HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHALKE 04
The pride of the coal miners' club which was founded in 1904 under the name Westfalia Sachalke. Because of this, Schalke 04 got the nickname Die Knappen, derived from the old German word meaning miner. The club was indeed founded by young people who work as miners or children of miners.
Schalke had to wait eight years to compete in the West German league in 1912 to be precise. They were able to become members of the league after a merger of sports organizations.
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 has been waiting for years to win the title again. That dream finally came true when they won the West German league in 1929.
However, a year later they were penalized for giving a salary that exceeded the provisions set by the league. Schalke banned for six months. The punishment did not reduce the club's popularity. On his first return after serving his suspension, Schalke's game was watched by 70,000 spectators.
Since then, Schalke has shown dominance in the league. They won the league title several times in 1933-1942. Before World War II, Schalke had won six titles.
Only, their achievements are no longer proud after World War II. They only won the league once in 1958. Furthermore, Schalke never won even though the competition had changed to the German Bundesliga.
Although they rarely reap high achievements, Schalke's popularity has never declined. In fact they are one of the most popular football clubs in Germany. Schalke, which has rivalry with Borussia Dortmund, is a sports club with more than 84 thousand members. This makes Schalke the second biggest sports club in Germany.
source:soccerklopedia