Kicker (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine,[citation needed] 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

The head office of Kicker in Nuremberg with the Kicker statue in front of the main entrance

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:

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 of them stuck to the allotted number of picks. For example, Johan Cruyff only picked three teams - Ajax, Milan and Dynamo Kyiv.

Each club's trophies and Ballon d'Or winners are shown up until 1999

RankClubContinental trophiesBallon d'Or winnersDomestic trophies
1Royal Spanish Football Federation Real Madrid7x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup2x Di Stéfano, Kopa27x La Liga, 17x Copa del Rey
2Royal Dutch Football Association Ajax4x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super CupCruyff27x Eredivisie, 14x KNVB Cup
3Italian Football Federation Milan5x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 3x UEFA Super Cup3x Van Basten, Rivera, Gullit, Weah16x Serie A, 4x Coppa Italia
4German Football Association Bayern Munich3x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup2x Beckenbauer, 2x Rummenigge, G. Müller15x German champions, 9x DFB Pokal
5Royal Spanish Football Federation BarcelonaUEFA Champions League, 4x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup2x Cruyff, Stoichkov, Rivaldo16x La Liga, 24x Copa del Rey
6The Football Association Manchester United2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super CupLaw, Charlton, Best12x English champions, 10x FA Cup, League Cup
7Portuguese Football Federation Benfica2x UEFA Champions LeagueEusébio30x Primeira Liga, 26x Taça de Portugal
8Ukrainian Association of Football Dynamo Kyiv2x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Super CupBlokhin, Belanov13x USSR Top League, 7x UPL 9x USSR Cup, 4x Ukrainian Cup
9Italian Football Federation Juventus2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3x UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup3x Platini, Sivori, Rossi, Baggio, Zidane26x Serie A, 9x Coppa Italia
10Italian Football Federation Inter Milan2x UEFA Champions League, 3x UEFA CupMatthäus, Ronaldo13x 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.

RankClubContinental trophiesBallon d'Or winnersDomestic trophies
1Royal Spanish Football Federation Real Madrid13x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 4x UEFA Super Cup4x C. Ronaldo, 2x Di Stéfano, Kopa, Figo, Ronaldo, Cannavaro34x La Liga, 19x Copa del Rey
2German Football Association Bayern Munich6x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup2x Beckenbauer, 2x Rummenigge, G. Müller33x German champions, 20x DFB-Pokal
3The Football Association Manchester United3x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super CupLaw, Charlton, Best, C. Ronaldo20x English champions, 12x FA Cup, 5x League Cup
4The Football Association Liverpool6x UEFA Champions League, 3x UEFA Cup, 4x UEFA Super CupMichael Owen19x English champions, 7x FA Cup, 8x League Cup
5Royal Spanish Football Federation Barcelona5x UEFA Champions League, 4x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 5x UEFA Super Cup6x Messi, 2x Cruyff, Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho26x La Liga, 31x Copa del Rey
6Italian Football Federation Milan7x UEFA Champions League, 2x UEFA Cup, 5x UEFA Super Cup3x Van Basten, Rivera, Gullit, Weah, Shevchenko, Kaká18x Serie A, 5x Coppa Italia
7Italian Football Federation Juventus2x UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3x UEFA Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup3x Platini, Sivori, Rossi, Baggio, Zidane, Nedvěd36x Serie A, 14x Coppa Italia
8Argentine Football Association Boca Juniors6x CONMEBOL Libertadores, 2x CONMEBOL Sudamericana, 4x CONMEBOL Recopa34x Argentine PL, 14x Argentine Cup
9German Football Association Hamburger SVUEFA Champions League, European Cup Winners' Cup2x Keegan6x German champions, 3x DFB-Pokal
10German Football Association Borussia Mönchengladbach2x UEFA CupSimonsen5x Bundesliga, 3x DFB-Pokal

External links

  • Media related to Kicker (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons