A failed attempt to start a football club in the city in 1903 was followed up two years later by the successful creation of 1. Mainzer Fussballclub Hassia 1905. After a number of years of play in the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (South German Football League), the club merged with FC Hermannia 07– the former football side of Mainzer TV 1817– to form 1. Mainzer Fussballverein Hassia 05, which dropped "Hassia" from its name in August 1912. Another merger after World War I, in 1919, with Sportverein 1908 Mainz, resulted in the formation of 1. Mainzer Fußball- und Sportverein 05. Die Nullfünfer ("05") was a solid club that earned several regional league championships in the period between the wars and qualified for the opening round of the national championships in 1921, after winning the Kreisliga Hessen.[1]
Play during the Nazi era
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the club played in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen– Gruppe Hessen, and the results included first-place finishes in 1932 and 1933. The results merited the team a place in the Gauliga Südwest, one of 16 new first-division leagues formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. The club played only a single season at that level before being relegated, due to the high intensity play that they were unable to keep up with.[vague] Karl Scherm scored in 23 out of 44 matches with Mainz during his last season. In 1938, Mainz was forced into a merger with Reichsbahn SV Mainz and played as Reichsbahn SV Mainz 05 until the end of World War II.[1]
Long march to the Bundesliga
Historical chart of 1. FSV Mainz league performance
After World War II, the club again joined the upper ranks of league play in Germany's Oberliga Südwest, but were never better than a mid-table side. It played in the top flight until the founding of the new professional league, the Bundesliga, in 1963 and would go on to play as a second division side for most of the next four decades.[vague] They withdrew for a time– from the late 1970s into the late 1980s– to the Amateur Oberliga Südwest (III), as the result of a series of financial problems.[vague][3]Mainz earned honours as the German amateur champions in 1982.[4]
The club returned to professional play with promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for a single season in 1988–89 with Bodo Hertlein as president, before finally returning for an extended run in 1990–91. Initially, they were perennial relegation candidates, struggling hard each season to avoid being sent down. However, under unorthodox trainer Wolfgang Frank, Mainz became one of the first clubs in German football to adopt a flat four zone defence, as opposed to the then-popular man-to-man defence using a libero.[4]
Mainz had three unsuccessful attempts to get to the top flight in 1996–97, 2001–02, and 2002–03, with close fourth-place finishes just out of the promotion zone. The last of those attempts stung[tone] as they were denied promotion in the 93rd minute of the last match of the season. One year earlier, Mainz became the best non-promoted team of all time in the 2. Bundesliga, with 64 points accumulated. However, the club's persistence paid dividends[jargon] after promotion to the Bundesliga in 2003–04 under head coach Jürgen Klopp. The club played three seasons in the top flight, but were relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season. Mainz secured promotion to the top flight again two years later, after the 2008–09 season.[4]
Mainz also earned a spot in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup in their debut Bundesliga season as Germany's nominee in the Fair Play draw which acknowledges positive play, respect for one's opponent, respect for the referee, the behaviour of the crowd and of team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.[vague][5] Due to the Bruchweg stadium's limited capacity, the home matches in UEFA Cup were played in Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena.[6] After defeating Armenian club Mika and Icelandic club Keflavík in the qualifying rounds, Mainz lost to eventual champions Sevilla 2–0 on aggregate in the first round.[7]
In the 2010–11 season, Mainz equalled the Bundesliga starting record by winning their first seven matches that season.[8] They ended the season with their best finish to date in fifth place, good enough to secure them their second entry to the UEFA Europa League,[9] where they were eliminated in the third qualifying round by Romanian club Gaz Metan Mediaș.[4]
On the final matchday of the 2022–23 season, Mainz secured a 2–2 draw against league leaders Borussia Dortmund at their stadium, causing the latter to lose the title to Bayern Munich on goal difference.[10]
The 2023–24 season was challenging for Mainz, as they spent most of it in 17th place, with only two wins by matchday 25. However, they drastically improved under coach Bo Henriksen, remaining unbeaten in their last nine matches and winning five of them, including the final two against Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg. This impressive run lifted them from 16th to 13th place, ensuring their continued presence in the Bundesliga.[11] In the 2024–25 season, Mainz surged to third place by late March 2025 after a 3–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, raising hopes of first-ever UEFA Champions League qualification.[12] However, a 2–2 home draw with SC Freiburg, followed by a 3–1 away defeat to Dortmund, triggered a seven-match winless streak that saw Mainz slip to seventh place with two games remaining in the season.[13] They eventually finished sixth, qualifying for the Conference League.[14][15]
The club plays its home matches at Mewa Arena, a new stadium opened in 2011 with a capacity of 33,305.[2] The first event held at the new arena was the LIGA total! Cup 2011, which took place from 19 July through to 20 July 2011, with the other participants being Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Hamburger SV.[18]
Die Nullfünfer previously played at the Bruchwegstadion, built in 1928, and modified several times over the years[vague] to hold a crowd of over 20,300 spectators.[4] Averaging crowds of about 15,000 while in the 2. Bundesliga, the team's hard won[tone] recent[when?] success had them regularly filling their venue.[clarification needed] The average home league attendance during the 2015–16 season in the Mewa Arena was 30,324 spectators.[vague][19]
Mainz is known for being one of the three foremost carnival cities in Germany, the others being Düsseldorf and Cologne. After every Mainzer goal scored at a home match, the "Narrhallamarsch", a famous German carnival tune, is played.[20]
On 27 October 2023, Mainz sacked footballer Anwar El Ghazi after a social media post where called for an end to the post-October 7 Israeli offensive in Gaza. El Ghazi was accused of antisemitism by Mainz after his comments where he condemned "apartheid" and "genocide" in Gaza.[21] In November 2023, Mainz Labour Court found Mainz guilty of wrongful dismissal and the club was ordered to honour Anwar El Ghazi's contract in full, including salary, contract extension, and bonuses.[22]
The club's reserve team, Mainz 05 II, has also, with the rise of the senior side to Bundesliga level, risen through the ranks.[vague] The team first reached Oberliga level in 1999, followed by promotion to the Regionalliga in 2003.[citation needed] After playing there for two seasons, the team dropped to the Oberliga once more.[vague][citation needed] In 2008, it won promotion to the Regionalliga West again and when this league was reduced in size in 2012, it entered the new Regionalliga Südwest.[citation needed] A third-place finish in this league in 2014 allowed the team to enter the promotion round to the 3. Liga, where it was successful against the Regionalliga Nordost champions and played at this level in 2014–15.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
↑"Willkommen beim Deutschen Fußball-Archiv"[Welcome to the German Football Archives]. Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German). Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016. Historical German domestic league tables
↑"News > Ergebnisse & Tabellen"[News > Results and Tables] (in German). Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2016. Tables and results of all German football leagues
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