A fan’s guide – the club from early doors to today
Overshadowed by the Ruhr giants, Bochum lies almost halfway between the two, without a major trophy to its name. While the raucous communal arenas of Dortmund and Schalke hosted World Cup showcases and huge European clashes, the far smaller Ruhrstadion, home of VfL Bochum, would witness the hosts’ white-knuckle struggle for Bundesliga survival, season after season.
Then, in 2011, it was Bochum’s turn. On the eve of the Women’s World Cup coming to town, the man who had done so much to keep VfL in the spotlight for decades, passed away.
President of the club he had played for in his youth, Ottokar Wüst had overseen Bochum’s legendary 22-year stay in the Bundesliga until 1993, pulling rabbits out of hats to main top-flight status spring after spring.
Handing over the reins once the trap door to the 2.Bundesliga finally opened, Wüst was granted the status of honorary president, and continued to oversee the development of the Ruhrstadion. A plaque was duly mounted in a corner of the stadium named after him.
It echoed a heritage dating back a whole century, for Otto Wüst senior had been the textiles entrepreneur who had converted the original Fußballklub Bochum and turned them an ambitious football club, Germania, in 1910.
Further down the line, his father oversaw the football side of things once this club became VfL (Verein für Leibesübungen, ‘Association for Physical Exercise’) in 1938, though this undertaking is inevitably tainted by its Nazi foundations.
In more modern times, right up to the present day, the Blue and Whites, Blau-Weiß, are best known as the Unabsteigbaren, the Undescendables, notching up more campaigns competing in the elite than either Mainz, Wolfsburg or 1FC Nürnberg. This total was added to after Bochum set out on a fourth straight Bundesliga season in 2024-25.
A short-lived gymnastics club dating back to 1848, VfL Bochum were created in their present form 90 years later, by city mayor, Otto Leopold Piclum. A lowly clerk who seized his opportunity to rise quickly through the ranks under the Nazi régime, Piclum was no football man but he saw what mass support could do at nearby Schalke 04, German champions three times in the last four years.
Bochum needed an outlet for its growing population, which had doubled in the few short years of rapid German re-industrialisation under the Nazis. At the time, two main clubs represented the city. Germania were based on Castroper Straße and wore blue and black. Local rivals Sus Bochum 08 had a more bourgeois following and played on nearby Dieckmann’s Meadow, the site of today’s Ruhrstadion, surrounded by greenery. Back then, the third team in town was TV Bochum 1848, after the original gymnastics club.
After 1918, SuS and TV Bochum merged to become TuS 1848 Bochum, duly building a stadium of significant size on Castroper Straße. When a 1924 ruling forced clubs to choose between being a sporting pastime or a football business, TuS 1848 Bochum remained true to their aesthetic beliefs. Germania, meanwhile, went gung-ho for the populist opium of football, particularly after the Nazis reorganised the domestic game into Gauliga leagues for each region.
In the Westphalia division, Germania trailed behind Schalke – way behind, which is when Piclum stepped in to create a unified Bochum team, VfL. Though VfL’s form picked up under former Nürnberg title-winner, Georg Hochgesang, it wasn’t long before Germany’s industrial heartland was being targeted by Allied bombing. Among the 1,000 properties in Bochum – a city of 300,000 people – to survive the war unscathed, the Sportplatz was hosting football within months of the VE Day.
The Ruhr had come under British command, which permitted the creation of a modest regional league, the Landesliga Westfalen. Though the post-war economic miracle allowed for the reconstruction of Bochum and redevelopment of the stadium, VfL didn’t pick up until the later 1960s under former Schalke striker, Hermann Eppenhoff.
Treading water at regional level, in 1967 Bochum welcomed the arrival of the man who had engineered the rise of the great Borussia Dortmund side earlier that decade. Ottokar Wüst, the younger, had just assumed the club presidency and, taking a leaf from his father’s book with the pre-war Hochgesang transfer, felt that Eppenhoff was just the man to take VfL up a level.
He was right. In Eppenhoff’s first full season, he took Bochum past Karlsruhe, past Stuttgart then past a decent Mönchengladbach side to face Bayern Munich in the German Cup semi-final. There, with yet another winner from midfielder Werner Balte, VfL overcame Beckenbauer, Maier and Müller in front of 40,000 on Castroper Straße. Holding Overath’s Köln to 1-1 towards half-time, Eppenhoff’s men succumbed to the inevitable and duly picked up their runners-up medals.
Knocking on the door of the Bundesliga in 1970 by winning the Regionalliga West, VfL went one better the following year to join the West German elite.
Quite incredibly, in a league of future World Cup winners and European champions, Bochum held their own, Hans Walitza taking his game up a notch to finish behind – way behind, mind – Gerd Müller as top scorer.
Seeing what Eppenhoff could do with very limited resources, VfB Stuttgart snapped him up, allowing his former assistant (and attacking midfielder) Heinz Höher to step in. Unproven and facing some of the world’s best week after week, the former West German U-23 international took to the task like a duck to water.
Again working on a tight budget, Höher made savvy purchases, generally from around the region, and brushed aside offers from big-name clubs. His mentor Eppenhoff had been cast aside by Stuttgart to all but end his coaching career.
Höher made an international player out of defensive midfielder Franz-Josef Tenhagen, going nowhere with Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, and nurtured locally born youngster Hermann Gerland into a tactically astute addition to the side. Both players would later lead VfL from the managerial bench, Gerland working as assistant coach at Bayern for over a decade in recent seasons.
In his last season at the end of the 1970s, Höher left Bochum in a highest-ever eighth place before various successors strove to match his achievements through the 1980s. With goals from a feisty young striker from Neunkirchen, Stefan Kuntz, cash-strapped VfL kept in with the big boys of the Bundesliga.
Alongside, his strike partners included another youngster, Christian Schreier, soon to win a European trophy with Bayer Leverkusen, and an ageing Klaus Fischer of 1982 World Cup fame, who saw out his playing days on Castroper Straße.
When the goals ran out, VfL plunged into a whirlpool of never-ending survival battles, earning the club the nickname of the Unabsteigbaren, the Undescendables, as proclaimed on fans’ scarves as they witnessed yet another great escape.
It with a relegation play-off against Saarbrücken on the eve of the 1990 World Cup. Leading 1-0 from their first-leg visit to the Saarland, Bochum fell to a goal from a young Tony Yeboah, his last act as a Saarbrücken player before a move to Frankfurt. A goal from Uwe Leifeld then tipped the balance for VfL, who would reward the striker decades later with a long-term scouting role.
When the fateful season came, Bochum ended their 22-year stint in the Bundesliga by facing local rivals Wattenscheid 09 in the last match of the campaign. Only recently promoted to the Bundesliga, the team from the outskirts of Bochum had played its home games the previous season on Castroper Straße while their own Lohrheidestadion was being rebuilt.
Returning in June 1993, Wattenscheid had nothing to play for but delicious revenge in the Kleines Revierderby, the mini Ruhr derby. In the end, they failed to kick VfL when they were pretty much down, a goal on half-time from a young Dariusz Wosz settling the nerves as Bochum registered a 3-1 win.
It wasn’t enough, for 1FC Nürnberg also won in an absurdly tight race to stay up – two points would eventually separate five teams around the drop zone. Holding out for a miracle, a points deduction for Dynamo Dresden for licence violations, Bochum fans put away their Unabsteigbaren scarves when the decision was made to punish the former GDR side the following season. Long-term president Ottokar Wüst hung up his lanyard.
Bochum bounced back, then dropped down again, until their greatest achievement came under Kaiserslautern legend, Klaus Toppmöller. On yet another rebound in 1996-97, steered by former East-German cap Dariusz Wosz kept Bayern at bay home and away to secure fifth place in the Bundesliga, and a first-ever European spot.
Though league form suffered, high-scoring clashes with Trabzonspor, Bruges and Ajax made for an entertaining rollercoaster ride in the subsequent UEFA Cup. Toppmöller’s men were by no means disgraced by the recent Champions League winners either, going ahead 2-0 at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Resplendent in the rainbow colours of the Faber sportswear brand, the floppy-haired Wosz was in imperious form, earning himself a further 17 caps for the unified German national side before a two-decade career on the coaching side at Bochum.
VfL yo-yo’d between top and second flights until another unexpected stellar season in 2003-04 featuring two unlikely heroes. Little-known Dutch keeper Rein van Duijnhoven set a Bundesliga record of 912 minutes of clean sheets and Iranian World Cup striker Vahid Hashemian became top club scorer, earning himself an ill-starred transfer to Bayern Munich.
Classic No.10 Wosz controlled the play, taking Bochum to another European adventure, though one quickly ended by Standard Liège thanks to an away goal in injury time. VfL fans have not needed to pack their passports since.
By now, the club was headed by a full-time board of directors, some with a special focus on sporting issues, such as Stefan Kuntz. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction until a string of four defeats in spring 2010, followed by four more. With yet another relegation on the cards, Dariusz Wosz stepped into the breach as coach for the last two games, the first away to Bayern. Two early Thomas Müller goals soon swept aside all hopes of a miracle.
Now relegation meant 11 long seasons in the 2.Bundesliga, although Bochum came close to bouncing straight back up, losing the two-leg play-off to Mönchengladbach by the odd goal in three.
The lowest of the low points came in December 2014 when unfashionable journeyman coach Peter Neururer, who had done so well in charge of VfL in the early 2000s and again the previous season, fell out with the board. As backs-to-the-wall underdogs, Bochum had always shown solidarity in adversity, the trait that had kept legends such as Wosz and Kuntz giving their all on and off the pitch – now the Undescendables were the Undiscernables, lacking in judgement.
Just before Christmas, a late equaliser by on-loan striker Tobias Weis saved a point at home to Erzgebirge Aue, assuring the 12,000 fans who had braved the cold that all was not lost. Solid Dutch coach Gertjan Verbeek then redirected Bochum back to the top half of the 2.Bundesliga table.
Controversially sacked before 2017-18, Verbeek gave way to a revolving door of managers until the arrival of former VfL defensive midfielder Thomas Reis in 2019. In his first role as head coach after previous stints with the club’s youth and women’s teams, Reis battened down Bochum’s defensive hatches to take his side on an 11-game unbeaten run either side of the pandemic shutdown in 2020.
Stalwart keeper Manuel Riemann and French experienced defensive midfielder Anthony Losilla provided the spine of the team that rode to the top of the table halfway through 2020-21, and stayed there. Bochum won the division, then held their own in their first return to the Bundesliga after 11 years.
After six straight defeats in 2022, including a 7-0 spanking at home to Bayern, Reis was moved on and Bochum looked – eventually – to Thomas Letsch as they assumed the survival position.
Staying up in 2023, VfL were pushed to the brink again the following season, vital narrow wins over Hoffenheim and Union Berlin pushing Blau-Weiß into a relegation play-off. Things looked grim after Fortuna rolled over Bochum at the Ruhrstadion 3-0 in the first leg but, under regular fill-in coach and former VfL centre-back Heiko Butscher, the visitors girded themselves for the return in Düsseldorf.
Performing a feat of escapology that put all the many others to shame, the Undescendables reversed the 0-3 scoreline, a brace from journeyman striker Philipp Hofmann pushing the score on the night to 3-0. Penalties.
Veteran reserve keeper Andreas Luthe, a surprise choice over regular stalwart Riemann, then ended his professional career on a high, saving Fortuna’s first spot-kick then watching their last sail over his crossbar on an emotional night in Düsseldorf. A youth player at Bochum in his teens, a squad member for seven years, the locally born custodian stood before the celebrating VfL fans and announced his retirement in tears.
Once the empty champagne bottles were cleared away, Bochum picked themselves up and prepared for another fight against relegation in 2024-25.
Stadium Guide
The field of dreams – and the story behind it
Intimate and compact, the Ruhrstadion stands on the site where turn-of-the-century pioneers Sus Bochum 08 persuaded farmer Dieckmann to lease the club his field north-east of the city. The first game took place on October 8, 1911, when 500 spectators watched the hosts play take on a team from Hamm, the other side of Dortmund.
It took another ten years, a world war and a merger with TV Bochum 1848, before the club built a huge stadium of 50,000 capacity. The fact that it came amid the chaos of 1921 – the Allies considering the occupation of the Ruhrland, Germany preparing for hyperinflation – makes its construction even more fanciful, but by July 1922, the Stadion an der Castroper Straße was hosting its first international. A crowd of 35,000 watched Germany hold Hungary to a 0-0 draw.
Also used by the other main team in town, Germania, the future Ruhrstadion staged Nazi speeches and parades as city mayor, Otto Leopold Piclum, welcomed plans to transform the football stadium into a grandiose parade ground. The war then intervened. Surprisingly, given the extensive destruction of the Ruhr, the stadium escaped relatively unscathed and was hosting football by March 1946.
Modernised with a seated stand in the 1950s, the ground had to be completely revamped after VfL joined the Bundesliga in 1971. Adding floodlights and overhauling the press facilities, the club set about removing the running track, then rebuilding each stand one by one. The process took three years and required moving home games to Herne 10km north – but in July 1979, local rivals Wattenscheid provided the opposition for the opening of the new, and newly renamed, Ruhrstadion. Capacity was a shade under 50,000.
This came down as standing areas were converted, and by 2012-13, just over 29,000 could see a game here, 16,000 of them seated. Media and VIP areas had been further improved before the Women’s World Cup in 2011. In 2016, locally based real-estate giant Vonovia assumed sponsorship, a deal that now runs until 2026.
In 2022, capacity was further reduced and now stands at 26,000, although plans submitted in 2024 call for an increase to 27,500.
In the current set-up, standing places number 11,600, taken up by home fans in the Ostkurve (sectors N2-Q, the Ruhrstadtkollektiv making the most noise in block P), and visiting supporters in corner sector E1, where the Westkurve meets the Südtribüne. Away fans are also allocated seated blocks E2 and F behind the west goal.
The rest is all-seated, including the raucous Bochum fans in block A of the Südtribüne nearest the Ostkurve and those paying top euro in the so-called Komfortsitzplatz running along the back of the Nordtribüne, above the VIP area. Opposite, sectors B and C in the Südtribüne provide the best view.
Behind the Nordtribüne, you’ll find Bochum’s Stadium Centre HQ, containing the fan shop and VIP lounge bars.
getting here
Going to the stadium – tips and timings
The stadium is north-east of the city centre, with its own named stop on the swift VRR regional network two away from Bochum main station, Hbf. Tram 308 (308/318 Sun) runs every 15mins and takes 3mins or it’s an easy walk once you’re in town.
Your match ticket should also be valid for free use of the VRR network until 3am the following day, the so-called KombiTicket. If travelling to the stadium anyway or on a non-match day, you’ll need a single ticket (€2.10). The VRR eezy app offers ticket purchase and timetable details or use machines at stops.
getting in
Buying tickets – when, where, how and how much
Without membership, there’s next to no chance of sourcing a ticket for VfL Bochum, unless you’re a visiting supporter. The club has around 17,500 season-ticket holders and keeps 6,000 seats back for those buying single-match tickets, Tageskarten – which means you need to get in pretty quickly.
Once you register online (‘Anmelden’) on the club’s German-only ticket portal – provide an email address and an eight-character password with at least one capital letter, one number and one special character – then you can purchase tickets and take advantage of the secondary-sale platform, ‘Zweitmarkt – Tickets weiterverkaufen’. The resale facility operates up to 2.5hrs before kick-off.
Note that the whole process has to be done in German, and if you’re registering without creating a password, you’ll receive an email asking you to provide your address, which must have a German postcode.
For all enquiries, contact +49 2234 9518 100 or tickets@vfl-bochum.de. There’s also a ticket hotline (+49 234 95 1848) that operates Mon-Thur 9am-5pm, Fri till 3pm/5pm before home games and contact portal in German.
Once you’re in, you’ll find that tickets go on sale to members around three weeks before each home game. Demand is high, even if Bochum are in the 2.Bundesliga. Strangely, the club stipulates that games with Bayern, Dortmund and three other attractive opponents are Category B, all others are Category A.
Nearly all standing places are taken by season-ticket holders – if there are any left, you’ll pay €16/€19 for Category B. Seats along the long sidelines in the Nord- or Südtribüne are around €40-€45 each, €50-€55 for Category B. Prime spots in the Nord Komfortsitzplatz are around €50/€60, though here’s there’s no under-14 discount which otherwise applies elsewhere, prices at around 35% of the regular rate. Seniors and students must provide proof of validity to take advantage of ermäßigt prices, around 75% of the full admission.
what to buy
Shirts, kits, merchandise and gifts
The fan shop (Mon noon-6pm, Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, match days/nights) sits in the club building behind the Nordtribüne. There’s also another outlet (Mon-Sat 10am-8pm) on level 0 of the Westfield Ruhr Park mall on the far eastern outskirts of town.
The current iteration of the storied Blau-Weiß colours is dark blue with white trimmings – although, cannily, the club also produces a sky-blue version. Change strip is red with blue-and-white trim.
Coolest hoodie is a centrepieced by a simple combination of a floodlight and Fiege beer bottle. Bochum also produce their own gin and rum, the 1848 brand, and chocolate.
Where to Drink
Pre-match beers for fans and casual visitors
Wherever you go, you’ll probably be served FiegE, Bochum’s beer du choix – you’ll see its logo on the VfL flags fluttering outside Frein’s, a popular pub/restaurant on the city side of the stadium on Castroper Straße. Usually it only operates Friday nights and weekends – hence its name of ‘Event Location’ – but it almost always makes an exception for match nights outside of regular hours.
Just past the stadium, the more traditional Ritterburg is a major gathering place of a match day, particularly its beer garden. The pull-down screen comes in handy for summer tournaments. Next door’s Grillhaus am Stadion is more a sit-down affair than kebab stand, which means you can attack its tasty grilled chicken in comfort.
For a proper pre-match meal, Sorba’s has been run by a lovely couple right by the stadium for the best part of half a century. There’s beer to go with your Greek treats.
At the stadium, the former fans’ meeting place 8zehn48 in the club offices behind the Nordtribüne has been converted into the VIP-focused Stadtwerke Bochum LOUNGE, with picture windows overlooking the action, ideal for those here paying top dollar or on a hospitality junket.