The club from central Baden was established in 2010 following the merger of VfR Pforzheim and FC Pforzheim. The club has been in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga since promotion in 2015. The team coached by Gökhan Gökce finished thirteenth last season.
Pforzheim qualified for the DFB Cup as finalists of the Baden State Cup. CfR lost 6-5 on penalties but went through as the winners Karlsruher SC, last season's first round opponents for the Werkself, qualify for the national cup competition as a third division club.
The first round ties in the DFB Cup will played from 17-20 August with the final details of the fixtures to be confirmed.
DFB Cup Round One draw in full:
Friday, 17 August, 20.45 CET:
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (League 3) v FC St. Pauli (League 2)
FC Magdeburg (League 2) v SV Darmstadt 98 (League 2)
FC Schweinfurt 05 (Regional League Bavaria) v Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 15.30 CET:
CfR Pforzheim (Oberliga) v Bayer 04
SV Linx (Verbandsliga) v FC Nürnberg (Bundesliga)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League West) v Dynamo Dresden (League 2)
SV Elversberg 07 (Regional League South West) v VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Dassendorf (Oberliga) v MSV Duisburg (League 2)
Wormatia Worms (Regional League South West) v Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League North) v Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
FC Kaiserslautern (League 3) v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
SSV Ulm (Regional League Bavaria) v Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 18.30 CET:
TuS Erndtebrück (Oberliga) v Hamburg SV (League 2)
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (Regional League West) v SV Sandhausen (League 2)
Erzgebirge Aue (League 2) v FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 20.45 CET:
Hansa Rostock (League 3) v VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 15.30 CET:
FC Lok Stendal (Oberliga) v Arminia Bielefeld (League 2)
TSV Steinbach (Regional League South West) v FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Rot-Weiß Koblenz (Oberliga) v Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
Weiche Flensburg 08 (Regional League North) v VfL Bochum (League 2)
BSG Chemie Leipzig (Oberliga) v Jahn Regensburg (League 2)
BFC Dynamo (Regional League North) v FC Köln (League 2)
SSV Jeddeloh II (Regionalliga Nord) - 1. FC Heidenheim (League 2)
Viktoria Köln (Regional League West) v RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
Karlsruher SC (League 3) v Hannover 96 (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 18.30 CET:
TSV 1860 Munich (League 3) v Holstein Kiel (League 2)
Carl Zeiss Jena (League 3) v FC Union Berlin (League 2)
Monday, 20 August, 18.30 CET:
BSC Hastedt (Oberliga) - Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
SC Paderborn (League 2) - FC Ingolstadt (2. Bundesliga)
Energie Cottbus (League 3) v SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
Eintracht Braunschweig (League 3) v Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Monday, 20 August, 20.45 CET:
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (League 2) v Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Key dates in 2018/2019 DFB Cup:
Round 2: 30/31 October 2018
Round of 16: 5/6 February 2019
Quarter-finals: 2/3 April 2019
Semi-finals: 23/24 April 2019
Final: 25 May 2019
The Golden Boy Top 100 traditionally lists Europe’s most promising young players. In the latest update, published to mark the start of the new season, four current Werkself players – alongside loanee Francis Onyeka – feature on the list. This means Bayer 04 have the most players in contention of any Bundesliga club.
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Goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe will continue to play for Bayer 04 Leverkusen next season. The loan of the Germany U23 international, who joined from Liverpool in the winter, has been extended by a further year.
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Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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