Football – 1860 Munich between heaven and hell

Kevin Volland did not want to put the word “climb” into his mouth when he was switched on on Monday at the DFB press conference at the start of the 3rd division. The former international has returned to the football club of his youth this summer: to TSV 1860 Munich. “We definitely want to play up: everything else would be ridiculous with our squad,” the 32-year-old admitted. Because the striker, who was last under contract with Union Berlin, is not the only well -known new addition to the TSV.

Is it still available, the football romance? Volland played in the Champions League against Real Madrid two years ago. This Friday he runs up for the Löwen in the 3rd league against Rot-Weiss Essen at 7 p.m. On the offensive, striker Florian Niederlechner supports him, who played 28 games for Hertha BSC in the 2nd Bundesliga in the previous season. Both unite that they ran for 1860 Munich in their youth – and have now returned. “I just wanted to come here,” said Niederlechner, confirming that he had other offers. The decision was rather emotional than financially lucrative: “There are so many boys from me in the curve and in the stadium, so I get goosebumps with anticipation.” Unlike Volland, he also took the “A-word” in his mouth: “I came here so that I played for the promotion,” said Niederlechner.

It would be the long -awaited return to the 2nd Bundesliga, in which 1860 was permanent guest from 2004 to 2017. For a long time the association was one of the largest in Germany, was a founding member of the Bundesliga and became German champion in 1966. Overall, the club looks back on 20 years of the Bundesliga, still played in the European Cup at the beginning of the millennium and is still in 22nd place in the eternal table in the highest German division.

“We definitely want to play at the top.”

Kevin Volland1860 returnees

Since then, the fans have been loyal to the club. Home games were always sold out in the previous season, 15,000 spectators came to the stadium on Grünwalder Strasse on weekends. Now the mission climb begins with a difficult task: opponent Rot-Weiss Essen was the best team in the third division in the past second half of the season. But Kevin Volland is happy “that it will be a cracker” and looks forward to a “hot opening game”.

The Munich team finally put together a powerful group around the two prominent returnees. Goalkeeper Thomas Dähne came from Kiel and was still in the Bundesliga between the posts in the previous season. In addition, managing director Christian Werner also signed midfielder Max Christiansen from Hannover 96 to Munich Lotsen and Sigurd Hausen, who scored ten goals for Hansa Rostock last season, committed to the storm. Before the opening game in Essen, Volland still warned to be patient: “We have a lot of newcomers, we have to find ourselves now.”

An exciting team on the field, a top game in front of the chest: the mood in Munich could be dazzling – if it weren’t for the investor. In 2011, the Jordanier Hasan Ismaik bought 49 percent of the shares in TSV Munich from 1860 GmbH & Co. KGAA, the outsourced professional football department including young teams. Since then, the club has been plagued by power struggles and conflicts between Ismaik and the association, which in the meantime led to the second to the fourth league. When the association announced on July 3 that Ismaik would sell its shares, some fans celebrated with fireworks in the city. On July 18, the bang followed: Ismaik announced that the sale of his shares had burst. The buyer was unable to provide any proof of payment.

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It is a mood damper that the club could have prevented. Because when he announced that Ismaik would hand over his shares, the sale was not even notarized. Neither the association nor Ismaik had checked whether the buyer is even solvent. The Jordanian may have been happy to have received an offer of 50 million euros that would have significantly exceeded the market value of its shares. On the part of 1860, President Robert Reisinger was about to end the end of his term. Was it also his stubbornness that had caused the premature announcement? The President elected by the club members had once again celebrated his term at the general meeting, which decided to take off the unpleasant investor.

So it is a ride between heaven and hell for the fans of 1860 times. The enthusiasm still prevails, the joy of a great team: more than 5000 supporters appeared for the fan festival on July 20. Around 2500 fans from Munich are expected for the opening game at Rot-Weiss Essen in the stadium on Hafenstrasse. If the sporting success is missing, the sheet can turn quickly. The first excuse that unnecessary unrest that the association and investor caused would have already been found.