FC Carl Zeiss Jena

History

The club was founded in May 1903 by workers at the Carl Zeiss AG optics factory as the company-sponsored Fussball-Club der Firma Carl Zeiss. The club underwent name changes in 1911 to Fussball Club Carl Zeiss Jena e.V. and in March 1917 to 1. Sportverein Jena e.V.

The 1930s and World War II

In 1933, 1. SV Jena joined the Gauliga Mitte, one of 16 top-flight divisions formed in the reorganization of German football under the Third Reich. The team captured division titles in 1935, 1936, 1940, and 1941. This earned Jena entry to the national finals, but they performed poorly and were never able to advance out of preliminary-round group play. After the 1943–44 season, the Gauliga Mitte broke up into a collection of city-based leagues as World War II overtook the area.

Postwar play in East Germany

In the immediate aftermath of the war, associations of all types (including sports and football clubs) were banned in Germany by the occupying Allied authorities. Jena was reconstituted in June 1946 as SG Ernst Abbe Jena and, like many other clubs in East Germany, would undergo a number of name changes: SG Stadion Jena (October 1948), SG Carl Zeiss Jena (March 1949), BSG Mechanik Jena (January 1951), BSG Motor Jena (May 1951) and SC Motor Jena (November 1954).

In the aftermath of World War II, East German authorities tagged sports teams with the names of socialist heroes: Ernst Abbe was a local son and physicist associated with the Zeiss optical factory. He made an early contribution to easing the plight of workers by introducing the 8-hour work day at the Zeiss plant (a milestone for labour during the late 19th century).

In 1950 the club became a founding member of the DDR Liga (II), and in their second season captured a divisional title to win promotion to the top-flight DDR Oberliga for a single-season appearance. Renamed SC Motor Jena in 1954, they played their way back to the upper league by 1957. Jena won its first honours with the capture of the FDGB-Pokal in 1960 and followed up with the East German national title in 1963. The club was "re-founded" as FC Carl Zeiss Jena in January 1966, and became one of East Germany's football clubs, "focus centres" for the development of talented players for the national side. Jena would go on to become a dominant side in the DDR-Oberliga between then and 1975. They took two more national titles in 1968 and 1970, but finished in second place another half-dozen times to sides like Vorwärts Berlin, Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Magdeburg. In addition to their national titles, FCC captured East German Cups in 1972, 1974 and 1980. The club also appeared in the 1981 European Cup Winners' Cup final, losing 1–2 to Dinamo Tbilisi. This was arguably the club's greatest achievement.

German reunification

After German reunification in 1990, Jena was seeded into the 2. Bundesliga. Their second-place finish in 1992 deteriorated into a 17th-place finish in 1994 and relegation to Regionalliga Nordost (III). They won immediate re-promotion, and played for three more years at the tier-II level. Since 1999 the team has primarily played tier III and IV football, but a second place-finish in the Regionalliga Nord secured Jena promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2006–07 season. Jena remained in the 2. Bundesliga in 2007–08, avoiding relegation by winning 2–1 away against FC Augsburg in their final match of the season. They would finish last in the 2. Bundesliga in 2007–08, returning to the third tier. However, this would not be one of the Regionalligen; the German Football Association (DFB) launched the new 3. Liga for 2008–09, of which Jena was a charter member. On 9 November 2009 Chairman Peter Schreiber announced his retirement; on 13 November the executive board accepted his resignation, and on 25 November Hartmut Bayer became the new chairman. The second team was involved in the 2009 European football betting scandal, accused of match-fixing in the game against ZFC Meuselwitz. On 10 December 2009 the club announced that it was in financial distress, owing over €1 million. In January 2010 the players agreed to accept a lower salary. Carl Zeiss Jena have a friendship with Welsh side Newport County, after the two sides played against each other in the European Cup Winners Cup in the early 1980s. As with Carl Zeiss Jena, Newport County have seen similar struggles off and on the pitch, and both teams regularly play each other during pre-season.

The club was relegated from the 3. Liga in 2012 at has been playing in the tier four Regionalliga Nordost as an upper table side, finishing second in 2013 and third in 2014.

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

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.

Current squad

As of 24 July 2016

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

Staff

Mark Zimmermann – Head Coach

Andreas Trautmann – Chief Executive

Klaus Berka – President

Notable players

FCC sent 33 players to the DDR (East German) national side.

Before the end of World War II, Jena sent three players to the German national side: Willy Krauß (1911–12), Heinz Werner (1935) and Ludwig Gärtner (1939–41).

American defender, Brian Bliss, played at the club from 1992–1996 and received regular calls to the United States men's national soccer team. He went on to play for MLS side Columbus Crew SC and would later serve as technical director in the club's front office.

Another notable player is former Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, who started his career at the club and then went on to play for clubs such as Hannover 96, FC Barcelona and S.L. Benfica.

Former head coaches

Volkan Uluc (2014-2016)

Lothar Kurbjuweit (2014)

Andreas Zimmermann (2013–2014)

Petrik Sander (2011–2013)

Heiko Weber (2011)

Wolfgang Frank (2010–2011)

René van Eck (2009–2010)

Marc Fascher (2009)

René van Eck (2008–2009)

Mark Zimmermann (interim) (2008)

Henning Bürger (2007–2008)

Valdas Ivanauskas (2007)

Frank Neubarth (2007)

Mario Röser (interim) (2006)

Marco Lohmann (interim) (2005)

Heiko Weber (2004–2007)

Thomas Vogel (2004)

Uwe Dern (interim) (2003)

Joachim Steffens (2003–2004)

Thomas Vogel (2002–2003)

Frank Eulberg (2002)

Wolfgang Sandhowe (2001–2002)

Thomas Vogel (1999–2000)

Thomas Gerstner (1998–1999)

Reiner Hollmann (1997–1998)

Frank Engel (1997)

Eberhard Vogel (1994–1997)

Hans Meyer (1993–1994)

Uwe Erkenbrecher (1993)

Reiner Hollmann (1992–1993)

Bernd Stange (1989–1991)

Lutz Lindemann (1991–1992)

Hans Meyer (1971–1983)

Georg Buschner (1958–1971)

Heinz Pönert (1958)

Rolf Hüfner (1958)

Hans Warg (1955–1957)

Helmut Petzold (1954–1955)

Max Hofsommer (1953–1954)

Bernhard Schipphorst (player-manager) (1953)

Kurt Findeisen (1951–1953)

Hans Carl (1949–1951)

Hermann Malter (1948–1949)

Adolph Prokoph (1940)

Josef Pöttinger (1934–1938)

Hermann Peter (1903–????)

Major

League

Gauliga Mitte

Winners: 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941

Runners-up: 1939, 1942

Third place: 1937

DDR-Oberliga (East German Championship)

Winners: 1963, 1968, 1970

Runner-up: 1958, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981

Third placed: 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986

Regionalliga Nordost

Winners: 1995

Regionalliga Nord

Runner-up: 2006

NOFV-Oberliga Süd

Winner: 2005

Runner-up: 2003, 2004

Third place: 2002

Cup

FDGB Cup (East German Cup)

Winners: 1960, 1972, 1974, 1980

Olympia Pokal

Winner: 1965

Regional

League

Gau Thuringia

Winners: 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1918, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1933

Cup

Thuringia Cup

Winners: 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016

Runner-up: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009

Continental

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Runners-up: 1981

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Group Winners: 1986, 1987, 1988

Youth

German U-17 Championship

Runner-up: 1993

Former personnel

Carsten Linke: Athletic Director (2008–2009)

Stephan Lehmann: Team psychologist (2009)

Roland Weissbarth: Marketing chief (2009)

Peter Voß: Vice-president

Peter Schreiber: President (1998–2009)

Michael Meier

Reserve team

The club's reserve team, FC Carl Zeiss Jena II, currently plays in the tier five NOFV-Oberliga Süd. It first played at this level from 1994 to 1999, and again since 2006 with a third place in 1996 and 2010 as its best results.

The team also won the Thuringia Cup in 1993. The latter allowed the club qualification to the 1993–94 DFB-Pokal where it lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich.