Multi-Sport Clubs

[Whittaker]

I was in Budapest the other week and, going into the club shop, found that not only is there a professional water-polo section of Ferencvaros but that the caps and poolside dressing gowns were for sale. I then saw a football fan wearing one of the caps.

Anyone know of any particularly odd sections to well-known multi-sports clubs?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Multi-Sport Clubs

There's the FC Bayern Chess Club.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Partizani Tirana had a cycle team. Most clubs did, actually - the clubs' titles tended to state 'Sportklub', instead of 'Klubi i Futbollit' which is more prevalent since the breakdown of the old communist sports organisations.

[ad hoc]

Multi-Sport Clubs

I'm not surprised in the slightest that Fradi have a water polo team. Water polo is big in Hungary and the Hungarian national team are just about the most successful national water polo team in the world.

[Whittaker]

Multi-Sport Clubs

ad hoc wrote: I'm not surprised in the slightest that Fradi have a water polo team. Water polo is big in Hungary and the Hungarian national team are just about the most successful national water polo team in the world.

I had no idea at all until I went there. I guess the idea of professional water polo never even occured to me.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Shit, forgot my own team. SpVgg Unterhaching had a bobsleigh team until fairly recently. Still on the badge.

[Flynnie]

Multi-Sport Clubs

FC Barcelona have a rink hockey (essentially field hockey on roller skates - really) department, an ice hockey team, a rugby league team and a baseball team. I get the impression sometimes that if you can get a handful of Catalans who want to play a sport FCB will make it a department of the club and pay for your kit.

Ajax had a baseball team until 1972, which is briefly touched on by moi in the MLB thread. Which is interesting because Ajax weren't really a multi-sport club, I think they may have had a rowing team as well but honkbal was the only other sport ever played at De Meer (which must have had a mighty short foul line).

Hamburg have baseball and cricket teams, and are quite good at both (by German standards).

[ursus arctos]

Multi-Sport Clubs

FCB's "biggest" other sport is basketball (as is Real Madrid's).

Multi-sport clubs are quite common in Iberia (including all of the Portuguese Big Three) and Eastern and Central Europe, including Germany (where the TSVs will have roots in gymnastic clubs, for instance, and a club like Eintracht Frankfurt will sponsor more than 20 sports).

CSKA of Russia have top flight teams in the professional football, ice hockey and basketball leagues, as well as hosting a number of other sports.

We've "done this before", but I can't find the thread.

[jefe]

Multi-Sport Clubs

I think Barca killed off the baseball team within the past couple years in order to save money/spend it on football and basketball.

[Gangster Octopus]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Flynnie wrote: I think they [Ajax] may have had a rowing team as well

I can just imagine the Dutch being good at rowing. Or did you mean rowing?

[ursus arctos]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Yes, they did.

Virtually all of the former FCB players and coaches joined Club Beisbol Barcelona, which competes in the Spanish top flight.

The current line-up of sports at FCB is

Football
Basketball
Handball
Roller Hockey
Futsal
Athletics (amateur)
Field Hockey (amateur)
Ice Hockey (amateur)

[Levin]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Here you go. Barcelona also has a handball club Intersport Barcelona which is one of the big clubs in Europe.

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Flynnie wrote: FC Barcelona have a rink hockey (essentially field hockey on roller skates - really) department

More like ice hockey on roller skates (on a hardwood surface).

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Whittaker wrote: I was in Budapest the other week and, going into the club shop, found that not only is there a professional water-polo section of Ferencvaros but that the caps and poolside dressing gowns were for sale. I then saw a football fan wearing one of the caps.

Anyone know of any particularly odd sections to well-known multi-sports clubs?

Only odd to the provincial Britisher (no offence and all that). Water polo is to Hungary what ski is to Norway.

[Flynnie]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Pat McGatt wrote:

FC Barcelona have a rink hockey (essentially field hockey on roller skates - really) department

More like ice hockey on roller skates (on a hardwood surface).

Not with that equipment, lad.

[ursus arctos]

Multi-Sport Clubs

To go back to the original post's query about "unusual" examples, Eintracht Frankfurt's 20+ sports include Badminton, Cheerleading, Curling Darts, Dancing and Ultimate Frisbee.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Flynnie wrote: FC Barcelona have a rink hockey (essentially field hockey on roller skates - really) department, an ice hockey team, a rugby league team and a baseball team. I get the impression sometimes that if you can get a handful of Catalans who want to play a sport FCB will make it a department of the club and pay for your kit.

I think the RL team has gone but there is still one in Barcelona itself.

Red Star Belgrade have an RL team though, or at least did until recently.

[Renart]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Ha ha, so if Frankfurt has an "ultimate" team, then presumably they play against other clubs with ultimate teams? It's difficult for me to imagine ultimate frisbee being played by anything other than West Coast American college bros.

[seand]

Multi-Sport Clubs

ursus arctos wrote: To go back to the original post's query about "unusual" examples, Eintracht Frankfurt's 20+ sports include Badminton, Cheerleading, Curling Darts, Dancing and Ultimate Frisbee.

We need to know more about this sport! The mind boggles.

[gavc23]

Multi-Sport Clubs

The only big UK equivalents I can think of are the old Manchester United basketball team. Or Harlequins rugby league I suppose. The universities too are multi-sport clubs, if we can count them.

There are a lot of Finnish football/basketball clubs. A few ice hockey/football/many other sports too (HIFK the most high profile at the moment).

[Whittaker]

Multi-Sport Clubs

Pat McGatt wrote:

I was in Budapest the other week and, going into the club shop, found that not only is there a professional water-polo section of Ferencvaros but that the caps and poolside dressing gowns were for sale. I then saw a football fan wearing one of the caps.

Anyone know of any particularly odd sections to well-known multi-sports clubs?

Only odd to the provincial Britisher (no offence and all that). Water polo is to Hungary what ski is to Norway.

I certainly learned something. I was more surprised to learn that some people wear water polo caps to football matches, mind.

[ursus arctos]

Multi-Sport Clubs

I believe that some of the "crusader" outfits one sees at England matches feature modified water polo caps

[Levin]

Multi-Sport Clubs

I was looking up CSM Bucuresti after seeing they got beaten by Larvik in the Champions League (handball) at the weekend and saw that their sports departments are

Athletics
Basketball
Handball
Rugby
Chess
Tennis
Volleyball

& Motorcycling

[Ray de Galles]

Multi-Sport Clubs

That reminds me that there is, or maybe was, a Hellas Verona Speedway team.

[ursus arctos]

Multi-Sport Clubs

I never knew that.

They (and Italian speedway in general) seem to be moribund (at least digitally), but they were Italian Champions in 2010.