FC Werder Bremen was founded on February 4, 1899. It played in various German regional leagues for a long time and won many minor cups. Its first considerable victory came in 1961 when the club won the German Cup.
Since 1962 the team has been playing in German Bundesliga and in 1965 won the tournament. After a tough season in 1980 Werder Bremen was relegated from the strongest division but made a return one year later under the spell of Otto Rehhagel. With this famous manager the club was a runner-up in 1983 and 1986 and claimed the victory in 1988. In 1989 and 1990 the club reached the German Cup final.
In 1992 the team triumphed in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. In 1993 Werder Bremen became a three-time national champion and delivered the German Cup again.
In 1995 Otto Rehhagel got an offer from Bayern Munich and left the club, which marked a period of decline up to 1999 when Thomas Schaaf took over the managing position. That season Werder Bremen defeated Bayern Munich in the German Cup final. Later they stayed in the top bunch of German teams. In 2004 Werder won their fourth gold medals of Bundesliga and celebrated the fifth victory in the German Cup. In 2009 the club played in the UEFA Cup final but lost to Shakhtar Donetsk. Nevertheless that was a successful season with a win over Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup for the sixth time.
Many notable footballers have played for Bremen: Manfred Burgsmuller, Mirko Votava, Oliver Reck, Horst Hottges, Uli Borowka, Thomas Schaaf, Rudi Voller, Mario Basler, Frank Neubarth, Dieter Eilts, Marco Bode, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Per Mertesacker, Tim Borowski, Torsten Frings, Miroslav Klose, Frank Baumann, Mesut Ozil, Andreas Herzog, Claudio Pizarro, Viktor Skrypnyk, Rune Bratseth, Wynton Rufer, Yuriy Maksymov, Vladimir Beschastnykh, Ailton, Johan Micoud, Hugo Almeida, Diego and Mikael Silvestre.
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