The event didn’t seem to be going well. At 11:04 a.m., when “Schalke Day” officially began, it also started to rain – and it wasn’t going to stop for the next few hours. It appeared as if Thomas Reis was speaking to a series of open umbrellas and hoods. “We want to play a good round with you in order to achieve our common goal,” the coach of the Bundesliga relegated team called out to the crowd. The response from Schalke fans was not long in coming. “No more second division,” chanted to the supporters.
A good 50,000 made a pilgrimage to the Berger Feld, as the Royal Blues’ club grounds are called, last Sunday. Neither the constant rain nor the recent second descent after 2021 could stop them. The Schalke radiance is unbroken.
The Gelsenkircheners will make another attempt to get back to where the club and its fans see themselves: in the first division. The team was once again adapted to the conditions in the lower house, and the squad’s salary budget was reduced to almost 20 million euros. With playmaker Rodrigo Zalazar and striker Marius Bülter, two of the best players and nine others left. Eight new players came, the last with central defender Timo Baumgartl (27) only on Wednesday from Eindhoven – two days before the season opener. Schalke had to reinvent itself in order to be able to do justice to the balancing act between profitability and possible success. The club is currently still looking for a main sponsor.
Kenan Karaman and Schalke are aiming for direct resurgence
Which: Getty Images/Christof Koepsel
Schalke’s promotion ambitions are not exclusive. Be it Hertha BSC, Hamburger SV, Fortuna Düsseldorf, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, FC St. Pauli, Hannover 96, 1. FC Nürnberg or Karlsruher SC – they all want to get back up there, either immediately or in the future . In addition, there are clubs like Paderborn and Kiel, which have repeatedly sniffed the top quality in recent years.
HSV makes another attempt
Above all, however, it is the sonorous names of the many traditional clubs that give the 2023/24 second division season a special appeal. The opening game alone on Friday evening, when HSV meets Schalke (8.30 p.m., Sky and Sat1), could hardly be more attractive. The two clubs have won 13 championships together, eight DFB cups and three European cups. Schalke has 174,000 members, HSV 95,000. After Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, they are still the most popular German clubs – although their successful days are long behind them. There are not many premier league games that are played in a setting that is as atmospheric.
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“The Bundesliga is still the big goal,” said HSV sports director Jonas Boldt. What else could it be? The club, which failed in the promotion relegation at VfB Stuttgart last season, will now make the sixth attempt and will continue to follow a course that certainly involves risks. The salary budget was even increased from 22 to 26 million euros, and the team was strengthened. Immanuel Pherai (22) is an attacking midfielder who scored nine goals and five goals at Eintracht Braunschweig last season. With Levin Öztunali (27), Uwe Seeler’s grandson, a homegrown player with HSV history has returned. The question that fans are discussing is: Can coach Tim Walter finally strike a balance between the undisputed quality on offense and the rather shaky defense this time?
The much more important question would be: What happens if the Hanseatic League doesn’t make it again? The club had already taken on a lot for the last five unsuccessful attempts – and without the donations from investor Klaus-Michael Kühne, the proud HSV would hardly exist in its current form. In April, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board agreed again with the Kühne Holding to raise further money from the investor and patron – in the form of a 30 million euro convertible bond.
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Sustainable muscle building
The word monster hides a loan that runs until 2028, which can be converted into further shares in the AG if repayment is not possible. Kühne already owns 15.21 percent. His influence is enormous – the 50+1 rule, which ensures that no investor gets the majority of voting rights, changes little about that. In total, Kühne is said to have invested more than 100 million euros in the club.
Hertha is fighting for survival
The second division may be attractive by name, but it can become a trap – especially for big clubs who were used to planning with the high amounts of national and international marketing in the first division. Hertha BSC loses about 27 million euros in television money through the relegation alone. For Berliners, who only got a license with a lot of effort and massive investor help, this means that they have to go on a radical austerity course. The indebted club had announced to its creditors that it would save 60 percent on player salaries. The squad was radically rebuilt. 15 professionals left, seven players were signed, six of them free of charge. In addition, talents from the company’s own offspring were raised.
Trainer Pal Dardai is doomed to success with Hertha
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
The renovation work is unlikely to be complete. Because of their confused transfer policy, the Berliners lent out eight players last season. If they were not to be transferred, they would now continue to burden the budget. Sports director Benjamin Weber was able to get Krzysztof Piatek and Alexander Schwolow off the payroll. Striker Piatek went to Turkey, goalkeeper Schwolow to Union Berlin. The Herthaners are said not to have received transfers – although they paid around 32 million euros for both players together three years ago.
It is questionable whether Hertha is actually one of the favorites under these conditions. “I don’t need to raise false hopes here. We can build a house with youth players and a good mentality, but from the bottom up,” said coach and Hertha veteran Pal Dardai: “I’m not a magician.”
On Saturday, the Berliners will start the season at Fortuna Düsseldorf. The Rhinelanders, last year’s fourth, are considered the secret favourite. “Simply explained: Of course we want to be promoted,” said Fortuna’s sports director Klaus Allofs: “But there are a few others who want that too.” This is half the league.
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