Borussia Fulda is a German association football club from Fulda, Hesse. The club was founded 4 July 1904 as FC Borussia 1904 Fulda and underwent a number of changes in 1923 when they were first joined by Radsportclub 1907 Fulda in July, and then by Kraftsportklub Germania Fulda in September. On 6 September 1923, the association was named 1. SV Borussia 04 Fulda.
In 1933, German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions and Fulda immediately took up play in the Gauliga Hessen, capturing the division title and advancing to the national playoff round where they went out early. Over the next two seasons the team earned consecutive second-place finishes behind FC Hanau 93 before being relegated in 1938. Fulda returned to first division play in 1939 and the next year claimed the first of what would be three divisional titles over the course of the next four seasons, but were unable to claim any successes at the national level or in play for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's German Cup. They earned their last title playing as Reichsbahn SG Borussia Fulda after a 1943 wartime merger with Reichsbahn SG Fulda. Play in the Gauliga Hessen collapsed in the 1944–45 season as Allied armies advanced into Germany as World War II drew to a close.
At war's end, occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in the country, including sports and football associations. The club was re-established as SG Borussia 04/45 Fulda on 17 October 1945 and was united with a club bearing the name 1. SV Borussia Fulda which has been formed on 11 March 1948. A 17 January 1951 merger with SC Fulda led to the creation of SC Borussia 04 Fulda.
SC Borussia played as a local side until winning promotion to the Amateurliga Hessen (III) in 1957 and, with the exception of the 1959–60 season, remained a third division team through to 1963. The club finished well enough that year to earn a place in the newly formed Regionalliga Süd (II) but were promptly relegated. They would compete in the Amateurliga Hessen (III) for the next 11 seasons before slipping to fourth division play in the Landesliga Hessen-Nord in 1975 and then spending the next season in the fifth division.
Fulda has since played largely as fourth tier side with occasional forays into third division competition. After some solid finishes in the Regionalliga Süd (III) in the late 90s the club ran into financial difficulties and nearly collapsed midway through the 1998–99 season. The club played in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) from 2006 to 2009 again, until suffering relegation to the Landesliga. The club after this fell another tier, playing in the Gruppenliga Fulda (VII) from 2010 to 2014. It came close to financial collapse once more in 2010 and had to declare insolvency but managed to recover. A title in the Gruppenliga Fulda in 2014 however took the club back to the Verbandsliga, where in 2015 it won its third title and promotion back to the Hessenliga. After an initial seventh-place finish in 2018 the club's first team was integrated into TSV Lehnerz, the latter becoming SG Barockstadt Fulda Lehnerz.[1]
The junior teams remained with Borussia. Following the merger with Lehnerz, the club was placed last in the Hessenliga and resigned from it. For the 2018–19 season, its reserve team, which has been playing in the Kreisliga Fulda (IX), became the new first team.
The club's honours:
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[2] [3]
| Season | Division | Tier | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 17th ↓ | |
| 2000–01 | Oberliga Hessen | IV | 1st ↑ | |
| 2001–02 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 18th ↓ | |
| 2002–03 | Oberliga Hessen | IV | 4th | |
| 2003–04 | Oberliga Hessen | 3rd ↓ | ||
| 2004–05 | Landesliga Hessen-Nord | V | 6th | |
| 2005–06 | Landesliga Hessen-Nord | 1st ↑ | ||
| 2006–07 | Oberliga Hessen | IV | 8th | |
| 2007–08 | Oberliga Hessen | 9th | ||
| 2008–09 | Oberliga Hessen | V | 17th ↓ | |
| 2009–10 | Landesliga Hessen-Nord | VI | 18th ↓ | |
| 2010–11 | Gruppenliga Fulda | VII | 12th | |
| 2011–12 | Gruppenliga Fulda | 6th | ||
| 2012–13 | Gruppenliga Fulda | 7th | ||
| 2013–14 | Gruppenliga Fulda | 1st ↑ | ||
| 2014–15 | Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord | VI | 1st ↑ | |
| 2015–16 | Hessenliga | V | 11th | |
| 2016–17 | Hessenliga | 5th | ||
| 2017–18 | Hessenliga | 7th (resigned) | ||
| 2018–19 | Kreisliga A Fulda | IX | 14th | |
| 2019–20 | Kreisliga A Fulda | 5th | ||
| 2020–21 | Kreisliga A Fulda | 8th | ||
| 2021–22 | Kreisliga A Fulda | 4th | ||
| 2022–23 | Kreisliga A Fulda | 1st ↑ | ||
| 2023–24 | Kreisoberliga Fulda Mitte | VIII |
| ↑ Promoted | ↓ Relegated |
Borussia Fulda plays in the Sportpark Johannisau (Stadion der Stadt Fulda) which was built in 1957 to hold 30,000 spectators and today has a capacity of 18,000 (~750 seats).[4]