:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48847243/GettyImages-510271558.0.jpg)
In 1907, Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg was formed, and for more than a century the club stayed under-the-radar in the world of German football. The Fuggerstädter (named after a famous Augsburg family) were mostly content to bounce around the lower divisions of German football for decades on end. In fact, as recently as the early 2000's, the squad were stuck in the fourth division, and thus out of professional football entirely.
Must Reads
However, the story of the last decade-and-a-half has been one of ascendancy, as FCA slowly climbed the ranks, earning promotions in 2001-02 and 2005-06. Then the for the first time in club history, the club reached the Bundesliga after finishing second in the 2010-11 season. Not to be outdone, Augsburg qualified for the Europa League for the first time in their history last year, on the strength of their fifth place league finish. The club wasn't content just to be there, and became the last team of the 32 to advance to the knockout rounds after scoring a late goal in their 3-1 win over FK Partizan.
For a large part of their history, the club was known as BC Augsburg, but a merger with TSV Schwaben in 1969 forced the name change. The club had some initial success and a huge surge of popularity in the 1973-74 season when hometown hero and former Bologna and Juventus player Helmut Haller joined the club. That season, an away clash to TSV 1860 Munich set an attendance record for Olympic Stadium, with over 80,000 attending the burgeoning rivalry.
FC Augsburg abandoned Rosenau Stadion in 2009, which was constructed out of WW II rubble. The club has since moved into WWK Arena, with a capacity of over 28,000 for international matches. The stadium was built with sustainability in mind, becoming the first carbon-neutral stadium in the world. Which, if I must say, is ultimately cool and puts Liverpool's "Reds going green" initiative to shame.
Augsburg wears all white at home, so there should be no reason to see away or alternate kits, other than for marketing purposes.
Liverpool visit Augsburg and their fancy new stadium Thursday, February 18th, with the Famous European Anfield Night™ kicking off a week later.