Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (German:(listen)), Schalke 04 (German:(listen)), or abbreviated as S04 (German:(listen)), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke have been one of the most popular professional football teams in Germany, even though the club's heyday was in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke have played in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, since 2022, following promotion from the 2. Bundesliga in 2021–22. As of 2022, the club has 160,000 members, making it the second-largest football club in Germany and the fourth-largest club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports and eSports.
What is Schalke 04 famous for?
FC Schalke 04 (full name Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V. ) is a German football and multi-sports club that was founded in 1904 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club won seven times the German Championship, five times the German Cup / DFB-Pokal and 1997 the UEFA-CUP, when it beat Inter Milan in the finals. The club receives from football fans all over the world renown for its youth academy, which constantly develops famous players. Benedikt Höwedes, Manuel Neuer and Mesut Özil, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, were formed in the Schalke 04 youth academy. Since 2011 the youth academy is called Knappenschmiede in reference to the mining industry that was very strong in the past in the area of Western Germany. A Knappe is a miner after completion of his apprenticeship.