i've been meaning to post this on here for a few days, and this thread seems a good place.(its long i'm sorry but its a true football fairytail)
if there is 1 team to root for in the bundesliga next year its Darmstadt.
been watching them on and off since we moved out here 5 years ago. At that point they were in the regionalliga sud (effectively the conference)
they've spent the last 10 years perpetually almost bankrupt, just keeping their heads above water.
first season i was here they stunned all the fans by winning the regional;iga on the final day and thus promotion to 3.liga (lowest professional league). (the club were so sure they weren't going to go up they didnt even apply for the licences needed to play in the league above till about 5 games to go!)
a solid season saw them comfortable stay up. next season not so lucky. the manager got poached and the team plunged down the league. a new coach Dirk Schuster was brought in to stop the rot though he had no record in management and so no body expected much. He turned the tide a bit but it was too little too late. some bad results towards the end (including a 0-0 draw with a team who couldnt afford to send out their 1st team and so put out a team comprising some of the under 21s and a mix of the coaching staff!) a 1-1 draw on the final day saw them finish 3rd from bottom and thus relegated back to the regionalliga.
however in german football, the clubs have to have a licence to play in a particular division. part of being granted that licence is a series of strict financial tests.
Darmstadts biggest rivals are Offenbach from south frankfurt.(these 2 teams HATE each other and i mean REALLY HATE each other, Darmstadt would normally get 5000-7000 per game, Offenbach turn up 17000 sellout instantly).
Offenbach had spent a load of cash on a new stadium and then gambled on signing players on 2.bundesliga wages to try and get out of 3.liga.
it didnt work. they ended up mid-table. and in the march had failed in their initial licence application for the next season. appealed and were given until 2 weeks after the end of the season to sort their finances out.
the deadline arrived and their appeal was rejected and their licence application denied. they ended up being relegated 2 divisions. having finished 3rd from bottom this then meant Darmstadt stayed up in their place.(this is like wolves staying up cos Birmingham have been kicked out, so as you can imagine it improved relations no end ;-) )
anyway, as Darmstadt were technically relegated for 2 weeks, clauses kicked in and a whole bunch of players left. so Schuster had to build almost the whole team from scratch. except he had almost no cash whatsoever to do this. so, free transfer after free transfer of players that no one else wanted, including a seemingly perpetually hopeless striker called Dominik stroh-engel and the season kicked off with everyone just praying not to get relegated.
end of the season, Stroh-engel has scored 27 goals, the team has one of the best defensive records in the league and they've somehow finished 3rd!
this puts them into a relegation playoff against Bielefeld. the home leg is men against boys, darmstadt are out classed and loose 3-1. no one is too bothered, its been an amazing season anyway.
the away leg, schuster says they've nothing to loose so are going to go for it, but they need a miracle
23 mins in Stroh-engel 0-1 Darmstadt.
51 mins - 0-2 Darmstadt
then a lapse in concentration and its 1-2.
then amazingly 10 mins from then end a 30 yard thunderbolt and its 1-3.
extra time then ensues 1st half all Darmstadt but they cant make the breakthrough. eventually in the 2nd half Bielefeld take advantage of a defensive mistake and its 2-3. then with all seemingly lost an aimless ball forward in the 122nd minute results in some head tennis and then finally the ball drops on the edge of the box where its promptly smashed into the net 2-4
4-4 on aggregate, Darmstadt ahead on away goals. its still not over, a free kick for Bielefeld results in a goalmouth scramble before its finally fired clear.
i put that game up there with our 2nd leg against Cardiff as one of the most incredible edge of the seat games i have ever witnessed.(its still referred to here as 'the miracle of Bielefeld')
some highlights of those last few minutes here.
so 2.Bundesliga! cool lets try not to get relegated. is Schuster being given money to spend? no of course not, the club dont have any so more free transfers no one else wants arrive.
its woth mentioning at this point the stadium is a true throw back to the 70s(ie they've done nothing too it since then), mostly standing, the toilets at one end of the ground consist of 3 portaloos and a fence. The club shop is inside an old shipping container.
Normally there was no way they'd be allowed to use it in 2.Bundesliga, however they cut a deal. They have approved plans to upgrade it but they are going to happen in stages as they dont have the funds to do it in 1 go.
so under soil heating was put in, some extra seats for the away fans and the press box enlarged. (i think the league cut them slack as they expected them to go straight back down).
some pictures of the ground herethen last sunday, how no one is quite sure Darmstadt are going into the final game in 2nd place. This team of misfits assembled at pretty much 0 cost have some how seen off a 2.Bundesliga that includes Nuremburg, Leipzig(with all their Red Bull money) etc and are 1 win away from promotion to the top flight for the first time in over 30 years
it was a tense game but 70 mins in a cracking free kick wins it.
the hours that followed the final whistle were unbelievable. the entire city was on the streets, fireworks were going off everywhere as it was a public holiday on the monday most fans didnt go to bed sunday night. The team ended the evening hanging out of the upstairs window of the main bar in town.
its been an amazing ride, i've even managed to drag a few people along with me, its been great as you often get asked, why i dont go and watch frankfurt given its not much more expensive, but my answers always been simple. you support your local team. im from stoke hence i support stoke, i now live in Darmstadt so my German team is Darmstadt.
next season? who knows. their deal with the stadium still holds so we have the comedy of Bayern turning up here!
their budget this year was about 6 million euros. a large number of the staff are volunteers working for nothing.
they only have 2 scouts and they are the managers and assistant managers dads!
small teams have made it to the top flight here before but nothing on this scale. i can't see anything but relegation next year but no-one here cares right now
(i think there are people still drunk from sunday now). and after the last 5 years who knows?
so next year if you want a bundesliga team to root for, go for Darmstadt!
theres quite a nice take on it all here
link
