User:Hermannusa/History of Arminia Bielefeld

For a statistical breakdown by season, see List of Arminia Bielefeld seasons. For the history of Arminia's home ground, see Bielefelder Alm.

Arminia Bielefeld is a German professional association football club based in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded on 3 May 1905 as 1. Bielefelder FC Arminia by fourteen members. The club was admitted to the German Football Association in the same year. Arminia earned its first league honours by winning the 1922 and 1923 Western German football championship. In 1926 the club relocated within Bielefeld to its current home ground, the Bielefelder Alm. On 30 January 1926 the club renamed itself to the current name, Deutscher Sportclub Arminia Bielefeld, or DSC Arminia Bielefeld.

Historical chart of Arminia Bielefeld league performance

In the aftermath of World War II, Arminia competed in the local third-tier Landes/Verbandsliga between 1954 and 1962, a league consisting only of local clubs from the Westfalian region. The club qualified for the new second-tier Regionalliga West in 1963 and achieved promotion into the first-tier Bundesliga in 1970. The club avoided relegation in its first Bundesliga season, however Arminia was involved in a match fixing scandal and forcibly relegated the following year. After being relegated, the club qualified for the newly formed second-tier 2. Bundesliga in 1974, and earned promotion back to the Bundesliga in 1978. Following a subsequent relegation in 1979, the club regained promotion in 1980 and established itself in the Bundesliga by recording its club record eigth place finishes in 1983 and 1984. Following accumulation of debts and a relegation in 1985, Arminia was again relegated to the third-tier Oberliga in 1988.

Arminia played for 6 seasons in the Oberliga, and advanced to the promotion round in 1990 but were not successful. Under the management of Ernst Middendorp the club earned back to back promotions in 1995 and 1996 to return to the Bundesliga. The club entered a yo-yo era thereafter with relegations to the 2. Bundesliga in 1998, 2000 and 2003 and promotions to the Bundesliga in 1999, 2002 and 2004. The yo-yo era concluded with five consecutive seasons in the Bundesliga between the 2004-05 and 2008-09 seasons. Arminia's relegation from the Bundesliga alongside the recently completed stadium renovations nearly bankrupted the club. Two relegations to the 3. Liga were followed by five consecutive 2. Bundesliga seasons and a return to the Bundesliga in 2020. Arminia's return to the Bundesliga lasted two seasons, before back to back relegations in 2022 and 2023, which returned the club to the 3. Liga for the 2023-24 season.

Founding and early years (1905-1918)

Arminia´s first team in 1911.

Prior to the foundation of the club, social clubs such as Terpsichore, named after the Greek muse, existed in Bielefeld. The activities of these clubs included social activities such as tea dances, but did not include sport. At this time, football in Germany had begun to take shape, as well as the sport already being played professionally in England. Alwin Bohlen of the Netherlands and Jonny Henningsen of Bremerhaven initially proposed that Terpischore should establish a football department at the club's 1904 general assembly. Their proposal was rejected, however then Terpischore officer Emil Schröder met with Bohlen and Henningsen immediately thereafter to pursue the matter further.

On 14 April 1905, fourteen men met at the Modersohn restaurant in the basement of the Bielefeld city hall and decided to form a football club. 1. Bielefelder FC Arminia was formally established at the same location two weeks later on 3 May 1905. The club's first president was co-founder Emil Schröder. Two weeks later, the club played its first match against a team from Osnabrück. Due to the short notice, the club was not able to acquire its own football kits with the club colours in time for its first match. Club co-founder Bohlen was able to arrange loaned orange kits from a club in Netherlands. Neither the name of the opponent nor the result of the club's inaugural match are known.

The club was admitted to the German Football Association, the DFB, in 1905 and started to play in the Bezirk VII league of the Western German Football Association, the WDFV, in 1906. This league initially consisted of four clubs, Arminia, and three from Osnabrück; Teutonia, Olympia 1903 and FC 1899 for the 1906-07 season. These three clubs from Osnabrück ultimately formed VfL Osnabrück in 1924 after multiple mergers. In 1907, local rivals FC Siegfried joined Arminia, a move which strengthened Arminia's squad. Bielefeld clubs SC Ravensberg Bielefeld and VfB Bielefeld joined league football for the 1907-08 season which was divided into two regional divisions. Bielefeld won their division, but lost 4:1 against Teutonia Osnabrück in the district championship match.

In 1909 local sporting goods store proprietor Julius Hesse took over as club president for Schröder. Hesse took over the club during an existential crisis, as they were unable to find a suitable, permanent home ground. Arminia's ground on the Kaiserstraße, today August-Bebel-Straße had been seized by the city of Bielefeld under eminent domain. In addition, significant debts were accumulated nearly bankrupting the club. During Hesse's tenure which lasted until 1914, the club was able to recover financially and even experienced sporting success. In 1910 Arminia moved to a new home ground at the Pottenau. Their first league championship came during the 1912-13 season, when they won the Westphalian championship beating BV 04 Dortmund 5–1 in the final. Arminia competed for the 1913 West German Championship, playing FC 95 Solingen in the quarterfinal. The quarterfinal match against Solingen was abandoned mid-match and Bielefeld was awarded the win and advanced before losing 0:1 to Union Düsseldorf in the semifinals.

The outbreak of World War I interrupted Arminia's rise, as the West German and German championships did not take place between 1914 and 1918. Local competitions still took place during this era, however many clubs did not have enough players to field a full squad. Arminia won the local championship during the 1915-16 and 1916-17 seasons, and the 1918-19 season was ultimately abandoned.

West German champions and "The Alm" (1918-1933)

Arminia merged with Bielefelder Turngemeinde 1848 in 1919 to form TG Arminia Bielefeld. However, the two merged teams later dissolved the merger in 1922 and both parent clubs were formed again. Arminia competed in the Westphalian Bezirksliga for the 1919-20 season, the first tier of the region. Many matches were cancelled due to the state of local transport infrastructure in the aftermath of WWI. Arminia played in 17 of 20 possible matches and finished the season in second place behind Hammer SV. During the following 1920-21 season, Arminia finished in first place in the new Westphalian Kreisliga Eastern Division. Despite the league title, Bielefeld was disqualified from the Westphalian championship against Preußen Münster due to violations of the amateur regulations of the competition. An unofficial Westphalian championship match was played against Münster that Arminia won 3:2.

Arminia won the 1921-22 Westphalian Bezirksliga season without dropping a single point and having scored 57 goals while only conceding 10 through all 18 matches. The club qualify for the Western German championship round consisting of 6 teams total, playing a round robin format for the championship. At first, Arminia were level on points with Kölner BC 01 at the conclusion of the championship round. A tie-breaking match was played between Köln and Bielefeld that Arminia lost 1:2. Days after this match, it was determined by the Western German Football Association that Köln's Scottish defender Gregor Smith was ineligibly fielded in a prior league match against Essener TB. Köln's match against Essen was to be replayed, however Köln insisted the match be postponed due to their Striker being injured. Ultimately, the match was not played and the association ruled the match as a forfeit by Köln, making Arminia the sole first place side and 1922 Western German Champions. By winning the 1922 title, Arminia played for the first time in the German championship, however, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 0–5 to FC Wacker München in Karlsruhe.

The following 1922-23 season, Arminia defended their Westphalian league title by winning all league matches. The format of the competition changed this season to two series spanning through 1922-24. Only a single round, i.e. each team only competed against the other once, during each year due to inflation, and only both series in 1922-23 and 1923-24 would constitute a single season. This season the first round of the Western German championship served also as the Westphalian championship, which Arminia won against Preußen Münster by a score of 7:0. The club's manager during the 1922-23 season was Czechian Frank Zoubek. Zoubek's last name is spelled differently as Zoubec or Zubek across various sources.

Arminia beat Jahn Siegen in the second round to advance to the Western German final against TuRU Düsseldorf. The final match was played at the Uhlenkrugstadion in Essen in front of 35,000 spectators. As the match was played on neutral ground, a train was chartered to transport Arminia supporters to and from the final, which was a first for the club. At half time Arminia trailed Düsseldorf 1:3, with the club's single goal being scored by Otto Wagner. Two second half goals from Wagner forced the match into extra time, where Willi Pohl scored the 4:3 winner for Arminia. Union Oberschöneweide awaited the club in the quarter-finals of the German championships. The match ended goalless, so a replay was held. Arminia led 1–0 and conceded the equalizer in injury time. The Berlin side won the match 1:2 after extra time. In the same year as Arminia's second championship Walter Claus-Oehler became Arminia's first player to be capped for the German national team with his 10 May 1923 appearance against the Netherlands. Not only did this make Claus-Oehler the first Bielefeld player to play for the national team, it also made him the first national team player from the state of North-Rhine Westfalia. Claus-Oehler later became the first Bielefeld player to score on the international level with his goal against Finland on 12 August 1923.

Arminia won further Westphalian titles in what was then referred to as the Westphalian Gauliga from in 1925, 1926, and 1927. In each of these three seasons, Arminia competed for the Western German championship but were unsuccessful. During the 1924-25 season, Arminia beat SuS Ahlen 17:0, a club record which still stands. On 1 November 1925 a match between SC Preußen Münster and Arminia became the first football match to be broadcast live on German Radio. Arminia won the match, which took place at the Sportplatz an der Hammer Straße in Münster, by a score of 5:0.

On 30 January 1926, the club took its current name Deutscher Sportclub Arminia Bielefeld. In the same year, following the mutliple titles won by the club, Arminia had outgrown their ground at the Pottenau intended for 4,000 spectators and relocated to the Bielefelder Alm. Their new ground was originally known as the Stadion an der Melancthonstraße, and its first match was against Victoria Hamburg. Roughly 2,000 spectators attended the friendly that Hamburg won 5:1. The exact origin of the "Alm" name is the subject of various legends, with the club considering a quote from member Heinrich Pehle as the most plausible origination. In the early years of the ground, Pehle said, "It looks like [a] pasture here!", referring to the poor quality and uneven surface of the pitch. The new ground initially lacked any facilities, with a nearby pub providing space for teams and match officials to change and shower.

Arminia ended the 1927-28 Gauliga season 2 points behind VfB Bielefeld, and failed to qualify for the Westphalian championship for the first time since their 1921 disqualification. The club qualified for the Western German championship again during the 1928-29 season but lost to Kurhessen Kassel in the semifinal. Arminia again failed to qualify for the Westphalian championship during following three seasons, but they won the 1932 Westphalian cup. Bielefeld beat VfB Detmold in the semifinal 4:1 before winning the final 3:1 against VfL Osnabrück. By winning the Westphalian cup, the club qualified for the quarterfinal of the Western German Cup. Arminia won 6:1 against SC Einbeck, before losing 2:4 in the semifinal against VfL Benrath.

Arminia during the Nazi regime (1933-1945)

In 1933, Arminia qualified for the Gauliga Westfalen, the first-tier during the Nazi regime. The club were immediately relegated to the Eastern-Wesphalian Bezirksliga after the inaugural season.

Former club member and president Julius Hesse was Jewish, and Hesse's sporting goods store, Hesse & Co., had still advertised in official club publications until 1930. Thereafter, until 1933, Hesse was permitted to advertise in unofficial publications. It is not known how long Hesse remained a member of the club, nor whether Hesse held other roles with the club after his tenure as club president. The terms under which Hesse's club membership ended are also unknown. Hesse later was a victim of the Holocaust and was killed in 1944 in the Theresienstadt family camp.

The club finished in second place behind VfB Bielefeld the 1934-35 and 1935-36 seasons, missing out on the promotional round. Arminia finished in first ahead of VfB Bielefeld the next season, but placed behind SpVgg Röhlinghausen and Arminia Marten in the Gauliga promotional round. Again in 1937-38 Arminia, finished in first in the Bezirksliga and advanced to the promotional round. This season, the promotional round was split into two groups of three teams, with the winner of each group earning promotion to the Gauliga. Arminia won all promotional round matches and earned promotion to the Gauliga over Alemannia Dortmund and FC Schwelm 06.

Arminia's first season back in the Gauliga in 1938-39 resulted in a mid-table finish in sixth place. The following year, Bielefeld finished in second place behind FC Schalke 04. In the three years thereafter, the club continued to finish in mid table. As World War II neared its end, Arminia and VfB Bielefeld merged together temporarily on 25 July 1943 but finished last in the 1943-44 Gauliga season. The Gauliga was divided into separate groups starting in the 1944-45 season, and the merged Bielefeld side was the only former Gauliga side in the new group. However, the season was short lived and abandoned after only one match due to the war.

Post-war years (1945-1963)

After World War II, Arminia Bielefeld and their local rivals VfB Bielefeld considered a merger, however ultimately both clubs wanted to maintain their own tradition and continued independently. Thereafter a new league with all teams who competed in the Gauliga Westfalen was formed. The competition lasted from March to October of 1946 and was renamed to the Landesliga Westfalen. Arminia were relegated from the division at the conclusion of the inaugural post-war season. Arminia did not immediately win promotion from the second-tier the following season, and due to league reformations in 1947–48, Arminia became a third division side for the first time in their history. Arminia gained promotion in the following year after only dropping 3 points during the 1947-48 season, and scoring a total of 119 across 22 matches. Arminia was docked 14 points because they fielded an ineligible player, and missed out on promotion.

The second-tier Landesliga which Arminia was competing for promotion into was expanded to 14 teams, an expansion which occurred after the first matches of the 1948-49 season had begun. Despite not being promoted following the points deduction, Arminia was admitted to the the Landesliga anyways due to the expansion. Arminia immediately won the expanded league, qualifying the club for the promotional round to the Oberliga West. Arminia faced VfL Witten and SpVgg Herten in the promotional round, and after all matches were played, the three teams were in a three way tie with 4 points each. The promotional round was replayed, as using goal difference as a tiebreaker had not yet been adopted. Arminia beat Herten 3:1 and beat Witten 1:0, both at neutral venues, to earn promotion to the Oberliga West.

Arminia's return to the first-tier lasted only one season. Arminia beat FC Schalke 04 4–2 at home, but ultimately finished only second from the bottom. During the club's single season in the Oberliga, and average of 12,500 spectators attended Arminia's home matches. This would remain the highest average attendance for the club for over 20 years. Attacker Horst Berning scored the most goals for the club during the Oberliga season with 9 across his 27 matches played. Bielefeld also participated in the Western German Cup in 1950, winning 8:1 against Homburcher FV 09 in the first round. After beating Union Gelsenkirchen 5:1 in the second round, Arminia lost 5:1 away to Meidericher SV in the quarterfinal.

Following their relegation, Arminia finished mid-table in 9th place during the 1950-51 2. Liga West. At the conclusion of the next season, the 2. Liga would be consolidated to only a single division. Arminia finished in 4th place, qualifying them for the newly formated 2. Liga West. Two seasons later in 1954, Arminia were relegated to the third-tier Landesliga Westfalen. Only clubs within eastern Westphalia competed in this division and, according to the club, this relegation threated the disappearance of the Arminia into obscurity. After the relegation, negotiations with VfB Bielefeld were again held regarding a merger between the clubs, however VfB backed out at the last moment. Arminia competed in the Western German Cup every year since their relegation from the Oberliga, making it as far as the 4th Round during the 1953-54 edition before losing to TSG Vohwinkel 3:1.

In the 1955-56 season Arminia qualified for the modified third-tier, the Verbandsliga Westfalen, again in the eastern Westphalian division. The division was changed to the Northeastern group for the start of the 1956-57 season. After qualification, the club finished five years in the upper half of the table, unable to earn promotion. During the 1961-62 season, Bielefeld finished in first place in the division, and beat BV Brambauer in the Westphalian championship to earn promotion into the 2. Oberliga West. This promotion ended an 8 year absence of Arminia from the second-tier. In addition to promotion, the club qualified for the Western German amateur championship and ultimately finished as runner up to TuRa Bonn.

The 1962–63 season would be the final in the existing format due to the formation of the Bundesliga. At the end of the 2. Oberliga season, the top eight positioned clubs would qualify for the new second-tier Regionalliga West. The newly promoted Arminia spent much of the first half of the season in the bottom half of the table. In April of 1963, Hellmut Meidt took over as the new manager in Bielefeld. The team went on to win 8 of their last nine matches, including the final 4:1 win over SC Dortmund, to qualify for the new Regionalliga. Of the eight clubs that failed to qualify for the new Regionalliga, only VfL Bochum would go on to play in professional football league again.

Promotion to the Bundesliga (1963-1970)

Arminia finished their first season in mid-table, but recorded a top-half finish in 4 of the following 5 seasons. In 1966, Arminia beat Alemannia Aachen to win the West German Cup for the first time. A year later, forward Ernst Kuster joined the team; he would become the club's all-time leading goal scorer (more than half a century later, Fabian Klos would beat his record). A 0–1 loss to Wuppertaler SV on the last day of the 1966–67 season stopped Arminia entering the Bundesliga promotion play-offs. Arminia were runners-up in the 1969–70 season, and won their first promotion to the Bundesliga after a 2–0 win at Tennis Borussia Berlin in the play-offs.

Bundesliga scandal and return (1970-1980)

Halfway through their first Bundesliga season, Arminia was in 17th place, a relegation position, but went on to finish the season in 14th. However, near the end of the season, Horst-Gregorio Canellas revealed that Arminia had engaged in match-fixing; three of the ten Bundesliga games proven by the DFB to have been manipulated through bribery directly involved Arminia. Two players at the club were banned from football for life (Waldemar Slomiany and Jürgen Neumann). Arminia participated in the 1971–72 Bundesliga season while the investigation was ongoing, but were ultimately found guilty of match fixing by the DFB and were denied a license and forcibly relegated at the conclusion. Arminia finished mid-table in the following seasons, but did qualify for the newly formed 2. Bundesliga in 1974.

After two seasons in mid-table, Arminia became Herbstmeister, during the 1976–77 2. Bundesliga season, but ultimately finished as runner-up behind FC St. Pauli. They faced TSV 1860 München in a two-legged play-off whose winner would win promotion to the top flight. Arminia won the first match at home 4–0, but lost the second leg in Munich 0–4. A third match had to be played in Frankfurt, which Munich won 2–0.

The team returned to win promotion to the Bundesliga during the following 1977-78 season. Arminia started mid-table and on 10 March 1979, they won 4–0 at Bayern Munich. However, Arminia finished the season in 16th place, unable to avoid relegation. The club kept the team together and were promoted back to the Bundesliga after a record-breaking 1979–80 season. They won 30 of 38 matches, scored 120 goals, had a 28 match unbeaten streak and set a league record by beating Arminia Hannover 11–0.

Establishment in the Bundesliga (1980-1985)

Arminia had difficulty avoiding relegation, but stayed in the Bundesliga for five years, a period which included two eighth-place finishes at the end of the 1982–83 and 1983–84 seasons. Furthermore, Arminia took part in the UEFA Intertoto Cup three times.

Arminia Bielefeld midfielder Ewald Lienen was victim to what the press referred to as "the most brutal foul in Bundesliga history" on August 14th, 1981. Werder Bremen defender Norbert Siegmann slashed Lienen's right thigh in a tackle, exposing his muscles and femur. Despite the clubs' record high Bundesliga eighth place finish in 1983 and 1984, attendances declined in the mid-1980s enlarging the club's financial problems. In 1984–85, Arminia finished third from the bottom, and lost the relegation play-offs against 1. FC Saarbrücken.

Decline to the Oberliga (1985-1994)

The team did not gain promotion and in the fall of 1987, Arminia had debts of 4.5 million Marks. In 1987–88 the club finished in last place in the 2. Bundesliga as a result of these debts and was relegated into the Oberliga Westfalen. Ernst Middendorp became the new manager and assembled a young team for the new season. Arminia led the way in the Oberliga, but finished in second position in 1988–89. They won the Oberliga a year later, but the promotion play-offs against VfB Oldenburg and TSV Havelse did not got their way. Four seasons of not qualifying for the 2. Bundesliga promotion playoffs followed, in which the team started well, but were unable to compete for the championship. In 1991, Arminia won the Westphalian Cup, the regional qualification cup for the DFB-Pokal, and beat FSV Mainz 05 in the first round of the 1991-92 DFB-Pokal.

Recovery and yo-yo era (1994-2004)

In the spring of 1994, Arminia signed veteran Bundesliga players Thomas von Heesen, Armin Eck and Fritz Walter. Arminia struggled at first but went on to become champions of the newly formed Regionalliga West/Südwest and runners-up in the 1995–96 2. Bundesliga. Arminia signed Stefan Kuntz for the 1996–97 Bundesliga season, their first in 11 years and finished in 14th position.

The club signed the first two Iranian Bundesliga players in 1997 with the addition of Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri. In addition, former SK Brann player Geirmund Brendesæterwas signed and played 13 matches for the club in 1997. However, after a poor run after the winter break, Arminia were relegated shortly after Brendesæter had left the club.Bruno Labbadia became the league's top scorer with 28 goals during the 1998–99 season and the club immediately regained promotion to the Bundesliga by winning the 2. Bundesliga. The club entered the 1999–2000 season with a smaller budget due to financial problems and was subsequently relegated after becoming the third team in history to lose ten matches in a row.

Arminia struggled against relegation again the next season and avoided to drop into the Regionalliga with a 13th place finish. In the following year, Arminia won their sixth promotion to the Bundesliga in 2001–02, with Artur Wichniarek scoring 18 goals. Arminia were unable to avoid relegation the following season, earning only two points from the last six matches.

Bundesliga reestablishment (2004-2009)

The team earned promotion to the Bundesliga again in 2003–04, with Ghanaian striker Isaac Boakye scoring 14 goals in his debut season. They stayed in the top flight until 2009. In 2004–05, Patrick Owomoyela becamed Arminia's most capped German player with his third appearance for the national team. Owomoyela went on to appear in 6 national team matches at Bielefeld, a club record that still stands as of 2024. Both Owomoyela and Delron Buckley, scorer of 15 Bundesliga goals during the 2004-05 season, departed the club. In the DFB-Pokal, Arminia reached the semi-finals in 2005 and 2006. In both seasons, Arminia also kept away from the relegation zone virtually the whole time (except the season's beginnings). The campaign "Aktion 5000 +" began to in an effort to increase club membership beyond their 5,000th member, after reaching the 5,000th member milestone at the end of 2005. The 2007 demolition of the East Stand drew the attention of fans and the local media, with the club establishing a webcam to follow the project, as well as a daily attendance of roughly 300 fans to witness the works. The East Stand was notable at the time as being the last terraced stand along the touch line.

Players from the 2004–05 and the 2005–06 season departed the club, including Fatmir Vata and Heiko Westermann in 2007, Mathias Hain, Sibusiso Zuma and Petr Gabriel in 2008. Arminia avoided relegation during the 2006–07 season in part by winning four matches from the 30th to the 33rd matchday, led by manager Ernst Middendorp. The 2007–08 season began with the club winning 3 of its first 5 matches, resulting in the club being in second place by the fifth matchday. Despite this second place start, Arminia recorded its second largest Bundesliga defeat three matchdays later with an 8:1 away loss to Werder Bremen. Relegation was avoided only on the final matchday with 34 points due to 1. FC Nürnberg losing at home while Arminia drew against VfB Stuttgart.

The following season, Arminia finished in last place and were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

Financial trouble and 3. Liga (2009-2015)

Players Rüdiger Kauf, Dennis Eilhoff, Jonas Kamper and Radim Kučera remained a part of the squad for the 2009–10 2. Bundesliga season. On 16 March 2010, Arminia were deducted four points for breaching the DFL's licensing regulations. Arminia were in 5th place prior to the point deduction, and finished the season in 7th place. their chances of promotion. The financial situation worsened, especially as costs for constructing the East Stand had proven to be much higher than originally planned for in 2007. The coach, the managing director and the club's president were replaced in the summer break. The 2010–11 season started with Arminia in last place after 11 matchdays, having earned only 4 points. In November manager Christian Ziege was let go and replaced by Ewald Lienen, former Bielefeld player and member of the fan-voted "Best XI" of all time. However, Arminia picked up 16 points and won only four games all season resulting in a last place finish and relegation to the 3. Liga.

Ewald Lienen coached the team for most parts of the 2010–11 season.

A new team had to be formed with players formerly unknown in Bielefeld who would leave their mark on the following seasons: Patrick Platins, Manuel Hornig, Tom Schütz, Sebastian Hille, Thomas Hübener, Patrick Schönfeld, Johannes Rahn and from the second half of the season onwards especially Fabian Klos who would coin a whole era. Another formative player, Stefan Ortega Moreno, joined from the club's youth. After a poor start, they ended the 2011–12 season in 13th place. They also won the Westphalia Cup, in a final against arch rival SC Preußen Münster. By reaching the final, they also qualified for the 2012–13 DFB-Pokal, where they beat SC Paderborn 07, a team playing in the 2. Bundesliga, but lost in the second round in a close match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a Europa League participant. On 11 May 2013, Bielefeld beat VfL Osnabrück 1–0 to guarantee a top two finish and promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2013–14 season.

That season began quite hopeful: Arminia qualified for the second round of the DFB-Pokal again and at the 8th matchday they had even climbed up to the 3rd rank in the league table. But after a disastrous autumn and a mediocre winter Arminia fell down onto the 17th rank and the popular coach Stefan Krämer – the first manager having held office for more than two years since 2004 – had to leave. His successor Norbert Meier at first had only little more success: Arminia finished 16th in the 2. Bundesliga, and lost a playoff against SV Darmstadt 98 on away goals after a 122nd minute (extra time) goal gave Darmstadt the victory. Arminia had to go back into the 3. Liga.

But the next season could wipe out the bitterness of that disaster: In the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal, as a 3. Liga club, Arminia reached the semi-finals by defeating three Bundesliga teams (Hertha BSC, SV Werder Bremen and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach). They also were the top team in the 3. Liga (after a bad beginning with only four points from the first four matches) for most part of the season. After the loss against VfL Wolfsburg in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal, Arminia seemed to have lost their ability to win their matches in the 3. Liga as well. Even the qualification for the 2. Bundesliga seemed to become doubtful, but was secured after a 2–2 draw against SSV Jahn Regensburg, the last team in the league table, at the 37th matchday. Liberated from the pressure of a possible non-qualification, they also won the 3. Liga with a final 1–0 victory at the last matchday.

Sporting and financial recovery (2015-2020)

A stable season with a defeat in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, a lot of draws in the league (especially in the beginning: eight out of ten matches; in the end Arminia reached a record of 18) and only very few goals scored at home (only eight until the 30th matchday) followed so that the 4–2 over Greuther Fürth at the 31st matchday which secured Arminia's staying up was only Arminia's third win at home. That season's highlights probably were the draws against all three top teams away. In the league table Arminia never went deeper than rank 14 and finished 12th.

After the season, the coach Norbert Meier was bought by SV Darmstadt 98. A difficult 2016–17 season with two manager sackings followed. Arminia found themselves among the lowest four teams in the league table from the fourth matchday onwards, mostly on the 16th or 17th rank. On the other hand, Arminia reached the quarter-final in the DFB-Pokal. They avoided relegation as they finished in 15th after a 6–0 win over promotion candidate Eintracht Braunschweig and a 1–1 against Dynamo Dresden at the last two matchdays.

The 2017–18 season turned out easier. Having gathered 10 points out of the first four matches, Arminia hardly ever left the upper half of the league table (only at the 19th matchday: rank 10) and finished on the 4th rank – though in that season's very close league table this never meant much. In that season, Arminia also made a big step in lowering its debts through an alliance of sponsors and Fabian Klos replaced Ernst Kuster as the club's all-time top scorer.

In November 2018, Arminia were practically free of debt but had to sell its stadium. The team faced a more difficult situation when December started: Having gained less than one point per match on average, only the weakness of the competing relegation candidates kept them up and they were already out of the DFB-Pokal after a 0–3 defeat at home against MSV Duisburg – another relegation candidate – in the second round. Thus, the popular coach Jeff Saibene was replaced by Uwe Neuhaus, who managed Arminia back into mid table within four matchdays and into 7th place by the last matchday.

Uwe Neuhaus brought Arminia back into the Bundesliga.

The 2019–20 season would turn out even better. When Arminia had climbed on the 3rd rank of the league table after a 2–0 victory away against Hannover 96 – who were originally regarded as a promotion candidate – at the 6th matchday, hardly anyone guessed they would stay in the promotion area of the league table for the rest of the season. They had just reached the second rank of the league table when they met FC Schalke 04 in the 2nd round of the DFB-Pokal on 29 October. In spite of Schalke clearly dominating the match in the first 70 minutes, Arminia thrilled the supporters in the last 20 minutes by scoring two goals and only closely missing extra time. They finished the 15th matchday on 1 December on the first rank of the league table where they would stay for the rest of the season in spite of competing with Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart who were originally estimated as main promotion candidates. After Arminia's 1–1 draw in Stuttgart on 9 March 2020 (25th matchday) the season was interrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even this interruption did not affect them: they finished the season with 68 points – 10 points more than VfB Stuttgart who finished 2nd.

Bundesliga return and double relegation (2020-Present)

Arminia entered the 2020-21 season with the smallest wage and transfer budget in the Bundesliga. The limited available budget prompted Sporting Director Samir Arabi to compare the club as an 'inflatable raft competing against 17 motorboats'. The club brought in X, Y, and Z. X, Y, and Z departed the club. The clubs first match of the season was an away against Eintracht Frankfurt, resulting in a 1:1 draw, with the Bielefeld goal being scored by Cebio Soukou. Ongoing measures due to the pandemic resulted in their first home match against 1. FC Koln being limited to 1,000 spectators. The first half of the season continued with Arminia remaining in a relegation battle by winning only three further matches against X, Y, and Z. Arminia all-time record goalscorer, Fabian Klos, scored his first Bundesliga goal on against RB Leipzig. In the second half of the season, Arminia faced Bayern Munich on X, only X days after their Club World Cup win in Qatar. Goals from Michel Vlap and Amos Pieper put Arminia 2:0 up at halftime, with the match ultimately ending in a 3:3 draw. X described the match as Y. Following a 0:3 loss to Borussia Dortmund, manager Uwe Neuhaus was fired and replaced by Frank Kramer. According to the club's leadership, the decision was not only made due to on field performance, but also for the long term development of the club. Kramer's inaugural match in charge resulted in a 0:0 draw with Union Berlin. Arminia ultimately avoided relegation on the last match day with a 2:0 win away to VFB Stuttgart, with Ritsu Doan and Fabian Klos scoring, ending the season in 15th place.