RB Leipzig
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 08/2017
Full name
RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V,
RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH
Nicknames
Die Bullen (The Bulls)
Die Roten Bullen (The Red Bulls)
Short name
RBL
Founded
19 May 2009
Ground
Red Bull Arena
Capacity
42,959
Management board
Oliver Mintzlaff (chairman)
Ulrich Wolter
Johann Plenge
Sporting director
Ralf Rangnick
Coach
Ralph Hasenhüttl
League
Bundesliga
2016-17
2nd
RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V., commonly known as RB Leipzig, is a German association football club based in Leipzig, Saxony.
The club was founded in 2009 by initiative of energy drink-maker Red Bull GmbH who purchased a playing right of the fifth division side SSV Markranstädt with the intention of advancing the new club to the top-flight Bundesliga within eight years.
Men's professional football is run by the spin-off organization RasenballSport Leipzig GmbH.
RB Leipzig plays its home matches at the Red Bull Arena.
In its inaugural season in 2009-10, RB Leipzig dominated the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (V) and was promoted as champions to the Regionalliga Nord (IV).
RB Leipzig won the 2012-13 Regionalliga Nordost season without conceding a single defeat and was promoted to the 3. Liga (III), then finished the 2013-14 third
Liga season as runner-up and was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga as the first team since the introduction of the 3. Liga to win promotion after only one season.
On 8 May 2016, RB Leipzig ensured promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2016-17 season with a 2–0 win over Karlsruher SC.
One year later, RB Leipzig captured a place in the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League by finishing as runner-up of the Bundesliga.
History
Background
Before investing in Leipzig, Red Bull GmbH, led by co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, searched three and a half years for a suitable location for an investment in German football.
Besides Leipzig, the company also considered a location in West Germany and explored cities such as Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf.
The company made its first attempt to enter the German football scene in 2006.
By advice from Franz Beckenbauer, a personal friend of Dietrich Mateschitz, the company decided to invest in Leipzig.
The local football club FC Sachsen Leipzig, successor to the former East German champion BSG Chemie Leipzig, had for years been in financial difficulties.
Red Bull GmbH drew up plans to invest up to 50 million Euros in the club.
#The company planned a takeover, with a change of team colours and of club name.
Involved in the arrangements was film entrepreneur Michael Kölmel, sponsor of FC Sachsen Leipzig and owner of the Zentralstadion.
By 2006, FC Sachsen Leipzig played in the Oberliga, by then the fourth tier in the German football league system.
Playing in the fourth tier, the club had to undergo the German Football Association (DFB) licensing procedure.
Red Bull GmbH and the club were close to a deal, but the plans were vetoed by the DFB, who rejected the proposed new club name and feared too much influence from the company.
After months of fan protests, which deteriorated into violence, the company officially abandoned the plans.
Red Bull GmbH then turned to West Germany.
The company made contact with cult club FC St. Pauli, known for its left leaning supporters, and met representatives of the club to discuss a sponsor deal.
The supporters of FC St. Pauli had only a short time before participated in protests against the company's takeover of SV Austria Salzburg.
Once it became clear to the Hamburg side that the company had plans far beyond conventional sponsoring, it immediately ended the contact, and the question never even made it to the club management.
The company then took contact with TSV 1860 Munich.
Negotiations began behind closed doors, but the club was not interested in an investment and ended the contact.
In 2007, Red Bull GmbH made plans to invest in Fortuna Düsseldorf, a traditional club with more than 100 years of history.
The plans became public, it was known that the company wanted to acquire more than 50 percent of the shares and rumors spread that the company wanted to rename the club "Red Bull Düsseldorf" or similar.
The plans were immediately met with wild protests from club supporters.
As with FC Sachsen Leipzig, the plans also ran into legal difficulties.
The statutes of the DFB did not allow a change of club name for advertising purposes or an external investor to obtain a majority of votes.
Eventually, the plans were clearly rejected by club members.
The company turned back to East Germany.
Leipzig was considered a most favorable place for an investment.
The potential for establishing a new club in Leipzig seemed huge.
The city had a rich history in football, being the meeting place for the founding of the DFB and the home of the first German national football champion, VfB Leipzig.
During the GDR, local teams such as 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and its rival, BSG Chemie Leipzig, played at the highest level of the East German football league system, even on international level.
The current state of football was, however, poor.
No team from the city had played in the Bundesliga since 1994, and no team had played in a professional league since 1998.
The two best teams would soon both play in the Oberliga, and local football was plagued by fan violence.
The city hungered for top level football.
Leipzig had a population of around 500,000 inhabitants.
The city thus had a considerable economic strength and fan potential.
At the same time, there were no Bundesliga clubs within a wide area from the city, which further strengthened the possibility to attract sponsors and fans.
In Leipzig, exemplary infrastructure could also be found.
The city had a large airport, motorway connections and most importantly: a large modern football stadium.
The Zentralstadion was a former 2006 FIFA World Cup venue and the second largest football stadium in the east of Germany, after the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
An investment in a club playing in one of the top divisions in Germany would have been a costly affair.
From previous experiences, the company knew that the existing traditions of such club would be a disadvantage.
It also knew that an investment in a club playing in one of the top divisions would meet legal difficulties. Such investment would thus be risky.
Instead, the company found that a new established club, designed for the company, would be the better option for an investment.
In the beginning of 2009, Red Bull GmbH contacted the Saxony Football Association (SFV), to find out about the procedure to establish a new club in Saxony.
A new established club would need teams and a playing right.
If it did not acquire a playing right from another club, it would have to start in the Kreisklasse.
The company searched for a club playing in the Oberliga, since 2008 the fifth tier in the German football league system and therefore no longer subject to the DFB licensing system.
By proposal from Michael Kölmel, the company found SSV Markranstädt, a small club from a village thirteen kilometers west of Leipzig.
The club was positive to enter a partnership with a global company.
Its Chairman Holger Nussbaum wanted to secure the club's long term finances and designed a plan to engage Red Bull GmbH.
Holger Nussbaum presented his plan for Michael Kölmel, who saw his chance and decided to join.
Assisted by Michael Kölmel, Red Bull GmbH began negotiations with SSV Markranstädt.
Only five weeks after the first contact, SSV Markranstädt had agreed to sell its playing right for the Oberliga to Red Bull GmbH.
The cost has not been disclosed, but SSV Markranstädt is believed to have received a compensation of 350,000 euro.
Players