SC Paderborn 07

For most of the twentieth century, Paderborn had two football clubs: TuS Schloss Neuhaus and FC Paderborn, who remained rivals until the 1980s. After Neuhaus had been promoted to the 2. Bundesliga and finished last in 1983, this set-up had reached its athletic and financial ceiling. Thus, in 1985, the two clubs merged into TuS Paderborn/Neuhaus. In 1997, the club adopted its current identity by assuming the name SC Paderborn 07, named after TuS Neuhaus' founding date 1907.[1]

During most of the 1980s, the recently merged club competed in the third-tier Oberliga Westfalen, where they counted among the leading teams but never achieved promotion. In 1994, Paderborn won the league and thereby qualified for the promotion playoffs. The team lost to Eintracht Braunschweig and Fortuna Düsseldorf but secured a place in the newly formed third-tier of the German football pyramid, the Regionalliga West/Südwest. Except for a brief stint in the fourth tier, Paderborn enjoyed moderate success with regular trips to the DFB Pokal.[2]

During one of these, in 2004/5, the club reached the round of 16 beating MSV Duisburg and Bundesliga-side HSV on the way. It later emerged, that latter match had been affected by game manipulation; referee Robert Hoyzer had received a bribe to let Paderborn win the game. The incident remains the most significant betting scandal in the history of German football.[3]

Historical chart of Paderborn league performance

Paderborn returned to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in nearly thirty years at the end of the same season. The team's advance into professional football brought with it a professionalisation of its structures and in 2005 construction began on a new 15,000-seat stadium which replaced the dated Hermann-Löns-Stadion. All of this helped to establish the club as a regular component of Germany's professional football landscape.[4] This process culminated in the club's first promotion to the Bundesliga after the 2013/14 season.[5]

Paderborn's foray into top-tier football turned out to be a brief one: after a decent first half of the season, the team's play deteriorated and resulted in direct relegation in 2015. There followed a precipitous fall, as the club plummeted to 18th in the 3.Liga in 2017. This result would have led to relegation to the non-professional Regionalliga West, had TSV 1860 Munich not failed to obtain the licence necessary to continue professional play. Thus, Munich was forced to move to the Regionalliga Bayern which allowed Paderborn to avoid its third consecutive relegation.[6] Having been saved narrowly, the club surprisingly finished second in the 2017/18 season and returned to the 2. Bundesliga. In 2019, a remarkable turn of events, the newly promoted side managed another top-two finish, which returned Paderborn to the Bundesliga after years of turbulence.[7] The 2019–20 season, however, saw the club struggle against Bundesliga competition, which led to their relegation back to the second tier in June 2020.[8]

As of 31 January 2020[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Uwe Hünemeier (vice-captain) 4 DF Jan-Luca Rumpf 5 DF Christian Strohdiek (captain) 6 MF Samúel Friðjónsson 7 MF Marlon Ritter 8 MF Klaus Gjasula (3rd captain) 9 MF Kai Pröger 11 FW Sven Michel 12 MF Dominik Bilogrević 13 DF Sebastian Schonlau 14 MF Adrian Oeynhausen 15 DF Luca Kilian 17 GK Leopold Zingerle 18 FW Dennis Srbeny

No. Position Player 19 MF Abdelhamid Sabiri 20 DF Laurent Jans (on loan from Metz) 21 GK Jannik Huth 22 MF Christopher Antwi-Adjei 24 MF Rifet Kapić 25 DF Mohamed Dräger (on loan from SC Freiburg) 26 MF Antony Evans 29 DF Jamilu Collins 30 FW Streli Mamba 31 FW Ben Zolinski 32 FW Dennis Jastrzembski (on loan from Hertha) 34 GK Leon Brüggemeier 38 MF Gerrit Holtmann (on loan from Mainz 05) 39 MF Sebastian Vasiliadis

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player MF Massih Wassey

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player MF Ron Schallenberg (at SC Verl until 30 June 2020) MF Johannes Dörfler (at FSV Zwickau until 30 June 2020) FW Sergio Gucciardo (at SV Lippstadt 08 until 30 June 2020)

No. Position Player FW Felix Drinkuth (at Hallescher FC until 30 June 2020) MF Marcel Hilßner (at Hallescher FC until 30 June 2020)