FSV Mainz is a Bundesliga club based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatine, in Germany. Founded in 1905, the club have won no major honours, with their current season in the Bundesliga representing their tenth consecutive season in the top flight.
Mainz do not have a history of playing in the German top flight, having been a lower league side for most of their existence. They played in the regional top flight before the formation of the Bundesliga, but then persisted in the second division, even dropping down to the amateur divisions due to financial issues. Mainz came close to promotion in 1996-97, 2001-02 and 2002-03, with the last failure being a particularly painful one, as they missed out in the 93rd minute of the last day of the season, while the previous year, the club got the unwanted record of the team with the highest points total to not be promoted.
Jurgen Klopp, who had been appointed manager in 2001, finally managed to drag the club up to the Bundesliga in 2003-04, but they were relegated at the end of the 2006-07 season. They made their way back for the 2009-10 season, and have remained ever since.
Mainz’s home stadium is the Opel Arena, a multi-purpose stadium in Mainz. It has a capacity of 34,000 and was opened in 2011. Prior to this, Mainz played at the Stadion am Bruchweg since 1929. Their club colours are red and white, as seen on the crest and the home kit. The club’s main rivalries are local, with Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Kaiserslautern representing their biggest rivals.
The first-team squad is currently managed by Achim Beierlorzer. He was appointed in November 2019, after being sacked as the manager of FC Koln in the same month. He also had prior coaching experience at RB Leipzig and Jahn Regensburg. The current club captain is Danny Latza, a German midfielder who has been at the club since 2015.
When the current football season was suspended, Mainz were in 15th place in the Bundesliga, sitting just four points ahead of Fortuna in the relegation playoff spot, and a point off Augsburg in 14th place.
