Union Berlin is my club. I've been following them since 2008/9 and been a season ticket holder and member for a decade and more.

The club's roots go back to 1906 in the Berlin suburb of Oberschöneweide, when three small, local clubs merged to form FC Olympia Oberschöneweide. Three years later, the club name became Union Oberschöneweide.

The players were in the main young apprentices from the local factories making, for instance, batteries and cables. As the area became more and more industrialised, the land on which the club was playing its games was needed for housing development, so 'Union' moved in 1920 to a location on the very edge of Oberschöneweide, neighbouring with the district of Köpenick. The base they established there, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, has been the club's home ever since.

In the early 1920s, the club enjoyed a period of some success. In 1920, they became Berlin champions for the first time. Three years later, they made it to the final of the national championships, before ultimately losing to Hamburg's HSV.

The better finanical positions of Hertha BSC and Tennis Borussia Berlin and the restructuring of German football under the Nazi regime all, however, worked against Union in the years thereafter, and the club enjoyed no further success of any note for several decades.

In the immediate post-war years, the formation of sports clubs and the use of former club names was not allowed by the Allies. Instead, 'Sportgruppen' (sports groups) were established. Sportgruppe Oberschöneweide became the de facto successor of Union Oberschöneweide. In 1948, SG Oberschöneweide became Berlin champions, but like the forerunner club in 1923, again lost in the final of the German championships, this time to the other Hamburg club, St Pauli.

That same year, it was allowed to reintroduce 'Union' into the name, which now became SG Union Oberschöneweide. A year later, however, in 1949, 'Union' faced a serious crisis. The administrators of football in the Soviet zone refused to accept proposals from the newly formed West Berlin FA for professionalising the status of players, and withdrew eastern teams from the Berlin League. In protest at this decision, the Union players played the remaining games of the season at the Poststadion in Moabit, part of the British Sector. Although the team went on to qualify for the final of the German championship, the politicians refused to allow them to travel to Kiel for the game. Around two weeks later, the majority of the players formed a new club in West Berlin, SC Union 06 Berlin.

Under the East German communist regime the remnants of the club back in the East went through many name changes and mergers over the following decade and a half, emerging in 1963 as TSC Berlin, intended as the civilian counterpart to the police-backed Dynamo and army-backed Vorwärts. No matter what they were called, however, on-pitch success continued to elude them.

1966 then saw the birth of 1. FC Union Berlin in its current guise, which is why you'll see plenty of references to that date on graffiti and club merchandise. In that year, the DDR restructured football to - they hoped - make it more competitive. In Berlin that meant the formal creation of BFC Dynamo, FC Vorwärts Berlin and 1. FC Union Berlin.

Two years later, 1. FCU surprisingly won the East German FA Cup. There is now a statue commemorating this in front of the main stand. Due to the repercussions of the Prague Spring, however, the East German football authorities refused to allow the team to take part in the following season's European Cup Winners' Cup.

Union became a yo-yo club between the top two divisions of DDR football. And apart from a Cup Final appearance in 1986, existed very much in the shadow of the Stasi-backed BSC Dynamo, who won the league ten years in succession between 1978 and 1988, a domination that would end, however, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

In reunified Germany, Union missed out on immediate membership of either of the two top leagues (Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga), and it wasn't until 1993 that the club won the play-off to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga. It was a promotion, however, that wasn't to be. A bank guarantee lodged with the League as a condition of entry had been forged. 

The following season too (1993/94), Union topped their regional third-tier league, but were refused a licence for the 2. Bundesliga due to having a mountain of debt.

By 1997, things had become so bad financially, that it seemed inevitable that the club would go broke. However, a 'Save Union' march of around 3,000 fans through the Brandenberg Gate attracted the attention of Nike, who entered into a five-year sponsorship deal with the club, thus helping Union to avert immediate financial ruin.

But things continued to go badly and fans continued to raise funds to help. Then, in 1998, everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relieft when movie distribution entrepreneur Michael Kölmel gave the club a loan of €15m in return for certain marketing and TV rights.

In 2001, Union finally achieved promotion from the third tier to the 2. Bundesliga and also caused a minor sensation by reaching the final of the DFB Pokal (the FA Cup). Although they lost in the final to Schalke, they nevertheless qualified for the UEFA Cup, as S04 had already qualified for the Champions League. Their European journey ended, however in just the second round.

In 2004, Union dropped back down to the third tier and in 2005 were relegated again, to the fourth-tier Oberliga. The club's burden of debt had also peaked again at that time, and it was only fundraising efforts by the fans, including the well-known 'Bleed for Union' campaign (where fans gave blood and donated the money they got for that to the club) that ensured the club gained its league licence. 

However, in 2006, Union gained promotion back to the third tier Regionaliga and in 2008 qualified for the new national 3. Liga.

By that time the Stadion An der Alten Försterei was looking a tad poorly.