Germany Regionalliga North East 03/26 18:00 21 [14] FC Lok Leipzig v Carl Zeiss Jena [7] W 2-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 03/17 12:00 26 [15] FC Lok Leipzig v FSV 63 Luckenwalde [11] D 1-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 03/09 15:00 25 [3] BFC Dynamo v FC Lok Leipzig [14] L 4-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 03/06 18:00 16 [13] FC Lok Leipzig v Berliner AK 07 [17] D 0-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 03/02 15:00 24 [13] FC Lok Leipzig v Chemnitzer [11] D 1-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/28 18:00 19 [15] FC Lok Leipzig v ZFC Meuselwitz [14] W 4-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/23 18:00 23 [15] FC Lok Leipzig v Babelsberg 03 [6] W 1-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/18 12:00 22 Greifswalder FC v FC Lok Leipzig L 4-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/13 18:00 18 [4] VSG Altglienicke v FC Lok Leipzig [15] L 2-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/09 18:00 21 [15] FC Lok Leipzig v Carl Zeiss Jena [9] - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 02/03 12:00 20 [16] Eilenburg v FC Lok Leipzig [15] W 2-4
Germany Regionalliga North East 01/26 18:00 19 FC Lok Leipzig v ZFC Meuselwitz - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 01/23 18:00 16 FC Lok Leipzig v Berliner AK 07 - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 01/19 18:00 18 VSG Altglienicke v FC Lok Leipzig - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 12/20 18:00 16 FC Lok Leipzig v Berliner AK 07 - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 12/17 12:00 18 VSG Altglienicke v FC Lok Leipzig - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 12/09 13:00 17 [18] Zwickau v FC Lok Leipzig [13] L 3-2
Germany Regionalliga North East 12/01 18:00 16 FC Lok Leipzig v Berliner AK 07 - Postponed
Germany Regionalliga North East 11/26 11:30 15 [11] BSG Chemie Leipzig v FC Lok Leipzig [14] D 1-1
Germany Landespokal 11/18 13:00 - FC Lok Leipzig v Eilenburg W 2-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 11/11 15:00 14 [13] FC Lok Leipzig v Cottbus [3] D 2-2
Germany Regionalliga North East 11/08 18:00 13 [17] Hansa Rostock II v FC Lok Leipzig [14] D 1-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 10/29 15:00 12 [13] FC Lok Leipzig v Rot-Weiss Erfurt [9] W 1-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 10/22 11:00 11 [7] FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin v FC Lok Leipzig [13] L 5-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 10/06 17:00 10 [12] FC Lok Leipzig v Hertha Berlin II [7] D 3-3
Germany Regionalliga North East 09/29 17:00 9 [12] FSV 63 Luckenwalde v FC Lok Leipzig [11] L 2-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 09/23 12:05 8 [11] FC Lok Leipzig v BFC Dynamo [5] D 1-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 09/15 17:00 7 [17] Chemnitzer v FC Lok Leipzig [9] L 1-0
Germany Regionalliga North East 09/03 14:00 6 [7] Babelsberg 03 v FC Lok Leipzig [9] L 4-1
Germany Regionalliga North East 08/26 11:00 5 [5] FC Lok Leipzig v Greifswalder FC [4] L 0-1

1. Fußballclub Lokomotive Leipzig e.V. is a German football club based in the locality of Probstheida in the Südost borough of Leipzig, Saxony. The club was previously known as VfB Leipzig and was the first national champion of Germany. It has also been known as SC Leipzig. The club won four titles in the FDGB-Pokal and the 1965–66 Intertoto Cup during the East German era. It also finished runner-up in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was renamed VfB Leipzig after German re-unification and managed to qualify for the Bundesliga in 1993. However, like many clubs of the former DDR-Oberliga, VfB Leipzig faced financial difficulties in reunified Germany and a steady decline soon followed. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was relaunched in 2003 and began climbing through the divisions. As of 2021, the team competes in the fourth-tier division, Regionalliga Nordost. The 1. in front of the club's name indicates that it was the first to be founded in the city.

History

1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig claims to be the successor to the VfB Leipzig and SC Sportbrüder Leipzig teams, established in 1896 and 1893, respectively, and therefore, one of the oldest clubs of the German Football Association. However, they are not nominal successors. In 2018, 1. FC Lokomotive announced a merger with the formally extant but dormant VfB Leipzig in order to be entitled to the forerunner's titles. Due to the significant breaks and turmoil in the club's history, especially during the post-World War II era, their exact establishment date remains a source of contention.

VfB Leipzig (1893–1946)

The club was formed as VfB Leipzig on 13 May, 1896, out of the football department of the gymnastics club Allgemeine Turnverein 1845 Leipzig.[] However, the club laid claim to an earlier date of origin by referring back to a club that was merged with VfB Leipzig in 1898, the SC Sportbrüder Leipzig, which was one of four football clubs formed in Leipzig in 1893.

Following the merger with SC Sportbrüder Leipzig, the club competed under the name VfB Sportbrüder 1893 Leipzig. VfB Sportbrüder 1893 Leipzig was one of the original 86 teams that came together in the city on 28 January 1900 to form the German Football Association (DFB). On 2 May, 1900, the Sportbrüder 1893 part of the name was dropped, and the team became again known as VfB Leipzig.

The team that won the first German league championship in 1903
Eintritts-Karte Fussballwettspiel um die Meisterschaft von Deutschland Pfingstsonntag, 31. Mai 1903 Nachm. 4 Uhr Exerzierplatz Altona

VfB Leipzig were immediately successful at their chosen sport and made their way to the first German national championship final held in 1903.[] Their opponents were DFC Prag, a German-Jewish side from Prague, which was then part of Austria-Hungary.[] The DFB had invited "German" clubs of this sort from other countries in order to boost numbers in their new national association.

DFC Prag had made their way to the final under circumstances that had allowed them to avoid playing a single playoff match, while VfB Leipzig had come through some[] hard-fought[] matches. Arriving in Hamburg for the match, the heavily favoured[] Pragers took themselves off[] on an ill-advised pub crawl[] the night before the contest and so arrived on the pitch in less than ideal match shape.[][] The contest was delayed by half an hour as officials scrambled to find a football that was in good condition.[][] The host, FC 93 Altona Hamburg, provided a new ball, and 11 minutes in, DFC Prag scored the first goal.[] At the end of the first half, the score stood at 1–1, but VfB Leipzig then pulled away[][] to emerge as the first winners of the Viktoria Meisterschaftstrophäe ("Victoria Championship Trophy"), representative of German football supremacy,[] on the strength of a decisive 7–2 victory.

VfB Leipzig played themselves[] into another final appearance in 1904, but the match was never contested.[] A protest by FV Karlsruhe over their disputed semi-final with Britannia Berlin was never resolved, and the DFB called off the final only hours before its scheduled start.[] There would be no champion that year. The following season, VfB Leipzig found themselves[] unable to cover the expense of travelling to participate in their scheduled first-round playoff match and so were eliminated from that year's competition. However, they did go on to raise the Viktoria again in 1906 and 1913 and also played in the 1911 and 1914 finals.

In the period leading up to World War II, VfB Leipzig was unable to repeat its early success. Gyula Kertész coached the side from 1932-33.

After the reorganization of German football leagues under the Third Reich in 1933, the club found itself in Gauliga Sachsen, one of the 16 upper-tier divisions. While they earned strong[] results within their own division, they were unable to advance in the playoff rounds.[] In 1937, they won the Tschammerpokal, known today as the DFB-Pokal, in a match against Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era.

Post-war turmoil

Historical chart of Lokomotive Leipzig league performance
1. Lok Leipzig team photo, 23 August 1983

The club, like most other organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs, was dissolved by the occupying Allied authorities in the aftermath of the war. Club members reconstituted the team in 1946 as SG Probstheida under the auspices of the occupying Soviets. After playing as BSG Erich Zeigner Probstheida and then BSG Einheit Ost, the club merged with sports club SC Rotation Leipzig in 1954 and played in the DDR-Oberliga, East Germany's top-flight league, but earned only mediocre[] results.[] In 1963, the city of Leipzig's two most important sports clubs, SC Rotation and SC Lokomotive Leipzig, were merged, resulting in the founding of two new sides: SC Leipzig and BSG Chemie Leipzig.

1. FC Lokomotive (1966–1990)

East German football went through a general reorganization in 1965, creating football clubs as centres of high-level football, during which the football department of SC Leipzig was separated from the sports club and reformed into football club 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, while rival Chemie Leipzig continued as a Betriebssportgemeinschaft (BSG), or corporate team. Like most East German clubs, it was assigned to a publicly owned enterprise as its "sponsor".[] In the case of Lokomotive, the providing enterprise was Deutsche Reichsbahn—the East German state railways—hence the name.[] The club's fortunes improved somewhat[] as they almost always finished well up the league table, but they were unable to win the top honour in the DDR-Oberliga, with losing final appearances in 1967, 1986, and 1988.

Lok earned a clutch of[] East German Cups (FDGB Pokal) with victories in 1976, 1981, 1986, and 1987, against failed appearances in the Cup final in 1970, 1973, and 1977.[] They also won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1966 and made an appearance in the 1987 final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, falling 0-1 to Johan Cruyff's Ajax after a Marco van Basten goal.

VfB Leipzig (1991–2004)

The re-unification in 1990 was followed by the merger of the football leagues of the two Germanies a year later. A poor season led to a seventh-place finish in the transitional league, but an unexpectedly strong[] playoff propelled[] the club into the 2. Bundesliga.

1. FC Lokomotive grasped[] at their former glory[] by reclaiming the name VfB Leipzig.[] A third-place finish in 1993 advanced the team to the top-flight Bundesliga, where they finished last in the 1994 season.[] The new VfB began a steady slide down through the 2. Bundesliga into the Regionalliga Nordost (III) by 1998 and then further still to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) by 2001.[] They were bankrupted in 2004, their results were annulled, and the club was dissolved.

1. FC Lokomotive (since 2003–04)

In late 2003, the club was re-established by a group of fans as 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig. The renewed side had to start in the lowest league, eleventh-tier 3. Kreisklasse, Staffel 2, in 2004–05. Even so, they continued to receive solidly enthusiastic fan support:[] their match against Eintracht Großdeuben's second team in the Leipzig Zentralstadion on 9 October, 2004, broke the world record for lower-league attendance with 12,421 spectators.[] Thanks to a merger with SSV Torgau, the club could play in the seventh-tier Bezirksklasse Leipzig, Staffel 2, in 2005–06. Finishing this league as champions, the team qualified for the sixth-tier Bezirksliga. In 2006, 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig also played a friendly match against FC United of Manchester (4–4) and qualified for the 2006–07 Landespokal by winning the Bezirkspokal. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig finished as champions of their group and were promoted to the fifth-tier Landesliga Sachsen Group for the 2007–08 season. The club finished second to Erzgebirge Aue and missed out on direct promotion to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd by two points in the 2007–08 season. It still had the chance to regain Oberliga status through a relegation play-off with Schönberg, winning the first leg 2–1 at Schönberg. In the return leg, in front of almost 10,000 spectators, the club lost 0–1 but still gained Oberliga promotion via the away goals rule.

1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig finished the Oberliga in third place in 2008–09, 12th in 2009–10, and eighth in 2010–11. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was promoted to Regionalliga Nordost after finishing Oberliga sixth due to the reserve teams of FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Dynamo Dresden, and FC Carl Zeiss Jena being ineligible for promotion. Lokomotive finished in tenth place in the 2012–13 season but were relegated to Oberliga Nordost after finishing 15th in 2013–14.

The club stayed in contention for promotion back up to the Regionalliga during the 2014–15 season, having hired former German international Mario Basler as director of sports in early 2015. In the final match of the season, Lok supporters stormed the field after their club had fallen behind 2–0, forcing the match to be abandoned and the club to finish outside of the promotion ranks. The club finished in first place in the southern group of the NOFV-Oberliga and returned to the Regionalliga Nordost for the 2016–17 season.

FC Lok Leipzig is a professional soccer team based in Leipzig, Germany. The team was founded in 1896 and has a rich history in German soccer. They have won several regional and national championships, including the East German Cup in 1955 and 1966.

The team plays their home matches at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion, which has a capacity of 15,600 spectators. The team's colors are blue and yellow, and their logo features a lion, which is a symbol of strength and courage.

FC Lok Leipzig has a strong fan base and is known for their passionate supporters. The team has a fierce rivalry with other local teams, including RB Leipzig and Chemie Leipzig.

In recent years, FC Lok Leipzig has been successful in the Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German soccer. They have finished in the top three of the league in each of the past four seasons and have qualified for the promotion playoffs twice.

Overall, FC Lok Leipzig is a respected and competitive team in German soccer, with a proud history and dedicated fan base.