Cologne is the most popular club in the West German city of the same name. It was established on February 13, 1948 after the merger of two local teams. It plays its home games at RheinEnergie Stadium and is known by the nickname "the goats".

The home kit of EF Tse is in red, and the visiting kit is all in white. The initial years of the team are extremely strong, recording 35 consecutive seasons in the German elite. In 1998 they have suffered a catastrophic defeat and dropped out from the Bundesliga for the first time. The "Goats" are on the 8th position in the eternal ranking of Germany in terms of the number of points won in the first echelon.

The glorious history of Cologne is associated with three gold medal triumphs. In 1961/1962 they won the First Division, and after its renaming they have won the title in the seasons 1963/1964 and 1977/1978. FZ is a five-time runner-up and four-time DFB-Pokal winner. Their last trophy became a fact in the 2018/2019 season, when they single-handedly occupied the top of the Bundesliga 2.

Cologne also has a presence in European tournaments. The most significant success of the club is related to the participation in the UEFA final in 1986. The Spanish grand Real Madrid stands in their way, and the victory at home with 2: 0 turned out to be extremely insufficient to lift the first European award. Cologne has positive statistics in European tournaments, as they have won 74 out of 145 matches. They last played in the group stage of the Europa League in 2017/2018, but dropped out of it ingloriously.

Cologne's most hated rival is regional irritant Borussia M'gladbach. They are also hostile against other local opponents, such as Dortmund, Leverkusen, Schalke and Fortuna Dusseldorf.

The record for the most successful game in the league is 8:0, achieved twice - against Schalke and Eintracht Braunschweig. The most unpleasant defeat for the "goats" became a fact in Europe, after losing 1:8 on their visit to the Scottish champion Dundee. At home they came to a victory with 4: 0, but it turned out to be insufficient to help them qualify.