FC Schalke 04

Schalke 04

Full name	Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e.V.
Nickname(s)	Die Königsblauen (The Royal Blues) Die Knappen (The Miners)
Short name	S04
Founded	4 May 1904 (1904-05-04)
Ground	Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
Ground Capacity	62,271
President	Clemens Tönnies
Executive Board	Christian Heidel (CEO; Chief Executive Officer) Alexander Jobst (CBO; Chief Brand Officer) Peter Peters (CFO; Chief Financial Officer)
League	Bundesliga
2015–16	5th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Active departments of FC Schalke 04
Men's Football		Basketball
Handball	Athletics	Table Tennis	E-sports

Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (German: [ʔɛf t͡seː ˈʃalkə nʊl fiːɐ̯]) or simply abbreviated as S04 (German: [ˈʔɛs nʊl fiːɐ̯]), is a professional German association-football club and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke has long been one of the most popular professional football teams and multi-sports club in Germany, even though major successes have been rare since the club's heyday in the 1930s and early 1940s. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. As of December 2015, the club has 140,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the sixth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics (track and field), basketball, handball, table tennis and winter sports.

Founded in 1904, Schalke has won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokals, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup.

Since 2001, Schalke's stadium is the Veltins-Arena. Schalke holds a long-standing rivalry with Ruhr neighbours Borussia Dortmund, arguably the most widespread and well-known rivalry in German football, and matches between the two teams are referred to as the Revierderby.

Schalke was ranked as the seventh-best football team in Europe by UEFA's 2015 UEFA club rankings.

In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses the seventh-highest operating income of any football club at "$64.4 million or £38.2 million (€48 million)", and 0% debt as of August 2014. Schalke also generates the 12th-highest revenue of any football club, at "$265.6 million or £157.8 million (€198 million)".

In May 2014, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes magazine as the 12th-most valuable football club, at "£355.3 million or $598.5 million (€446 million)", an increase of 16% from the previous year.

History

Schalke's early years

1900s typical mining structure in the Ruhr, source of the Schalke nickname Die Knappen – from an old German word for "miners"– because the team drew so many of its players and supporters from the coalmine workers of Gelsenkirchen.

The club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colours red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband and played in one of the "wild associations" of early German football. In 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915 when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club. The separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga. It was around this time that Schalke picked up the nickname Die Knappen – from an old German word for "miners" because the team drew so many of its players and supporters from the coalmine workers of Gelsenkirchen.

In 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue and white kit from which their second nickname would derive – Die Königsblauen (English: The Royal Blues). The following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would later become famous as the Schalker Kreisel (English: spinning top; gyroscope). In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, and then into the opening rounds of the national finals.

Rise to dominance

S04 won the DFB-Pokal for the first time in its history in the 1937 Tschammerpokal. The DFB-Pokal of Schalke 04, the successor to the Tschammerpokal displayed at the S04 museum.

The popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the city's support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. They won their first West German championship in 1929, but the following year were sanctioned for exceeding salary levels set by the league and, in an era that considered professionalism in sport to be anathema, found themselves banned from play for nearly half a year.

However, the ban had little impact on the team's popularity: in their first game after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931, the team drew 70,000 to its home ground. The club's fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a semi-final appearance in the 1932 German championship, losing 1–2 to Eintracht Frankfurt. The year after, the club went all the way to the final, where Fortuna Düsseldorf proved the better side, winning 3–0.

With the re-organisation of German football in 1933 under Nazi Germany, Schalke found themselves in the Gauliga Westfalen, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established to replace the innumerable regional and local leagues, all claiming top status. This league saw Schalke's most successful decade in their history: from 1933 to 1942, the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals (ten in the German championship and eight in the Tschammerpokal, the predecessor of today's DFB-Pokal) and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons.

The club never lost a home game in the Gauliga Westfalen in all these eleven seasons and only lost six away games, while remaining entirely unbeaten in the seasons 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1940–41 and 1942–43, a sign of the club's dominance.

The championship years 1934–42

FC Schalke 04 supporters in 1941

Schalke's first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites 1. FC Nürnberg. The next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart with a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the championship match in each of the next six years, coming away victorious in 1937, 1939, 1940 and 1942. Three of those national finals were against Austrian teams –Admira Wien, Rapid Wien, and First Vienna– which played in Germany's Gauliga Ostmark after Austria's incorporation into the Reich through the 1938 Anschluss.

Die Königsblauen also made frequent appearances in the final of the Tschammerpokal, but enjoyed much less success there. They lost the inaugural Tschammerpokal 0–2 to 1. FC Nürnberg in 1935. They also made failed appearances in the 1936, 1941, and 1942 finals with their only victory coming in 1937 against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Over a dozen seasons, from 1933 to 1945, Schalke won 162 of 189 Gauliga matches, drawing 21 and losing only 6. On the way, they scored 924 goals and gave up just 145. From 1935 to 1939, they did not lose a single league match. The club's dominance throughout this period led them to be held up for propaganda purposes by the Nazi regime, as an example of "new Germany".

Post-war football

Commonly regarded as the greatest S04 player of all time Ernst Kuzorra alongside Fritz Szepan, Ernst Kuzorra is also commonly regarded as one of the greatest German forwards and led S04 to become the dominant team in German football winning six German championships and one DFB-Pokal from 1934 to 1942. Ernst Kuzorra was one of the main axes of what became known as the "Schalker Kreisel; a system that used quick and short passing", to confuse and overwhelm the opponent.

With Germany in chaos towards the end of World War II, Schalke played just two matches in 1945. They resumed regular play following the war and, for a time, continued to compete as a strong side. They set a record in a national championship round match with a 20–0 drubbing of SpVgg Herten, but that spoke more to the weakened condition of German football than the ability of the team. Schalke's play fell off and the best they could manage in the new Oberliga West in 1947 was a sixth-place finish; within two years, they slipped to 12th place.

It would take Schalke until the mid-1950s to recover their form. They finished third in a tight three-way race for the 1954 Oberliga West title, decided on the last day of the season. The following year, they appeared in the DFB-Pokal final, where they lost 2–3 to Karlsruher SC. The club's next, and to date last, German championship came in 1958 with a 3–0 victory over Hamburger SV. The strong fanbase of the club is as well documented in a local church, St. Joseph, in Gelsenkirchen. It was renovated shortly after the 1958 victory, where one of the glass windows shows Aloysius Gonzaga with a football and the dress and colors of Schalke.

Entry to the Bundesliga

Schalke continued to play well, delivering a number of top four finishes in the years leading up to the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, West Germany's new federal, professional league. Those results earned them selection as one of sixteen sides admitted to the top-flight league.

Their first years in the Bundesliga were difficult. In 1964–65, they escaped relegation only through the expansion of the league to 18 teams. A number of finishes at the lower end of the league table followed, before a marked improvement in 1971–72, culminating in a second-place finish to Bayern Munich and after having led the league for much of the season. In the same season, Schalke won the DFB-Pokal for the second time in its history.

The Bundesliga scandal of 1971

Despite their improved results, the seeds of a major reversal had already been sown. A number of the team's players and officials were accused of accepting bribes as part of the widespread Bundesliga scandal of 1971. Investigation showed that Schalke had deliberately played to lose their 17 May, 28th-round match against Arminia Bielefeld by a score of 0–1. As a result, several Schalke players were banned for life, including three —Klaus Fischer, "Stan" Libuda and Klaus Fichtel— who regularly played for the German national team at the time.

Even though the penalties were later commuted to bans ranging from six months to two years, the scandal had a profound effect on what might have possibly become one of the dominant German teams of the 1970s.

Crisis and recovery

FC Schalke 04 starting line-up in their victorious 1997 UEFA Cup Final.

In 1973, the club moved to the Parkstadion, newly built for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and having a capacity of 70,000 spectators. In the wake of the scandal, the club's performance was uneven. They managed another second-place result in 1976–77, finishing just one point behind champions Borussia Mönchengladbach.

In the early 1980s, Die Knappen ran into trouble and found themselves relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga for the 1981–82 season and, after promotion, again in 1983–84. They returned to the top flight in 1984 but slipped once more to the second tier in 1988. They returned to the Bundesliga in the 1991–92 season and have stayed in the top flight ever since.

The club earned their first honours since the DFB-Pokal win of 1972 with a victory in the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup over Inter Milan on penalties. Coached by the Dutch coach Huub Stevens, the 1997 Schalke squad earned the nickname "Euro Fighters", which is still in use among fans. Stevens, who was widely unknown in Germany at the time, quickly earned himself a cult following among the Schalke supporters.

Gerald Asamoah was the S04 leading goal-scoring figure from the turn of the 21st century through to the mid 2000s as well as playing over 250 games for S04 over 11 years and Schalke players celebrate winning the DFB-Pokal in 2002

Stevens successfully implemented a system of rigid discipline, especially in the defence. His motto "Die Null muß stehen" (in English, "It has to read nil"), which emphasized his importance on his side not conceding any goals, has found its way into everyday language in Germany.

The turn of the millennium has seen much stronger performances from Schalke. During the 1990s and early 2000, the club underwent a successful transformation into a modern, commercial sports organisation and established itself as one of the dominant teams of the Bundesliga. Schalke captured consecutive DFB-Pokals in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and earned second-place finishes in the Bundesliga in 2000–01, 2004–05 and 2006–07. The 2000–01 season finish was heartbreaking for Schalke's supporters as it took a goal in the fourth minute of injury time by Bayern Munich away to Hamburger SV to snatch the title from Die Königsblauen.

Current

Further information: 2013–14 FC Schalke 04 season and 2014–15 FC Schalke 04 season

Fans displaying their colours at the Veltins-Arena.

The last few years have been more successful for Schalke, who finished in the second place in 2005, a result that led to Schalke making its second appearance in the UEFA Champions League. There, Schalke finished in third place during the group stage and continuing into the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by the eventual winners Sevilla in the semi-finals. In 2005–06, Schalke finished in fourth place in the Bundesliga and a year later they again finished as runners-up for the third time in seven seasons.

In the 2007–08 season, Schalke progressed past the Champions League group stage for the first time and advanced to the quarter-finals after beating Porto on penalties in the round of 16. They were stopped by Barcelona in the quarter-finals, losing both home and away games 0–1.

Schalke 04 royal blue trademark jersey with sponsor Gazprom elaborately showcased prior to a match with Zenit Saint Petersburg at the Veltins-Arena to celebrate Gazprom's investment of over €125 million in S04.

On 9 October 2006, Russian oil company Gazprom became the club's new sponsor. The company stated it expects to invest as much as €125 million in the club over a five-and-a-half year period. Gazprom's sponsorship has been seen by some analysts as a politically motivated attempt to buy friendship in Germany. Within this sponsorship, Schalke 04 and Zenit Saint Petersburg signed a "partnership agreement". Both clubs intend to work closely on improving football-related issues.

On 13 April 2008, the club announced the dismissal of manager Mirko Slomka after a heavy defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen and elimination from the Champions League. Former players Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder were put in charge of the first team on an interim basis.

For the 2008–09 Bundesliga season, Schalke signed a new head coach, Fred Rutten, previously of Twente. Rutten signed a contract running until June 2010. In March 2009, Rutten was sacked and, once more, Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck took over the helm.

Raúl, then all-time top goalscorer in European club competitions, played for Schalke from 2010 to 2012.

On 1 July 2009, Felix Magath, who had led VfL Wolfsburg to the top of the table in the Bundesliga, became head coach and general manager of the Königsblauen. The appointment of Magath as manager coincided with a multimillion-euro spending spree, allowing Schalke to acquire internationally-known forwards Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl. Magath's tenure at the club was initially successful, seeing the side score a glut of goals in the first few months of the season, though defensive frailties and Magath's questionable squad selection had made him unpopular with Schalke supporters by December 2010. On 16 March 2011, Magath was sacked and replaced with Ralf Rangnick, who previously, between 2004 and 2005, had a brief spell being in charge of the team. Within just weeks of his appointment, Rangnick masterminded a 5–2 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro during the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Schalke advanced to the semi-final where they lost 2–0 to Manchester United in the first leg and 4–1 in the second leg.

On 22 September 2011, Ralf Rangnick announced his immediate resignation as head coach of Schalke 04 due to long-term exhaustion. Assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn coached the team as interim manager until the appointment of Huub Stevens on 27 September 2011. Stevens' contract was to run until 30 June 2013.

FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Champions League line-up against FC Barcelona.

Despite having legendary status among Schalke supporters, Stevens' return to Schalke was met with some scepticism as fans feared that Stevens, who coached Schalke to the 1997 UEFA Cup win with a rigidly defensive system, could abandon Rangnick's system of attacking play in favour of returning to his 1997 defensive antics. The doubts of the supporters proved unfounded. Although Schalke played a somewhat inconsistent season, they reached third place in the Bundesliga and therefore direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

Schalke had an excellent start to the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, and worked their way to second place in the league by November, just behind Bayern Munich. On 20 October, Schalke traveled to Borussia Dortmund for Matchday 8, and were able to defeat the home side 2–1 to secure their first league Revierderby win since February 2010 while securing a Champions League place by finishing fourth.

In the 2013–14 Champions League group stage, Schalke's opponents were Steaua București, Basel and Chelsea. Schalke ultimately finished the group stage in second place to Chelsea and exited in the round of 16 to Real Madrid.

The most prominent Schalke addition was the arrival of Kevin-Prince Boateng from Milan. After a disappointing first round of the 2013–14 Bundesliga that saw Schalke in seventh place in the Bundesliga table, as well as an early exit from the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal in the first knockout round, the club played their most successful second-half of the season in club history. The season was marked by a glut of injuries to key squad players, including Jefferson Farfán and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, for almost the entire season. It also led to performance related discussions about head coach Jens Keller. Partially, S04 fielded up to ten young players with potential who played in the S04 youth system throughout the season. Among the brightest S04 young player discoveries of the 2013–14 season were Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka. The young S04 squad won 11 out of 17 games in which S04 retrieved 36 points. At the end of the 2013–14 season, the young S04 squad reached the third place in the league table and thus for the third time in a row qualified for the UEFA Champions League, in which is a feat that S04 have never before achieved.

On 7 October 2014, after a 1–2 defeat to 1899 Hoffenheim and merely eight points in seven games, Keller was sacked and succeeded by Roberto Di Matteo.

12th richest in the world

Further information: Forbes' list of the most valuable football clubs

1st image: Exterior of the S04 museum at the S04 Veltins-Arena.

2nd image: Hospitality services and restaurants at the S04 Veltins-Arena.
3rd image: Ice hockey events are hosted at the S04 Veltins-Arena.

4th image: Biathlon and a variety of winter sport events are hosted at the S04 Veltins-Arena.

The headline sponsors of FC Schalke 04 are the China-based electronics manufacturer Hisense and the Russia-based hydrocarbon giant Gazprom. Additional sponsors include the Germany-based insurance group ERGO Insurance Group; the Germany-based automotive manufacturer Volkswagen Group; the China-based telecommunications company Huawei; the cyber gambling and sports betting company bet-at-home.com; the beverage company Coca-Cola; the Germany-based brewery Veltins; and the S04 current squad kit manufacturer Germany-based Adidas.

In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses the 7th highest operating income of any football club in the world at €48 million, and 0% debt as of August 2014. S04 generates the 12th highest revenue of any football club in the world at €198 million.

In May 2014, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes Magazine as the twelfth richest football club in the world, at €446 million, an increase of 16% from the previous year.

Players

First-team squad

As of 1 February 2016

See also: FC Schalke 04 II and 2015–16 FC Schalke 04 season

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 Ralf Fährmann 2 DF Marvin Friedrich 3 DF Júnior Caiçara 4 DF Benedikt Höwedes (captain) 5 MF Johannes Geis 6 DF Sead Kolašinac 7 MF Max Meyer 8 MF Leon Goretzka 9 FW Franco Di Santo 13 FW Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 15 MF Dennis Aogo 16 FW Fabian Reese 18 MF Sidney Sam

No. Position Player 19 MF Leroy Sané 20 DF Thilo Kehrer 21 MF Alessandro Schöpf 22 DF Atsuto Uchida 25 FW Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (vice-captain) 27 DF Sascha Riether 30 GK Michael Gspurning 31 DF Matija Nastasić 33 MF Roman Neustädter 34 GK Fabian Giefer 35 GK Alexander Nübel DF Joshua Bitter MF Christian Rubio Sivodedov

Players out on loan

As of 2 January 2016

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

No. Position Player 24 DF Kaan Ayhan (to Eintracht Frankfurt until 30 June 2016) 29 FW Donis Avdijaj (to Sturm Graz until 30 June 2016) 36 FW Felix Platte (to Darmstadt 98 until 30 June 2016) 40 GK Timon Wellenreuther (to Mallorca until 30 June 2016)

Reserve team

Main article: FC Schalke 04 II

Notable former players

Further information: Category:FC Schalke 04 players

Great sculptures with some of the FC Schalke 04 "Team of the Century".

In the year 2000, the supporters voted for Schalker Jahrhundertelf, the "Team of the Century":

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

No. Position Player GK Norbert Nigbur DF Klaus Fichtel DF Rolf Rüssmann DF Olaf Thon MF Marc Wilmots MF Fritz Szepan

No. Position Player MF Ingo Anderbrügge FW Ernst Kuzorra FW Reinhard Libuda FW Klaus Fischer FW Rüdiger Abramczik

Records

Klaus Fischer scored the most goals in Schalke's Bundesliga history

Most appearances (Bundesliga)

		Player	Apps
1		Klaus Fichtel	477
2		Norbert Nigbur	355
3		Rolf Rüssmann	304
4		Klaus Fischer	295
5		Olaf Thon	295
6		Herbert Lütkebohmert	286
7		Gerald Asamoah	279
8		Mike Büskens	257
9		Jiří Němec	256
10		Yves Eigenrauch	229

Top scorers (Bundesliga)

		Player	Goals
1		Klaus Fischer	182
2		Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	80
3		Ebbe Sand	73
4		Kevin Kurányi	71
5		Olaf Thon	52
6		Erwin Kremers	50
7		Ingo Anderbrügge	46
8		Helmut Kremers	45
9		Rüdiger Abramczik	44
		Gerald Asamoah	44

Top scorers (all competitions)

		Player	Goals
1		Klaus Fischer	223
2		Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	121
3		Ebbe Sand	102

Kit choices

Home

Home Alt.

Away

Away Alt.

Third

Type	Shirt	Shorts	Socks	First appearance / Info	Club Crest
Home	Blue	White	Blue		S04 crest since 1995
Home Alt.	Blue	Blue	Blue
Away	White	Sky Blue	White
Away Alt.	White	White	White
Third	Black	Black	Black	→ International Kit

Stadium

Veltins-Arena exterior and S04 training ground

Schalke's stadium, known as the Veltins-Arena under a sponsorship agreement with Veltins brewery, was completed in the summer of 2001 and has a capacity of 62,271 spectators. Schalke regularly draws sell-out crowds to what is widely regarded as one of the most modern and best multi-use facilities in Europe. The facility was previously known as the Arena AufSchalke and replaced the Parkstadion (capacity of 62,000) built in 1973. Prior to this the club had played its matches in the Glückauf-Kampfbahn constructed in 1928 with a capacity of 35,000. The facility was used for amateur matches during its latter years with a reduced capacity of just 5,000.

An interior design panorama of the S04 Stadium Veltins-Arena

S04 Ultras and Supporters

S04 Ultras Gelsenkirchen.

The number of members of Schalke 04 grew from 10,000 in 1991 to 129,672 in 2014. This figure makes Schalke 04 the second-biggest sports club in Germany and third-biggest sports club in the world behind second placed FC Bayern Munich and first placed SL Benfica. FC Schalke 04 has the fourth largest fan-base of any other team in the world. S04 is currently ranked as the 9th best football team in Europe and on Continental Europe by UEFA's UEFA club rankings. A representation of the Schalke 04 membership structure in 2014 showed, among other things, a female share of 20% and a share of the age group up to 10 years of 14%. Around 30% of the members were not from North Rhine-Westphalia. Apart from Gelsenkirchen (10,197 members) and its immediate neighboring towns the members of Schalke 04 also come from more distant cities such as Cologne (1117), Berlin (932) and Dortmund (800). This high growth in Schalke 04 membership is also promoted by promotions of Schalke 04, as from 2013 to further "advertise Schalke 04 brand".

On 21 August 2013, S04 played their first home game, a 2013–14 UEFA Champions League qualifier at the Veltins-Arena against the Greek runners-up (coached by former coach Hub Stevens), drawing 1–1. The match and the result was more than overshadowed by a controversial police operations in the block of the "S04 Ultras Gelsenkirchen" block of the Veltins-Arena against the fans of the away team with nearly 80 injured of the PAOK away team's fans injured. The return match was won 3–2 by Schalke without any of their supporters allowed to spectate the match.

Schalke 04 Fan Club Association

S04 Ultras Gelsenkirchen with an alliance of S04 supporters patrolling the streets of Gelsenkirchen on matchday for away team fans insight.

Schalke 04 Fan Club Association (SFCV) as an umbrella organization, according to his own statement has an estimated 1500 fan clubs. Of the listed by the SFCV, 860 S04 fan clubs (October 2012) in which an estimated 200 were in Ruhr, 360 in the rest of North Rhine-Westphalia, and 300 in the other federal states. A member of the board of SFCV has a permanent seat on the board of FC Schalke 04 and in 2013 SFCV merged with the "Ultras Gelsenkirchen" and later the supporters' club, Schalke Fan-Initiative eV with several members of strong fan groups from the SFCV, as is clear from the merger of the SFCV with the fan section of S04 has not adequately represented the fan interests.

Friendships

The fan-base of Schalke is friendly connected with the supporters of the 1. FC Nürnberg and the Dutch club FC Twente. The friendship with Nürnberg is the oldest connection between two fan-bases in Germany. Before a match between both clubs, the official club songs are played.

The Ultras have also a friendship with the supporters of the Macedonian club Vardar Skopje.

Club songs

• Blau und weiß, wie lieb ich Dich ("Blue and White, How I Love You") is the official club song.
• Das Steigerlied, traditional German mining song, play before every match.
• Blau und Weiß ein Leben lang ("Blue and white a life-long") is the goal tune.
• Königsblauer S04 ("Royal Blue S04") played after every match

Popular unofficial chants are

• Der Mythos vom Schalker Markt ("The Myth of the Schalke Market"),
• Opa Pritschikowski ("Grandpa Pritschikowski"),
• Von der Emscher bis zum Bosporus ("From the Emscher to the Bosphorus"),
• Wir schlugen Roda... ("We beat Roda..."),
• Die Eurofighter sind wieder da ("The Eurofighter are back again"),
• Für deine Farben leben und sterben wir ("For your colours we live and die"),
• Wir lieben alle nur den FC Schalke ("We all love only FC Schalke"),
• Wir sind die Fans ("We are the fans"),
• Hurra wir sind die Schalker Knappen ("Hurray we are the Schalke Knappen"),
• Kohle unter unser'n Füßen ("Coal under our feet"), and
• Steht auf, wenn ihr Schalker seid ("Stand up if you're Schalke"), sung to the melody of "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys (itself a cover of a Village People song).

Revierderby

Main article: Revierderby

Revierderby results since the 1963–1964 season

In popular culture

The cleats worn by the entire S04 squad players in the 1920s displayed at the museum of FC Schalke 04.

Schalke has been subject of a feature-length film called Fußball ist unser Leben ("Football is our life"), shown in 1999. Actors Uwe Ochsenknecht and Ralf Richter, both of whom were in the award-winning film Das Boot played the main roles, while many persons associated with Schalke had cameo roles, such as manager Rudi Assauer, coaches Huub Stevens and Helmut Schulte, and player Yves Eigenrauch. Also featured were prominent fans like Manfred Breuckmann, Ulrich Potofski or DJ Hooligan. The film is a comedy about "Hans", a Schalke fanatic, and his three pals who somehow get involved in kidnapping and trying to bring back to form the team's new star player "Di Ospeo" and in the process bet Hans' house that their idol will score in the final game. Some critics considered Football is our life to be "one of the worst German comedies ever."

"Schalke" is mentioned in the film Das Boot when the bosun tells the crew in their ward room, "I got bad news for you men. Schalke lost 5–0, looks like we won't be in the final this year."

Honours

Domestic

Schalke 04 have captured the German championship 7 times

Bundesliga/German Championship

• Winners (7): 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958
  • Runners-up (9): 1933, 1938, 1941, 1971–72, 1976–77, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10

DFB-Pokal/German Cup

• Winners (5): 1937, 1971–72, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2010–11
  • Runners-up (7): 1935, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1954–55, 1968–69, 2004–05

DFB-Ligapokal/German League Cup

• Winners: 2005
  • Runners-up: 2001, 2002, 2007

DFL-Supercup/German Super Cup

• Winners: 2011
  • Runners-up: 1940, 2010

2. Bundesliga

• Winners: 1981–82, 1990–91
  • Runners-up: 1983–84

International

Further information: FC Schalke 04 in European football

UEFA Cup

• Winners: 1996–97

UEFA Intertoto Cup

• Winners: 2003, 2004

Coppa delle Alpi

• Winners: 1968

Youth

Domestic

Under 19 Bundesliga

• Winners: 1976, 2006, 2012, 2015
  • Runners-up: 1975, 1980, 1981

Under 19 Bundesliga West

• Winners (5): 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Under 17 Bundesliga

• Winners: 1978, 2002
  • Runners-up: 1977, 1980

Under 17 Bundesliga West

• Winners: 2013

Regional

Western German football championship

• Winners : 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933
  • Runners-up: 1927

Gauliga Westfalen/West German League

• Winners (11): 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944

Oberliga West/West German Championship

• Winners: 1951, 1958
  • Runners-up: 1952, 1956 1963

Westphalia Cup/West German Cup

• Winners: 1943, 1944

Corporate structure

As of 26 July 2015

Supervisory Board (Non Executive Member) Role Person Ref. Chairman Clemens Tönnies Vice Chairman Dr. Jens Buchta Note Person Ref. Investment Manager Axel Hefer Owner and managing director of the Association for Management and Psychology (GMAP) Dr. Andreas Horn General Manager of GEW Ulrich Köllmann Deputy Head of the Information and Communications Department of Gazprom Sergey Kupriyanov Management Consultant Peter Lange Medical Consultant Dr. Armin Langhorst Self-employed communication consultant for companies and organisations. Has own agency in Frankfurt /Main Dirk Metz Civil servant at the Federal Fiscal Authority Heiner Tümmers Sole management of AWU Thomas Wiese Managing Board (Executive Members) Role Person Ref. Sport and Communications Horst Heldt Marketing Specialist Alexander Jobst Finance and Organization Peter Peters Honorary Board (Non Executive Members) Person Ref. Prof. Dr. Klaus Bernsmann Hans-Joachim Dohm Volker Stuckmann Klaus Fischer Dr. Herbert Tegenthoff Honorary Presidium (Non Executive Members) Role Person Ref. Honorary Chairman Gerhard Rehberg Deputy Chairman Josef Schnusenberg Dieter Basdorf Eberhard Bergjohann Dr. Peter Paziorek Heiner Kördell Peter Post Dr. Ingo Westen Klaus-Peter Wömpner Günter Siebert Manfred Kreuz Electoral Committee (Non Executive Members) Person Ref. Thorsten Altfeld Stefan Barta Maik Deinert Dr. Stephan Kleier Günther Reipen Stefan Schorlemmer Michael Zylka Squad Technicians Role Person Ref. Head Coach Assistant Coaches Sven Hübscher Volkan Bulut Goalkeeping Coach Simon Henzler Athletics Coaches Ruwen Faller Tobias Stock Analyst Tobias Hellwig Teammanager Jan-Pieter Martens Director Sports Gerhard Zuber Medical Role Person Ref. Team Doctor Dr. Andreas Falarzik Sport Psychologist Theresa Holst Leader Physiotherapist Thomas Kühn Physiotherapist Holger Remmers Stuart Rickards Tim Hielscher Reha-Trainer Daniel Behlau Masseur Thomas Morus Scholl Equipment Role Person Ref. Kitman Enrico Heil Holger Blumenstein Lars Laser

List of FC Schalke 04 Managers
	Manager	Managerial Tenure					Manager	Managerial Tenure					Manager	Managerial Tenure
	* Heinz Ludewig	(3 April 1925–27)					Ivica Horvat	(1 July 1971–30 June 75)					Udo Lattek	(1 July 1992–17 Jan 93)
	Gustav Wieser	(25 May 1928–29)					Max Merkel	(1 July 1975–9 March 76)					Helmut Schulte	(18 Jan 1993–10 Oct 93)
	Kurt Otto	(11 Aug 1929–30)					Friedel Rausch	(10 March 1976–20 Dec 77)					Jörg Berger	(11 Oct 1993–3 Oct 96)
	August Sobotka	(1930–31)					Uli Maslo	(21 Dec 1977–30 June 78)					Hubert Neu (interim)	(4 Oct 1996–8 Oct 96)
	Hans Sauerwein	(1 Aug 1931–1 July 32)					Ivica Horvat	(1 July 1978–17 March 79)					Huub Stevens	(9 Oct 1996–30 June 02)
	Kurt Otto	(20 July 1932–33)					Gyula Lóránt	(19 March 1979–4 Dec 79)					Frank Neubarth	(1 July 2002–25 March 03)
	Hans Schmidt	(15 Aug 1933–7 July 38)					Dietmar Schwager	(5 Dec 1979–22 April 80)					Marc Wilmots (interim)	(26 March 2003–30 June 03)
	Otto Faist	(26 Oct 1938–42)					Fahrudin Jusufi	(21 April 1980–26 May 81)					Jupp Heynckes	(1 July 2003–15 Sept 04)
	Ernst Kuzorra	(1946–47)					Heinz Redepennig (interim)	(26 May 1981–30 June 81)					Eddy Achterberg (interim)	(15 Sept 2004–28 Sept 04)
	Willi Schäfer	(4 Nov 1947–48)					Rudi Assauer (interim)	(27 May 1981–30 June 81)					Ralf Rangnick	(28 Sept 2004–12 Dec 05)
	Theo Langl	(1948)					Sigfried Held	(1 July 1981–20 Jan 83)					Oliver Reck (interim)	(12 Dec 2005–4 Jan 06)
	Ferdinand Swatosch	(1 Dec 1948–49)					Jürgen Sundermann	(24 Jan 1983–30 June 83)					Mirko Slomka	(4 Jan 2006–13 April 08)
							Diethelm Ferner	(1 July 1983–30 June 86)					Michael Büskens (interim)	(14 April 2008–30 June 08)
	Fritz Szepan	(31 Aug 1949–54)					Rolf Schafstall	(1 July 1986–7 Dec 87)					Fred Rutten	(1 July 2008–26 March 09)
	Eduard Frühwirth	(1954–31 May 59)					Horst Franz	(29 Dec 1987–18 Sept 88)					Michael Büskens (interim)	(1 April 2009–30 June 09)
	Nandor Lengyel	(1959–60)											Felix Magath	(1 July 2009–16 March 11)
	Georg Gawliczek	(1960–25 April 64)					Diethelm Ferner	(9 Sept 1988–2 April 89)					Josef Eichkorn (interim)	(16 March 2011–20 March 11)
	Fritz Langner	(26 April 1964–30 June 67)					Helmut Kremers (interim)	(3 April 1989–10 April 89)					Ralf Rangnick	(21 March 2011–22 Sept 11)
	Karl-Heinz Marotzke	(1 July 1967–13 Nov 67)					Peter Neururer	(11 April 1989–13 Nov 90)					Josef Eichkorn (interim)	(22 Sept 2011–27 Sept 11)
	Günter Brocker	(18 Nov 1967–17 Nov 68)					Klaus Fischer (interim)	(14 Nov 1990–31 Dec 90)					Huub Stevens	(27 Sept 2011–16 Dec 12)
	Rudi Gutendorf	(22 Nov 1968–7 Sept 70)					Aleksandar Ristić	(1 Jan 1991–30 April 92)					Jens Keller	(16 Dec 2012–7 Oct 2014)
	Slobodan Čendić	(8 Sept 1970–30 June 71)					Klaus Fischer (interim)	(1 May 1992–30 June 92)					Roberto Di Matteo	(7 Oct 2014–26 May 2015)					André Breitenreiter	(12 Jun 2015–14 May 2016)

S04 other departments

Women's football

In women's football, FC Schalke 04 have achieved some notable successes in the late seventies and early eighties of the 20th century. The S04 women's team was five times Westphalia champion and twice cup winners as well as competing in the German Championship and in the DFB Cup ended up being each in the first round. Mid-nineteen eighties, the S04 women's team was dissolved. Since the 2007–08 season, S04 is cooperating with the women footballers of the second division 1 FFC Recklinghausen.

Basketball

The basketball department of FC Schalke 04 played in the 1988–89 season in the National Basketball League Basketball Bundesliga and from 2004 for several seasons in the ProA, the second highest basketball league in Germany. 2009 saw the Schalke 04 voluntary withdrawal of Schalke 04 from the ProA. Currently, the Schalke 04 basketball department competes in the 1 Regionalliga West.

Handball

The handball department of FC Schalke 04 was founded in 1926. In 1929 it competed in the Gaumeister prior to competing in the Gauliga until the end of the Third Reich, the then top division. After the Second World War, except for a few years in the league, the S04 handball department did not build on the successes. Currently the S04 handball department competes in the national league.

Athletics

The athletics (track and field) department of FC Schalke 04 was founded in 1922. Famous members were multiple German champion in sprint such as Erika Rost; and the winner of the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympic Games, Frank Busemann; and the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships gold in 200 metres, Sebastian Ernst.

Table tennis

The table tennis department of FC Schalke 04 was founded in 1947. In the 1952–53 season, the FC Schalke 04 table tennis department competed for a year in the big leagues, up unto the foundation of the table tennis Bundesliga in 1966, the top division in Germany. In the 2013–14 season S04 table tennis department competed in the Westphalia district league. The FC Schalke 04 table tennis department women's team was one of the early participants in the 1950s in the national league, until it was withdrawn in 1956.

eSports

Schalke 04's League of Legends department acquired Elements in 2016, and is set to play in the European League of Legends Championship Series, officially organized by developer Riot Games and the top level of professional League of Legends competition in Europe. The club also announced former Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Sportfreunde Siegen midfielder and SK Gaming co-founder Tim Reichert as Head of ESport.

See also

• Forbes' list of the most valuable football clubs

Bibliography

• Bodo Berg: More than a game: from the life of a football fan; with photos of Yves own smoke. Verlg the workshop, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-89533-299-2.
• Jenrich Burkh: Royal Blue Planet, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-446-4.
• Stefan Goch / Norbert Silver Bach: Between blue and white is gray, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-433-6.
• Hardy Green: Faith, Love, Schalke. The complete history of FC Schalke 04, The Workshop, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-89533-747-5.
• Helmut Wood: Schalke is priceless, Gelsenkirchen, 1991, ISBN 3-924984-30-1 .
• Helmut Wood: Schalke smile. Curiosities and concrete of fans and dreamers – experienced and collected, Gelsenkirchen 1984, ISBN 3-9800764-6-6.
• William Herbert Koch: The Royal Blues: the phenomenon Schalke 04, Düsseldorf 1973, ISBN 3-7700-0365-9.
• Olivier Kruschinski: Blue and white for a lifetime. A season with Schalke, Herten 2005, ISBN 3-938152-04-4.
• Georg Röwekamp: The legend lives on. The history of FC Schalke 04, Göttingen 1996 [and newer edition], ISBN 3-89533-164-3.
• Schalke Fan Initiative (Eds.), The tip of the Eichbergs. Most scandals of FC Schalke 04. plain text, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-393-3.
• Jörg Seven Eick, Thomas Spiegel, Gerd Voss (Eds.): 100 Schalke years – 100 stories Schalke. Plain text, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-89861-321-6.

External links

• Official website (English)
• Official website (German)
• FC Schalke 04 at UEFA