Schalke 04 Facts, Net Worth, Stadium and Club History

Sportblis presents you with the History and Facts About Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., popularly known as FC Schalke 04 or abbreviated as S04. FC Schalke 04 is a professional German football and multi-sports team originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. This article is full coverage of their History, Trophies, Net Worth, Stadium, and Interesting Facts.

Schalke 04 History:

FC Schalke 04 was founded on the 4th day of May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students. The team could not gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband (Western German Football Association). Hence, they played in one of the “wild associations” of early German football.

After twenty years of existence and a couple of failed mergers and name changes, the club took the name Schalke 04 in 1924. Do you know?… The “04” in the title stands for the year of their foundation. Along with the name change came the new blue-and-white jerseys, which were the basis for the club’s most famous nickname; The Royal Blues.

The 30s were a time of major restructuring in German top-tier football. Hence, the advancement led to the formation of sixteen regional divisions known as Gauligen. Interestingly, Schalke was placed in the Gauliga Westfalen, where they proved themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Apparently, they won the title in each of the league’s eleven seasons, thereby qualifying for the German championship play-offs in subsequent years.

10 Facts About Schalke 04:

1. The Golden Era:

The club continued to live out its golden years by winning six national titles and one DFB-Pokal in the period from 1934 to 1942. And though the post-war period had seen them fall off the map a bit, they remained a strong contender. Schalke won its final national title in 1958, five years before the foundation of the Bundesliga.

2. Modern era:

After many decades of uneven results, including a couple of relegations, Schalke managed to win their first and only European trophy by defeating Internazionale on penalties in the 1997 UEFA Cup finals. This triumph signaled the beginning of a new, modern era for Schalke, and the club followed it up by winning two consecutive DFB-Pokals in 2001 and 2002.

The turn of the century also saw them come incredibly close to winning their first Bundesliga, losing the title in the 4th minute of injury time. The 2011 season was also notable for the club. In addition to winning its fifth DFB-Pokal, Schalke made the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they eventually lost to Manchester United with an aggregate score of 6-1.

3. Schalke 04 Stadium:

From the onset, the club played its matches in the Gluckauf-Kampfbahn which was constructed in 1928 with a capacity of 35,000. They continued to use the stadium until 1973 when they moved to Parkstadion which had a seating capacity of 62,000. For about 28 years, Schalke 04 played at Parkstadion before they finally settled down at Veltins-Arena in 2001.

Do you know?… Schalke’s stadium (Veltins-Arena), was built in the summer of 2001 and has a capacity of 62,271 spectators. Also, Schalke regularly draws sell-out crowds to what is widely regarded as one of the most modern and best multi-use facilities in Europe.

4. Schalke 04 Net Worth:

At the time of compiling these Facts about Schalke 04, Forbes.com has estimated their Net Worth at about $683 million. Also, the German club is listed as the 14th wealthiest football team as of 2021. Analysis shows that Schalke 04 makes an annual revenue of $291 million, while their commercials fetch an estimated sum of $237 million.

5. Schalke 04 Trophies and Awards:

Of course, their several campaigns in major competitions have resulted in the club winning many awards and league titles. Hence, we present you with an analysis of all the trophies, titles and awards that Schalke 04 have won.

German Championship: 7 (1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958)
DFB-Pokal/German Cup: 5 (1937, 1972, 2001, 2002, 2011)
DFB-Ligapokal/German League Cup: 1 (2005)
DFL-Supercup/German Super Cup: 1 (2011)
Bundesliga: 2 (1982, 1991)
UEFA Cup: 1 (1997)
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2 (2003, 2004)

6. Logo:

The logo of Schalke 04 encompasses a typical German football club simplistic design. Obviously, the “S04” in the blue ring stands for Schalke 04. One funny fact about the logo is that it has been almost consistent throughout the club’s history.

7. UEFA Club Rankings:

Schalke was ranked as the 31st-best football team in Europe by UEFA’s 2020 UEFA club rankings and ranked 7th-best in 2015 UEFA club rankings.

8. Schalke 04 Nickname:

Their nicknames are Die Konigsblauen, which means; The Royal Blues or Die Knappen, which means; The Miners. Fans nicknamed Schalke 04 The Miners due to the Ruhr area’s industrial heritage.

9. Prominent Academy’s Alumni:

The academy of Schalke 04 is known to have trained prominent football players over the years. World Cup winner Manuel Neuer, Arsenal‘s Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Jens Lehmann, Joel Matip of Liverpool and Leroy Sane all came through the academy at S04.

10. Schalke 04 History Timeline:

1904: A group of high school students founded the German club.
1912: Schalke 04 merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877. However, the merger failed in 1924.
1928: The team built a new stadium named the Gluckauf-Kampfbahn.
1934: The team won its first national title.
1963: Schalke 04 gained entry into the Bundesliga.
1973: The club moved to its new stadium – Parkstadion.
1982: Sadly, the German team were relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga for the first time.
1997: The club won their first UEFA Cup. Hence, Fans gave the then Schalke squad the nickname “Euro Fighters”.
2006: Schalke made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. However, they lost the game to Sevilla.
2020: Die Knappen set a new club record of 16 league games without a win.

Quick Facts About Schalke 04