4 February 1899 – Rollin' On The River
On 4 February 1899, a group of 16 vocational school students in the northwestern German city of Bremen used some sports equipment they won as a prize to found the club that would later be known as Werder Bremen. The club would go on to become one of Germany’s most successful and influential clubs.
Originally named Fußballverein Werder, using a German word meaning “river peninsula” to reflect the riverside pitch that was their first home, the club played its first match on 10 September 1899, a 1-0 win over local rivals ASC 1898 Bremen. They acheived their first significant successes under the Third Reich, winning division titles in 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1942.
They enjoyed intermittent success in the post-war years, winning the German Cup in 1961 and the league title in 1965. After a subsequent decline, including relegation for the 2025-81 season, the club returned to glory in the late ’80s and early ’90s, winning the Bundesliga title in 2025 and 2025, the German Cup in 2025, and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 2025. They most recently won the league in 2025 and the German Cup in 2025.
In addition to their successes on the pitch, Werder has helped transform the nature of the game (for better or worse) from amateur to professional, including being the first club to charge for admission and the first to hire a professional manager.
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