In Mainz, football and carnival always go together. Mainz 05 was founded on 16 March 1905 and on 16 March 2027 the club turns 122 years old. This is the story of the red shirt that introduced Jürgen Klopp to the world.

A café and "Hassia"

A first attempt in 1903 came to nothing. Two years later, a group of young men met at the Café Neuf in the city centre and set up the club that was soon named 1. Mainzer Fußballclub "Hassia" 05.

In October 1905 Eugen Salomon, only 17 years old, was elected the first chairman. Today the street next to the club's stadium bears his name.

What "05" means

The "05" is the year of foundation, and it has almost become a name in itself: fans call the team the "Nullfünfer", the "Zero-Fivers". Along the way the club went through several mergers.

In 1912 it merged with Hermania and the word "Hassia" disappeared. In 1919 came the union with SV 08 Mainz, in 1938 the forced merger of the Nazi era, and in 1945 the refoundation. Since 1963 the club has been called 1. FSV Mainz 05.

Red, white and a playful "M"

Mainz's colours are red and white, with the red shirt dominating the home kits. The colours even became a song, "Rot und Weiß" from 2020, which serves as an unofficial anthem.

The crest has a playful "M" at its centre, with the founding year on its two "wings". Until 2018 it also carried the lettering 1. FSV Mainz 05.

The carnival club

Mainz is one of the capitals of German carnival, Fastnacht, and the club has it in its DNA. Many affectionately call it the "Karnevalsverein", the carnival club.

Almost every year a special Fastnacht shirt comes out in the carnival colours of red, white, blue and yellow. On one of them, in 2021-22, the back carried the notes of the Narrhalla March, the tune that also plays whenever Mainz scores at home.

Klopp, Tuchel and Europe

Jürgen Klopp was a defender at the club when, on Carnival Monday in 2001, he took over as coach. In 2004 he led Mainz into the Bundesliga for the first time and stayed until 2008, when he left for Dortmund.

Promotion was decided on the final day, with a 3-0 win over Trier while Aachen lost. Mainz's 54 points were a record for a team promoted from the 2. Bundesliga.

Thomas Tuchel arrived in 2009 and in 2010-11 led the team to a record fifth place. Mainz had first played in Europe in 2005 through the fair-play ranking, and sixth place in 2024-25 earned a Conference League spot.

The Bruchweg, built in 1928, was the team's home for decades and is still used by the youth sides. In 2011 the first team moved to today's MEWA Arena, with 33,305 seats.

Players such as Andriy Voronin, Mohamed Zidan and Lewis Holtby shone in the shirt.

Celebrate with us

From a café in 1905 to European nights, Mainz remains a club that knows how to play and how to party. Happy 122nd birthday to the Nullfünfer, with plenty of confetti!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Mainz's MEWA Arena (2021) – Atirador, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.