Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft - more commonly shortened to VfL Bochum or simply Bochum - is a German professional football club based in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia and currently playing in the country's top tier Bundesliga. The club plays home games at Ruhrstadion.
Founded in 1848 originally as a gymnastics team, the club is one of the oldest sports franchises in the world and has spent over 30 seasons in the Bundesliga. After some early setbacks - including being banned for political reasons in 1852 - the club merged with Spiel und Sport 08 Bochum to create Turn- und Sportverein Bochum 1848 and in 1924, the club was divided into a gymnastics division and another featuring football, athletics, handball, hockey, and tennis teams. During the war, the club was forced into a merger by the Nazi regime and, due to a lack of players and damage to pitches, struggled to compete. However, since the end of the war, VfL Bochum 1848 was able to be an independent club and - although initially seen as a "yo-yo club" - Bochum established itself as a long-running top-tier club.
