FC Pipinsried

FC Pipinsried was formed in 1967 and, for most of its early history, the club was an amateur side in local Bavarian football. While based in Upper Bavaria the club opted to enter the leagues of neighboring Bavarian Swabia and started competitive football in the C-Klasse, the lowest tier of Bavarian football at the time, earning promotion to the B-Klasse in 1975. In 1978 it climbed another level, now to the A-Klasse, where it immediately won another championship and earned another promotion, now to the Bezirksliga in 1979.^[1] It first rose above the leagues of Swabia in 1989 when it finished runners-up of the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben in the league's inaugural season.^[2] Pipinsried entered the Landesliga Bayern-Süd for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 but never finished higher than eleventh in that time and, at the end of it, was relegated back to the Bezirksoberliga.^[3]

The club spent the next six seasons back in the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben, coming close to promotion again in 1996 and 1998, when the side came third. It won the league championship the following season, 1998–99, and moved up to the Landesliga once more.^[2] The next thirteen seasons were spent in Landesliga Süd with Pipinsried, for the most part, struggling against relegation. From 2000 to 2003 the club had a reasonable run in the league, finishing as high as fifth in 2002, but declining once more after this. Nevertheless, FC Pipinsried survived in the Landesliga Süd until 2012 when the league was disbanded.^[3]

With the number of Landesligas expanded from three to five and the Bayernliga doubled in size, the club qualified for the promotion round to the new southern division of the Bayernliga but was knocked out by FC Gundelfingen in the first round.^[4] Instead, Pipinsried was grouped in the new Landesliga Bayern-Südwest. In this league, with a large number of former Landesliga Süd top-teams now promoted to the Bayernliga, Pipinsried won the inaugural league title in 2012–13 to earn promotion to the southern division of the Bayernliga.^[5] Another strong performance the following season saw the club finish third in the Bayernliga and qualify for the Regionalliga promotion round, where it was knocked out in the first round by TSV 1860 Rosenheim.

The club came third in the league again in 2014–15 and once more benefitted by a club above it deciding not to apply for a Regionalliga licence, thereby qualifying for the promotion round again. Pipinsried was defeated on aggregate by VfR Garching in the first round.^[6]

During the 2016–17 season, Pipinsried achieved its first-ever promotion to the Regionalliga, the fourth tier of German football. The club secured its place in the league by defeating the SpVgg Greuther Fürth II in the promotion play-offs, winning 3–2 in extra time after a 1–1 draw in the first leg.^[7]

However, after two seasons in the fourth tier, Pipinsried were relegated back to the fifth-tier Bayernliga. The club returned to the Regionalliga Bayern in 2021^[8] but were relegated again after two seasons.

As of 17 April 2024^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Daniel Witetschek 2 MF  GER Benjamin Gärtner 3 DF  GER Sebastian Keßler 4 DF  GER Fabian Willibald 5 DF  GER Simon Rauscheder 6 DF  TUR Arif Ekin 7 FW  GER Kevin Gutia 8 DF  GER Tim Greifenegger 9 FW  GER Daniel Gerstmaier 11 MF  GER Giulio Conti 13 FW  GER Yomi Scintu 17 FW  GER Nenad Petkovic

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  USA Pablo Rodriguez-Benitez 19 MF  GER Kevin Kozica 20 MF  CRO Fabian Benko 21 MF  KOS Bleron Pirku 22 GK  GER Julian Kirr 23 MF  GER Simon Kampmann 25 DF  GER Benedikt Lobenhofer 26 DF  GER Fabien Ngounou Djayo 28 FW  GER Benedikt Wiegert 33 GK  GER Maximilian Retzer 39 DF  GER Angelo Mayer 42 MF  GER Ludwig Räuber

The club's honours:

• Bayernliga Süd (V)
  • Champions: 2021
• Landesliga Bayern-Südwest (VI)
  • Champions: 2013
• Bezirksoberliga Schwaben (V)
  • Champions: 1999
  • Runners-up: 1989

Recent managers of the club:^[10]