Hannover 96

Foundation to the Second World War

The club was founded on 12 April 1896 as Hannoverscher Fußball-Club 1896, upon the suggestion of Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke, founder of the Deutscher FV 1878 Hannover. Their initial enthusiasm was for athletics and rugby; football did not become their primary interest until 1899.^[] Most of the membership of Germania 1902 Hannover became part of 96 in 1902, while others of the club formed Hannoverscher Ballspielverein. In 1913, they merged with Ballverein 1898 Hannovera (formed in the 1905 merger of Fußballverein Hannovera, 1898 Hannover, and Hannoverscher BV) to become Hannoverscher Sportverein 1896. Hannoverscher FC's colours were black-white-green, but they played in blue, while BV played in red. The newly united team kept black-white-green as the club colours, but they chose to take to the field in red, giving the team the nickname Die Roten ("The Reds").^[] The team's third jersey is^[] in the club's official colours.^[] The club made regular appearances in the national playoffs through the early 1900s, but was unable to progress past Eintracht Braunschweig, planting the seeds of^[] a rivalry that has survived to this day. HSV continued to field strong sides and make national level appearances on into the 1920s.^[] During Nazi rule, German football was re-organized into 16 top-flight leagues in 1933 and Hannover became part of the Gauliga Niedersachsen. They appeared in the country's final rounds in 1935 and sent representatives to the national side the next year. They won their first national championship in 1938, in what was one of the biggest upsets in German football history,^[] when they beat Schalke 04, the most dominant side in the country in the era. The two sides played to a 3–3 draw before Hannover prevailed^[] 4–3 in a tension-filled^[] re-match. In 1942, the team moved to the newly formed Gauliga Braunschweig-Südhannover.

Post-War era

In common with most other German organizations, the club was dissolved after the Second World War by occupying Allied authorities. A combined local side was assembled^[] in August 1945 and the next month a mixed group of players from Hannover 96 and Arminia Hannover played their first post-war match against a British military team.^[] HSV was later formally re-established as Hannoverscher SV on 11 November 1945, before re-adopting its traditional name on 27 April 1946.^[] The club resumed league play in 1947 in the first division Oberliga Nord and was relegated, but quickly returned to the top-flight in 1949. Hannover 96's next appearance in a national final would not come until 1954 when they soundly^[] defeated 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5–1. The beaten side included five of the same players who would go on later that year to win Germany's first World Cup in a surprise victory known as the Miracle of Bern. In 1963, the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, began play with 16 of the nation's top teams. Hannover played in the Regionalliga Nord (II) that season, but earned promotion to the senior circuit in the following year. The club's advance to the Bundesliga in 1964 was well received,^[] as they set a league attendance record in their first year, averaging 46,000 spectators a game.^[] 96 played at the upper level for a decade, until they were relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord for the 1974–75 season.^[] They returned quickly, but again went down, this time to spend 17 of the next 20 years in the second tier.

Reunification to present

The club faced financial problems in the late 1970s and again in the early 1990s.^[] Then, in 1992, Hannover's performance would lead them to earn their first DFB-Pokal and help to secure stable finances.^[] That run included victories over Bundesliga sides Borussia Dortmund, VfL Bochum, Karlsruher SC, Werder Bremen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, as they became the first lower division side to win the competition. The team's low point came with demotion to Regionalliga Nord (III) for two years in 1996–98.

Hannover went on to acquire new players, many of whom went on to play for the national team – notably Gerald Asamoah, Sebastian Kehl and Fabian Ernst.^[] 96 returned to tier II play in 1998, and to the Bundesliga in 2002 on the strength of a record-setting 75-point season.^[] Since their promotion, the club have consolidated in the top flight, consistently earning mid-table finishes under several managers. Coach Dieter Hecking was brought in just weeks into the 2006–07 season after a poor start under Peter Neururer, in which the club lost the first three matches by a combined 11 goals.^[] The 2007–08 season showed some early promise,^[] with pre-season wins over Rangers and Real Madrid.^[] However, they earned mixed results in their opening six Bundesliga matches. The team then put together a three match winning run, capped by a 2–0 win at champions VfB Stuttgart, to enter into the top six. Following the winter break, Hannover after some poor performances, which they turned around to be defeated only two times in their last 11 matches of the season. This secured a points record of 49 for Die Roten in the Bundesliga, thus ending them in eighth place.

The 2008–09 season started poorly for Hannover with losses. However, performance improved with a 5–1 victory of Borussia Mönchengladbach, a 1–0 win over Bayern Munich at home, which had not occurred for 20 years, and a 3–0 victory over Hamburger SV. Hannover settled in the lower-mid-table until the winter break. The second half of the season consisted of inconsistent results,^[] relying almost entirely^[] on home form to keep the club in the Bundesliga. The club finally achieved an away win with a few games remaining which stabilized them, leading to an 11th-place finish.

The 2009–10 season was launched, with a new kit being released which included traditional away and alternative kits.^[] Hannover also signed a new technical director in Jörg Schmadtke. New signings were Karim Haggui and Constant Djakpa from Bayer Leverkusen, Valdet Rama from FC Ingolstadt.^[] The season started with a late 1–0 loss to Hertha BSC and a home draw to Mainz 05, after which coach Dieter Hecking resigned voluntarily.^[] He was succeeded by former assistant Andreas Bergmann.^[] As the season continued, Hannover again had many key players injured, including the majority of attacking players and key defenders, alongside the suicide of Robert Enke, Hannover's German international goalkeeper. Andreas Bergmann was removed as coach and replaced by Mirko Slomka shortly after the winter break.^[] Arouna Koné and Elson were signed to boost the squad.^[] Hannover 96 spent the majority of the year in the relegation zone, and with a few wins in the last games of the season, Hannover had to win, and have results elsewhere be favorable to them. Hannover won 3–0, with Arnold Bruggink, Mike Hanke and Sérgio Pinto all scoring to keep them in the Bundesliga.

In the 2010–11 season, Hannover finished in fourth place, qualifying for Europe for the first time in 19 years.^[] In 2011–12, the team opened with a 2–1 win over 1899 Hoffenheim, followed by a 2–1 away win against 1. FC Nürnberg. In the play-offs to the Europa League, Hannover won against Sevilla 3–2 on aggregate to reach the group stage. Shortly before the end of the 2011–12 season, Hannover Technical Director Jörg Schmadtke resigned due to family issues.

Hannover finished bottom of the Bundesliga in the 2015–16 season and were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. The club chose to keep the majority of their first-team squad together. However, after early in the 2016–17 season, poor performances prompted the club's board to sack manager Daniel Stendel, and appoint Andre Breitenreiter as their new manager. He led the team to seven wins in the final 11 games, helping the club secure second place behind VfB Stuttgart and return to the top flight.

Adverse publicity resulted for the club when a large contingent of ultras travelled to England for a 2017–18 pre-season game against Burnley. Supporters caused trouble in the town centre prior to the game. Once inside Turf Moor, they responded to a brief altercation on the pitch after 40 minutes by charging the home fans, tearing out seats and using them as missiles. On police advice the game was abandoned at half-time, with Hannover 96 trailing 1–0.^[]