Next drop: Germany’s top-notch handball club SG Flensburg-Handewitt!
Within the FANZONE app we’re now starting to expand into different sports by opening new zones. Today we launched the world’s first handball NFTs with SG Flensburg-Handewitt. This collaboration is the start of our brand new handball zone! In this article we will dive into who they are and how they’ve become one of the best handball teams in Germany and Europe.
Shortly after the official rules of handball were created, the “Flensburger Turnerschaft”, a predecessor of the SG, made it to a semi-final on a national level in 1924. This still was in the old discipline of handball, which was played outdoors and called “Feld-Handball”. During this time, they had well-known players on their roster and up to 5.000 fans watching their matches. When indoor handball became more popular, Flensburg finished 2nd in an interregional tournament. Together with two other clubs from Flensburg they competed to advance to the Bundesliga in 1968.
After falling short that year, they moved to the Bundesliga Nord in 1971 and would unite with another club from Flensburg to form the SG Weiche-Handewitt. In 1976 a move to the Regionalliga, coupled with new signings would be the foundation of a strong team that finished 3rd in the Regionalliga and made it to the semi-finals of the DHB-Pokal. In 1981 they came remarkably close to advancing to the Bundesliga after winning the Regionalliga-Nord. In the end they lost the sum of two playoff-games against Reinickendorfer Füchse by one goal.
Three years later Flensburg would finally move up to the Bundesliga. In 1984 they were considered an underdog though. With incredible performances, especially at home, the club managed to stay in the Bundesliga. In that season, the legend of the “Hell of the North” was born, when 1500 spectators cheered on their home team. They would stay in the highest league for three consecutive years.
In 1989 Flensburg reached their best position where they finished in 6th place. After moving down to the 2nd Bundesliga another name-change was in the making. The SG Flensburg-Handewitt was born. An outstanding season with 52:0 secured them the chance to go to the Bundesliga.
After some difficult seasons they reached a high in the 1993/1994 when they finished in the top 4 and secured their first vice championship in 1996 and another one the following year. With the growing success came more professional surroundings and they played a big part in making the Bundesliga an independent governing body. One of their biggest successes followed in 1997, when they won the EHB-Pokal.
The year 2000 was one of the most frustrating ones for the club. In a matter of a few weeks, they came short in the three competitions they entered. With their second-place rankings in 1999 and 2001 they were nicknamed the “eternal second”. During that time, they were more successful internationally, winning the City-Cup and the Cup-Winners-Cup in 1999. At the same time, the SG also moved into a new venue with a capacity for 6000 fans.
In 2003 Flensburg-Handewitt won the DHB-Pokal for the first time and became vice champion in the Bundesliga once again. In 2003/2004 they won the Bundesliga title and DHB Pokal. After a hattrick of wins in the DHB-Pokal, Flensburg was part of an all North-German Champions League final in 2007. The next 5 years were shaped by good performances but included a lot of injuries as well and other issues resulted in not as many successes as they hoped for.
In 2012, they were in the final of the DHB-Pokal. The same year they won the Cup of European Cup Winners. In the other three competitions they were successful as well, becoming vice-champions in the Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. In a feat, that is now referred to as the “Miracle of Cologne” the SG Flensburg-Handewitt won the Champions League in 2014, after strong comeback wins on numerous occasions.
Ljubomir Vranjes, the coach that led Flensburg to a lot of success, left the club in June 2017. The new coach Senad Jagodic had mixed success and was replaced with Maik Machulla after just 6 months. After an early ending to their Champions League hopes and an average performance in the first Bundesliga games, they accomplished an astonishing feat, taking back the lead and becoming Bundesliga champions in 2018!
Continuing their winning ways in 2019, they kept a clean sheet for the first half of the season and won the Bundesliga with 64:4 points and had the 3rd best score in Bundesliga history. Impressively, they kept their clean sheet for over two years, finishing 2nd in the 2020 season that ended early due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The club has been one of the most successful clubs in recent handball history. Together with this amazing history, an extraordinary atmosphere and team spirit, the SG Flensburg-Handewitt is a unique club in Germany. You can get the first-ever handball NFTs on FANZONE.io now! Get your hands on various packs and different cards to build your own, unique collection.
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FANZONE Media GmbH develops and operates a novel fan experience platform that combines digital trading cards and fantasy sports gameplay on the blockchain. On fanzone.io, users can buy, collect, trade digital trading cards of their favourite sports stars. Porsche’s company builder, Forward31, is the strategic partner of FANZONE.
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