Sponsoring soccer department

The soccer division was founded in 1928 by some young men such as Franz Gaida, Gottlieb Beck, and Hans Leupold, who were passionate about soccer. The first matches were played on the Gollnerswiesen meadow. The balls and jerseys had been provided, but the young men had to pay for their cleats themselves.

In 1929, the team joined the club association, and the official name of the league became Nordbayerische Spielvereinigung 7. Kreis – 6. Bezirk (North Bavarian Club 7th County – 6th District). They played for example against Furthammer, Marktredwitz, but also Tirschenreuth, Eschenbach, and Weiden. They made their way to the matches by train or bicycle, something that would be hard to imagine these days.

Since the club was banned in 1933, the ball had to be put aside for five years, but a new soccer division was founded immediately after the war in 1946. The field at the “old” Kühlbühl field only measured 40 x 60 meters, but that did not stop the team’s success. The press back then wrote that the “Thierstein Club had become a feared opponent in the C Class North.” The highlight of this time period was the C class championship and the rise to the B class in 1955, which, unfortunately, only lasted one season. In 1958/59, the team was back in the B class. This was the time of the legendary 30:0 victory against Fichtelberg, which was even mentioned in the magazines Kicker and Sportmagazin, the leading soccer magazines. In 1963/64, the team returned to the A class, and stayed there for two years.

In 1981/82, the team started its bitter descent to the lowest division, and stayed there for several years without being able to rally.

Things changed in 1995/96, thanks also to the owner of the club’s current main sponsor, Rainer Denndörfer.

This was the beginning of more than ten fantastic years: In the beginning, Denndörfer himself was training the team, and then had the ingenious idea to complement the local talent, which actually still existed even then, with some enthusiastic young soccer players from the Czech Republic. To name just a few of the many great players: Miroslav Sinovsky and Pavel Komma, who later brought several other wonderful athletes and individuals to the club. The success model soon bore fruit:

In 1997, the team made the B class, which, at that time, was renamed Kreisklasse (County Division), and during the 1999/2000 season even the Kreisliga (District League). Hans-Jürgen Lubitz had become the team's trainer, succeeding Rainer Denndörfer and Alfred Iser.

But the team’s rise was far from over yet. What happened next, nobody on the team from the “Dreihäuserdorf” ("the middle of the sticks" in the words of a fan of an opposing team) had seriously dared to hope for: the Thierstein team, trained by Peter Wolfram won the Marktredwitz County League and advanced to the District League East.

This season was probably the worst in Thierstein's soccer history. With only 11 points, the team was immediately sent back to the lower leagues.

The embarrassment was great, but every defeat provides new opportunities. The team pushed up its sleeves and returned in 2005 after a sensational season, in which it ONLY LOST ONE MATCH. One man in particular can be credited for this success: player-coach Jiri Vosyka, who came to Thierstein in 2004 from Bayern Hof, and who has been managing the team’s successes since then.

The District League suited the Thierstein team, who increasingly relied on kickers from other areas and other countries due to the decreasing local talent and the higher sportive requirements. Due to Vosyka's and Denndörfer's affinity for the Czech republic, they were mainly recruited from there.

If things had gone as planned, the team would still be found in the top ranks of the Upper District League charts, but during the 2007/2008 season, an “operational accident” happened. After successful promotion to the Upper District League, where it achieved respectable results, the ranking that was issued during the 2008/2009 winter break lists Thierstein as the #1 in the county! Even the TV stations took note of this small village club and the WDR (West German Broadcast Company) aired a 20 minute report on it.

What sounds like a fairy tale, however, also has another side to it: the team's soccer future is very uncertain. Not because, as it is often the case, because the sponsor no longer can or wants to provide his support or because there are not enough volunteers -

NO: The team has the sponsor’s full support and has always been able to count on a small, but very competent group of volunteers…it is the association itself that put a spoke in the club’s wheel: with regulations, rules, and provisions that were created at a time in which school classes still had 40 kids or more, smaller clubs are brought to their knees and almost given a death sentence.

Since the Thierstein club cannot offer the two youth teams that are required for teams playing in the Upper District League, it may face forcible relegation in the next season.

Who knows: maybe the club will have to play exhibition games again on the "Gollernswiesen" against teams who also were not able to comply with the requirements. We have already checked with Waldsassen, just as a precaution.

Claudia Jena – Organizer, in February 2009