Host club
FC Sachsen Leipzig
By
Mar 26, 2005, 01:21

		To understand something about this 'host' club, FC Sachsen Leipzig, you first need to understand something about football in the former East Germany, as the legacy of that period still has a lot to do with the composition of the local football teams in the area.  There have been a lot of mergers and dissolutions of clubs over the years!  Take a deep breath!  Here goes with the club's history:
FC Sacshen Leipzig history 1899 - Britannia 1899 Leipzig is formed 1919 - Merges with FC Hertha 05, becomes the Leipziger SV 1899 1932 - Another club, SV Tura 1932 Leipzig is formed 1938 - SV Tura and SV 1899 merge and become Tura 1899 Leipzig 1944 - Formation of Kriegs SG Leipzig jointly with SV 1899 1945 - Becomes SG Leipzig-Leutzsch 1949 - Merges with SG Lindenhau-Hafen, > ZSG Industrie Leipzig 1950 - BSG Chemie Leipzig is formed 1954 - BSG Chemie Leipzig dissolved, SC Lokomotive Leipzig formed 1954 - BSG Chemie Leipzig-West is formed 1956 - Merges with Chemie Leipzig SW, becomes BSG Chemie Leipzig 1963 - BSG Chemie Leipzig reformed 1990 - Renamed as FC Green/White Leipzig 1990 1990 - Merges with FSV Böhlen and becomes FC Sachsen Leipzig                                (Yellow highlighting indicates East German period)
Got it?  The club's website, by the way, is keen to point out that all the changes since 1954 have been down to the political situation.  Although the club now plays at the Central Stadium, its traditional home is in Leutszsch, to the west of the centre.  The club's own stadium there, the Alfred Kunze Sportpark, is named after the coach who led them to the East German league championship in 1964.		The DDR - East Germany - in Europe
Lokomotive Leipzig If you've ever heard of a football club from Leipzig, the chances are it's not FC Sachsen-Leipzig, but Lokomotive, who reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup in 1974 and the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1987.  While the locals always regarded 'Chemie' as the people's team, Lokomotive were seen as the arch rivals and due to significant support they received from the ruling Communist Party, reviled by many as the party team.  After the reunification of Germany, the club reverted to its pre-Communist era name of VfB Leipzig but found things much tougher and the heavily indebted club finally went into liquidation in 2004.  A reformed club, once again using the Lokomotive name, has since been formed and is now on the long trek back towards the big time ... starting at the very bottom of the footballing pile.
External link  FC Sachsen Leipzig (German)		External link  FC Lokomotive Leipzig (German)

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