Werder Bremen is a Bundesliga side based in Bremen, in the German federal state of Bremen, or the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, to give it its official name. Bremen was founded in 1899, and have four Bundesliga titles, five German Cups, and one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup to their name.
Bremen’s league titles have all been one-offs, with the last title win coming in 2004, when they also won the DFB-Pokal to make it a domestic double. Ailton, Werder’s Brazilian striker, finished as the top goalscorer in the league that season with 28 goals. Their most successful sustained period of success came in the 1980s, up until the mid-90s, under coach Otto Rehhagel.
During his time with the side, Werder finished as runners-up in the league in 1983, 1985 and 1986, before winning it in 1988. They reached the final of the DFB-Pokal in 1989 and 1990 before triumphing in 1991, and then won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1992. The side followed this up with another Bundesliga title win in 1993, and another DFB-Pokal win the next season.
Bremen are based out of the Weserstadion, a 42,100-capacity multi-purpose stadium in Bremen. They have been at the stadium since 1947, however, it was completely rebuilt in 2008. The club colours are green and white, as seen on the club crest and home kit, as well as one of their nicknames, Der Grün-Weißen, which translates to ‘The Green-Whites’. In terms of rivalries, Werder have a rivalry with Hamburger SV, another club in the north-west of Germany
The current manager of the first-team is the German Florian Kohfeldt. He began his career as a coach of Bremen’s youth teams, before being made assistant manager in the 2014-15 season. He then became manager of Werder Bremen II, Werder’s reserve side, in 2016, and was at that post till being made interim manager of the senior side in October 2017, since when he clinched a permanent deal and has been head coach of the senior side. The team is currently captained by Niklas Moisander, who joined the club in 2016 from Italian side Fiorentina.
Werder have been struggling in the current Bundesliga season, and were in the relegation zone when play was suspended. Having played 24 games, Werder were in 17th place, four points off Fortuna Dusselforf who occupy the relegation play-off spot, and just two points ahead of Paderborn, the bottom side in the league
