Under normal circumstances, not much to celebrate, but given what Wuppertal has gone through, the fact that things got rolling is a major positive.

The 5th division Oberliga Niederrhein was supposed to kick-off last week, with WSV visiting Germannia Rattingen. However it was called off at the last minute, since the Rattingen police department was unprepared for an invasion of “WSV hooligans”. You could argue back and forth what that means – there is a contingent of bad apples in the WSV fan block that loves to cause trouble – but perhaps the German police take a more, er, humanitarian approach when controlling crowds. (And we’re talking probably less than 100).

In any case, this meant that WSV opened this weekend at home against FC Kray, who also were relegated (but because they sucked, not because they can’t balance a checkbook). It turned out to be a very positive start for Wuppertal, as over 3000 fans showed up, much more than anticipated. The WSV 2.0 inititaive that led the club into forced relegation and bankruptcy is hitting all the right notes on reviving the club, with almost 1,000 season tickets sold, more than in previous years, and obvious interest from the community.

The match itself was largely controlled by WSV, although it was mostly running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Kray had a few decent chances, but overall the new-look WSV squad stood firm and ended up with a 2-0 win, a great start to the campaign.
As far as I can tell, all the WSV players were not regulars last season, although a few moved up from the WSV-II squad.

Wuppertaler SV - FC Kray   2:0 (1:0)

WSV: 
Klafflsberger (82. Sube) - 
Jasmund, Hausmann, Nadidai, Schurig - Weggen, Manstein - 
Leikauf, Krol (46. B. Schröder), Yakhem -
Ellmann (75. Saka).

Kray: 
O. Allouche - 
Stahmer (45. Bumbullies), Kehrmann, Erdmann, Immanuel (75. H. Allouche), 
Schneider, Meißner, Clever, Walther (64. Bluni) , 
Vennemann, Ferati.

1:0 Ellmann (34.), 
2:0 Saka (77.)

Attendance: 3,023 (Stadion-Am-Zoo, Wuppertal)