Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, but will play in the Bundesliga in the 2026–27 season following promotion via the relegation play-offs.
The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the turn of the millennium, becoming a mainstay in the 2. Bundesliga before securing promotion to the Bundesliga in the 2013–14 season. However, they got relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after only a season in the top division, and then again to the 3. Liga the season after. This relegation streak almost continued as low as the Regionalliga West, but Paderborn were saved in the 2016–17 season because 1860 Munich were refused a license, and thus got relegated instead. The club returned to 2. Bundesliga, reaching 2nd place in the 2018–19 season and was promoted to the Bundesliga. The club finished 18th in the 2019–20 season and returned to the 2. Bundesliga.
History
Fusion into SC Paderborn
For most of the twentieth century, Paderborn had two football clubs: TuS Schloss Neuhaus and FC Paderborn, who remained rivals until the 1980s. After Neuhaus had been promoted to the 2. Bundesliga and finished last in 1983, this set-up had reached its athletic and financial ceiling. Thus, in 1985, the two clubs merged into TuS Paderborn/Neuhaus. In 1997, the club adopted its current identity by assuming the name SC Paderborn 07, named after TuS Neuhaus's founding date 1907.
Beginnings in amateur football (1985–2005)
During most of the 1980s, the recently merged club competed in the third-tier Oberliga Westfalen, where they counted among the leading teams but never achieved promotion. In 1994, Paderborn won the league and thereby qualified for the promotion playoffs. The team lost to Eintracht Braunschweig and Fortuna Düsseldorf, but secured a place in the newly formed third-tier of the German football pyramid, the Regionalliga West/Südwest. Except for a brief stint in the fourth tier, Paderborn enjoyed moderate success with regular trips to the DFB Pokal.
During one of these, in 2004/5, the club reached the round of 16, beating MSV Duisburg and Bundesliga side Hamburger SV on the way. It later emerged that latter match had been affected by match fixing; referee Robert Hoyzer had received a bribe to let Paderborn win the game. The incident remains the most significant betting scandal in the history of German football.
thumb|225x225px|Coach [[André Breitenreiter in the 2013–14 promotion season]]
Consolidation in the 2. Bundesliga (2005–15)
Paderborn returned to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in nearly thirty years at the end of the same season. The team's advance into professional football brought with it a professionalisation of its structures, and, in 2005, construction began on a new 15,000-seat stadium, which replaced the dated Hermann-Löns-Stadion. All of this helped to establish the club as a regular component of Germany's professional football landscape. This process culminated in the club's first promotion to the Bundesliga after the 2013/14 season under coach André Breitenreiter, who had only joined the club from TSV Havelse at the start of the season.
Bundesliga and years of turbulence (2015–2021)
Having never been in the Bundesliga before, Paderborn were described as "the biggest outsider in Bundesliga history" going into the season. The team started well; in the fourth game of the campaign against Hannover 96, midfielder Moritz Stoppelkamp scored a volley from 83 metres out, headline a Bundesliga record for the furthest ever goal. This goal also put the team top of the Bundesliga table at the time.
Paderborn were 10th in the table at the halfway point, but suffered a number of heavy losses in the second half of the season. On the second last matchday of the season, they dropped to last place, and were relegated on the final day. Upon relegation, a number of key players such as Alban Meha, Mario Vrančić, Lukas Rupp, Marvin Ducksch and captain Uwe Hünemeier left the club, while coach Breitenreiter joined Schalke.
Starting the 2015–16 season with Markus Gellhaus in charge, Paderborn surprisingly gave former Germany international Stefan Effenberg his first coaching job in October 2015. In March, Effenberg was sacked, with the team bottom of the table and heading for a second consecutive relegation, which was later confirmed. Competing in the 3. Liga for the first time since 2009, Paderborn again found themselves at the bottom of the table. After Steffen Baumgart took over as coach in April, the team picked up 11 points from his five games in charge, but could not escape the relegation zone, finishing in 18th position. That should have been a third relegation in a row, this time to the non-professional Regionalliga West, but Paderborn were unexpectedly saved by 1860 Munich not receiving a license to play in the 3. Liga. 1860 Munich were forced to move to the Regionalliga Bayern, which allowed Paderborn to stay in the third tier.
Having been saved narrowly, Baumgart's team surprisingly finished second in the 2017–18 season and returned to the 2. Bundesliga. In 2019, a remarkable turn of events, the newly promoted side completed another top-two finish, which returned Paderborn to the Bundesliga after years of turbulence. The 2019–20 season, however, ended in the same way their first Bundesliga campaign did, as Paderborn finished last, meaning relegation back to the second tier in June 2020. The following season, Paderborn finished ninth in the 2. Bundesliga, the first time since 2012–13 that the club finished outside the promotion or relegation places.
Back in the 2. Bundesliga, near misses, and return to the Bundesliga (2021–)
After a few seasons of mid-table football, Paderborn finished fourth in 2024–25 season, three points short of SV Elversberg in third and four short of Hamburger SV in second. In the 2025–26 season, Paderborn finished third, just outside the automatic promotion spots, but were promoted via the relegation play-off after defeating VfL Wolfsburg.
260px|thumb|Historical chart of Paderborn league performance
Recent seasons
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Division
! Tier
! Position
|- align="center"
|1985–86
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
| rowspan="15" |III
|2nd
|- align="center"
|1986–87
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|6th
|- align="center"
|1987–88
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|8th
|- align="center"
|1988–89
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|9th
|- align="center"
|1989–90
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|2nd
|- align="center"
|1990–91
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|8th
|- align="center"
|1991–92
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|5th
|- align="center"
|1992–93
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|5th
|- align="center"
|1993–94
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
|1st
|- align="center"
|1994–95
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
|9th
|- align="center"
|1995–96
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
|5th
|- align="center"
|1996–97
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
|10th
|- align="center"
|1997–98
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
|9th
|- align="center"
|1998–99
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
|7th
|- align="center"
| 1999–00
| align="left" |Regionalliga West/Südwest
| style="background:#ffcccc"|13th ↓
|- align="center"
| 2000–01
| align="left" |Oberliga Westfalen
| IV
| style="background:#ddffdd"|1st ↑
|- align="center"
| 2001–02
| align="left" |Regionalliga Nord
| rowspan="4" | III
| 14th
|- align="center"
| 2002–03
| align="left" | Regionalliga Nord
| 8th
|- align="center"
| 2003–04
| align="left" | Regionalliga Nord
| 3rd
|- align="center"
| 2004–05
| align="left" | Regionalliga Nord
| style="background:#ddffdd"|2nd ↑
|- align="center"
|2005–06
| align="left" |2. Bundesliga
| rowspan="3" | II
| 9th
|- align="center"
|2006–07
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 11th
|- align="center"
|2007–08
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| style="background:#ffcccc"|17th ↓
|- align="center"
|2008–09
| align="left" |3. Liga
| III
| style="background:#ddffdd"|3rd ↑
|- align="center"
|2009–10
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| rowspan="5" | II
| 5th
|- align="center"
|2010–11
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 12th
|- align="center"
|2011–12
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 5th
|- align="center"
|2012–13
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 12th
|- align="center"
|2013–14
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| style="background:#ddffdd"|2nd ↑
|- align="center"
|2014–15
| align="left" |Bundesliga
| I
| style="background:#ffcccc"|18th ↓
|- align="center"
|2015–16
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| II
| style="background:#ffcccc"|18th ↓
|- align="center"
|2016–17
| align="left" | 3. Liga
| rowspan="2" | III
| 18th
|- align="center"
|2017–18
| align="left" | 3. Liga
| style="background:#ddffdd"|2nd ↑
|- align="center"
|2018–19
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| II
| style="background:#ddffdd"|2nd ↑
|- align="center"
|2019–20
| align="left" | Bundesliga
| I
| style="background:#ffcccc"|18th ↓
|- align="center"
|2020–21
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| rowspan=6|II
| 9th
|- align="center"
|2021–22
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 7th
|- align="center"
|2022–23
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 6th
|- align="center"
|2023–24
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 7th
|- align="center"
|2024–25
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| 4th
|- align="center"
|2025–26
| align="left" | 2. Bundesliga
| style="background:#ddffdd"|3rd ↑
|- align="center"
|2026–27
| align="left" | Bundesliga
| I
|
|}
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
SC Paderborn II
Coaches
- Günther Rybarczyk (1993–2001)
- Uwe Erkenbrecher (2001–2003)
- Pavel Dochev (2003–2005)
- Jos Luhukay (2005–2006)
- Holger Fach (2007–2008)
- Pavel Dochev (2008–2009)
- André Schubert (2009–2011)
- Roger Schmidt (2011–2012)
- Stephan Schmidt (2012–2013)
- André Breitenreiter (2013–2015)
- Stefan Effenberg (2015–2016)
- René Müller (2016)
- Florian Fulland (2016) (interim)
- Stefan Emmerling (2016–2017)
- Steffen Baumgart (2017–2021)
- Lukas Kwasniok (2021–2025)
- Ralf Kettemann (2025–)
Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! Name
|-
| Head coach || Ralf Kettemann
|-
| Assistant coach || Pit Reimers <br/> Uwe Hünemeier
|-
| Goalkeeper coach || Nico Burchert
|-
| Video and game analyst || Julian Metzger
|-
| Athletic coach || Ruben Solis
|-
| Rehabilitation coach || Andreas Herbstreit
|-
| Equipment manager || Michael Heppner
|-
| Head of medical department || Jörg Liebeck
|-
| Physiotherapist || Torben Glenny <br/> Jakob Haunerland
|-
| Team doctor || Dr. Hans-Walter Hemmen <br/> Dr. Lutz Mahlke <br/> Dr. Matthias Porsch <br/> Dr. Karl-Friedrich Schünemann
|-
| Sports management || Sebastian Lange
|-
| Head of licensed players department || Dominik Roll
|-
| Head of development || Marco Heussner
|-
| Head of media & communication || Manuel Holscher
|-
| Sporting director || Robin Trost
|-
| Team manager, licensed team || Pascal Pundmann
|-
| Head of youth department || Christoph Müller<br /> Ayhan Tumani
|-
| Scouting and individual player analysis || Henri Hyna <br/> Robin Kohl<br /> Janik Brosch
|-
| Chef || Tobias Biehl
|-
| Kitchen organization || Goncagül Özdol
|}