…so what else is new?

Wuppertaler SV opened the Oberliga Niederrhein (5th division level) camapign with a hugely disappointing 1-1 draw against SV Sonsbeck, which you probably can’t even find on a map. (OK, it’s about 2 miles from Winkendonk and not much further from Fleuthkuhlen. And if you go to the Rhein river, it’s near the park Rheinvorband im Orsoyer Rheinhoyer, I’m sure it rings a bell now…)

Now in their 2nd season in the Oberliga, after insolvency forced them down, the club has been rebuilding slowly, but there is still some interest. 2,111 fans showed up, which is pretty good at this level (And maybe 10 times of what other clubs see). And things started out well when Martin Ellmann, who had 28 goals last season, opened up after only 12 minutes. WSV continued to dominate and wasted a zillion chances to add to the tally. Then with 4 minutes left, Sonsbeck scored on their only shot of the match. In desperation, WSV threw everything forward again in a fierce attack, but the only reward was to hit the post twice…

So it looks like another crappy season for what must be the lowest ranked ex-Bundesligist. (OK, I think Blau-Weiss 90 Berlin is a bit worse off, but they were disbanded and reconstituted as new club)

Well, at least it should be an interesting season, with lots of attractive matchups like
SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter (who won the league last year but refused promotion probably because they can only afford bus fare and trains would be too expensive), newcomers VfR Krefeld-Fischeln and Vdsf Nievenheim, along with perennial favorites TuS Bösinghoven and SC Kapellen-Erf. And who wouldn’t want to be there for the massive Bergisch-derby against SSVg Velbert?!

I think the only good news is that Schwarz-Weiss Essen is still around (Hey, they won the Cup in 1959!!). Long left in the dirt by Rot-Weiss Essen, now SWE is also in the shadow of FC Kray as well. The latter was apparently almost too much to bear, so the club membership actually had a vote whether to disband the soccer section. Luckily reason prevailed and they decided to continue. (And 523 fans showed to watch them lose their home opener to 1.FC Bocholt)