FC Schalke 04

FC Schalke 04 (short S04) is a German football team based in the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen. They play in the Bundesliga, the highest division in the Germany national league and have had several international successes. The football department is the most famous of the club, but it also has basketball and handball departments. The club was founded on May 4, 1904 and the colors are blue and white. It currently has 50,768 members (September 2005). The team is most frequently nicknamed Die Königsblauen (the Royal Blues), and sometimes Die Knappen (Knappe is a German colloquial term for coalminer, pointing to the history of Gelsenkirchen which was once the most important coalmining town in Europe).

Related Topics:
German - Football - Gelsenkirchen - Bundesliga - Basketball - Handball - May 4 - 1904 - Europe

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The club's current stadium, the Veltins-Arena completed in summer 2001 with a capacity of 61,524 spectators, is considered to be the most modern multi-functional stadium in Europe. It carries the name Veltins-Arena since July 1, 2005, as it is now sponsored by Brauerei C. & A. Veltins, a German brewery. Before that, it was called the Arena AufSchalke.

Related Topics:
Stadium - Veltins-Arena - 2001 - July 1 - 2005 - Brewery

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S04's archrival is Borussia Dortmund. Schalke 04 have won the German top flight seven times, making them one of the biggest and most successful German clubs. In recent history, Schalke 04 challenged Bayern Munich strongly for the Bundesliga in the 2004/05 campaign, beating them in both of the two league encounters they had during the season, but a poor run of form towards the end of the season saw them finish 14 points behind Bayern. They also lost the German Cup Final against Bayern (1-2).

Related Topics:
Borussia Dortmund - Bayern Munich - German Cup

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Second place in the table and achieving an automatic UEFA Champions League spot meant that the season was still a good success, and Schalke supporters hope their team can mount an even stronger challenge for the Bundesliga title and to perform strongly in the Champions League in 2005/06.

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The one and only European trophy won by Schalke 04 is the 1997 UEFA Cup, after having defeated Inter Milan over two legs after penalty shoot-outs.

Related Topics:
1997 - UEFA Cup - Inter Milan

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