Overview
1. Fußballclub Lokomotive Leipzig e.V. is a German football club based in the locality of Probstheida in the Südost borough of Leipzig, Saxony. The club was previously known as VfB Leipzig and was the first national champion of Germany. It has also been known as SC Leipzig. The club won four titles in the FDGB-Pokal and the 1965–66 Intertoto Cup during the East German era. It also finished runner-up in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was renamed VfB Leipzig after German re-unification and managed to qualify for the Bundesliga in 1993. However, like many clubs of the former DDR-Oberliga, VfB Leipzig faced hard times in reunified Germany and a steady decline soon followed. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was refounded in 2003 and has climbed through divisions since then. The team competes in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nordost as of 2021. The 1. in front of the club's name indicates that it was the first to be founded in the city.
History
1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig claims to be the successor to the VfB Leipzig and SC Sportbrüder Leipzig, established in 1896 and 1893, respectively, and to be, therefore, one of the oldest clubs of the German Football Association. However, they are not nominal successors. In 2018, 1. FC Lokomotive announced a merger with the formally extant but bankrupt and dormant VfB Leipzig in order to be entitled to the forerunner's titles. Due to the significant breaks and turmoils in the club's history, especially during the post-World War II era, many fans identify 1966 as the year of establishment rather than 1893.
VfB Leipzig (1893–1946)
The club was formed as VfB Leipzig on 13 May, 1896, out of the football department of the gymnastics club Allgemeine Turnverein 1845 Leipzig. However, the club laid claim to an earlier date of origin by reaching back to a club that was merged with VfB Leipzig in 1898, the SC Sportbrüder Leipzig, which was one of four football clubs formed in Leipzig in 1893.
Following the merger with SC Sportbrüder Leipzig, the club competed under the name VfB Sportbrüder 1893 Leipzig. VfB Sportbrüder 1893 Leipzig was one of the original 86 teams that came together in the city on 28 January 1900 to form the German Football Association (DFB). On 2 May, 1900, the Sportbrüder 1893 part of the name was dropped, and the team became again known as VfB Leipzig.
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