Relegation battle: Football: The sun sets in the east

In the football language, which is rich in images, the word lighthouse is usually used in a fairly clear regional context. While the west, north and south of Germany are always well represented by several clubs, the glory of the Bundesliga only shines sparsely in the east of the republic. Or not at all for years. The lighthouse has been in Berlin since 1. FC Union was promoted in 2019. Before that, it was dark for ten years – after Cottbus was relegated to the first division. Energie, who was in the first division for a total of six years, described itself as a sporting “lighthouse in the region”. With twelve years in the first division, Hansa Rostock saw itself as a “lighthouse of the north-east of the Federal Republic”. Now, like in 2008 on the coast and a year later in Lusatia, the first league lights could go out again in the capital.

Incriminating coaching speculation

1. FC Union welcomes VfL Bochum this Sunday: fifth from last against fourth from last. A fall to the first direct relegation spot is unlikely for both teams, each seven points ahead of 1. FC Köln. What is realistic, however, is a drop to relegation place 16. That’s where FSV Mainz stands, which is in the best form in this three-way battle with twelve points from the last six games and is only two points away from safety. Bochum scored four points in three games after the coaching change with Heiko Butscher. The Berliners, on the other hand, have only hit the opposing goal once in the last five games. Union is also burdened by speculation about the supposedly impending separation from coach Nenad Bjelica at the end of the season.

Even in the black painting there is a glimmer of truth. The possible relegation of 1. FC Union becomes darker when we look through the lens of the East into the second division. There, Hansa Rostock and 1. FC Magdeburg are also fighting hard to stay in the league. Manuel Holscher made it clear how tense the situation is with a cancellation this week. Magdeburg’s press spokesman explained to “nd” that there are currently no “extra notes”, i.e. interviews with players, the coach or officials outside of match days.

Exhausting struggle for existence

1. FC Magdeburg is still doing quite well in its second year in the second division compared to Rostock. Three game days before the end of the season, the FCM is in eleventh place, six points ahead of the first direct relegation spot. That’s where you’ll find Hansa. In the remaining games this Saturday against strong Karlsruhers and then at Schalke and against Paderborn, the footballers from the Baltic Sea are outsiders. And they have always been there in the now three seasons in the 2nd Bundesliga. Coach Mersad Selimbegović described these difficulties with little hope after three defeats in a row: “For some it has been a struggle for existence for months, for a few others even for years. That takes energy away.”

So now the worst case scenario for the coming season: no first division team from the East. And Union is the only second division team – because Dynamo Dresden almost lost promotion. Of course, hope dies last in Saxony, which is why Ulf Kirsten is now sitting on the bench as part of a coaching team along with Heiko Scholz and Willi Weiße. After parting ways with head coach Markus beginning, the club legend wants to “get the team back on track for the remaining games.” The 1-1 draw at Jahn Regensburg wasn’t such a bad start, but the gap to second in the table remained at six points. And the relegation place is still five points away.

Smart club policy

Dresden is a good example of how the demonstrable lack of economic power in the East does not always have to be a reason for sporting failure. In the 3rd league, Dynamo is at the top financially. Second division Rostock also has to ask itself why many clubs with lower personnel costs are simply better. And even in the event of Union’s relegation, the media description of the success story from Berlin shows where clever club policy can lead: “from underdog to beacon of the East.”

“Football represents the economy in a completely different way.” However, this sentence from the Rathenow author and journalist Christoph Dieckmann also remains part of the truth. That’s why 1. FC Union is only the fourth eastern club after VfB Leipzig, Hansa Rostock and Energie Cottbus to achieve promotion to the 1st Bundesliga in more than 30 years of all-German football history. That’s why memories of the GDR Oberliga are only awakened in the third division, possibly with Magdeburg, Rostock, Dresden, Aue, Halle and Cottbus in the coming season. And that’s why we’re not talking about the Austrian marketing product Rasen Ballsport Leipzig.