Mainz 05

The MEWA Arena sits on the site of the old Bruchwegstadion, replacing it in July 2011. When the crowd gets something to celebrate, the ground answers with the Narrhallamarsch, and it is that habit that earns the club its second nickname, Karnevalsverein, alongside the more everyday Die Nullfünfer.

The name itself has been rewritten more than once. What started in 1905 as 1. Mainzer Fussballclub Hassia went through a merger with FC Hermannia 07 in 1912, then absorbed Sportverein 1908 Mainz in 1919, and during the Nazi years was forced into Reichsbahn SV Mainz 05 before the club reclaimed its identity after the war. None of that history includes a Bundesliga title or a DFB-Pokal, and the closest the club has come domestically is a pair of German Amateur Championship and regional titles picked up decades ago, in 1973, 1981, 1982, 1988 and 1990, back when Mainz still belonged to the lower divisions rather than the top flight.

Europe has treated the club kindly only in flashes: a first-round exit in the UEFA Cup in 2005–06, a group stage in the Europa League in 2016–17, and a run to the quarter-finals of the Conference League in 2025–26. Jonathan Burkardt spent seven seasons in the shirt before leaving in 2025, scoring 41 goals in 136 appearances. The women's side, playing until 2023 under the name TSV Schott Mainz, has been the more reliably decorated wing of the club lately, collecting the Südwestpokal in seven different years and earning promotion to the 1. Frauen-Bundesliga for the 2026/27 season.

The men's team's rivalry with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Rhein-Main-Derby remains a fixture.