Mainz

1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 or simply Mainz, is a German association football club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 have played in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, for eight consecutive years, starting with the 2009–10 season. The club's main local rivals are Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In addition to the football division, 1. FSV Mainz 05 have handball and table tennis departments.

History Early years 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 were 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.