Host club
Hanover 96
By
Oct 2, 2005, 23:10

The club was formed, as the name suggests, in 1896.  Initially it was a rugby and athletics club.  In 1899, the club started to play football.  In 1913, the original club merged with another Hanover club to form the 'Hanover Sports Club of 1896', which in addition to football and athletics, also played several other sports, including tennis and cricket.		They've seen a lot of ups and downs!
First German Championship In the 1930s, Hanover 96 produced its first German international football players and in 1938 the club won its first German Championship - the hard way!  First Hanover came back from 0-2 down to Hamburg in the semi-final, then again recovered from a 0-2 deficit against Schalke 04 in the final in Berlin, before winning the replay 4-3 in extra time (German league football at the time being organised on a regional basis, with the winners of the regional leagues meeting in a knock-out tournament).
Good times are back for Hanover 96 fans? Photo: AWD Arena / H. Hecht		Brits win 6-1 In 1945, with the city occupied by the Allies, the club, along with all other local sports clubs, was briefly dissolved.  When it was reformed later in the year, the first post-war game featured a mixed team from Hanover 96 and Arminia Hanover, with the German side losing 6-1 to a British military eleven.
Turned down by the Bundesliga In 1963, the club's application to be a founder member of the new Bundesliga was turned down, with Eintracht Braunschweig chosen to represent Lower Saxony.  However, a year later promotion into the new top flight was achieved with a 3-1 win over Hessen Kassel in front of a crowd of 70,000. After 10 years of top flight football, Hanover 96 were relegated in 1974, only to bounce straight back a year later... and to go down again 12 months after that! 1985/86/87 was another promotion/relegation/promotion rollercoaster. German Cup winners In 1989, they were relegated again to the second division and three years later became the first second division side ever to win the German FA Cup, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach on penalties. Regional League humiliation In 1996, the club's 100th annivesary coincided with its sporting low, as Hanover 96 were relegated to the third flight of German football - the Regional League. Top flight status restored In 1998, the club was promoted back to the second division and in 2002 secured promotion again to the top flight with four games to spare. Life as a fan of 'The Reds' has clearly never been boring! Hanover 96 links Hanover 96 website (English) Official Hanover 96 website (German)

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