Darmstadt in the second division: "Lilies" in wait

Rüdiger Fritsch has an absolute favorite topic, which he likes to talk about in a rage.

"This after-the-fact tricky thing gets on my nerves so much," says the president of SV Darmstadt 98. What he refers to are the reflexes of supposed fans and experts, after two defeats in a row or the departure of individual players, overall condition and perspective of one To question the club completely.

“I can't understand all this excitement, it's always the same,” says Fritsch.

Take Serdar Dursun, for example, who leaves the "Lilien" after 27 goals this season as the top scorer in the second division for free. The manager, who has been at the top of the club since 2012, has had to let three strikers out of rank in the past few years - Dominik Stroh-Engel, Sandro Wagner and now Dursun - and every time the wailing was great. “It is normal that we have to replace players in Darmstadt. We already know that players who convince us in the new season will end up on other clubs' lists. These are the realities of football, ”said Fritsch.

A football operation in which the SVD seems to have found its place in the past seasons. “I have always said consciously that it will take us four or five years to establish ourselves in professional football. We have done that, we are currently biting down on a certain floor - and want to climb the next level in the medium term, ”said the 59-year-old at a media round and referred to the last places in the table.

Tenth, tenth, fifth and seventh are the second division placements since the first division relegation in 2017. What the results conceal is the fact that the "lilies" have been deeply involved in the fight against relegation in every season and have worn out three head coaches and only really got going in the end of the season. "The result counts, in the end the bees sting," says the business lawyer with a smile. Fritsch and his presidium crew have always worked silently and helped to overcome many a sporting dent. And so Fritsch is also optimistic about the new second division round, which head coach Markus Anfang is preparing with his squad - five newcomers are already committed - from June 19th.

The enormous accumulation of many large traditional clubs in the league increases the attractiveness for sponsors and the media, according to Fritsch.

And the fear of losing your way in this competition?

"We are not inclined to go into the cellar and cry," says Fritsch, who as a board member of the DFL and board member of the DFB also acts beyond the Darmstadt horizon.

And based on these insights, he says: “In times of crisis the wheat is separated from the chaff.” You have to get rid of the fact that big club names from big cities could automatically pay higher player salaries.

"Will never be able to buy success"

"I am glad that, from an economic point of view, I am a manager at Darmstadt 98 and not at many other clubs," says the native of Frankfurt. Because the "lilies" are able to reinvest transfer income into the squad, as they did recently through the sales of Seung-ho Paik (South Korea) and Victor Palsson (Schalke 04), and they do not have to "plug any holes or tap off banks and creditors" . Of course, this will not lead to any financial highs on the transfer market for the southern Hessians, who had reduced the costs for the licensed player area by 2.5 million euros before the season. “We will never be able to buy in success. Topics such as the development of players, mentality, team spirit and concentrating on the essentials will always be important to us, ”says Fritsch.

The winning streak at the end of the season brought Darmstadt 98 a plus of between 500,000 and 600,000 euros from the television pot. But for the new season, the club's management is calculating a minus of five million euros, which has primarily to do with the roughly 20 percent lower TV income. Coach beginning had always let it through that he could not realize his demands on the professional squad under the Darmstadt conditions. “We have a top coach,” says Fritsch. "He knew and knows that he is in Darmstadt and not with Real Madrid."

You can currently see that at the uncomfortable stadium construction site at the Böllenfalltor. However, according to Fritsch, the renovation should be completed in almost exactly one year. "We are on schedule and on budget," says the club president. And when the many infrastructure measures around the Böllenfalltor that have been initiated since 2015 have been completed, by then at the latest, says Fritsch, it will be time for the “lilies” to “get into a lurking position. To be there when the supposedly big ones stumble. "