Hannover 96 (also known as Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, Hannover, 96 or Die Roten) is a professional German football club which plays at the top division of German football; the Bundesliga. Hannover 96 was founded in 1896 (hence the name) and promoted to the Bundesliga in 1964; one year after the Bundesliga was formed. Hannover 96 played in the Bundesliga for a decade before bouncing back and forth and then remaining in the second tier for 17 years in a row.

Hannover 96 holds its home matches at the AWD Arena (also known as Niedersachsenstadion until renamed in 2002). The stadium was originally built with the capacity of 86,000 seats but nowadays the stadium features 49,000 covered seats.

In 1992, Hannover 96 captured its first DFB-Pokal but despite the team's success, it could not achieve promotion. Moreover, in 1996, Hannover 96 was relegated down from the second tier for 2 seasons. In 2002, Hannover 96 made it back to the Bundesliga and thanks to an improved performance, achieve mid-table finishes.

After Hannover 96 finished the 2007/08 season in the 8th place, the team had a harder 2008/09 season because of long injuries of its key players. Hannover 96 struggled during the second half of the season and eventually managed to stabilize and finish in the 11th place.

The following 2009/10 season looked promising for Hannover 96 thanks to new signings and kit but because many key players were injured including the majority of attacking players and key defenders; the team failed to improve its performance._©20/05/2012Germanbundesligatickets.com

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