Founded 1897 Chairman Albert Kumm | Location Hanover, Germany | |
Full name Fussball Verein 1897 Linden e.V. Union German Rugby Federation | ||
The FV 1897 Linden is a German rugby union club from Hanover. As well as rugby, the club also offers other sports, such as American football and gymnastics.
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The club has four German rugby union championships to its name, won in 1932, 1937, 1940 and 1978 but has not appeared in a championship final since 1980.
In recent seasons, the club has not fielded a team in competitive senior rugby.
History
FV 1897 Linden was formed on 2 September 1897 as a football club. In March 1898, the club then switched codes and adopted rugby as its sport instead but retained its name Fussball Verein.
FV made its first trip to a German championship final in 1932, defeating RG Heidelberg 6-5. It lost the 1934 final to fellow Hanover club VfR Döhren before winning its second title, again beating RG Heidelberg, in 1937.
A third championship was won in 1940, during the Second World War, when Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby was defeated 19-6.
It took the club 38 years to appear in another final, when, in 1978, TSV Handschuhsheim was beaten 24-16 and FV's fourth and so far last championship was won. It made one more finals appearance, in 1980, but this time RG Heidelberg triumphed 16-10. In between those two finals, it appeared in the 1979 German rugby union cup final, where it lost to DSV 78 Hannover.
The club has since disappeared from the Rugby-Bundesliga and not fielded a side in competitive senior rugby, but continues to be listed as a member of the Lower Saxony Rugby Federation.