Tennis Berlin

Tennis Berlin is one of the most intriguing clubs I have come across. Its roots go right back to 1902 and its first name was Berliner-Tennis und Ping-Pong Gesellschaft Borussia. At that time lots of sports clubs considered in patriotic to include the word Borussia, which is a Latin version of Prussia,  in their name. A year later the club added football to the other sports offered and it was soon a keen rival to that other venerable Berlin club, Hertha BSC. After a name change to Berliner Tennis Club Borussia in 1913 the club continued to do well at local and regional level.

Although Tennis Berlin – nicknamed TeBe –  established itself as Berlin’s top side in the 1950s, the club did not perform well enough to join the Bundesliga in 1963. It remained in the second division for all but two years of the 1960s and 1970s. TeBe  then dropped down a league in the 1980s.

Like many clubs in Berlin TeBe has frequently been plagued by financial problems and at time struggled to stay in business. Towards the end of the 1990s a new sponsor pumped money into the club, enabling the purchase of more expensive players and funding a brief return to the 2 Bundesliga. Sadly this was not a long term recipe for success and the club went bankrupt in 2000. This resulted in relegation to the third tier and the next year TeBe fell to the fourth division.

The club took on its current name – Tennis Borussia Berlin – in 2000 and has remained in the lower divisions since then. The club currently plays in 5th tier Oberliga Nord and finished second in 2017-18.

Fans

TeBe fans are special. Despite (or perhaps because of) the roller-coaster journey of recent years, they are exceptionally loyal and passionate. They are closely involved in the running of the club. For example, fans produce the match day programme and choose the music for the pre-match entertainment.

The club website proudly describes fans’ “continued appreciation of Jewish traditions and active opposition to anti-semitism, racism and homophobia.”

Tennis Borussia have fans right across Germany and beyond and  if you do decide to come to the Mommsenstadion you will join a surprisingly large crowd for this level of football.

Stadium

The Mommsenstadion has a capacity of 11,500, with 1,800 covered seats.

Directions

Take the S3 or S9 train towards Spandau and get out at Messe Süd. It’s then a short walk to the ground.