This week sometime. Promise. Actually, I may wear it to a local road race sometime in the next few months.
Are Sandhausen near Mannheim and Ludwigchafen? They played some matches in Ludwigschafen I remember. If so they are also tapping sponsors that originally belonged to the Waldhoff realm, but because they are doing so poorly invests in Sandhausen???
About 25 km away, it's on the outskirts of Heidelberg. I don't think Sandhausen ever played homegames in Ludwigshafen (Mannheim did, though). I don't think so - their main sponsor is based in Sandhausen, and I have never heard from him being a Waldhof sponsor before. I don't know about every individual sponsor, but Waldhof has been in constant financial troubles for decades anyway.
Seems like we have something in common after all. I live in Darmstadt and count myself among the 98-fans, although I only made it out to one of the games this year. I very much hope they can gain a sure foothold in the third league, their performances so far are promising. The lilies have big money problems and are looking to the city to help them out. The city has already done so to a certain extent although I think this is the wrong way to go. Darmstadt city is broke and the schools and pools are run-down, no need to sponsor a private club with taxpayer money. Still very much hope they come out all right.
It's a long story, but in short it goes like this: For several years preceding 2008 the club had been living above its means financially and ran up quite a debt. In 2008 they filed for insolvency and were forced to clean up their act. They did a fairly good job of this and ever since 2009 (retraction of the application for insolvency) they've been on the up and up financially as well as as a sports team. As of this summer, their principal creditor is the city of Darmstadt with a debt of approx. EUR 700,000 owed. This debt was incurred mostly for two new artificial lawn pitches for the youth teams to train on and the new lighting system. The new lighting cost roughly EUR 300,000 and was a requirement for the admission to play in the third league (more light needed for night games to be broadcast on television). In late spring/early summer, over the euphoria of the promotion to the third league, it looked like the city might remit the entire debt, but in the meantime there have been elections, there is a new mayor and a new ruling party in the city and the city has officially gone broke, so they had to change the strategy on the sponsorship. This was also because the city could no longer make all of its financial decisions on its own but had to have approval from the next higher level (regional authorities). As indicated in my previous post, it is being argued that with all the holes to plug in the city, sponsorship of a professional club cannot be among the priorities. At the same time you can argue that the club specifically used the borrowed money to build new pitches for the youth teams (i.e. youth sponsorship, not the professional team) and that around the same time, the state of Hesse pitched in roughly 10 million for the new Kickers Offenbach stadium. Depending on how you look at the situation it seems grossly unfair. But I believe that when it comes to money, things are never fair in soccer. So I've reserved my complaints in this regard for clubs who waste money. As far as I understand, it looks like the city will end up paying for the lighting and the rest of the debt will be interest-free until 2013, but then they will have to pay it. In comparison to other third league teams they are actually not doing too bad financially and their game attendance average is higher than the third league average also (roughly 8,000 per game, now in the third league). If they can keep all this up, along with the sport performance (stay in the league) they should be fine, but they will have to wait for a new stadium. An acquaintance of mine knows a lot about the internal goings on of the club and there is actually an option on the table under which they would sell the prime property on which they are sitting and go outside of the city a bit, to build new from scratch, but all that is Zukunftsmusik. Here is a fairly recent article on the matter in German: http://www.da-imnetz.de/sport/darmstadt-98/stadt-will-780000-euro-darmstadt-98-1464030.html
Interesting thanks for the info, but if Darmstadt moves out of Darmstadt they wouldnt be Darmstadt? just another Frankfurt team? btw. How Comes Hessen Kassel did so well last year with so many fans in average, and this year both average and results seems to have imploded?
I'm pretty sure he means building a stadium in the suburbs, not moving out of town literally. The team already imploded last year - why they play badly? Well, if I knew and could tell them how to play better I guess they'd offer me a job as coach. As for the fans - last year they played for promotion most of the season. This year, their season is already over before the winter break, the team plays not exactly great football by all accounts, they mostly play reserve sides and village clubs that don't inspire much interest, their main rival got promoted and they don't have that derby anymore... so quite a few people chose to sit the season out probably.
The guy I was talking to was talking about a place right outside of the city limits, Darmstadt isn't that big. But this was merely an option people were discussing. If you ask me we'll make do with the old stadium without any major alterations for at least another ten years.
I updated my list of foreign players in the 3. Liga: Code: By country Turkey 38 Austria 20 France 18 Bosnia and Herzegovina 12 Italy 12 Czech Republic 11 Netherlands 11 Serbia 11 Croatia 10 Albania 7 Belgium 6 Nigeria 6 Argentina 5 Brazil 5 Congo DR 5 Ghana 5 Canada 4 Hungary 4 Poland 4 Spain 4 Switzerland 4 United States 4 Bulgaria 3 Denmark 3 Greece 3 Morocco 3 Sweden 3 Cameroon 2 Congo 2 Finland 2 Ivory Coast 2 Japan 2 Lithuania 2 Norway 2 Portugal 2 Romania 2 Senegal 2 Ukraine 2 Afghanistan 1 Algeria 1 Angola 1 Australia 1 Ecuador 1 England 1 Iceland 1 Iraq 1 Ireland (Rep. of) 1 Israel 1 Korea Republic 1 Lebanon 1 Luxembourg 1 Macedonia 1 Malawi 1 Malta 1 Netherlands Antilles 1 New Zealand 1 Northern Ireland 1 Russia 1 Slovakia 1 Slovenia 1 Togo 1 Tunisia 1 Zambia 1 Afghanistan Salem, Milad (3-3-1988)* – SV Wehen Albania Bektasi, Scipon (9-14-1990) – 1. FC Heidenheim Curri, Skerdilaid (10-6-1975) – Erzgebirge Aue Ismaili, Emin (5-31-1982) – FC Ingolstadt 04 Kacani, Sokol (2-16-1984) – Stuttgarter Kickers Kastrati, Bekim (3-25-1979)* – Fortuna Düsseldorf, Dynamo Dresden Marina, Enver (1-27-1977) – 1. FC Saarbrücken Vata, Fatmir (9-20-1971)* - Wuppertaler SV Algeria Benyamina, Karim (12-18-1981)* - Union Berlin Angola Vunguidica, José Pierre (1-3-1990)* - Kickers Offenbach, Preußen Münster Argentina Cenci, Matias Esteban (2-12-1978) – SV Sandhausen Fioretto, Nahuel (1-25-1981) – SpVgg Unterhaching Formento, Andrès Miguel (5-18-1984) – Wuppertaler SV, Jahn Regensburg Grech, LEANDRO (10-24-1980) – SV Sandhausen, SpVgg Unterhaching, VfR Aalen Lorenzón, Víctor Hugo (5-22-1977) – Wuppertaler SV Australia Susak, Milan (1-29-1984) - SpVgg Unterhaching Austria Alaba, David (6-24-1992)* - Bayern München II Aschauer, Alexander (3-14-1992) – VfB Stuttgart II Berger, Denis (4-14-1983) – Jahn Regensburg, Kickers Offenbach Derdak, Patrick (2-16-1990) – Werder Bremen II Fuchs, Benjamin (10-20-1983) - Eintracht Braunschweig Harnik, Martin (6-10-1987)* - Werder Bremen II Holzhauser, Raphael (2-16-1993) – VfB Stuttgart II Holzmann, Marcel (9-3-1990) – Bayern München II Hosiner, Philipp (5-15-1989) – SV Sandhausen Knasmüllner, Christoph (4-30-1992) – Bayern München II Krisch, Kevin (8-20-1991) – Werder Bremen II Michl, Andreas (1-29-1980) – Wacker Burghausen Mimm, Dennis (3-18-1983) – SpVgg Unterhaching Mujic, Deniz (8-7-1990) – Bayern München II Pauli, Christian (1-30-1992) – VfL Osnabrück Prödl, Sebastian (6-21-1987)* - Werder Bremen II Sand, Marc (1-23-1988) – Dynamo Dresden Sikorski, Daniel (11-2-1987) – Bayern München II Stöger, Kevin (8-27-1993) – VfB Stuttgart II Walch, Clemens (7-10-1987) – VfB Stuttgart II Belgium Andersen, Kristoffer (12-9-1985) – VfR Aalen Lawarée, Axel (10-9-1973) – Fortuna Düsseldorf Lejan, Michael (5-2-1983) – Wuppertaler SV, VfL Osnabrück Moosmayer, Tom (10-1-1979) – Kickers Emden, Kickers Offenbach Rauw, Bernd (1-8-1980) – Kickers Emden, RW Erfurt van Buyten, Daniel (2-7-1978)* - Bayern München II Bosnia and Herzegovina Celikovic, Nermin (11-27-1980) – Wuppertaler SV Civa, Almedin (4-27-1972) – SV Babelsberg 03 Fejzic, Jasmin (5-15-1986) - Eintracht Braunschweig Hajdarovic, Nazif (9-22-1984) – Bayern München II Hasanbegovic, Nedim (4-22-1988) – Borussia Dortmund II, RW Oberhausen Janjic, Zlatko (5-7-1986) – SV Wehen Mehic, Sead (4-8-1975) – Kickers Offenbach Mesic, Mirnes (3-16-1978) – Kickers Offenbach Okic, Branko (2-16-1969) – VfR Aalen Selimbegovic, Mersad (4-29-1982) – Jahn Regensburg Spahic, Jasmin (9-22-1980) – Kickers Emden Vrancic, Damir (10-4-1985) - Eintracht Braunschweig Brazil Rodrigues da Silva, CIDIMAR (7-1-1984) – VfR Aalen DA COSTA Junior, Elton (12-15-1979) – Kickers Offenbach MINORELLI, Daniel Pedro (7-31-1984) – SpVgg Unterhaching ROCKENBACH da Silva, Thiago (2-1-1985) – Rot-Weiß Erfurt Villar, Ricardo (8-11-1979) – SpVgg Unterhaching Bulgaria Aleksandrov, Mihail (6-11-1989) – Borussia Dortmund II Chokchev, Kiril (5-26-1982) – Wacker Burghausen Rangelov, Dimitar (2-9-1983)* – Borussia Dortmund II Cameroon Akama-Eseme, Glen (4-3-1987) – Wuppertaler SV Kioyo, Francis (9-18-1979)* - SV Wehen Canada Bourgault, Jonathan (9-27-1988)* – Preußen Münster Ledgerwood, Nikolas (1-16-1985)* - SV Wehen O'Neill, Riley (9-9-1985) - Eintracht Braunschweig Occéan, Olivier (10-23-1981)* - Kickers Offenbach Congo Guié-Mien, Rolf-Christel (10-28-1977)* – SC Paderborn 07 Sembolo, Francky (8-9-1985)* - Holstein Kiel Congo DR Kumbela, Dominick (4-20-1984) - SC Paderborn 07, Eintracht Braunschweig Lukimya, Assani (1-25-1986)* - CZ Jena Lukunku, Ali (4-14-1976)* – Erzgebirge Aue Menga, Addy-Waku (9-28-1983)* – Werder Bremen II, SV Wehen Mimbala, Cédric (8-22-1986)* – RW Ahlen Croatia Antunovic, Adrijan (4-27-1989) - Union Berlin Cosic, Ivan (10-13-1989) – Bayern München II Grgic, Velimir (5-11-1978) – SV Sandhausen, 1. FC Saarbrücken Janic, Sasa (5-7-1975) – Stuttgarter Kickers Kolinger, Dubravko (11-29-1975) – VfB Stuttgart II Kopilas, Marko (7-22-1983) – Kickers Offenbach Kovac, Marko (1-6-1987) – Stuttgarter Kickers Kovacevic, Marijan (8-31-1973) – VfB Stuttgart II Landeka, Josip (4-28-1987) – Stuttgarter Kickers, SV Wehen, CZ Jena Maric, Marijo (1-12-1977)* - VfR Aalen Czech Republic Abraham, Martin (9-20-1978) – SV Wehen Dobry, Pavel (2-1-1976) – Dynamo Dresden, Chemnitzer FC Hudec, Martin (4-15-1982) – VfL Osnabrück Hysky, Martin (9-25-1975) – Kickers Offenbach Lastovka, Josef (2-20-1982) – Wacker Burghausen Pergl, Pavel (11-14-1977) – Dynamo Dresden Ruman, Petr (11-2-1976) – VfR Aalen Simak, Jan (10-13-1978)* - CZ Jena Smisek, Petr (1-22-1978) – Rot-Weiß Erfurt Stoilov, Petr (8-30-1975) – Wacker Burghausen Tyce, Roman (5-7-1977)* - SpVgg Unterhaching Denmark Granskov-Hansen, Andreas (3-5-1989) – Werder Bremen II Jensen, Kasper (10-7-1982) – SC Paderborn 07 Nygaard, Marc (9-1-1976)* - SpVgg Unterhaching Ecuador Valencia, José (3-19-1982) – Wuppertaler SV England Tyler, Rhys (9-18-1992) – Rot-Weiß Erfurt Finland Hjelm, Jonne (1-14-1988) – SV Wehen Lagerblom, Pekka (10-19-1982)* - VfB Stuttgart II France Begeorgi, Fabrice (4-20-1987) – Werder Bremen II Bochud, Hervé (11-15-1980) – CZ Jena Bolivard, Malick (6-17-1987) – Hansa Rostock, SV Babelsberg 03 Bouadoud, Zouhair (7-12-1986) – VfR Aalen Custos, Bruno (4-29-1977) – Fortuna Düsseldorf Dorn, Régis (12-22-1979) – SV Sandhausen Halet, Clement (5-21-1984) - Fortuna Düsseldorf, Preußen Münster Humbert, Julien (6-23-1984) – Rot-Weiß Erfurt Imbongo Boele, Dimitry (3-28-1990) – SV Darmstadt 98 Imbs, Yannick (7-3-1985) – SV Sandhausen Keita-Ruel, Daniel (9-21-1989) – Wuppertaler SV Kornetzky, Jean-François (7-28-1982) – SV Sandhausen Le Tallec, Damien (4-19-1990) – Borussia Dortmund II Morabit, Smail (7-5-1988) - Eintracht Braunschweig, RW Erfurt Nelson, Mickael (2-2-1990) – SV Babelsberg 03 Sene, Saer (11-4-1986) – Bayern München II Ulm, David (6-30-1984) – Kickers Offenbach, SV Sandhausen Zydko, Jonathan (1-12-1984) – 1. FC Saarbrücken Ghana Agyemang, Eric (1-11-1980) – Erzgebirge Aue, Wacker Burghausen, Arminia Bielefeld Aidoo, Lawrence (1-14-1982)* – Kickers Emden Gambo, Bashiru (9-24-1978)* – Stuttgarter Kickers, Erzgebirge Aue, Jahn Regensburg Ofosu-Ayeh, Phil (9-15-1991) – RW Erfurt Saba, Christian (12-29-1978)* - Bayern München II Greece Matsoukas, Eleftherios (3-7-1990) – Werder Bremen II Pappas, Dimitrios (2-25-1980) – RW Oberhausen Triadis, Panagiotis (9-9-1992) – SV Wehen Hungary Hajnal, Tamás (3-15-1981)* - Borussia Dortmund II Futacs, Marko (2-22-1990) – Werder Bremen II Schultz, Levente (3-22-1977) – Wacker Burghausen Szücs, László (3-14-1991) – Jahn Regensburg Iceland Gunnlaugsson, Garðar Bergmann (4-25-1983) – SpVgg Unterhaching Iraq Sindi, Karoj (8-21-1989) – Wuppertaler SV Ireland (Rep. of) Kohlmann, Patrick (2-25-1983) - Union Berlin Israel Edri, Shlomi (5-29-1982) – CZ Jena Italy Amirante, Salvatore (6-24-1984) – CZ Jena Barletta, Angelo (2-11-1977) – VfL Osnabrück Belleri, Alessandro (2-10-1985) – Wacker Burghausen Calamita, Marco (3-22-1983) - Wacker Burghausen, Eintracht Braunschweig, VfR Aalen Cannata, Giovanni (9-17-1985) – Kickers Emden Sansone, Nicola (9-10-1991) – Bayern München II Soriano, Elia (6-26-1989) – VfR Aalen Terranova, Mike (11-17-1976) – RW Oberhausen Toni, Luca (5-26-1977)* - Bayern München II Vaccaro, Angelo (10-4-1981) – Stuttgarter Kickers Valentini, Enrico (2-20-1989) – VfR Aalen Vecchione, Felice (1-22-1991) – VfB Stuttgart II Ivory Coast Damahou, Joel (1-28-1987) – Kickers Offenbach Yohoua, Serge (3-22-1989) – RW Erfurt Japan Asaeda, Ken (7-27-1983) – Wuppertaler SV Kikuchi, Naoya (11-24-1984)* - CZ Jena Korea Republic Kim, Tae-Jin (4-12-1990) – RW Oberhausen Lebanon Najdi, Mahmout (1-1-1989) – Wuppertaler SV Lithuania Guscinas, Dimitrijus (12-12-1975)* - Holstein Kiel Palionis, Markus (5-12-1987)* - Dynamo Dresden Luxembourg Martino, Massimo (9-18-1990)* – Wuppertaler SV Macedonia Ismaili, Shaban (5-2-1989) – VfB Stuttgart II Malawi Chitsulo, Daniel (3-7-1983)* – Preußen Münster Malta Schembri, André (5-27-1986)* - CZ Jena Morocco Amachaibou, Abdenour (1-22-1987) – SpVgg Unterhaching Bouhaddouz, Aziz (3-30-1987) – Erzgebirge Aue, SV Wehen Mokhtari, Youssef (3-5-1979)* – Wacker Burghausen Netherlands Braber, Robert (11-9-1982) – FC Ingolstadt 04 Deul, Boy (8-30-1987) – Bayern München II El Berkani, Mohammed (12-13-1982) – Erzgebirge Aue Heeren, Henri (10-25-1974) - Fortuna Düsseldorf Holwijn, Melvin (1-2-1980) – CZ Jena Idabdelhay, Fouad (5-2-1988) – VfL Osnabrück John, Paddy (2-23-1990) – VfL Osnabrück Lanzaat, Quido (9-30-1979) – CZ Jena, SV Wehen Muhamadu, Ibad (2-22-1982) – Dynamo Dresden Schulp, Dennis (1-18-1978) – Wuppertaler SV Tunjic, Mijo (2-24-1988) – Stuttgarter Kickers, SpVgg Unterhaching Netherlands Antilles Smeekes, Orlando (12-28-1981)* – Stuttgarter Kickers, CZ Jena, SV Wehen New Zealand Marinovic, Stefan (10-7-1991) – SV Wehen Nigeria Gyasi, Jeff (1-4-1989) – RW Oberhausen Olumide, Joseph (10-10-1987) – Wacker Burghausen Omodiagbe, Darlington (7-2-1978) – Wacker Burghausen Onuegbu, Kingsley (3-5-1986) - Eintracht Braunschweig Onwuzuruike, Henry (12-26-1979) – SV Darmstadt 98 Torunarigha, Junior (4-18-1990) – RW Oberhausen Northern Ireland Boyce, Liam (4-8-1991) – Werder Bremen II Norway Gundersen, Tore Andreas (2-4-1986) – Dynamo Dresden Herrem, Geir Andre (11-28-1988) – SV Babelsberg 03 Poland Blacha, David (10-22-1990) – RW Ahlen, SV Sandhausen Kos, Tomasz (4-4-1974)* - Erzgebirge Aue Pollok, Wojciech (6-25-1982) – Preußen Münster Tyrala, Sebastian (2-22-1988)* - Borussia Dortmund II Portugal Pinto, Roberto (8-22-1978) – SV Sandhausen Soares PINHEIRO, Ricardo “RICKY” (2-1-1989) – VfL Osnabrück Romania Nastase, Valentin (10-4-1974)* - Eintracht Braunschweig Popa, Ruben (3-22-1989) – Jahn Regensburg Russia Belyaev, Ivan (5-26-1986) – Holstein Kiel Senegal N'Diaye, Babacar (12-12-1973) – Preußen Münster Tavarez, Jean Louis (4-4-1972) – Wuppertaler SV Serbia Damjanovic, Jovan (10-4-1982) – SC Paderborn 07, SV Wehen Jovanovic, Ranisav (11-5-1980) – Fortuna Düsseldorf Jovanovic, Velimir (8-25-1987) – CZ Jena Kadrijaj, Valonis (3-23-1992) – SpVgg Unterhaching Morina, Ismail (4-1-1990) – Jahn Regensburg Ramaj, Alban (11-8-1985) – Kickers Emden, Erzgebirge Aue Ristic, Sreto (2-7-1976) – SV Sandhausen Sadrijaj, Bajram (8-10-1986) – Borussia Dortmund II Stevanovic, Aleksandar (2-16-1992) – Werder Bremen II Stevanovic, Predrag (3-3-1991) – Werder Bremen II Vujanovic, Radovan (2-18-1982) – Hansa Rostock, Preußen Münster Slovakia Bencík, Henrich (10-4-1978)* - VfL Osnabrück Slovenia Kampl, Kevin (10-9-1990) – VfL Osnabrück Spain Copado, Francisco (7-19-1974) – SpVgg Unterhaching Fiel, Cristian (3-12-1980) – Dynamo Dresden LEÓN Ayarza, DIEGO (1-16-1984) – Wacker Burghausen Mendez, Alberto (10-24-1974) – SV Sandhausen Sweden Avdic, Denni (9-5-1988)* - Werder Bremen II Lewicki, Oscar (7-14-1992) – Bayern München II Razic, Esad (7-27-1982) – RW Oberhausen Switzerland Bader, Pascal (9-24-1982) – VfR Aalen Bunjaku, Albert (11-29-1983)* - Rot-Weiß Erfurt Hebib, Zlatko (12-18-1990) – SV Babelsberg 03 Satilmis, Dilaver (2-24-1979) – Wacker Burghausen Togo Salifou, Moustapha (6-1-1983)* - 1. FC Saarbrücken Tunisia Braham, Najeh (5-20-1977)* - Erzgebirge Aue Turkey Acar, Tunay (4-30-1989) – SV Wehen Albayrak, Ugur (6-8-1988) – Kickers Offenbach Altin, Salih (7-17-1987) – Wuppertaler SV Altintop, Hamit (12-8-1982)* - Bayern München II Aydemir, Selim (10-26-1990) - Eintracht Braunschweig, Chemnitzer FC Ayik, Onur (1-28-1990) – Werder Bremen II Balkan, Orkan (3-12-1987) – SpVgg Unterhaching Bayrak, Serdar (8-27-1985) – Erzgebirge Aue Boztepe, Mehmet (1-16-1988) – Borussia Dortmund II Budak, Ismail (7-8-1992) – VfL Osnabrück Cakir, Hamza (9-30-1985) - Fortuna Düsseldorf Celik, Erdal (1-1-1988) – RW Ahlen Demirkiran, Ünal (6-24-1979) – 1. FC Heidenheim Dogan, Deniz (10-20-1979) - Eintracht Braunschweig Ekici, Mehmet (3-25-1990)* – Bayern München II Erdem, Alparslan (12-11-1988) – Werder Bremen II Ergirdi, Ümit (11-5-1981) – SV Babelsberg 03 Güral, Emre (4-5-1989) – Jahn Regensburg Güvenisik, Sercan (3-1-1980) – SC Paderborn 07, Preußen Münster Islamoglu, Cem (9-4-1980) – SV Darmstadt 98 Kadah, Deniz (3-2-1986) – Fortuna Düsseldorf Kanca, Ömer (12-24-1989) – SpVgg Unterhaching Keseroglu, Abdullah (2-7-1988) – VfL Osnabrück Koc, Süleyman (6-9-1989) – SV Babelsberg 03 Köse, Bahattin (8-26-1990) – Arminia Bielefeld Köz, Cüneyt (10-12-1992) – Bayern München II Özbek, Ufuk (9-1-1992) – 1. FC Saarbrücken Öztürk, Aykut (11-7-1987) – SV Wehen, CZ Jena, SV Sandhausen Parmak, Mustafa (5-19-1982) – Stuttgarter Kickers Siga, Deniz (2-1-1989) – Rot-Weiß Erfurt Sulu, Aytac (12-11-1985) - VfR Aalen Tosunoglu, Tufan (7-22-1988) – Kickers Offenbach Turan, Emre (11-16-1990) – Eintracht Braunschweig Uca, Burak (12-8-1992) – Wuppertaler SV Yigitusagi, Fatih (11-23-1983) – Erzgebirge Aue Yildirim, Ramazan (9-7-1975) - Eintracht Braunschweig Yilmaz, Fatih (3-5-1989) - Eintracht Braunschweig Yilmaz, Yasin (2-19-1989) – SpVgg Unterhaching Ukraine Makarenko, Anton (8-22-1988) – SV Babelsberg 03 Shynder, Anton (6-13-1987) – VfR Aalen, Jahn Regensburg United States Igwe, Amaechi (5-20-1988) – SV Babelsberg 03 Joy, Ian Paul (7-14-1981) – FC Ingolstadt 04 Taylor, Matthew (10-17-1981) – RW Ahlen Zimmerman, Preston (11-21-1988) – SV Darmstadt 98 Zambia Sichone, Moses (5-31-1977)* - VfR Aalen, CZ Jena
So Haching has an Arabian investor now? Arabian investors have totally jumped the shark. Who's next, VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck?
Just got back from the Darmstadt - Babelsberg game and stood in the pouring rain for an hour. Still, Darmstadt won 3:1 and will definitely stay in the league. Great job from the lilies. Also took the liberty early last week of welcoming a colleague of mine who is a great Alemannia Aachen fan to 3. Bundesliga. For some reason he wasn't as thrilled as I was. If things keep going the way they are, 3. Bundesliga may be joined by some very prominent teams next season: Karlsruhe, Rostock and Alemannia.
I'd prefer it if they had the decency to voluntarily stay in the third division, though. Sandhausen and Aalen, and possibly even Regensburg, going up is kind of the worst case scenario for the 2. Bundesliga.
Of those at the top of the table: Offenbach, Chemnitz, Erfurt Not taking into account the standings: Darmstadt, Münster, Offenbach maybe (don't like Offenbach much, but that's quite the old school theme going on with those three together). Saarbrücken, Jena, Osnabrück, Bielefeld would be ok as well. And if it HAS to be a Southern German village team without any history in the upper leagues - Heidenheim beats both Aalen and Sandhausen there by miles, they actually have some kind of fan base at least.
Well, Regionalliga obviously, if they get relegated. For a change they have no license problems it seems, so since some other teams aren't sure to get one yet (VfL Osnabrück seem to be in the deepest trouble) they might even stay up anyway.
Osnabrück is in trouble? Geez, another club on the brink of promotion. Jena - okay so they have turned around their finances. Having good finances could lead to a quick return to the 3Liga.
Well the problem for Jena will be that they will be relegated in a Regional Liga were Rasenballsport Leipzig plays since it seems Halle will go up this year. RB Leipzig would be a tough team to fight promotion with.
As usual half the league or so is in trouble. Good finances are relative there - in the 3. Liga that translates into "we are not in danger of going bankrupt next year, the year after that - who knows?" So far Red Bull has quite the history of being pathetic, though. Anyway - no matter who they play against, there is now automatic promotion spot for the league winner anyway. Winning the league only qualifies them for the 6 team promotion play-off, which could be against Kiel, Dortmund II, Bayern II, etc.
At Bayern II it needs to be seen how they do under new coach Scholl. Under Jonker they are this season far away from promotion (rank 13 currently).
I know where Bayern II are right now - however, if their signings for next season are an indication they are serious about promotion. Plus they will have very little actual competition next season. 1860 II probably don't want to go up anyway, who's left then? Ingolstadt II and Fürth II?