SV Steinbach

SV Steinbach 1920 eV is a German sports club based in the Steinbach district of the Hessian market town of Burghaun in the Fulda district.

Founding and pre-war period (1920 – 1945)
The club was founded under the name Gymnastics and Football Club Steinbach in the Walk inn in Steinbach on June 20, 1920. A few years later the name of the club was changed to Sportverein Steinbach 1920. At first, the club played its football games on improvised fields. There was no fixed venue and so the club constantly changed venues. In 1924 it was accepted into the C class of the Hünfeld district.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the 18-year-old player Anselm Henkel was so seriously injured during a game in Künzell that he died as a result of these injuries. Because of the death, many older players left the club, which initially had difficulty compensating for this loss. However, before the outbreak of the Second World War, a few friendly games were played against neighboring communities; shortly after the outbreak, play came to a complete standstill.

Establishment in the post-war period (1945 – 1993)
After the end of the World War, the first friendly games were played again in 1945. In 1947, Hünfeld was accepted into the B class and thus returned to regular league operations. Promotion to the A class (then the 8th league) was celebrated in 1951, in which the club was able to stay for two seasons until it was relegated back to the B class in 1953. They were promoted again in 1956 and relegated again in 1959. In 1971 the team was promoted to the district class and created euphoria. More than 1,000 paying spectators regularly attended the home games. In 1974 the team was relegated to the A class again, but a season later Steinbach reported again from the district class. This rescue only lasted for one season, as the team was relegated again in 1976. It wasn't until 1985 that they were promoted back to the district class. A year later, the team played in a friendly against Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, which was lost 14–0 in front of 800 spectators. The following year they were relegated to the A-Class again. In 1990 the club was awarded the Sepp-Herberger Medal by Werner Kiel for the work it had done, particularly in the area of youth. In 1993 the team was promoted back to the district league.

Several ascents up to the present day (2000 – present)
In 2001 they were promoted to the national league. After two seasons, however, they were relegated back to the district league in 2003. Three seasons later, Steinbach had to go back down to the district league, whereupon immediate promotion was achieved in 2007 with 80 points. In the same year, the Mühlengrund team was also voted team of the year in East Hesse. In 2008, the SVS was promoted to the Hessen Nord association league again and thus made it through. Previously, the team was once again the superior champion of the group league (then: district league) with 83 points. In 2013, the youth department joined the Burghaun youth development association. The 2016/17 season saw promotion to the Hessenliga for the first time. With 36 points, the first season in Hesse's Beletage ended in 14th place. In the next season, however, the team was relegated as bottom of the table with only 15 points. In the 2018/19 season, they were promoted back to the Hessenliga.