Rhein-Neckar Löwen

Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional handball club founded in 2002, based in Mannheim, Germany. The club competes in the German Handball-Bundesliga and continentally in EHF European League. Rhein-Neckar Löwen play their home games in SAP Arena, with a seating capacity of 14,500.
The club won the German championship twice under the leadership of Nikolaj Jacobsen, in 2016 and in 2017.
History
On 1 July 2002, the club was founded, originally named SG Kronau/Östringen, following a merger between two clubs, TSG Kronau and TSV Baden Östringen. Their home ground was Rhein-Neckar-Halle. In their first season, 2002–03, the club succeeded to achieve promoting from the 2. Bundesliga to the top tier of the German handball, the Handball-Bundesliga. A season after, in 2003–04, they were relegated from the 16th position, but they returned again to the first Bundesliga in 2004–05 season, after finishing the season in the 2nd place of the 2. Bundesliga. In 2005–06 season, SG Kronau/Östringen home games were moved from the old Rhein-Neckar-Halle to the newly built SAP Arena in Mannheim. In this season, they reached the final of DHB Cup. They lost 25–26 to HSV Hamburg, and finished 6th in the Handball-Bundesliga. In the following season, they lost again in DHB Cup final, with a 33–31 to THW Kiel, and finished 8th in the Handball-Bundesliga.
In the beginning of 2007–08 season, the club's name renamed to Rhein-Neckar Löwen. This season, they lost in the final of EHF Cup Winners' Cup to MKB Veszprém. The Hungarians secured the title after a 60:65 win on aggregate over Rhein-Neckar Löwen. In this season, Löwen's youth team won the German championship for the first time in the history of the club. The 2008–09 season was Rhein-Neckar Löwen's best season by then, finishing 3rd in Bundesliga, and reaching the semi-final of EHF Champions League, in their first time in this competition. In 2009–10, Rhein-Neckar Löwen reached the German Cup final again. It was their third appearance in the cup final, but again they finished as runners-up, this time after a 33–34 loss to HSV Hamburg.
The club won its first title on 19 May 2013, after beating HBC Nantes (26–24) in the Final Four of EHF Cup, on its first year as EHF Cup, a merge between EHF European Cup and EHF Cup Winners' Cup.
In 2013–14, Rhein-Neckar Löwen reached the DHB Cup Final Four for the seventh time in its history, but defeated by SG Flensburg (26–30) in the semi-final. In the EHF Champions League, Löwen reached the quarterfinals, and won FC Barcelona (38–31) at home, but in Palau Blaugrana they lost, 24–31, and were eliminated from EHF Champions League because of the away goals. In the Bundesliga, Löwen headed to the final game of the season as table leaders, with the same total of points like THW Kiel. Although they won VfL Gummersbach (40–35), they lost the championship to THW Kiel, who won Füchse Berlin, with a better result, 37–23. THW Kiel finished the season with a better goals difference and won the championship. Löwen finished only second.
A season after, in 2014–15, Rhein-Neckar Löwen appointed Nikolaj Jacobsen as their new head coach. He led Löwen again to the second place, and they finished as runners-up to THW Kiel for the second season in a row. But in 2015–16, Jacobsen was the first head coach to lead Löwen to a national championship, as they beat SG Flensburg by a one point. They also won the DHB-Supercup after a 27–24 win over SC Magdeburg. A season after, in 2016–17, they defended the title and achieved their second Bundesliga championship in their history.
Kits
Accomplishments
Handball-Bundesliga:
: 2016, 2017
DHB-Pokal:
: 2018, 2023
DHB-Supercup:
: 2016, 2017, 2018
EHF Cup:
: 2013
Team
Squad for the 2023–24 season
Goalkeepers
1 Mikael Appelgren
29 David Späth
35 Joel Birlehm
Left wingers
3 Uwe Gensheimer (c)
5 Lion Zacharias
15 David Móré
Right wingers
24 Patrick Groetzki
26 Niklas Michalski
Line players
9 Steven Plucnar Jacobsen
33 Ýmir Örn Gíslason
80 Jannik Kohlbacher
Left backs
19 Philipp Ahouansou
20 Andreas Holst Jensen
22 Gustav Davidsson
45 Halil Jaganjac
Central backs
8 Magnus Grupe
10 Juri Knorr
25 Olle Forsell Schefvert
Right backs
6 Niclas Kirkeløkke
11 Arnór Snær Óskarsson
42 Jon Lindenchrone
Transfers
Transfers for the 2024–25 season
Joining
Ivan Martinović (RB) (from MT Melsungen)
Leaving
Niclas Kirkeløkke (RB) (to SG Flensburg-Handewitt) ?
Notable former players
Notable former coaches
Nikolaj Jacobsen
Michael Roth
Christian Schwarzer
Frédéric Volle
Yuri Shevtsov
Ola Lindgren
Guðmundur Guðmundsson
References
External links
Handball clubs in Germany
Handball-Bundesliga
Handball clubs established in 2002
2002 establishments in Germany
Sport in Mannheim