Spielvereingung Greuther Furth, the club with one of the least catchiest names in football, are based in Furth, Bavaria. They game into being in 1903 as the football department a gymnastics club called Turnverein 1860 Furth. The clubs footballers walked out as a result of not gaining enough support and signed up to the Ostkreisliga, one of the four regional championships within the Southern German football championship. (The German football system was quite complicated at the time.) In this league, they claimed the title in 1912, 1913 and 1914.

 

They then competed in the Suddeutsche regional playoffs in an effort to qualify for the national championships. A rivalry instantly formed between SpVgg and 1 FC Nurnberg thanks to a historical rivalry between the two cities that went back centuries. By 1914, Furth had grown exponentially and had around 3,000 members which made them the largest sports club in Germany. Yes, there was a time when the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and co were in the shadows of SpVgg  Greuther Furth in terms of popularity, as unthinkable as this may be today.

 

The clubs home ground, Sportpark Ronhof built in 1910, was the biggest stadium in the country at the time. Former Blackburn Rovers and England star man William Townley took over managerial duties at the club in 1911. At the time, German teams were entirely amateur, and the players themselves had to contribute to their clubs expenses. For a club to have an actual coach was not only a rarity, it was a luxury and it was more common for a senior player to fill the role of manager. Almost like wedding planners or limo drivers, it was common practice for managers to be hired only for special occasions or to briefly help develop a teams skills before moving on. But at that time, Furth were enjoying their huge fanbase and possessed the most advanced facilities in Germany, so could afford Townleys services.

 

His guidance of the club to two Bavarian championships led to the onset of the most illustrious period in the clubs history, and they remained as one of Germany’s top sides until the 1930’s. Bayern Munich came knocking on Townley’s door in 1913, but he was “loaned” back to Furth the following season, in which he navigated them through the national championship rounds all the way up the final. It was here that they defeated defending champions VfB Leipzig, who at the time held a then record three German titles. This particular match is one of the longest games ever played, a 154 minute marathon which took a Furth golden goal to secure the title World War I then exploded in Europe and a lack of any record of Townley during this time means that no one knows about his activities, however he re-emerged after the war with Bayern in 1919.

 

Furth, meanwhile, continued to be a solid teamwith a strong run of success throughout the 1920’s including a German championship final appearance against their bitter rivals 1 FC Nurnberg, which they ultimately lost. The rivalry between the two clubs was so intense, in fact, that one of Furth’s star players was booted out of the club when he married a girl from Nuremberg. In 1924, the German national team was made up entirely of players from only these two sides in an effort to force them to get along. On their travels, the players from each team slept in separate train carriages. Two more national titles followed in 1926 and 1929, both at the expense of Hertha Berlin. They also won four of the five South German Cup (Suddenduetscher Pokal) finals they appeared in.

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Achievements:
Southern German Football Championship – Champions x3
Bavarian championship – Champions x2
German championship  - Champions x3
South German Cup – Winners x4

 

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