TSV Uetersen

TSV Uetersen is a German association football club from the city of Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein. The club has its origins in the 1864 founding of the gymnastics club "Turnverein Eintracht Uetersen". The association was lost in 1880 before being reestablished on 18 September 1884. It took on the name "Uetersener Turn- und Sport 1884" on 18 September 1909 before becoming part of the newly formed club "Sportverein Uetersen" in March 1912. The football department became independent on 21 November 1920 before going bankrupt sometime early in 1926. A resurrected club playing as "Verein fur Rasensport Uetersen" was formed on 14 March 1926. Throughout this period the club played as anonymous local side.
Postwar history.
Following World War II "VfR" merged with "Uetersener TS" and "Freie Turnerschaft Uetersen" to create "Uetersener Turn- und Sportverein" on 3 February 1946. Predecessor "FT" was formed in 1900 as "Arbeiter TV Uetersen", but as a workers' club had been banned as politically unpalatable by the Nazi regime in 1933.
The merger appears to have been ill-conceived as it almost immediately failed. Members of "TS" and "FT" established themselves as "TSV Uetersen 1898" on 14 February without the participation of "VfR" or the footballers. However, early in 1947, both "VfR" and the wayward football department came around to join "TSV".
The team went on to become a fixture in the Amateurliga Hamburg between 1950–63, capturing a title there in 1957. In the 1954 and 1955 seasons "Uetersen" qualified to take part in the German national amateur championship, but failed to advance out of the preliminary group stage.
After the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the country's lower leagues were reorganized and "TSV" became part of what was now the Landesliga Hamburg where they would play until being sent down in 1970. During this period the club won 15 district championships, including 11 consecutive titles. The team languished in lower tier local play over the next three decades. A victory by "FC St. Pauli II" over "Holstein Kiel II" at the end of the 2008–09 season handed "TSV" a second-place finish in the Landesliga Hamburg (V) and allowed the club to advance to the Oberliga Hamburg which became a fifth tier circuit with the formation of the 3. Liga that year. After relegation from the Oberliga the club played once more in the Landesliga until 2015–16 when the team was withdrawn from the league during the season, restarting in the lowest league, Kreisklasse B (XI) for 2016–17.
As of 2009 the sports club has about 2,800 members and is the largest sports club in Uetersen. In addition to its football side it has departments for basketball, boxing, dance, gymnastics, handball, Judo, table tennis, and volleyball.