# Kicker (magazine)

Kicker (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine, focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice weekly, usually Monday and Thursday. Each edition sells around 80,000 copies. Kicker is a founding member of European Sports Media, an association of football publications.
Kicker annually awards the most prolific scorer of the Bundesliga with the Kicker Torjägerkanone (lit. 'Kicker scorer cannon') award. It is equivalent to the Pichichi Trophy in Spanish football.
The magazine also publishes an almanac, the Kicker Fußball-Almanach. It was first published from 1937 to 1942, and then continuously from 1959 to date. They also publish a yearbook (Kicker Fußball-Jahrbuch).

## History

Kicker was first issued in July 1920 in Konstanz, Germany. The magazine's headquarters were originally in Stuttgart before relocating to Nuremberg in 1926. During World War II, the magazine merged with the publication Fußball, and was eventually discontinued in fall 1944. After the war, the magazine was again published (under the name Sport) by the newly incorporated Olympia-Verlag publishing company. Former chief editor Friedebert Becker again began publishing Kicker in 1951, and for a number of years, both Kicker and Sport appeared at the same time. In 1966, Kicker was sold to Axel Springer AG. In 1968, Olympia-Verlag in Nuremberg acquired Kicker and merged it with Sportmagazin, which had been published twice weekly since 1952. The first issue of the newly founded Kicker-Sportmagazin was released on 7 October 1968. Beside the two weekly publications, Kicker provides a digital edition since 2012. The online version of kicker.de offers a broad live ticker for over 80 different international leagues. The magazine has three apps in the iTunes store.

## Magazine

The modern version of Kicker covers a number of sporting competitions and events, including:
* The German Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga, and Regionalliga
* The German DFB-Pokal
* The Germany national team and Germany women's national football team
* The German Women's Bundesliga
* Various European leagues and competitions, including the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1
* Various international football leagues
* Formula One racing
* The Olympic Games
* eSports and competitive video gaming
* Various other sporting events, depending on on-going competitions

## Kicker Sportmagazin Club of the Century

In 1998, Kicker published a list of the best football clubs of the 20th century. The list was based on the opinions of former players and managers (Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Udo Lattek, Just Fontaine etc.). Each of them could name their choice for the five greatest teams and provide arguments in support thereof. Not all them stuck to the allotted number of picks. For example, Johan Cruyff picked three teams instead - Ajax, Milan and Dynamo Kyiv.
    Each club's trophies and Ballon d'Or winners are shown up until 1999
| Rank | Club | Continental trophies | Ballon d'Or winners | Domestic trophies |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 7x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup | 2x Di Stéfano, Kopa | 27x La Liga, 17x Copa del Rey |
| 2 | Ajax | 4x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup | Cruyff | 27x Eredivisie, 14x KNVB Cup |
| 3 | Milan | 5x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 3x UEFA Super Cup | 3x Van Basten, Rivera, Gullit, Weah | 16x Serie A, 4x Coppa Italia |
| 4 | Bayern Munich | 3x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup | 2x Beckenbauer, 2x Rummenigge, G. Müller | 15x German champions, 9x DFB Pokal |
| 5 | Barcelona | UEFA Champions League, 4x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup | 2x Cruyff, Stoichkov, Rivaldo | 16x La Liga, 24x Copa del Rey |
| 6 | Manchester United | 2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup | Law, Charlton, Best | 12x English champions, 10x FA Cup, League Cup |
| 7 | Benfica | 2x UEFA Champions League | Eusébio | 30x Primeira Liga, 26x Taça de Portugal |
| 8 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Super Cup | Blokhin, Belanov | 13x USSR Top League, 7x UPL 9x USSR Cup, 4x Ukrainian Cup |
| 9 | Juventus | 2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3x UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup | 3x Platini, Sivori, Rossi, Baggio, Zidane | 26x Serie A, 9x Coppa Italia |
| 10 | Inter Milan | 2x UEFA Champions League, 3x UEFA Cup | Matthäus, Ronaldo | 13x Serie A, 3x Coppa Italia |

## Greatest Clubs (1863–2014)

In 2014, the magazine created a new list of the best clubs in history. This time it was formed based on the opinions of the magazine's editors. The list was based on criteria as the clubs' history, achievements at international stage, titles won and the career of its own players. In the Top 10, three teams represented Germany.
| Rank | Club | Continental trophies | Ballon d'Or winners | Domestic trophies |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 13x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 4x UEFA Super Cup | 4x C. Ronaldo, 2x Di Stéfano, Kopa, Figo, Ronaldo, Cannavaro | 34x La Liga, 19x Copa del Rey |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 6x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup | 2x Beckenbauer, 2x Rummenigge, G. Müller | 33x German champions, 20x DFB-Pokal |
| 3 | Manchester United | 3x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup | Law, Charlton, Best, C. Ronaldo | 20x English champions, 12x FA Cup, 5x League Cup |
| 4 | Liverpool | 6x UEFA Champions League, 3x UEFA Cup, 4x UEFA Super Cup | Michael Owen | 19x English champions, 7x FA Cup, 8x League Cup |
| 5 | Barcelona | 5x UEFA Champions League, 4x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 5x UEFA Super Cup | 6x Messi, 2x Cruyff, Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho | 26x La Liga, 31x Copa del Rey |
| 6 | Milan | 7x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 5x UEFA Super Cup | 3x Van Basten, Rivera, Gullit, Weah, Shevchenko, Kaká | 18x Serie A, 5x Coppa Italia |
| 7 | Juventus | 2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3x UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup | 3x Platini, Sivori, Rossi, Baggio, Zidane, Nedvěd | 36x Serie A, 14x Coppa Italia |
| 8 | Boca Juniors | 6x CONMEBOL Libertadores, 2x CONMEBOL Sudamericana, 4x CONMEBOL Recopa | – | 34x Argentine PL, 14x Argentine Cup |
| 9 | Hamburger SV | UEFA Champions League, European Cup Winners' Cup | 2x Keegan | 6x German champions, 3x DFB-Pokal |
| 10 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2x UEFA Cup | Simonsen | 5x Bundesliga, 3x DFB-Pokal |