Bayern wins, loses

The so-called “Super-Cup” goes to Borussia Dortmund as they defeated Bayern München 4-2 in a rousing match in Dortmund. This “Cup” is of course worthless, but nevertheless it’s important in that it indicates that the Neons have not conceded everything to the Bavarian giants and they hope to ensure that Pep Guardiola’s side don’t have a walk-in-the-park as last season. Marco Reus scored twice for the home side, so perhaps Bayern will try and buy him to reduce Dortmund’s chances. Of course, as mentioned, this Cup probably means squat, so Bayern is probably not going to lose any sleep over it.

Both sides were close to full strength, although Bayern of course has several full-strength lineups. Neuer was out, so he was ably represented by Tom Starke, who promptly committed a Neuerism by flapping at a ball that lead to Dortmund’s first goal. This match also featured a rare header by Arjen Robben, who already seems to be in top form.

Good performances for Dortmund, who showed that they can compete against Bayern head-to-head, although we already really knew that. What we don’t know is whether they can keep pace with what is certainly to be a relentless Bayern romping through the Bundesliga.

In somewhat better news for Bayern, Bastian Schweinsteiger was named “Footballer of the Year” and Jupp Heynckes was “coach of the Year”.

In other interesting news, over 100,000 Schalke fans showed up at the facilities for the “opener” and an official “goodbye” to fan-favorite Raul. Of course he left Schalke last season for Qatar club Al-Saad, and after playing one season, is retiring. So he returned for one last time – to Schalke rather than Madrid (!). He played one half with Al-Saad and the 2nd half with Schalke. (The match was a bit one-sided, Schalke winning 9-0. Yes nine, no typo). Raul played for Schalke 2010-12 and despite the short stay, is already a legend and one of the most popular players. I think part of it is that he chose Schalke when he left Real Madrid, when he was still close to the peak of his game. (Of course it didn’t hurt that he was Schalke’s best and most inspirational player during his stay as well).

2.Liga, Round 2

The highlight of this round was undoubtedly the Rheinderby between Köln and Düsseldorf. Fortuna had the advantage in the 1st half, but Köln dominated the 2nd period as they chased a draw and then tried to win. The visitors especially seemed to wilt in the heat, but overall looked pretty solid. Köln took too long to get started, and although they had chances to win as they pressed late, overall a draw is a fair result. Obviously, it’s probably better from Düsseldorf’s perspective, as this is as hard an away match as they can expect to face. Köln might get into last season’s rut, where they just drop points here and there, and by the time they wake up, it’s over.

Greuther Fürth continued their fine start with a solid win at Aalen. The hosts actually played pretty well, pressing the ex-Bundesligist, but their attack was lame, wasting promising chances. Meanwhile, the Greuther were cold-blooded when they needed to be, running up a deserved victory.

Kaiserslautern was pressed at times by Ingolstadt, but in general had the match under control. FCK didn’t do more than was necessary, and the Schanzer, although they had their moments, can’t really complain about losing.

Bielefeld and Union split the points in a well played match, despite the heat wave that is sweeping the land. Both teams had their chances, but a draw is fair result.

Aue would be happy if the league ended now, since they could playoff for the Bundesliga. They controlled most of the match against Sandhausen, but really created nothing. SVS then opened up a bit late in the match, as they smelled the opportunity for a win. So of course they were promptly punished and Erzgebirge wins. All-in-all, I’d say some justice, since Sandhausen should have been relegated last year (well, technically they were for a few weeks). Aue might as well be happy now, since based on this performance -despite the 3 points – they can’t possibly hope to seriously challenge.

After a sleepy 1st half, both 1860 and FSV ignored the hot weather and tried to win the match. It looked headed for a fair draw (although 1860 had an edge), but Stoppelkamp pulled it out for the hosts in injury time.

Karlsruhe dominated against St.Pauli, who were more concerned in surviving the heat. KSC however wasn’t really able to create much, so they might as well have taken the Paulista attitude and looked for some shade a a cold beer, since there wasn’t much else for this match.

Cottbus proved once again that they are another team at home, and they kicked Paderborn’s ass all over the field. It was all over early, as Energie completely overran a shockingly crap Paderborn side. Veteran Boubacar Sanogo grabbed three goals in the demolition, and the visitors can be happy that Energie shut down in the 2nd period, else it would have been ugly.

Monday night saw Bochum and Dresden split the points…

Total attendance 170,374 (avg 18,930)

	
VfR Aalen	       -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	  0:2 (0:1)    6,402

                      0:1  Sukalo (8., Weilandt)
                      0:2  Azemi (81., Gießelmann)

Arminia Bielefeld      -   1. FC Union Berlin	  1:1 (0:1)   15,488

                      0:1  Nemec (25., Parensen)
                      1:1  Klos (54., Schönfeld)

1. FC Kaiserslautern   -   FC Ingolstadt 04	  3:1 (1:0)   28,817

                      1:0  Zoller (28., Gaus)
                      2:0  Zoller (51., Karl)
                      2:1  Korkmaz (88., Caiuby)
                      3:1  Idrissou (90., Drazan)

Erzgebirge Aue	       -   SV Sandhausen	  1:0 (0:0)    8,200

                      1:0  Sylvestr (83., Diring)

Karlsruher SC	       -   FC St. Pauli	          0:0 (0:0)   17,667

1860 München	       -   FSV Frankfurt	  2:1 (0:0)   16,500

                      0:1  Leckie (53., Teixeira)
                      1:1  Lauth (55., RStoppelkamp)
                      2:1  Stoppelkamp (90. + 1, Y. Stark)

Energie Cottbus	       -   SC Paderborn 07	  4:0 (4:0)    7,105

                      1:0  Sanogo (3., Bickel)
                      2:0  Bittroff (8., Jendrisek)
                      3:0  Sanogo (11., Banovic)
                      4:0  Sanogo (37.)

1. FC Köln	       -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	  1:1 (0:1)  50,000 *

                      0:1  Benschop (12., Reisinger)
                      1:1  Ujah (67.,  Hector)


Monday:
VfL Bochum	       -   Dynamo Dresden	  1:1 (1:0)   20,195

                      1:0  Fabian (10., Cwielong)
                      1:1  Fiel (69., Ouali)
 	



 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	2    2 	0  0 	  4:0 	+4 	  6 
 2  1. FC Kaiserslautern	2    2 	0  0 	  4:1 	+3 	  6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Erzgebirge Aue	  	2    2 	0  0 	  3:1 	+2 	  6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  VfL Bochum	  	        2    1 	1  0 	  3:2 	+1 	  4 
 5  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	2    1 	1  0 	  2:1 	+1 	  4 
 6  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	2    1 	1  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  4 		
 7  FC St. Pauli	  	2    1 	1  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  4 
 8  Energie Cottbus	  	2    1 	0  1 	  4:1 	+3 	  3 
 9  1860 München	  	2    1 	0  1 	  2:2 	 0 	  3 
10  1. FC Köln	  	        2    0 	2  0 	  2:2 	 0 	  2 
11  Dynamo Dresden	  	2    0 	2  0 	  2:2 	 0 	  2 
12  1. FC Union Berlin	  	2    0 	1  1 	  2:3 	-1 	  1 
13  SV Sandhausen	  	2    0 	1  1 	  0:1 	-1 	  1 
14  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	2    0 	1  1 	  1:3 	-2 	  1 
15  VfR Aalen	  	        2    0 	1  1 	  0:2 	-2 	  1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FSV Frankfurt	  	2    0 	0  2 	  1:3 	-2 	  0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
17  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	2    0 	0  2 	  2:5 	-3 	  0 
18  SC Paderborn 07	  	2    0 	0  2 	  0:5 	-5 	  0


A = Absteiger just Relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga

3.Liga, Round 2

The top clash was in Leipzig, and RedBull was probably the stronger side, but Münster gave indications why they are a co-favorite, as they toughed it out and grabbed a good away point against the new money side.

Osnabrück had problems with an aggressive Dortmund B, and wasted clear chances. As a result, it was a nervous struggle to maintain the lead and keep their perfect start.

Wehen vaulted to the top with a solid performance, but it certainly looks like Kickers are crap and have a lot of work to do.

Erfurt looked strong, largely controlling Halle in an eastern clash. The guests tried, but were basically overpowered.

Darmstadt largely outplayed their hosts in Stuttgart and probably should have won the match, as they were given a man advantage for about 25 minutes. Wasted opportunities almost did them in last season and they’ve already thrown away 4 points.

Rostock looked ho-hum at Elversberg, but a double strike b Blacha was enough to get them the points.

Heidenheim was the dominant team, but essentially dicked around and were duly punished as Regensburg grabbed an important away point. FCH showed last season they can be very streaky, but they’ll need to focus more if they are to contend.

Unterhaching got a late equalizer to stave off defeat, but Chemnitz looked the better team throughout.

Interesting match in Kiel as the newly promoted side debuted at home against Saarbrücken. After a ho-hum 1st half, the guests came out and immediately grabbed a lead. However Holstein reacted with aplomb and launched a brilliant 2nd half in which they overran FCS and won in a rout. An important match, sure to give them confidence.

Duisburg got it’s first 3rd division win since 1989 (when the won the then 3 division Oberliga Nordrhein). Burghausen was a bit unlucky, but wasted some promising chances and therefore deservedly lose.

Total attendance 49,314 (avg 4,931)

 	
VfL Osnabrück	     -   Borussia Dortmund II	1:0 (1:0)   11,200
VfB Stuttgart II     -   SV Darmstadt 98	1:1 (1:0)      910
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   Chemnitzer FC   	1:1 (0:1)    1,850
SV Elversberg	     -   Hansa Rostock	        1:2 (0:1)    1,800
Holstein Kiel	     -   1. FC Saarbrücken	5:1 (0:0)    5,325
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -   Stuttgarter Kickers	4:0 (2:0)    2,763
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	     -   Hallescher FC	        3:0 (2:0)    6,483
RB Leipzig	     -   Preußen Münster	2:2 (1:1)    9,783
Wacker Burghausen    -   MSV Duisburg	        0:2 (0:1)    2,200
1. FC Heidenheim     -   Jahn Regensburg	2:2 (1:1)    7,000


 1  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	2    2 	0  0 	  6:1 	+5 	  6 
 2  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	2    2 	0  0 	  4:0 	+4 	  6
-------------------------------------------------------------------		
 3  VfL Osnabrück	  	2    2 	0  0 	  4:0 	+4 	  6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	2    1 	1  0 	  5:1 	+4 	  4 
 5  Preußen Münster	  	2    1 	1  0 	  5:2 	+3 	  4 
 6  1. FC Heidenheim	  	2    1 	1  0 	  3:2 	+1 	  4 		
 7  RB Leipzig (N)	  	2    1 	1  0 	  3:2 	+1 	  4 
 8  Hansa Rostock	  	2    1 	1  0 	  2:1 	+1 	  4 
 9  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	2    1 	0  1 	  2:1 	+1 	  3 
10  Borussia Dortmund II	2    1 	0  1 	  1:1 	 0 	  3 
11  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	2    0 	2  0 	  2:2 	 0 	  2 
12  SV Darmstadt 98	  	2    0 	2  0 	  1:1 	 0 	  2		
13  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	2    0 	2  0 	  1:1 	 0 	  2 
14  SV Elversberg (N)	  	2    0 	1  1 	  1:2 	-1 	  1 		
15  VfB Stuttgart II	  	2    0 	1  1 	  1:2 	-1 	  1 
16  Chemnitzer FC	  	2    0 	1  1 	  1:4 	-3 	  1 
17  Hallescher FC	  	2    0 	0  2 	  0:4 	-4 	  0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
18  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	2    0 	0  2 	  2:7 	-5 	  0 
19  Wacker Burghausen	  	2    0 	0  2 	  0:5 	-5 	  0 		
20  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	2    0 	0  2 	  0:5 	-5 	  0 	


A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

It’s back: 2.Liga, Round 1

The Zweite Bundesliga has started what promises to be an interesting season, with no real overwhelming favorite.

Sandhausen got a reprieve as Duisburg was denied a 2.Liga operating license. They’ll have to show a lot more if they just go down anyway. Aalen was a pleasanr surprise last season, but this was a weak outing, so they need improvement as well.

Kaiserslautern grabbed a tough win ant Paderborn. They really didn’t impress, and SCP has been on a downward trend for a while. So a good win for FCK and start to the new season.

Köln had to split points at Dresden in a hard fought match. Köln didn’t show too much, and Dresden was eventually able to overran the visitors crap defense.

Greuther Fürth had a nice start, upending newcomer Bielefeld. The Arminen were by no means dominated, but the newly promoted side needs more aggression if they are to survive. The Greuther were quite lackadaisical, wasting chances, and relying defense after the 2nd goal.

St.Pauli hopes to do better than last season. They started brightly against 1860, but in this hard-fought battle, the visitors began to get the upper hand. The Paulistas were lucky they weren’t losing, but veteran GK Gabor Kiraly misjudged a shot and the hosts managed to grab the win.

Aue got a nice win at INgolstadt, where it is usually dfiifcult to win. But the hosts were very gracious, basically sucking and allowing Erzgebirge to steal all the points.

Karlsruhe started off with a win against FSV Frankfurt, who were one of last season’s surprises. However FSV didn’t overly impress and went down in flames.

Bochum could be a suprise this season, at least in a positive director from last years crap performance. They traveled to Berlin and got a huge away win against Union. Solid, well organized defense – one of the traits of new coach Peter Neururer – seems to have paid off, so perhaps Bochum can compete this season. Union fought hard, but giving up the win in front of their loyal fans must have hurt.

On the Momday night match, Düsseldorf dominated against Cottbus, but it took a penlaty to finally beat Energie GK Robert Almer. Fortuna hadn’t won a match since February, so this at least is a decent start. Of course they started brilliantly in the Bundesliga last season as well, and then went down the toilet. Cottbus played like they usually do, hard-nosed, but with no creativity.

Total attendance 149,785 (avg 16,643)

	
SV Sandhausen	       -   VfR Aalen	         0:0 (0:0)    3,825

FC St. Pauli	       -   1860 München	         1:0 (0:0)   27,818

                      1:0  Thy (80., Kringe)

FC Ingolstadt 04       -   Erzgebirge Aue	 1:2 (0:1)    6,584

                      0:1  Sylvestr (25.)
                      0:2  Sylvestr (82., penalty, Sylvestr)
                      1:2  Lappe (85., Matip)
	
SC Paderborn 07	       -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	 0:1 (0:0)   10,002

                      0:1  Zoller (68., Idrissou)


Dynamo Dresden	       -   1. FC Köln	         1:1 (0:0)   29,308

                      0:1  Ujah (61., Brecko)
                      1:1  Kempe (78., Poté)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth   -   Arminia Bielefeld	 2:0 (2:0)   11,485
 
                      1:0  Weilandt (3.)
                      2:0  Djurdjic (11., Mavraj)

FSV Frankfurt	       -   Karlsruher SC	 0:1 (0:0)    8,016

                      0:1  Peitz (84., Kopfball, Alibaz)

1. FC Union Berlin     -   VfL Bochum	         1:2 (0:0)   18,823

                      0:1  Latza (64.)
                      1:1  Kreilach (86., direct Freekick)
                      1:2  Maltritz (88., handball-penalty)


Monday:
Fortuna Düsseldorf	 -  	Energie Cottbus	 1:0 (0:0)   33,924

 	              1:0  Reisinger (65., foul-penalty)



 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	1    1 	0  0 	  2:0 	+2 	  3 
 2  Erzgebirge Aue	  	1    1 	0  0 	  2:1 	+1 	  3
-------------------------------------------------------------------	  	
 3  VfL Bochum	  	        1    1 	0  0 	  2:1 	+1 	  3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  3 	  	
 5  1. FC Kaiserslautern	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  3 	  	
 6  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  3 	  	
 7  FC St. Pauli	  	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1 	  3 
 8  Dynamo Dresden	  	1    0 	1  0 	  1:1 	+0 	  1	  	
 9  1. FC Köln	  	        1    0 	1  0 	  1:1 	 0 	  1 
10  VfR Aalen	  	        1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0 	  1 	  	
11  SV Sandhausen	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0 	  1 
12  1. FC Union Berlin	  	1    0 	0  1 	  1:2 	-1 	  0 	  	
13  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	1    0 	0  1 	  1:2 	-1 	  0 
14  Energie Cottbus	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1 	  0	  	
15  FSV Frankfurt	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1 	  0
-------------------------------------------------------------------	  	
16  1860 München	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1 	  0
-------------------------------------------------------------------	  	
17  SC Paderborn 07	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1 	  0 
18  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	1    0 	0  1 	  0:2 	-2 	  0

It’s back!: 3.Liga, Round 1

The new German professional season started off Friday night with a rare 3.Liga sellout. (Amateurs might have been playing already, as the Regionalliga Bayern started two weeks ago). HFC hosted moneybags “Rasenballsport” (which evidently is German for “Red Bull, hehehe). It was a hard fought match, and money came out ahead, as usual. Leipzig figures to be a promotion contender, as RedBull expects Bundesliga fussball at some point and with ex-Hoffenheim manager Ralf Rangnick as director, they not only have money, but some smarts. This is certain to be one of the main stories in the 3.Liga this week, as everybody except RedBull stockholders and perhaps some Leipzig fans will be rooting against them. HFC should expect a difficult season, but showed good fight this round.

It wasn’t until the last minute that Duisburg got their 3.Liga license, but they had strong fan support with a decent crowd for their opener. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the win against Heidenheim, who expect to challenge for the promotion this season.
The Zebras will probably settle down and I would expect them perhaps to challenge near the upper regions.

The preseason favorites, Münster and Osnabrück had thumping wins, doing nothing to change the perception that they want “up”. Osnabrück was perhaps more impressive, as their win came on the road against a tough Chemnitz, and they could have even woin higher, as CFC ruined any hope in the 2nd half by going down a man.

Newly promoted Kiel demonstrated grit as they fought Hansa to a draw in Rostock. Expect Hansa fans to riot if Rostock sucks, and they didn’t show anything to suggest that will challenge for promotion.

Darmstadt got a new lease on life when Offenbach got red-carded by the DFB finance committee. Their opener against promoted Elversberg didn’t give much of indication that they intend to take full advantage of the gift.

This should be another interesting season in the 3.Liga, several clubs have reasonable ambitions for promotions, plus some “Bundesliga pedigree” clubs like Duisburg and Rostock have big question marks. (Clubs that have played at least one season in the top flight include: Duisburg, Rostock, Stuttgarter Kickers, Saarbrücken, Darmstadt, Unterhaching and Münster, but only the first to have played quite a few campaigns).

The relegation battle will undoubtedly be of interest as well. There are several clubs that seem somewhat dubious.

Total attendance 83,162 (avg 8,316), one sellout (Halle)


Hallescher FC	      -   RasenBallsport Leipzig   0:1 (0:1)   14,022 *
MSV Duisburg	      -   1. FC Heidenheim	   0:1 (0:0)   18,111
Stuttgarter Kickers   -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	   0:1 (0:0)    3,860
1. FC Saarbrücken     -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	   1:2 (1:2)    5,250
Hansa Rostock	      -   Holstein Kiel	           0:0 (0:0)   13,400
SV Darmstadt 98	      -   SV Elversberg	           0:0 (0:0)    5,200
Borussia Dortmund II  -   VfB Stuttgart II	   1:0 (0:0)    3,890
Jahn Regensburg	      -   SpVgg Unterhaching	   0:0 (0:0)    4,405
Preußen Münster	      -   Wacker Burghausen	   3:0 (1:0)    8,024
Chemnitzer FC	      -   VfL Osnabrück	           0:3 (0:2) 	7,000


 1  Preußen Münster	  	1    1 	0  0 	  3:0 	+3    3	  	
 2  VfL Osnabrück	  	1    1 	0  0 	  3:0 	+3    3
---------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	1    1 	0  0 	  2:1 	+1    3
---------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Borussia Dortmund II        1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1    3 	  	
 5  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1    3 	  	
 6  1. FC Heidenheim	  	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1    3
 7  RB Leipzig (N)	  	1    1 	0  0 	  1:0 	+1    3 
 8  SV Darmstadt 98	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1 	  	
 9  SV Elversberg (N)	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1 	  	
10  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1 	  	
11  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1 	  	
12  Hansa Rostock	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1	  	
13  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	1    0 	1  0 	  0:0 	 0    1 
14  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	1    0 	0  1 	  1:2 	-1    0 
15  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1    0 	  	
16  Hallescher FC	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1    0 	  	
17  VfB Stuttgart II	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1    0
---------------------------------------------------------------	  	
18  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:1 	-1    0 
19  Wacker Burghausen	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:3 	-3    0 	  	
20  Chemnitzer FC	  	1    0 	0  1 	  0:3 	-3    0

MSV Duisburg: 3.Liga

It was touch and go, but MSV Duisburg will in fact start in the 3.Liga for the coming season. The DFB finance review board gave the OK after a few weeks of uncertainty.

MSV managed to avoid relegation on the field in the 2.Liga, but was then denied a 2.Liga operating license, whoch meant forcible relegation. However at the time the MSV board intended to fight the ruling, and apparently had not even applied for a 3.Liga permit. The 2.Liga denial was uphelp by the standing sports court, so Duisburg was without a division. There was a good chance that MSV would fall down to the 4th division Regionalliga West, or even worse. Duisburg’s finances were particularily dodgy, and there was a great outflow of players and staff. There was some speculation that the club might even get wound up and disappear.

Last week, some good news emerged. Schalke 04 surprisingly announced that they would be willing to lend MSV some 250,000 euros to insure that funding was covered. Schalke itself has been wrestling with finance issues from large debts, although things are slowly straightening themselves out.

Finally, today the DFB announced that Duisburg had met all the requirements and would receive a 3.Liga license. MSV added to the positive news by revealing that sports director Ivica Grilic, who had been instrumental in turning around fortunes on and off the field, had agreed to stay on.

WSV Blog: Insolvency achieved!

Things finally got cleared up, and Wuppertaler SV is officially in insolvency proceedings. In an perverse sort of way, this is actually a good thing.

As you might recall, dissidents launched the “WSV Initiative 2.0” campaign to take over the management of the club, and it was overwhelmingly approved. Key point (aside from dumping all the ruling Politburo puppets of the ringmaster in charge) was to take the club into administration and wipe out the debts, but thereby get forcibly relegated to start over. Another good point was to drop the name “Borussia”, which had been forced upon WSV as part of the ill-thought merger with Borussia Wuppertal. (BTW, some good news in that some of the old Borussia members are now trying to re-establish their club, good luck to them.)

One of the key aspects was to achieve formal court recognition of insolvency by June 30. This was important, since it means that WSV starts the coming season in the 5th division Oberliga Nordrhein. If the court had delayed, then WSV would have actually had to continue in the 4th division and then basically have all matches annulled and get forcibly relegated, meaning the loss of a whole season.

Most of the players have been released from contract, although some promising new ones have signed up. With an expected budget of only 850,000 euros, the full professional contracts are no longer feasible. (The Regionalliga budgets were usually around 3.5-4.0 million). The WSV-II squad of U23s will backfill several players. WSV-II did reasonably well, finishing 7th in the Oberliga. (They get automatically dropped to the Verbandsliga with the main team relegation).

Training for the new season has started, and the first scrimmage/friendly against Regionalliga side SC Verl actually drew 400+ fans, which is pretty decent for this time of year. The WSV team was mostly made up of U23 players. The match ended 0-0, which is actually an improvement, since WSV got bitch-slapped 4-1 by the same Verl squad on the last day of the just finished Regionalliga season.