What is not especially well known outside the city either is that Wolfsburg were founding members of the 2. Bundesliga in 1974 but were relegated straight away. Another promotion and relegation followed, and then the Wolves vanished from professional football for 15 years. Only in 1992, under coach Uwe Erkenbrecher, did they return to the second division.
In the promotion round they faced three opponents from the new eastern states: FC Berlin, Union Berlin and FSV Zwickau. Promotion was secured on June 13, 1992 with a 2–1 win over FC Berlin. Another five years passed before they reached the Bundesliga.
It thus took exactly 45 largely unsuccessful years before the main sponsor Volkswagen could welcome VfL Wolfsburg to the top division. VW had already been the club’s main sponsor since 1952.
