Early years

The Hamburger Sport-Verein (HSV), can trace its roots as far back as the merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub on 29 September 1887 to form Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg. The current club was formed as Hamburger Sport-Verein in 1919 through the union of three city teams severely weakened by World War I: Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg; Hamburger FC (1888); and FC Falke Eppendorf (1906). The club colors were the Hanseatic red and white in honor of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, Germania, being used on the team crest. It is through Germania that HSV can lay a claim to being the oldest team in the country. However, other clubs may dispute that honour, as Germania was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891, when a half-dozen Englishmen joined the club, bringing with them their enthusiasm for the game.

The newly formed Hamburger SV quickly became competitive and contested the 1922 national final against 1. FC Nuremberg, who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called off on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at (2:2). The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called at (1:1) when Nuremberg was reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off!) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball Bund) awarded the win to Hamburger SV but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship—which they grudgingly did. Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.

The club's first unblemished success on the pitch came in 1923 when they won the national title against Union Oberschöneweide. They failed to defend in 1924 against Nuremberg, but lifted the Viktoria again in 1928.

During the Third Reich, HSV enjoyed local success, first in the Gauliga Nordmark, from 1942 in the Gauliga Hamburg, taking out the league title in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1945, but on national level the club was a failure. Its main rival in the Gauliga in those years was Eimsbütteler TV.

Post war play in the Stadtliga Hamburg saw the club take out the championship there in 1946. The club also won the championship of the British occupation zone in 1947 and 1948, the only two seasons this competition was staged.

Hamburg became the first German team to tour the United States after the Second World War in May 1950 and came away with a 6–0 record.[citation needed]

Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in postwar Germany in 1947, Hamburg became a frighteningly dominant regional club. In sixteen seasons from 1947–48 to 1962–63 they laid claim to the Oberliga title 15 times, only posting an uncharacteristic 11th place finish in 1953–54. During this period, they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961, and 1962 seasons. However, national titles were harder to come by. Their last championship in 1928 was followed by a long drought not broken until 1960, after losing final appearances in 1957 and 1958. In the 1961 European Champions Cup competition, Hamburg were knocked out by FC Barcelona in the semi-finals. Hamburg had beaten BSC Young Boys from Switzerland and English champions Burnley on their way to the semi-finals.