Kassel left behind.

Those runs at the Bundesliga in the 80s, alongside an advance to the quarter final of the DFB-Pokal in 1991, represent the apex of the team's achievement. The club was bankrupted in 1993 and the football side set off on its own as FC Hessen Kassel. They too had financial problems and in 1998 also found themselves bankrupt, but this time plunged all the way down to Kreisliga Hessen A (VIII). Kassel began their recovery by going unbeaten over the course of the next two seasons and advanced to the Oberliga Hessen (IV) which they won in 2005–06 to earn a promotion to the Regionalliga (III). In 2007–08, they failed to qualify for the new 3. Liga, remaining in the Regionaliga Süd, now tier four. They came close to promotion once more in 2010–11 but narrowly failed finishing third.

At the end of the 2011–12 season the club was grouped into the new Regionalliga Südwest, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. In 2012–13 the club won the inaugural championship of the new league and qualified for the promotion play-off to the 3. Liga.

Die Löwen lost their play-off tie for promotion to the 3. Liga over two legs to Holstein Kiel who finished the 2012–13 season as champions of Regionalliga Nord. Kassel lost the first game of the tie away at the Holstein-Stadion in Kiel 2–0.^[1] In the return leg in Kassel, the club lost 2–1 at the Auestadion in front of 17,000 fans.^[2] The following season the club was not able to challenge for the championship, only finishing 13th.

Honours

The club's honours:

• 
  ^‡ Won by reserve team
  

Recent managers

Recent managers of the club:^[3]

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:^[4][5]

• 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, the majority 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. 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.

Reserve team

The club's reserve team, KSV Hessen Kassel II, has played in the Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord since 2009. The team's greatest success has been to win the Hesse Cup in 1961 and finish runners-up in the Amateurliga Hessen in 1968.

Current squad

As of 4 April 2018^[6]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Niklas Neumann 5 DF Niklas Künzel 6 MF Adrian Bravo-Sanchez 7 FW Sebastian Schmeer 8 MF Frederic Brill 9 FW Sebastian Szimayer 12 GK Valentin Kliebe 13 DF Sergej Schmik 14 MF Brian Schwechel 15 MF Sergej Evljuskin 16 DF Steven Rakk 17 DF Sascha Korb 18 MF Maik Baumgarten

No. Position Player 19 FW Lucas Albrecht 20 DF Tim-Philipp Brandner 21 DF Ingmar Merle 23 MF Admir Saric 24 MF David Lensch 25 MF Marco Dawid 26 DF Cédric Mimbala 28 MF Arne Schütze 29 MF Laurin Unzicker 30 DF Jan-Erik Leinhos 31 DF Michael Voss 32 DF Nael Najjer 39 GK Niklas Hartmann

Former internationals

• 
  Karl-Heinz Metzner, 2 caps for West Germany (1952–53)


• 
  Harez Arian Habib, 14 appearances (4 goals) for Afghanistan (2007-now)

References

External links

• 
  Official website (in German)
  


• Abseits Guide to German Soccer


• 
  KSV Hessen Kassel at Weltfussball.de (in German)
  


• 
  Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)