SV Wehen Wiesbaden is a German association football club based in Wiesbaden, Hesse. The club was previously known as SV Wehen but added Wiesbaden to its name during the summer of 2007. They left their previous ground, the Taunusstein, that same summer and have played at the BRITA-Arena ever since. Wehen will compete in the 2024-25 3. Liga season, having been relegated from the 2. Bundesliga in 2023-24.
The club was founded under the name of SV Wehen 1926 – Taunusstein in 1926 and disbanded by the Nazi government in 1933, although the football department was maintained by playing occasional friendly matches until 1939. The club re-established itself in 1946, following World War II. They operated both first and reserve teams from the beginning, with their first team competing in local amateur division, the B-Klasse Wiesbaden. The club's first youth team was established in 1955 and they subsequently started to use their own talented young players to strengthen the first team. By the mid-1970s, the youth department was split in ten teams with more than 150 players and a women's team was first established in 1984. Wehen won the Hessenpokal in 1988, 1996 and 2000, which gave them berths in the German Cup in those years.[1]
In 1994, the third tier of German football underwent a reform which resulted in the elevation of the Regionalliga. Wehen had finished seventh in the Oberliga Hessen in the previous year and thus became a founding member of the Regionalliga Süd. In spite of its relegation in 1995, the club managed to establish itself in the newly founded league over the next ten years.
At the end of the 2006–07 season, Wehen finished first and earned promotion to the 2.Bundesliga. Its first second-tier season saw the club finish eighth and the inauguration of its current home, Brita-Arena. In spite of a berth in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals, Wehen was relegated to the 3. Liga in 2009, which would remain the club's division for the next ten seasons.[2]
Wehen achieved a third-place finish at the end of the 2018–19 season and thereby qualified for the promotion playoffs to the 2.Bundesliga against FC Ingolstadt. After a 1–2 defeat in their home game, the team managed to carry a 3–2 victory on Ingolstadt's turf. Advancing on away goals, Wehen was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga for only the second time in club history.[3] However, the club experienced a difficult 2019–20 season and finished in 17th place, fielding the league's worst defence with 65 goals conceded. Along with Dynamo Dresden, Wehen were relegated after just one season in the second tier.[4]
On 6 June 2023, Wehen Wiesbaden secured promotion to 2. Bundesliga from 2023 to 2024 after defeating Arminia Bielefeld on aggregate 6–1 in the promotion/relegation play-off matches and returned to the second tier after three years absence.
At the beginning of the 2007/08 season, SV Wehen Wiesbaden's first year of professional football, the club only had two official fan clubs: the Halbergtramps and the Psychopathen Wehen 1999. SV Wehen Wiesbaden currently has 15 official fan clubs.
The active fan scene maintains a fan friendship with fans of FC Ingolstadt 04.[5]
Recent managers of the club:[6]
| Manager | Start | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manfred Petz | 1 July 1997 | 12 May 1998 | |
| Bruno Hübner | 12 May 1998 | 30 June 1998 | |
| Martin Hohmann | 1 July 1998 | 30 October 1998 | |
| Werner Orf | 1 November 1999 | 6 May 2000 | |
| Gerd Schwickert | 7 May 2000 | 3 November 2002 | |
| Djuradj Vasic | 4 November 2002 | 16 October 2006 | |
| Christian Hock | 17 October 2006 | 30 June 2007 | |
| Djuradj Vasic | 2 July 2007 | 20 August 2007 | |
| Christian Hock | 21 August 2007 | 17 December 2008 | |
| Wolfgang Frank | 19 December 2008 | 23 March 2009 | |
| Hans Werner Moser | 24 March 2009 | 9 February 2010 | |
| Gino Lettieri | 10 February 2010 | 15 February 2012 | |
| Peter Vollmann | February 2012 | 21 October 2013 | |
| Marc Kienle | 28 October 2013 | 12 April 2015 | |
| Christian Hock | 12 April 2015 | 30 June 2015 | |
| Sven Demandt | 1 July 2015 | 7 March 2016 | |
| Torsten Fröhling | 14 March 2016 | 6 February 2017 | |
| Rüdiger Rehm | 13 February 2017 | 25 October 2021 | |
| Mike Krannich/Nils Döring | 25 October 2021 | 8 November 2021 | |
| Markus Kauczinski | 8 November 2021 | 28 April 2024 | |
| Nils Döring | 28 April 2024 | present |
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[7] [8]
| Season | Division | Tier | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 13th | |
| 2000–01 | Regionalliga Süd | 11th | ||
| 2001–02 | Regionalliga Süd | 6th | ||
| 2002–03 | Regionalliga Süd | 7th | ||
| 2003–04 | Regionalliga Süd | 7th | ||
| 2004–05 | Regionalliga Süd | 3rd | ||
| 2005–06 | Regionalliga Süd | 3rd | ||
| 2006–07 | Regionalliga Süd | 1st ↑ | ||
| 2007–08 | 2. Bundesliga | II | 8th | |
| 2008–09 | 2. Bundesliga | 18th ↓ | ||
| 2009–10 | 3. Liga | III | 15th | |
| 2010–11 | 3. Liga | 4th | ||
| 2011–12 | 3. Liga | 16th | ||
| 2012–13 | 3. Liga | 7th | ||
| 2013–14 | 3. Liga | 4th | ||
| 2014–15 | 3. Liga | 9th | ||
| 2015–16 | 3. Liga | 16th | ||
| 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 7th | ||
| 2017–18 | 3. Liga | 4th | ||
| 2018–19 | 3. Liga | 3rd ↑ | ||
| 2019–20 | 2. Bundesliga | II | 17th ↓ | |
| 2020–21 | 3. Liga | III | 6th | |
| 2021–22 | 3. Liga | 8th | ||
| 2022–23 | 3. Liga | 4th ↑ | ||
| 2023–24 | 2. Bundesliga | II | 16th ↓ | |
| 2024–25 | 3. Liga | III |
| ↑Promoted | ↓ Relegated |