History
The club was founded in 2003 through the fusion of TSV 1880 Gera-Zwötzen and SV 1861 Liebschwitz. The club is made up largely of players who used to play in higher divisions wityh a large number coming from the two most successful Thuringian clubs, FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Gera won the Landesliga Thüringen (V) in 2006–07 and gained promotion to the Oberliga.
Gera's most notable success to date was their advance to the final of the 2007 TFV-Pokal (Thuringer Cup) where they lost to FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Despite their losing appearance the team still qualified for the 2006–07 German Cup as Jena had already earned their place in that competition through their promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga. Gera hosted 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the opening round and lost 0:2.
1. FC Gera 03 play in the Stadion der Freundschaft which has a capacity of 16,800 spectators. They share the venue with 1. SV Gera.
The best known footballer to have played for Gera 03 was Marco Weißhaupt, who went on to play in the Bundesliga for Hamburger SV, SC Freiburg, and Hansa Rostock.
The club also has a women's football team, which plays at the Regionalliga level.
Read more about this topic: 1. FC Gera 03
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