Germany - Regionalliga West - match details and result ...

Every other month or so, a new discussion on this sub arises about RB Leipzig, their business model, and whether Red Bull-boss Dietrich Mateschitz is a saint-like philantropist who finally brought high class football to the poor citizens of Leipzig or satan himself whose sole goal is to destroy football as a whole and eat fans alive. This post isn’t about that. While I personally have strong opinions about whether RB Leipzig and their business model are good or bad (hint: It’s bad), I try to keep this post as unbiased as possible. Instead, this is about the circumstances that lead to Red Bull choosing Leipzig as their hub for their big Bundesliga team. When Red Bull tried to set foot into German football for the first time, they initially tried to use the same method they had success with elsewhere: Take over an existing, possibly struggling team and transform them to their desires, like they had done with Austria Salzburg or the New York MetroStars. Even back then, the first door to knock on was FC Sachsen Leipzig. After fans protested and negotiations with 1860 Munich, FC St. Pauli and Fortuna Düsseldorf were equally unsucessful, they turned back to their initial pick Leipzig and started their own club. So- why exactly Leipzig?
To understand this, we have to look at Leipzigs football clubs and the city itself. Leipzig is the eighth-largest city in Germany, and (excluding Berlin) the largest one in the former GDR. Their population is bigger than Liverpool, Lyon, Genoa or Malaga. All those cities have established clubs, sometimes even multiple within the top division. At the time of RBLs conception, the top club of the city of Leipzig meanwhile was just relegated to the fifth division. The only city with a similar size and situation was Essen, with Rot-Weiss sitting in the fourth division. Still, right in the center of the picturesque Rhein-Ruhr area, Essen was surrounded by successful clubs who could fill any desires for top-class football. Leipzig wasn’t. The closest city of similar size is Dresden, but their top club Dynamo also only played in the third division. The same was true for other clubs nearby like Jena, Erfurt or Aue. Cottbus, already quite a bit away from Leipzig just got relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, and while the drive to Berlin to watch a Hertha match only takes around two hours thanks to those lovely post-reunification East German Autobahn, it’s still quite a bit away for european standards. Other cities like Nuremberg or Wolfsburg weren’t closer either.
Given these circumstances, it’s no surprise that Red Bull saw Leipzig as their prime location to start a new, fresh club in Germany. Although this begs the question: Why not Dresden? Both cities have almost equal population numbers, sit in a similar geographic location not too far away from each other and have virtually no access to professional top class football. ~~While the old Zentralstadion in Leipzig was bigger in theory, it was also fairly run-down and not suitable for Bundesliga football back in 2009,~~^* while the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion in Dresden just got refurbished to house 32,000 spectators. Sure, Leipzig was a bit closer to other major cities, but gaining followers from outside the city and its surrounding areas wasn’t really the plan to begin with, at least for now. A major reason for Red Bull’s decision to pursue Leipzig from the beginning and not even really think about Dresden was the lack of competition. Even though Dynamo Dresden spent their time in lower leagues, the city and its fans still stood fairly unified behind the club. Establishing a competitor and convincing fans to join their new product would be hard. In Leipzig however, there was no other club with a unified fan base. All that was left of the long gone glory days were two clubs, shadows of their former selves, who hated each other. This leads to the final why: Why was there such a power vacuum for Red Bull to push into? To understand this, we have to take a very long look back, all the way back to the end of WWII, and work through the history of post-war football within the city. Here’s a simple, easy to understand diagram to help you tag along.
^* Mistake here, the new Zentralstadion was already finished for the world cup in 2006. Still, at a capacity of just below 43,000, both Leipzig and Dresden would've been suitable for Bundesliga use.
Pre-1949 – Under soviet occupation, all pre-war clubs were outlawed. To replace them, new sport groups were formed all around the country. In the early years, those were often short-lived and merged, split up and disbanded frequently, sometimes even within weeks. Up until 1949, there was no nationwide football league, either. Combined with the fact that those clubs often had very similar names, usually SG City-District, everything earlier becomes increasingly hard to research. For the history of Leipzig football, we’ll focus on two of these SG’s: SG Leipzig-Leutzsch played at the Georg-Schwarz-Sportpark in the district of Leutzsch, former home of pre-war TuRa Leipzig. TuRa was founded in 1932 as a workers team for a slot machine factory. SG Leipzig-Probstheida meanwhile was based in Leipzig-Probstheida (who’da thunk it) at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion. They could trace back their roots to VfB Leipzig, first german champions and most successful club in the pre-WWI era. Even back then, tradition was already an important part of fan culture. When TuRa and VfB faced each other in 1935, a newspaper wrote: “The game wasn’t on for long until you could sense the frantic, provoked emotions in both rivals stands, which was better described as hostility rather than competitive spirit”. As you can see, even back then no one liked the corporate shills.
1949/50 – The foundation of the first nationwide league brought more major changes with it. SG Leipzig-Leutzsch finished third in the Saxonian championship the year prior and therefore qualified for the new nationwide Oberliga. Before the season started however, SG Leipzig-Leutzsch merged with more than a dozen other clubs to form ZSG Industrie Leipzig. This is where the left branch of the diagram starts. Not even two weeks after its foundation, on the 1st April, 1949, ZSG Industrie already split up again into three distinct divisions. ZSG Industrie Leutzsch was renamed again shortly after to BSG Stahl Nordwest Leipzig and today exists as SV Leipzig-Nordwest in 10th tier. ZSG Industrie Hafen split up again in 1951, creating the new teams BSG Fortschritt West and BSG Motor Lindenau. Those two clubs merged back together after reunification and now operate as SpVgg 1899 Leipzig in the 9th division. The spot in the top division meanwhile stayed with ZSG Industrie Leipzig, where they finished in 8th. Over in Probstheida, SG Leipzig-Probstheida was meanwhile renamed to BSG Erich Zeigner Leipzig, after some communist, as it was en vouge at the time. They missed qualification for the initial season of the Oberliga and thus played another year in the Saxonian league for the 1949/50-season, before qualifying for the newly founded second division, the DDR-Liga. This is the beginning of the right branch on the diagram.
1950/51 – Only a year later, the East German sports landscape was heavily reformed, as if all the changes prior hadn’t been confusing enough. To conform to socialist ideology, clubs were urged to turn into so called Betriebssportgemeinschaften (workers sport groups), BSGs for short. Every club was to be linked to a specific factory or organization, where players were employed as workers and excused for training or matches. Clubs who didn’t comply were seen as bourgeois and faced various kinds of repercussions, so by the mid-50s, virtually all clubs in the GDR were those worker clubs. The club name of those BSGs was determined by the branch of industry they were associated to. Police clubs were named Dynamo, workers clubs in the construction industry were called Aufbau, and so on. This is the reason why there are still loads of Dynamo or Dinamo clubs around, as they all were former police teams. Dresden, Zagreb, Kiev, Bucharest, Moscow, Houston (I’m not absolutely sure about them), and so on. ZSG Industrie Leipzig meanwhile was assigned to the local chemical plants and thus renamed to BSG Chemie Leipzig, which translates to BSG Chemistry Leipzig (They weren’t always too creative). BSG Erich Zeigner was meanwhile turned into BSG Einheit Ost Leipzig, associated to insurances and administrative institutions. In the 1950/51-season, Chemie won their first championship. After finishing equal on points with BSG Turbine Erfurt, Leipzig won the final play-off match 2:0 in front of 60,000 spectators in Chemnitz. Einheit Ost meanwhile finished third in the southern division of the DDR-Liga.
1954 – While Einheit Ost finally got promoted to the top-tier Oberliga in 1953, Chemie came close to more silverware when they finished third in 1952 and second in 1954, before the East German sports landscape was again subjected to major changes. Unlike before, where bigger clubs of the same associated industry were spread all across the country, the new model provided for only a few major clubs per branch of trade, with all others only focusing on amateur sports. Leipzig got two of those so called Sportclubs, SCs for short, which translates to sport clubs, no need to thank me. Einheit Ost got transformed into SC Rotation Leipzig, one of two SCs for the national print and publishing industry. The players of Chemie meanwhile were presented with two options: Either stay within the city and join SC Lokomotive Leipzig, the new club for the national railway services; or move to nearby Halle, where the SC for the chemical industry was located. Almost all players chose the first option (No, I don’t know what a chemistry worker would do on a train yard, they probably were just some office clerks or some shit), and while the remnants of Chemie Leipzig were downgraded to an amateur team in the fifth division, Lok took over their spot in the Oberliga and moved to the Stadion des Friedens in Leipzig-Gohlis. The following years were marked by fights about the top spot in the city. While Lok initially struggled to reproduce Chemie’s results, fan interest was enormous. Derbys were moved to the much bigger Zentralstadion, where in 1956, 100,000 people saw the 2:1 victory of Lok over Rotation. To this day, this is a record for most spectators at a national league match in Germany. In 1957, Lok also won the East German cup, the FDGB-Pokal for the first time, and reached the final a year later. Rotation wasn’t as successful, usually finishing in the lower half of the table and never reaching the quarter finals in the cup.
1963 – As decision makers in GDR liked restructuring things almost as much as building walls, the colour red and naming things after dead communists, more restructuring followed in the mid-60s. Officials now decided that one SC per district should be enough, regardless of the branch of industry currently associated with them. Therefore, in 1963, Rotation and Lok joined forces and merged into SC Leipzig. While the top players of both teams were signed by the new club, there was still a whole team worth of players and, more importantly, another spot in the league up for grabs. The solution was to resurrect BSG Chemie Leipzig and transfer all the leftover players, staff and the remaining Oberliga-spot to them. The amateur team, which had kept the name alive for the past years, was meanwhile integrated into the club as the new third team. While SC Leipzig was seen as a prime contender for the championship, Chemie on the other hand was everyones first choice as a relegation candidate. After all, they were basically made up of the shit players of a partially successful team and one that had been mediocre at best. Nevertheless, in one of the biggest upsets in the history of GDR football, Chemie and the so called “rest of Leipzeig” immediately won the league, three points ahead of SC Leipzig, who finished third. This was the last time a BSG won the title against the better funded SC-clubs. This was also the start of many animosities between the two clubs and their successors.
1966 – Not even three and a half years after conception, SC Leipzig was history again. (Did I mention that people liked to change stuff every few years?) The football sections of the SCs were separated from the main clubs and now formed independent football clubs. In Leipzig, this club was again assigned to the national railway services, and thus got the new name 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig. Unlike SC Lokomotive of the 50s, this club was however based at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion in Probstheida, former home of SC Rotation. The club also made its first international headlines, beating Benfica with star player Eusebio in the third round of the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. While they were one of the top teams in the country for most of the 60s, Lok failed to win any titles before a surprise relegation in 1969. Meanwhile, Chemie won the FDGB-Cup in 1966, but started to struggle in the league. At this point, I’d like to take a moment to remember the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Conceptualized as a tournament to promote trade fairs, only the cities with the biggest and most important ones competed in the early years. Over time, this definition slowly changed to “If you have a large parking lot in your town to hold a flea market, you’re in”, leading to clubs like ÍA Akranes and US Rumelange competing for the win (and subsequently losing by double digits in the first round).
70s – After Lok bounced back to the Oberliga immediately, they initially failed to gain traction, with their best results of the decade being fourth places in 1973, 1976 and 1978. Their cup campaign was more successful, however. After reaching the final in 1970 and 1973, they finally won the trophy in 1976 after a decisive 3:0 victory over FC Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder. They also had an admirable run in the 1974 UEFA Cup, reaching the semi finals before being eliminated by Tottenham. Chemie on the other hand couldn’t keep up with the better funded competition and thus became a yo-yo club, being relegated to the DDR-Liga thrice within just ten years.
80s – While Chemie continued their life yo-yoing between the leagues and yoing more and more time in the second division, Lok now attacked in the Oberliga as well. GDR football in the 80s was dominated by Dynamo Berlin, a team with links to the Stasi, the national secret police. Said subtle links included the honorary president of the Club, a guy called Erich Mielke, being also the president of the Stasi. As I said, very subtle links. Dynamo Berlin was also often accused of receiving preferred treatment from referees and officials alike. They were pretty much the Bayern Munich of 80s East German football, with the important difference that the board of Dynamo supported the GDR being an unjust regime that killed people, while the board of Bayern supports Qatar being an unjust regime that kills people. On matchday 18 of the 1985/86 season, the club from the capital played in Probstheida. While Berlin lead the table, Leipzig, sitting in fourth place, needed a win to keep up any realistic chances of winning the league. Lok scored early and held on to the lead until the fourth minute of stoppage time, when referee Bernd Stumpf awarded a penalty to Berlin after a seemingly harmless foul. The decision was questionable and even TV images couldn’t resolve the situation. This lead to a massive outcry never seen before in East German football, with players and even party officials from Leipzig accusing Dynamo of match fixing. To ease the pressure, Stumpf was banned for life from refereeing, and the fact that Lok finished the season only two points behind Dynamo fanned the flames even more. Only years later, in 2000, new footage of the incident was found, proving Stumpf’s decision to be indeed correct. In 1988, they again came second, this time only losing out because of goal difference. Just as in the 70s, their various cup engagements were more successful. They won the FDGB-Pokal three more times in 1981, 1986 and 1987, and also proved their worth on the international stage. In the 1981/82 Cup Winner’s Cup, they reached the quarter finals after being beaten by Barcelona, who would go on and win the tournament. They also beat Girondins Bordeaux and Werder Bremen in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup. This was back in the days when a victory against Bremen still was considered an accomplishment. Their biggest run however followed in the 1986/87 Cup Winner’s Cup. After victories over Glentoran Belfast, Rapid Vienna and FC Sion, they again faced Bordeaux in the semi final. After a 0:1 victory in France, 73,000 fans came to watch the second leg at the Zentralstadion. That’s the official number anyway, other sources estimate up to 120,000 spectators that day. Bordeaux scored early, but Leipzig withstood the pressure for the rest of the match. In the end, Lok won 6:5 on penalties, with goalkeeper René Müller scoring the decisive last goal. They lost the subsequent final 1:0 against Ajax, but received praise from opponents and press alike.
1989/90 – 9th November, 1989, would forever be ingrained in German and world history, as on this day, VfB Stuttgart won 3:0 against Bayern in the RO16 in the DFB-Pokal. Also at the same day, some kind of wall fell in Berlin, which apparently made it to local news or something. German reunification brought even more major changes to East German football, which had been unusually stable for the last 25 years. Clubs all over the country couldn’t compete with western wages, and thus lost key players left, right and center. Lok was no exception, with players like Olaf Marschall or Uwe Zötsche leaving for western clubs after the season. Moreover, those teams now had to operate in a completely unfamiliar capitalist system. To combat those problems, Lok proposed an idea to their rivals Chemie: Under the traditional name VfB, a new and competitive team, representing the whole city was to be formed by merging both clubs together. Chemie, however, had other plans than to unite with their hated neighbor and ditch their heritage as a workers club for a new identity. BSG Chemie Leipzig finished the 1989/90 season in second place of the DDR-Liga behind BSG Chemie Böhlen, thus missing out on promotion back to the top flight. It was already clear that the 1990/91-season would be the last of independent East German football, and while clubs from the Oberliga had good chances of at least qualifying for the 2. Bundesliga the season after, they would’ve had to win the DDR-Liga to even participate in the qualification tournament for the all-german second division. Meanwhile, Böhlen had just changed their name from BSG Chemie to SV Chemie to signify their changed identity and rid themselves of the now unpopular East German baggage. They also were in financial troubles, so Leipzig made them an offer: A merger of SV Chemie Böhlen and BSG Chemie Leipzig, who had also just changed their name to FC Grün-Weiß Leipzig after the season. They also got themselves logo with a frog that’s also a football, which isn’t really important to the story, but just look at it. It’s a football frog. Whoever came up with this is a pure genius. Back to the story. Böhlen accepted the offer for a merger, which in reality was more of a takeover to get Chemie, sorry, FC Grün-Weiß Leipzig their Oberliga-license. Sadly, this also meant that the frog was gone already after just two months, with the new club now called FC Sachsen Leipzig.
1990/91 – The final season of GDR football was all about qualification for the new unified german leagues. Like many things, stuff that was abundant in the west was very scarce and contested in the east, so only two spots for the Bundesliga were available. Those were claimed by Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden. Meanwhile, Lok only finished seventh, while Sachsen barely clinched the final twelveth spot that guaranteed participation in the qualification tournament for the 2. Bundesliga. While Lok cruised through their group and won one of the last two spots in the second division, Sachsen finished dead last and was seeded in the new third division, the Oberliga Nordost.
1991/92 – For their first season in unified Germany, 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig also tried to reform their identity, because you know, they hadn’t done so since the sixities. They took up the idea from 1990 and named themselves VfB Leipzig, after the first german champions that had played in Probstheida. This was somewhat ironic, since their home ground there wasn’t deemed suitable for playing, so the club had to leave Probstheida for the Zentralstadion during the season. After injuries to key players like Damian Halata and Ronald Kreer, VfB Leipzig only barely avoided relegation. They also signed expensive players like former French national Didier Six, which put further strain on their already tight budget. Sachsen meanwhile finished fifth in the Oberliga Nordost, a full 19 points behind winners Zwickau (and remember, this was back in the days where a win only got you two points).
1992/93 – While the 1991/92 season of the 2. Bundesliga was played in a northern and southern division, this following year was planned as a single goliath-league with 24 teams. Still, VfB Leipzig almost didn’t participate after being short on 1 Mio. D-Mark in order to get their license. After a successful appeal, they surprised many by becoming one of the leagues best teams, even after backsets like losing top scorer Bernd Hobsch to Werder Bremen in the winter break. More controversial was the announcement by coach Jürgen Sundermann to leave the club at the end of the season and join Waldhof Mannheim. Still, Leipzig kept up with the other clubs in the top group. While the Freiburger SC won the championship by a clear margin, a three-way battle developed behind them for the remaining two promotion spots between Leipzig, MSV Duisburg, and, of all teams, Waldhof Mannheim. With a win in Jena and a scoreless tie between Mannheim and Eintracht Braunschweig, Leipzig inherited third place before the final two matchdays. In the penultimate game of the season the opponents met each other face-to-face. After another scoreless tie and two red cards for Leipzig, the decision only fell on the final matchday, when Leipzig won 2:0 against FSV Mainz 05 and Mannheim lost 4:3 in Wuppertal, thus promoting VfB Leipzig to the Bundesliga. In the meantime, Sachsen Leipzig won the southern division of the Oberliga Nordost, but still wasn’t allowed to participate in the deciding qualification round for the 2. Bundesliga for financial reasons. They also won their first Sachsenpokal, the regional cup tournament for Saxony. Furthermore, their stadium in Leutzsch was renamed to Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark, to honor the coach who brought them the surprise championship in 1964. After all, they hadn’t renamed anything for almost two years now.
1993/94 – VfB Leipzig was faced with more troubles for their initial Bundesliga season. While key players leaving for richer clubs was a common occurrence by now, the Zentralstadion showed to be deeply unsuitable for them. With a maximum capacity of 50,000 spectators, only 8000 people per game were expected, not least because the surrounding area was traditionally Chemie/Sachsen territory. Nominally spectacular transfers like Darko Pančev, who came from Internazionale, could not prevent immediate relegation back to the second division. With three wins, eleven draws and twenty losses in their only Bundesliga season, they currently sit in second-to-last position in the all-time Bundesliga table. Sachsen Leipzig meanwhile finished fourth and qualified for the new Regionalliga Nordost, while winning another Sachsenpokal.
Late 90s – VfB Leipzig made numerous expensive transfers over the next years in order to achieve a rapid return to the top flight, all with questionable returns. Speaking of returns, they also returned to the Bruno-Plache-Stadion in Probstheida in 1996, when the safety issues there were finally properly fixed. After a draw on the final matchday against their direct relegation opponents from Wattenscheid, VfB Leipzig dropped to the third division in 1998, where they met up again with their city rivals FC Sachsen, who had won their third Sachsenpokal in the meantime. Following a second place finish in 1999, the financial problems for VfB Leipzig became so daring that insolvency was the only option. To make matters worse, they also failed to qualify for the next season in the Regionalliga, which was to be slimmed down from four divisions to just two. Sachsen Leipzig initially made the cut for the 2000/01 Regionalliga-season, but likewise had to file for bankruptcy the year after. Both clubs therefore found themselves down in the fourth division.
2000s – The struggles for both clubs didn’t end there (What a surprise!). While Sachsen initially had another quick stint in the Regionalliga for the 2003/04 season, VfB Leipzig was dissolved after their second insolvency in 2004. As a response, fans founded 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, the name and logo being identical to the old GDR team from 1966. While the new club absorbed the old VfB youth teams, there senior team started all the way back in the lowest division. After securing promotion every time in their first four seasons, they quickly found themselves to be back in the fifth division. Over in Leutzsch, other issues surfaced. A supporters group, founded all the way back in 1997 under the name of Ballsportfördergemeinschaft Chemie Leipzig (a.k.a. BSG Chemie, see what they did there?) began to grow increasingly unsatisfied with the club. The board moved their matches to the unpopular Zentralstadion, while supportes also protested heavily when Red Bull tried to set foot in the city for the first time and overtake the club in 2006. The straw that broke the camels neck were increasing political disputes within the club and it’s fan scene that culminated in physical assaults in November 2007 during an away game in Sangershausen. As a response, the supporters group decided to part ways with FC Sachsen Leipzig and instead found their own club, much like fans had done over in Probstheida a few years earlier. This lead to disputes about who the real successor of old GDR-Chemie was. While FC Sachsen possesed all claims to the legal line of succession, the new BSG Chemie Leipzig had the name, stadium and almost the same badge of the old club from the fifties. Still, FC Sachsen Leipzig had bigger problems, as another insolvency relegated them to the fifth division, meeting up again with Lok. Enter Red Bull. After neither FC Sachsen Leipzig nor any other german clubs were willing to entertain their ideas of a Red Bull takeover, they turned to SSV Markranstädt, a club from a suburb of Leipzig with a fifth division team. They made a deal: For the 2009/10-season, all teams of Markranstädt would run as RB Leipzig. Afterwards, Markranstädt would get back all teams bar the top one, plus some extra money as a bonus. At the request of the Saxonian Football Association, they also took over some youth teams from the bankrupt FC Sachsen Leipzig. Therefore, three clubs from the city participated in the 2009/10 Oberliga Sachen. RB dominated the league, finishing 22 points ahead of second place, while FC Sachsen, now back again at the Adolf Kunze Sportpark in Leutzsch, finished 6th and Lok 12th. Even then, the old clubs still pulled impressive crowds, with almost 15,000 spectators for the derby between Sachsen and Lok.
2010s –In the following season, RB Leipzig made a similar deal with ESV Delitzsch like they had with Markranstädt in order to also have a second team. Meanwhile, FC Sachsen entered a controversial partnership for youth development with RB. Combined with terrible performances in the second half of the season, specator numbers collapsed, leading to yet another insolvency in 2011 (see a pattern here?). This time, FC Sachsen didn’t survive and was disbanded, with youth and amateur teams taken over by a new club called SG Leipzig-Leutzsch. Two years later, they changed their name to SG Sachsen Leipzig (what is it with those name changes all the time?), and another year after that, the whole club was disbanded again after the fourth insolvency since 2001. I hope you are as unsurprised as I am. Another new club called LFV Sachsen Leipzig was founded shortly afterwards. They currently play in the 9th division and share a ground with SV Nordwest Leipzig, one of the decendants of the old ZSG Industrie from all the way back in the 50s. But hey, at least they aren’t bankrupt yet. Fan-founded BSG Chemie meanwhile rose through the ranks. After starting all the way down in the 12th division in 2008, they partnered up with VfK Blau-Weiß Leipzig for a season and today are back in the fourth division, still playing in the Alfred-Kunze Sportpark in Leutzsch. Their biggest success was their victory in the Sachsenpokal in 2018, which also was their ticket for next years DFB-Pokal, where they beat second division team Jahn Regensburg in the first round before being eliminated by SC Paderborn. It was pretty much the first time this club had done anything impressive since their cup win in 1966. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig also currently play in fourth tier at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion. Even though they’re by all measures the legitimate successor of VfB Leipzig, Lok are currently making efforts to officially merge with the technically still existing VfB. This would not only grant them some tax benefits I don’t really understand, but also possibly allow them to wear a star on their jersey, signifying the titles of the old pre-war VfB Leipzig back in the early 1900s. Another thing that shouldn’t go unmentioned is the fact that both Chemie and Lok have a clear political image at least since the early 2000s. It’s almost a bit disingenious to fit all of this into a single paragraph, when it’s in fact one of the biggest reasons why RBL succeded, but this text is long enough already. While both clubs try to distance themselves from any political extremism, their influence on individual supporters is limited. Diablos Leutzsch, the biggest ultra group of Chemie is often linked with the local antifa, while the club often plays friendlies against local clubs like the antifascist Roter Stern Leipzig, and thus is fairly popular with the political left. Lok meanwhile often made the news with racist and neo-nazi fans, with tifos like “Rudolf Heß – our Right Winger” and scarves that read “Juden Chemie” presented at derbies. Although the board and some supporter groups try to take a stand against racism, this is pretty much an uphill struggle and thus, Lok is seen as the right wing club of the city. Especially derbys between the two aren’t exactly the games where you’d bring your family to the stadium. The story of RB Leipzig is well known. They rose through the leagues and currently are one of the top Bundesliga teams. Since I want to keep this text as unbiased as possible, I’m gonna leave it at that, otherwise I’ll just start ranting. One thing is undeniable though: As a club without any political positioning and no appeal to any ultra groups of any kind, they are the preferable choice for the family of four who just want to spend a nice evening, eat overpriced sausages and watch some of those footballers play they only saw on TV before.
So there you have it. A historical analysis on why there was such a power vacuum for Red Bull to slip into and base their team in Leipzig. To explain the cities footballing history, you need to talk about 25 different clubs. The problem becomes especially noticeable when we compare Leipzig with Dresden for the last time. If we draw a similar diagram for Dynamo Dresden like we did for Leipzig before, we can see that, bar some changes to name and logo, the clubs history has been pretty straightforward since the mid-50s, and most noteably, without any bankruptcies (Not to say they didn’t come close sometimes). When Chemie/Sachsen and Lok/VfB struggled both sporting-wise and financially and competed for fans at the same time, Red Bull was there to pick up the pieces and rise to the top, while the old clubs were often more invested in fighting with each other rather than building professional structures.
TL;DR: It took me weeks to work on this shit, if you’re interested in the topic, you can take fifteen minutes to read it.
TL;DR2: Before the Red Bull Nation attacked, Leipzig had two clubs, whose history is so complicated that you need another twenty or so clubs to describe it. Both clubs were pretty shit and hated each other. As it turns out, this doesn't make a good opposition to a billion dollar company. Nowadays, Leipzig has a Bundesliga team and two clubs that are still pretty shit and still hate each other, but now, they're at least united in their hate about the Bundesliga team.

Bundesliga One Hit Wonders

One Hit Wonders do not only exist in music but also in sports. The Bundesliga has seven clubs that played in the highest tier for only one season and were never to be seen again after that. They each have their own story and in this corona-inspired post I will introduce them to you. So turn on "Somebody that I used to know" from Gotye or "MMMbop" from Hanson on your music player and enjoy the read!
SSV Ulm 1846 - Season 1999-00, 35 points
The football club from the city of Ulm, known for its very tall church and a German tongue twister ("in Ulm, um Ulm und um Ulm herum") went from the Regionalliga to the Bundesliga in only two years. The star of the team was the coach: A certain guy called Ralf Rangnick who implemented modern-day tactics like zonal marking and a four back defense into the club. Because many teams in Germany still played like they played in the 1970s it proved to be very effective and Rangnick was even invited to explain his tactics in a famous sports TV show. But he left Ulm for VfB Stuttgart right before promotion so "Die Spatzen" (the sparrows) had to start their Bundesliga adventure with Swiss coach Martin Andermatt.
In their only year they enriched the league in many ways - for example with a match against Hansa Rostock where Ulm got the record number of four red cards plus the coach also being sent to the stands. But above all they played pretty well - by March SSV Ulm was in 12th place, 6 points clear of the relegation zone. But then came Bayer Leverkusen, stacked with Michael Ballack, Emerson and Zé Roberto, and literally destroyed Ulm with a 9-1 win at the Donaustadion. Literally because SSV Ulm only won another game after this match and were relegated from the Bundesliga after all. In the following season they were surprisingly also relegated from the 2. Bundesliga and as a consequence went bankrupt in 2001, one year after the end of their Bundesliga adventure. Since then SSV Ulm have never played higher than 4th tier anymore. Well done Bayer Leverkusen, an easy 1-0 win would have sufficed.
SC Fortuna Köln - Season 1973-74, 33 points
Today a cute little hipster club Fortuna Köln was a little bit like TSG Hoffenheim for most its history. Not very popular, not really successful, dependent on a rich guy but still always kinda there. Just not in the Bundesliga but in the 2nd division where they played 26 consecutive seasons from 1974 until 2000 - always trying to get back to where the club from the south of Köln had been for only one season in 1973-74.
Since 1966 Fortuna Köln was led by Jean Löring - or "De Schäng" how the fans called him in their local dialect. He was not only the investor but the very heart of the club. Among other things he became famous for sacking Fortuna coach Toni Schumacher in the half time break of a match they were losing 2-0, storming into the dressing room with the words: "You have nothing to say here anymore, you wanker." After the match (that they lost 5-1) Löring tried to explain himself: "I as the club had to act." This quote pretty much sums up the relationship between him and Fortuna Köln.
At the beginning of the new century Löring got into financial troubles so his club Fortuna Köln also fell down the leagues. In the last years they came back to the 3. Liga but were relegated to the Regionalliga West in 2019. Interestingly enough Fortuna Köln, who always struggled to attract fans in the shadow of 1.FC Köln, also had the first Ultra fan group in Germany: the Fortuna Eagles who formed in 1986 and still exist today.
SC Preußen 06 Münster - Season 1963-64, 30 points
FC Bayern München is not one of the 16 founding members of the Bundesliga - Preußen Münster is. The club from a more rural area of North-Rhine-Westphalia probably had qualified thanks to good performances in the regional championship in the previous years. "Probably" because the DFB had the last word in deciding the contestants of the inaugural season and no one really knows on which criteria they eventually based their decision. On its homepage Preußen Münster also claims to be the first home ground that was sold out at the 1st Bundesliga matchday in history. And there actually is video footage of this first match between Preußen Münster and Hamburger SV (1-1) that shows that it indeed was "sold out" - meaning overcrowded as fuck with people already standing at the sidelines. Because who needs safety regulations, it's the 1960s.
In the first Bundesliga season only some teams - like champion 1.FC Köln - played fully professional while clubs like Münster had part time workers in their team. 14 games without a win after a good start to the season brought the SCP in the relegation zone where they stayed until the last matchday. In 1974 the club also became a founding member of the 2. Bundesliga, three 3rd place finishes in the late 1970s were the last time Münster ever came close to the top flight. Today they play in the 3. Liga.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Season 2012-13, 21 points
As a totally objective and neutral 1. FC Nürnberg fan I will also have to introduce you to this train wreck of a football club. The most surprising thing about Greuther Fürth is that they managed to get to the Bundesliga at all. Not bad for a club sponsored by a herbal tea producer, naming their football ground Playmobil-Stadium for 13 years. Like I'm not really sure if they even take themselves seriously.
But for the sake of completeness let's look at their sporting success. SpVgg Fürth actually was the second best team in Germany once, of course always behind their city neighbours 1. FC Nürnberg which they never really came close to. After the war they scrambled around in the lower leagues until they came back to the 2. Bundesliga in 1997, having merged with a rich village club called Vestenbergsgreuth. Here they became a regular contender for promotion, always close but fucking it up in the end anyway.
All good things have to end though and so Greuther Fürth actually made it to the Bundesliga in 2012. Even their most prominent fan Henry Kissinger showed up at the home match against Schalke - hopefully watching the horrors on the pitch made him question some of the decisions he made in his political career. Fürth now could finally prove how unable they really were to compete in the highest league in Germany. They only won 4 games (among them one I particularly can't remember) and had no chance of staying in the league at any time of the season. After relegation they went back to be the unambitious mid table team we all love to ignore. If you also do I can recommend you to visit /1fcnuernberg which is the main subreddit for all things not related to Greuther Fürth.
Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin - Season 1986-87, 21 points
Blau-Weiß Berlin (Blue-White Berlin) is probably the most unknown Bundesliga team of all time. Their club name alone sounds like from a video game that didn't get the licensing rights for Hertha BSC. Neither before nor after their one-year stint in the Bundesliga they ever had any relevancy in German football. So how did Blau-Weiß even come to the first division? The absolutely surprising answer: with money. In the 1980s the club was bankrolled by a guy called Konrad Kropatschek who wanted to bring Blau-Weiß Berlin to the Bundesliga and earn money with the transfer rights of players. Before his engagement he had spent four years in jail because of credit frauds, the club didn't really know though. At the end he fucked the club over with massive debts - right in the season they were promoted to the Bundesliga. Now there was no money left anymore to form a good team. They only got 3 wins in the first league but surprisingly still had a chance to stay in the league until the second-last matchday. In 1992 the club finally went bankrupt and plays in the Oberliga Nordost (5th tier) today.
After all we can thank Blau-Weiß Berlin for two things: 1. For this music performance in a famous sports TV show that shows how much modern society is missing professional footballers awkwardly trying to sing and dance; 2. For Karl-Heinz Riedle who played his first Bundesliga season with Blau-Weiß Berlin and became the club's eternal Bundesliga top scorer (10 goals) and their player with the most Bundesliga matches (literally every). Later he went on to be a famous striker for Werder, Dortmund, Lazio and Liverpool and above all he won the world cup in 1990.
VfB Leipzig - Season 1993-94, 20 points
VfB Leipzig is a team that actually shouldn't be in this list. The club was the first German football champion in 1903, it was record champion for 23 years and came from Leipzig, the 4th biggest German city back then and the founding city of the German football association. Perfect conditions that probably would have made VfB Leipzig one of today's Bundesliga powerhouses.
Unfortunately history came in the way. As every club in the Soviet occupation zone the VfB was dissolved after the end of WWII. And in the GDR they really loved to dissolve and rename their successor clubs. Over a time span of 20 years the newly founded BSG Chemie Leipzig became SC Lokomotive Leipzig who merged with SC Rotation Leipzig to become SC Leipzig who then again became 1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig. This club at least existed for the next 24 years until the wall fell down and the club went back to its traditional name VfB Leipzig. The VfB qualified for the 2. Bundesliga and with young talents like Torsten Kracht, Bernd Hobsch and Jürgen Rische managed to secure the Bundesliga promotion spot in 1993 - despite having financial problems like almost every East German club. In the first division they had no chance though, only winning 3 games with 11 draws with key players already leaving before the season started.
Almost to the day 10 years after their last Bundesliga match the club - now playing three leagues lower - went bankrupt and had to be dissolved one more time. The fans refounded the 1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig which just like AFC Wimbledon marched through the bottom leagues (even featuring the legend Lothar Matthäus in one match) and now are stuck in the 4th division again. Meanwhile an Austrian energy drink company recognized the football vacuum that existed in Leipzig, decided to utilize that and now is the main topic of discussion in almost every Bundesliga-related thread on /soccer.
SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin - Season 1965-66, 10 points
Every club has its legacy and the legacy of Tasmania Berlin is playing the worst Bundesliga season ever. By doing that their name has become a benchmark for shittyness that is still known today. What everyone has forgotten although is that - considering how they got to the Bundesliga at all - Tasmania actually did ok in their only top-flight-season. The club had placed 3rd in the Berliner Stadtliga 1964-65 what usually would have been far away from being promoted. But at the same time Hertha BSC, the only Bundesliga club from Berlin were suspended from the league because they had paid their players too much (yeah, it were different times). The DFB still wanted to have a team from West-Berlin in the Bundesliga though so they randomly asked the next best clubs from Berlin to play in the first division. Tennis Borussia Berlin and Spandauer SV, respectively the 2nd and 3rd best teams from Berlin said "no" but Tasmania took the chance.
The problem: Tasmania wasn't prepared at all and even had to call their players back from holiday. Although they still managed to sign German international Horst Szymaniak from FC Varese, they had no chance. To this day Tasmania Berlin holds numerous negative records in the Bundesliga. Among them the season with the fewest points, the fewest goals (15), the most goals against (108), the most matches in a row without a win (31) and the highest home defeat (0-9 against Meidericher SV). Another negative record they held for 54 years was broken just recently, thanks to Corona: The lowest Bundesliga attendance ever with 827 visitors coming to the Olympiastadion Berlin (capacity: ~90,000) for a match against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Leiping over the bull part I

Stuck for something to do after my trial of FM2020 had run out, and inspired by this informative post on /soccer, I decided to set myself a challenge to pass the time. I would take over one of the “other” Leipzig clubs and make them the biggest side in the city, surpassing the energy drink fueled club nestling in the shell of the former Zentralstadion) to take control of the city!
I decided early on that my mission would be successful after finishing above Rasenballsport in the league, and surpassing their trophy haul. A fluky Bundesliga finish combined with an unexpectedly bad season for them wouldn’t count. By virtue of promotion to the Bundesliga I would equal the trophies gained on their rise - the only way to be promoted from the fourth and fifth levels would be to win the league, matching their ascent, and if we go up as champions from the 2nd or 3rd Liga it would be a nice bonus, but not really enough to make us the dominant force in the city. It’s like including the Charity Shield or European Super Cup in your trophy count to claim a “treble”. No, I would only count as being the better side if we gained more impressive trophies than them - a BuLi to their (hypothetical) single Pokal, or a Champions League to their single BuLi.
With my goal cleared up, I created a new manager profile with a suitably Germanicised name and a decent reputation - while this was a challenge, I didn’t want to make it too frustrating as this is supposed to entertain me after all! Next, I had to pick my side. I had three options for sides within the city limits - after all, I wasn’t going to pick a village side 13 km out of town and rename them Leipzig, after all! My choices came down to 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, BSG Chemie Leipzig or FC International Leipzig. As the latter were only founded in 2013 I discounted them - I’d rather restore an old name to glory than pollute the city with more new money. Plus I’ve always had an interest in Cold War history and the other side of the Iron Curtain, so Lokomotive and Chemie were the better options there. (I’m aware that both clubs’ histories are complicated and muddled regarding name changes and reformations - see above post - but in this alternate reality I’m playing, it’s the easier option.) Lokomotive appealed because of the railway connections, but a quick read of both sides’ Wikipedia pages revealed that Chemie’s fans' political views aligned more with my own, so that trumped the trains - plus so few teams play in a green kit, so it’s nice to use a different colour scheme!
A small problem occured when I could only load down to the 3. Liga in Germany. Luckily a quick Google pointed me in the direction of a forum which had the lower leagues and I could load the fifth level, the NOFV-Oberliga Süd, one of three regional leagues controlled by the North East Football Association (NOFV), covering the southern (süd) area of their patch. This career was fast becoming a crash course in the German lower leagues! Chemie had been relegated to this league from the Regionalliga Nordost the season before, and were content for mid-table security, according to the board. Not for me, I wanted to go straight back up - the sooner the better! Of course, I didn’t tell them this, as I had no idea how feasible this might be. I smiled and nodded at their goals, not wanting to overreach and get fired halfway through the first season - I didn’t fancy trying to get Milton Keynes Town into the Premiership instead!
The career got off to an interesting start when I looked at the squad and realised I was going to have to manage this very differently to my usual habit of having two players plus a promising youngster in every position. Not only were most of my youth side too young in the league (any evening games would go on long past their bedtimes), but the senior side were missing crucial parts like a backup striker and a starting left-back. I sent my scout out to find suitable names after he finished his shift at the Netto supermarket by Leutzsch station. Oh yes, to further add to the fun, I was managing a semi-professional club for the first time in twenty years of playing this game! I punted out hopeful offers to any warm body with some form of competence in the required positions. Checking my transfer budget didn’t so much show a monetary figure as a gif of J Jonah Jameson laughing.
Pre-season took place with the sole aim of getting my squad in a shape that wasn’t spherical. The friendlies all took place at home, providing some income, matched by the donation box I placed on the home dugout. The various Dutch and Belgian sides who had decided to holiday in the wilds of eastern Germany provided good training for the kick-and-rush tactic I’d conquered Iceland with in a previous life, only Den Haag triumphing over my podgy part-timers, and even then only a 2-0 victory for the side from the Hague - but the Leipzig youths stole their bicycles while playing, so I think we can call that a draw.
While these friendlies were taking place, and I was scouting local parks for any hidden gems - the Mighty Ducks scouting method - the DfB Pokal draw took place, and gave us a home tie with Borussia Mönchengladbach! I had no interest in the cup at this stage, but it would give us some decent income, and hopefully if we didn’t embarrass ourselves some of the plastic fans might stick around for a league game.
We had three league matches to get through before the giants from the west visited. Plauen, Zorbau and Carl-Zeiss Jena’s reserve side were all dispatched with their tails between their legs - only one clean sheet from the three games was a bit of a concern. If a bunch of opticians could push us to a nervy 3-1 win, how would my defensive, hit-them-on-the-break formation stand against a mid-table BuLi side?
As it turns out, pretty well. The formation worked, and only our fitness let us down in the end, as two goals in the last ten minutes brought our cup run to an end. The post-game celebrations at not being humiliated carried on for a week, as several players were clearly still drunk enough to give us a 7-3 win at Ludwigsfelde in the following league game!
September saw the first derby of my career, against the young upstarts with the clipart badge, International Leipzig. In what I’m really hoping is not an indication of how my career will go against other Leipzig sides, and in the first home game that the cup locals could attend, we stumbled to a 3-2 defeat. A scrappy 2-1 win at Luckenwalde was followed by a late, late equaliser for Rudolstadt in the next home game. Seven games in and we’d kept one clean sheet. We were five points and three places from the top spot, the only promotion place available. A long night sampling the local gose beer - I wanted to taste something as sour as my mood - brought a change of heart. If the defensive formation wasn’t going to work to keep goals out, we’d just have to assume we’ll concede and aim to score at least two goals per game! I dug out a cavalier formation that had seen me put Europe to the sword with Malaga in another life, and hit the “sod it” button. It couldn’t be any worse, could it?
In fact, it could be significantly better. The next six games were all won, with an aggregate score of 24-5, with a clean sheet in a nervy 1-0 win away at Sandersdorf when I went down to 10 men after 13 minutes and pulled everyone back in a Mourinho-esque defend-at-all-costs, growl-menacingly-at-anyone-in-a-white-shirt strategy that thankfully didn’t go wrong.
The only other close game in the run of twenty two straight wins saw us overhaul Krieschow from their top spot with a 1-0 home win that saw 32 shots from us and two from them right at the end that had me convinced we’d concede a late equaliser in true FM fashion. I had the bottle of whiskey and revolver ready for a long walk as they had pretty much equalled our phenomenal form up until that point, and I was certain that if we didn’t manage to come out on top our promotion chances were over for the season, despite it being November. Thankfully we triumphed and never looked back, maintaining our stunning form over the two month winter break and crushing Sandersdorf at home, 4-1, to win the league and promotion with three games to go. My tradition of playing the players in the last game of the season who’ll be leaving the summer backfired somewhat, as they weren’t match fit (or motivated) and saw us lose our winning streak with a 2-0 defeat to 2nd place Krieschow.
Still, I’d surpassed everyone’s expectations, Kai Druschky had banged in 33 goals across 30 games, and we had a Regionalliga Nordost to conquer! What could go wrong?

Leiping over the bull - part I

In light of the DFB Cup 1st round: 5 sleeping giants of German football

The DFB-Pokal 1st round is that time of the year where casual fans of German football get to take a look at some of the country's long forgotten places of historic football. The German FA offers three leagues with 56 spots to compete in „paid football“, ~10 of them are currently occupied by second teams or 'village clubs'. Add 5 cities with two clubs and you're bound to have a few 'giants' in the lower leagues, considering there are 77 major cities in Germany today. Not fullfilling your potential however isn't exclusive to clubs stuck in amateur level limbo. So I'm trying to present you a diverse mix of sleepers in German football today.

Taking a nap – VfB Stuttgart
League: 2nd Bundesliga
In the Cup: Yes, huge favourites versus Homburg
Bio: Kicking off with the most obvious pick, Stuttgart had yet another disastrous season last year where they finally got relegated which after 32 pts (13/14) and 36 pts (14/15) seemed more than deserved at this point. They were pretty much clear but managed to only get two draws and seven losses in the final run of the season. They descended pretty consistently with disputable appointments – Zorninger and Kramny as a coach, Bobic and Dutt as a manager – and became worse by the season since 2009. Still looking back at the squad it seems pretty unlucky to go down with that kind of quality in your team which then, of course, got raided pretty hard. Stuttgart won three BL championships, the latest mere nine years ago and now find themselves in an unpleasent 2nd BL where at least 15 teams will park the bus against them.
Outlook: Stuttgart are a powerhouse of German football, a prime producer of talent, have a huge fanbase in one of the richest regions of the country, and a beautiful and huge stadium. Any reason why they are not playing in the upper regions of the BL are homegrown. This year they start as favourites into the 2nd BL with promotion specialist Luhukay as their coach and somewhat outsider Schindelmeiser as their manager. They should find themselves back in the BL come next year.
Sleep verdict: Just 5 more minutes.

Deep Sleep – Rot-Weiss Essen
League: Regionalliga West (fourth league)
In the Cup: Yes, might have a shot against Bielefeld
Bio: RWE have been shit for pretty much 40 years. They spent a few years in the BL in the 70s but were bouncing between 2nd and 3rd tier football ever since. Their greatest highlight actually came in 1954 when their very own Helmut Rahn shot the deciding goal to make Germany world cup champion. A memory that they still cherish and (succesfully) try to keep alive. Every football fan in Germany knows the legendary lines that went along with this great moment. They were bankrupt in 2010 shortly after they missed out on the newly designed 3rd League. They had a pretty good time in 10/11 when they toured through the villages of North Rhine-Westphalia to achieve promotion to their current league – the Regionalliga West. Still quite bad for the top club in one of Germany's biggest cities. RWE managed to maintain a solid fan base through all of this. They were still watched by about 8000 people in average last season even though they didn't even play well and ended 12th. Their match versus Bielefeld might be one of the juciest in the first round – the match is sold out and the atmosphere should be electric.
Outlook: The fans prove that they will be there if the team give them something to care for. The club can obtain a professional operation in a semi-professional to amateur league but the Regionalliga and its promotion modus is a real pain in the ass and RWE doesn't seem like the unstoppable force that could just walk through it all. They should be playing at least 3rd league, probably rather 2nd league with their possibilities but the German Champion of 1955 is pretty much stuck in limbo. Maybe a good cup campaign might help them get those finances back on track.
Sleep verdict: ...never stopped me dreaming.

Coma – KFC Uerdingen
League: Oberliga Niederrhein (fifth league)
In the Cup: No
Bio: Formerly known as Bayer Uerdingen the club was backed by the biggest employer of the city, pharmacy giant Bayer. Yes, the some one who is involved with Leverkusen. They never were THAT big of a deal but had a more than decent spell in the Bundesliga where they spent most part of the 80s and 90s. They even won the cup in 1985 went forward to the cup winners' cup in the 85/86 season where they provided one of the most memorable games to ever grace the sport. Known as the 'Wunder von der Grotenburg' (wonder of the Grotenburg) they turned arround a 1:5 aggregated deficit in the second half of the second game which is sometimes referred to as the biggest football games of all times. Bayer pulled out in 1995 and it went downhill ever since. They were as far down as the sixth league so this isn't even their lowest point. They were second place last season which made them miss promotion (limbo). Even 4000 visitors – which still is a massive number for the fifth tier – looks a bit sad in their big stadium.
Outlook: They are by far the biggest deal in their league and probably will go up to the Regionalliga next year but that's probably their limit for the time being. The club wasn't that big to begin with and neighbouring cities Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, and even Duisburg have a far better outlook. They're probably out of professional football for good.
Sleep verdict: The plug is pulled.

Just snoozing – Eintracht Frankfurt
League: Bundesliga
In the Cup: Yes, favourites against Magdeburg
Bio: This might be a bit controversial. Frankfurt is currently battling relegation, something they've done more or less since the late 90s. They were relegated four times in this period but always bounced back within a year or two. They aren't historically grand either even though they have an UEFA Cup under their belt. In the late 80s/early 90s they kind of brought beautiful football to Germany and just missed out on winning the BL in 1992 by losing to a relegated side on the last matchday. They still had some big names within their squad up until 1994 when they started crumbling and two years later they were relegated the first time after 30+ years of BL. They had one more killer period under Armin Veh when they played great football in the 2nd BL and subsequent came in 6th as a promoted team in 2013. They had a decent spell in the Europe League but apart from that couldn't really pick up where they left off. They brought in Kovac and Bobic (yes, that guy that got Stuttgart relegated) to play better than last season.
Outlook: Maybe I'm too generous here but Frankfurt has all the tools in the world to play on the same level as Gladbach and they kind of remind me of them from a few years ago. The Bundesliga is shaping up to be the easiest in decades and I'm still not sure if Frankfurt can maintain their first league position. With a club that size it should never really be a question. Frankfurt is a great city with a plenty of succesfull businesses, a ton of fans and Eintracht is pretty much unchallenged in all of Hesse.
Sleep verdict: Did you set that alarm clock?

Fever dream – 1860 München
League: 2nd Bundesliga
In the Cup: Yes, slight outsiders versus Karlsruhe
Bio: 1860 is hilarious. If they played in England, this sub would be all over them. They were pretty much on the verge of bankrupcy since there's money in football but somehow still manage to lurk arround until this very day. I don't really know where to start because they had every scandal imaginable. The whole club is a testament to what could have been. They are currently 49% owned by a Jordanian real estate mogul but many parts of the club are very reluctant to just take the money and become a 'sheik's toy'. To put that in perspective, they were previously bailed out by: their local rival (pretty immoral but still), not at all (spending 12 years in the lower leagues), the city aka the tax payer, and the fucking nazi party. So not only did they vote in anti-investor people at every possibility but Hasan Ismaik started maintenance mode, keeping them just afloat. Now the people in charge for the most part did not have any clue about football and were either politicians trying to get the rub (1860 is still HUGE in Munich) or business men trying to distribute a few jobs. Meanwhile in a different string of events you have a large number of fans actively boycotting their own stadium, only supporting their youth teams and their second team which are – to make it even more absurd – absolutely excellent. One of the best academies of the country routinely produces A+ talents with many of them having brilliant careers down the line. Oh, they also played some football and it was pretty bad, being inches away from relegation twice in a row.
Outlook: They just payed the two highest transfer fees in the history of the club. Also they brought in the first prolific coach they had in a decade. If the money is flowing now they might just flow with it. Their first two games this season were abysmal so they probably shouldn't get their hopes up. After all the heartache they still are a beloved establishment of German football and hopefully stay as they are forever. Maybe even where they belong, in the upper half of the Bundesliga.
Sleep verdict: Sleepwalking on the edge of a cliff.

Shoutout to Hansa Rostock, Alemannia Aachen, Waldhof Mannheim, and anyone else I might have forgotten. Also check out Dresden vs Leipzig if you watch this weekend. Should be an insane atmosphere.

Which Top Blokes (Aussies) Played Good and Shit Overseas? Oct 10 – Oct 16

Hi everyone, time for another weekly round-up of Aussies who played overseas. Most leagues are back in action after the international break, but expect more club fixtures next week. As always, let me know if there’s anyone missing or anything incorrect
Mustafa Amini (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), 23

14th, AC Horsens, Home, 1-1, Superligaen, Started, 83mins, CM

Terry Antonis (Veria FC, Greece), 22

16th, Atromitos Athinon, Away, 0-1, Super League, Sub, 2mins

Panos Armenakas (Udinese Calcio, Italy), 18

15th, Juventus, Away, 1-2, Serie A, Excluded

Aziz Behich (Bursaspor, Turkey), 25

16th, Osmanlispor, Home, 0-0, Super Lig, Started, Full, LB, 6.9

Mark Birighitti (Swansea City AFC, England), 25

15th, Arsenal, Away, 2-3, Premier League, Excluded

Cameron Burgess (Oldham Athletic AFC, England), 20

15th, Bolton Wanderers, Away, 0-2, League One, Started, Full, CB, Yellow

Alex Cisak (Leyton Orient FC, England), 27

15th, Luton Town, Home, 1-2, League Two, Started, Full, GK, Conceded 2

Jason Davidson (FC Groningen, Netherlands), 25

15th, SC Heerenveen, Home, 0-3, Eredivisie, Started, 36mins, LB, Straight Red, 5.0

Milos Degenek (TSV 1860 München, Germany), 22

16th, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Home, 1-3, Bundesliga 2, Excluded, Injured

Thomas Deng (Jong PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), 19

14th, Almere City FC, Away, 0-1, Eerste Divisie, Excluded

Daniel De Silva (Roda JC Kerkrade, Netherlands), 19

16th, SBV Excelsior, Away, 1-0, Eredivisie, Started, 88mins, AM, 1 Assist, 7.5

Bruce Djite (Suwon FC, Korea), 29

16th, Gwangju FC, Home, 1-2, K-League, Sub, 44mins

Kenneth Dougall (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), 23

15th, Willem II Wilburg, Home, 2-2, Eredivisie, Started, Full, CM, 6.2

Aaron Downes (Cheltenham Town, England), 31

15th, Crawley Town, Home, 2-1, League Two, Started, Full, CB

Mitch Duke (Shimizu S-Pulse, Japan), 25

16th, Zwiegen Kanazawa, Away, 3-0, J-League 2, Excluded, Injured

Lyndon Dykes (Queen Of The South FC, Scotland), 21

15th, Greenock Morton, Home, 0-5, Championship, Started, Full, LW

Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle FC, Scotland), 22

15th, Hamilton Academical, Home, 2-2, Premiership, Started, Full, AM, 1 Goal

Callum Elder (Brentford FC, England), 21

15th, Newcastle United, Away, 1-3, Championship, Excluded

Adam Federici (Bournemouth FC, England), 31

15th, Hull City, Home, 6-1, Premier League, Sub, Unused

Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg BK, Norway), 19

15th, Sarpsborg 08, Away, 2-2, Tippeligaen, Excluded

Apostolos Giannou (Guangzhou R&F FC, China), 26

16th, Hangzhou Greentown, Home, 5-2, Super League, Started, 72mins, CF, 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 8.8

Curtis Good (Newcastle United FC, England), 23

15th, Brentford, Home, 3-1, Championship, Excluded

Craig Goodwin (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), 24

15th, Willem II Tilburg, Home, 2-2, Eredivisie, Sub, 33mins, LW, 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 7.8

Ben Halloran (FC Heidenheim, Germany), 24

15th, Greuther Fürth, Away, 2-0, Bundesliga 2, Started, 83mins, RW, 1 Goal, Yellow

Chris Herd (Gillingham, England), 27

15th, Bristol Rovers, Away, 1-2, League One, Started, Full, Yellow

Blake Horton (SC Telstar, Netherlands), 21

14th, NAC Breda, Home, 2-0, Eerste Divisie, Sub, Unused

Brad Inman (Peterborough United FC, England), 24

15th, Fleetwood Town, Away, 0-2, League One, Excluded, Injured

Jackson Irvine (Burton Albion FC, England), 23

15th, Wigan, Away, 0-0, Championship, Started, Full, CM, 6.5

Scott Jamieson (IFK Göteborg, Sweden), 27

16th, Oskarshamns AIK, Away, 6-0, Svenska Cupen, Started, Full, LB

Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa FC, England), 32

15th, Wolves, Home, 1-1, Championship, Started, 55mins, CM, 6.7

James Jeggo (SK Sturm Graz, Austria), 24

15th, SV Ried, Home, 1-0, Bundesliga, Started, Full, CM, Yellow

Brad Jones (Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands), 34

16th, NEC Nijmegen, Away, 2-1, Eredivisie, Started, Full, GK, Conceded 1, 5.3

Aleksander Jovanovic (Tianjin Teda FC, China), 27

15th, Yanbian Fude, Away, 1-2, Super League, Started, Full, CB, Yellow, 6.7

Dean Juric (HNK Hajduk Split, Croatia)

16th, RNK Split, Home, 2-1, Prva HNL, Excluded

Tomi Juric (FC Luzern, Switzerland), 25

15th, FC Basel, Away, 0-3, Super League, Started, Full, CF

Robbie Kruse (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany), 28

15th, Werder Bremen, Away, 1-2, Bundesliga, Excluded

Mitch Langerak (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), 28

15th, Dynamo Dresden, Home, 0-5, Bundesliga 2, Started, Full, GK, Conceded 5

Mat Leckie (FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany), 25

15th, 1. FC Köln, Away, 1-2, Bundesliga, Sub, 32mins, 6.3

Adrian Leijer (Suwon FC, Korea), 30

16th, Gwangju FC, Home, 1-2, K-League, Started, Full

Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers FC, England), 24

15th, Reading, Home, 1-1, Championship, Sub, Unused

Jordan Lyden (Aston Villa FC, England), 20

15th, Wolves, Home, 1-1, Championship, Excluded

Awer Mabil (Esbjerg fB, Denmark), 21

13th, B 93 Kopenhagen, Away, 0-1, DBU Pokalen, Started, Full, RW

Stefan Mauk (NEC, Netherlands), 20

16th, Feyenoord, Home, 1-2, Eredivisie, Sub, Unused

Scott McDonald (Motherwell FC, Scotland), 33

15th, Celtic, Away, 0-2, Premiership, Started, 46mins, CF

Ryan McGowan (Henan Jianye FC, China), 27

16th, Shanghai Greenland, Away, 2-2, Super League, Started, Full, CB, Yellow, 5.6

Brent McGrath (Esbjerg fB, Denmark), 25

13th, B 93 Kopenhagen, Away, 0-1, DBU Pokalen, Started, Full, CF

Golgol Mebrahtu (FK Mlada Boleslav, Czech), 26

14th, Bohemians 1905, Away, 3-1, 1. Liga, Excluded

James Meredith (Bradford City AFC, England), 28

15th, Oxford United, Away, 0-1, League One, Started, 48mins, LB

Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town AFC, England), 26

16th, Sheffield Wednesday, Home, 0-1, Championship, Started, Full, CM, 7.0

Tomislav Mrcela (Jeonnam Dragons, Korea), 26

16th, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, Away, 1-0, K-League, Started, Full, CB

Danijel Nizic (Morecambe FC, England), 21

11th, Notts County, Away, 2-1, League Two, Sub, Unused
15th, Stevenage, Home, 0-2, League Two, Sub, Unused

Aiden O'Neill (Burnley, England), 18

16th, Southampton, Away, 1-3, Premier League, Sub, 49mins, CM, 6.0

Chris Oikonomidis (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), 21

14th, AC Horsens, Home, 1-1, Superligaen, Excluded, Internationals

Erik Paartalu (Jeonbuk FC, Korea), 30

15th, Jeju United, Home, 2-3, K-League, Excluded

Tom Rogic (Celtic FC, Scotland), 23

15th, Motherwell, Home, 2-0, Premiership, Excluded

Mat Ryan (Valencia CF, Spain), 24

16th, Sporting Gijon, Away, 2-1, La Liga, Excluded

Trent Sainsbury (Jiangsu Suning FC, China), 24

15th, Shanghai SPIG, Home, 2-1, Super League, Sub, 13mins, Yellow, 6.2

Brad Smith (Bournemouth FC, England), 22

15th, Hull City, Home, 6-1, Premier League, Excluded

Mat Spiranovic (Hangzhou Greentown FC, China), 28

16th, Guangzhou R&F, Away, 2-5, Super League, Started, Full, CB, 5.8

Michael Thwaite (Lianoning Whowin FC, China), 33

16th, Chongqing Lifan, Away, 1-2, Super League, Started, 61mins, DM, 1 Goal, Yellow, 8.0

Dario Vidosic (Lianoning Whowin FC, China), 29

16th, Chongqing Lifan, Away, 1-2, Super League, Started, Full, AM, 6.2

Luke Wilkshire (FC Dynamo Moscow, Russia), 35

12th, FK Khimki, Away, 0-0, Football National, Started, Full, RB
15th, Fakel Voronezh, Away, 1-2, Football National, Excluded

Ryan Williams (Barnsley FC, England), 22

15th, Fulham, Home, 2-4, Championship, Excluded, Injured

Bailey Wright (Preston North End FC, England), 24

15th, Brighton & Hove Albion, Away, 2-2, Championship, Sub, Unused

Kwame Yeboah (Monchengladbach II, Germany), 22

14th, Wiedenbruck, Home, 0-0, Regionalliga West, Excluded

Played Full Game:

Aziz Behich, Cameron Burgess, Alex Cisak, Kenneth Dougall, Aaron Downes, Lyndon Dykes, Ryan Edwards, Chris Herd, Jackson Irvine, Scott Jamieson, James Jeggo, Brad Jones, Aleksander Jovanovic, Tomi Juric, Mitch Langerak, Adrian Leijer, Awer Mabil, Ryan McGowan, Brent McGrath, Aaron Mooy, Tomislav Mrcela, Mat Spiranovic, Dario Vidosic, Luke Wilkshire

Played Some Game:

Mustafa Amini, Terry Antonis, Jason Davidson, Daniel De Silva, Bruce Djite, Apostolos Giannou, Craig Goodwin, Ben Halloran, Mile Jedinak, Mat Leckie, Scott McDonald, James Meredith, Aiden O'Neill, Trent Sainsbury, Michael Thwaite

On Bench:

Adam Federici, Blake Horton, Massimo Luongo, Stefan Mauk, Danijel Nizic (2), Bailey Wright

Excluded:

Panos Armenakas, Mark Birighitti, Thomas Deng, Callum Elder, Alex Gersbach, Curtis Good, Dean Juric, Robbie Kruse, Jordan Lyden, Golgol Mebrahtu, Chris Oikonomidis, Erik Paartalu, Tom Rogic, Mat Ryan, Brad Smith, Luke Wilkshire, Kwame Yeboah

Injured:

Milos Degenek, Mitch Duke, Brad Inman, Ryan Williams

Player of the Week:
Honourable Mentions:

Danny de Silva setting up the only goal in Roda’s first win of the season
Apostolos Giannou bagging a goal and an assist against Spira’s Hangzhou Greentown
Ben Halloran opening the scoring for Heidenheim in a 2-0 away win
Aiden O’Neill coming on for Burnley before half time in the EPL (just remember, this is an 18y/o centre mid, so his progress will be keenly watched)
Michael Thwaite (mostly playing as a DM for Laioning) scoring a goal and being best for his team even though they lost

Winner:

But this week it goes to Craig Goodwin for coming off the bench with 33 mins to go and scoring a goal and assisting the match-leveller for Sparta as they came back from 2-0 down to draw. Somehow wasn’t man of the match, but he clearly changed the game or at least provided the spark for them. Great impact.

Who to Manage in... Germany

Introduction
So, after posting the poll at the end of the League 2 post I have my next country to explore - Germany, who won convincingly with 19 votes to Spain's 9.
Germany has two divisions, and I will pick two teams from each to talk about for you.
Let's get started.
Bundesliga
The top division has been dominated by Bayern Munich of late, and so it does not offer itself up as the most exciting of Career Prospects at first glance. But with a number of teams who you could take to challenge the Bavarian giants, I am willing to shed some light on the history, sides that missed out here include FC Koln who won the first Bundesliga title in it's current form back in 1963, Borrussia Monchengladbach who were a force in the 70's and recent darlings of the league Borussia Dortmund.
VfB Stuttgart:

Budget: £11,000,000 Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Stadium Rivals: Bayern Munich and Karlsruhrer SC

History
The Bundesliga is a hard one to pick teams in, since Bayern Munich are the ever dominant force in the division with incomparable results in both the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal wins.
So what better place to start, than a rival of the Bavarian club - even if the rivalry is one way - in Stuttgart, who after some teething problems in its formative years after coming from a Rugby club, are one of the leagues more decorated clubs.
1933 saw the club move to its stadium, or rather the site of the stadium that we know now, and German football underwent a great change under the Third Reich, with 16 "top-flight" divisions created, with the winners of each then participating in an elimination based tournament for the German Championships. Stuttgart played in the Gauliga Wurttemberg, which essentially meant Regional League of Wurttemberg, from 1933-45 before the war forced competitive play to be put on hold, they would enjoy success here - winning 4 titles and claiming another 4 runners-up medals, all behind their hated rivals Stuttgart Kickers, the only club to be more successful in the division with 5 titles, all 4 coming in succession between 1938 and 1942. Stuttgart would reach the National finals on 1 occasion in this period, losing out to the defending champions Schalke.
The period of 1949-1963 saw another change in structure for the country, as they switched to 5 regional leagues, and Stuttgart would play in the Oberliga Sud - a much more competitive division than the previous, with Bavaira, Hessen and Badem-Wettemberg being represented - Stuttgart would do well to claim a further 3 league champions in '46, '52 and '54, they would also enjoy winning the national championships in '50 and '52, the first two of five in total, and the last for 32 years for the club, with 1963 once again brining change to the structure and the introduction of a single national league - the Original Bundesliga.
The first years of 1963 to 1974 where considerably underwhelming for the club, as they were pseudo-professional for much of the period, and with the playing staff working full-time jobs between playing in the national league, they would stick to mid-table finishes for the most part - their most notable success coming in 1974 when qualification to the EUFA Cup saw them get to the semi-finals of the tournament, losing out to Feyenoord who would go on to be champions that year. The years that followed, 1975-2000, would become known as the President Mayer-Vorfelder Era did not start well as the club would be relegated in 1974-75 having fell behind the modern trends of football in Germany, and in 1975-76 record the worst finish in the clubs history as they managed just an 11th place result, it was clear then that they would need to make changes.
And the changes were considerable, a new manager in Jurgen Sundermann was appointed and a younger, more vibrant squad assembled for their second shot at the second division, and with over 100 goals scored the club would demolish the division to return to the top-flight after just two years of absence - the only two years they would miss out on - the club's young line-up was popular, setting attendance records for the Bundesliga despite inexperience as they placed 4th, they would be a fixture of the top 4 for the years that pre-dated winning the league for the first time in 1984, the third National Championship win in the clubs history, it was clear they were a solid force to be reckoned with.
Their success was much due to their exciting play, as popularity soared for them but titles were not won regularly, 1986 saw them lose out to Bayern Munich in a national cup final, while 1989 saw them come up against a Maradona led Napoli in the UEFA Cup Final 5-4 on aggregate, there was no shortage of fans for Stuttgart in this time, and in 1991-92 the club would once again reign supreme in the Bundesliga.
The club would continue to excite, but fall short, through out the 90's - managing a solitary German Cup win, the third in their history, under the management of a budding Joachim Low, and a cup final in the European Cup Winners Cup competition of 1998 where they lost to Chelsea, the club would lose two of it's three most notable players of the era as striker Elber moved to Bayern and Bobic left for Dortmund in 1997 and 1999 respectively, the club would fall to mid-table and having spent a lot of money trying to recover, the 2000's would see them struggle with debt.
The turn of the century would not be a disaster however, as the club was rebuilt much the same way as in the mid-70's relying on youth talent, players such as Alexander Hleb, Kuranyi and Hidebrand came through the ranks here as the club earned the nickname "young and wild", inexperience almost killed them off in 2001 when a 15th placed finish saw them narrowly avoid relegation, it was still considered a return to the young, exciting brand that Stuttgart are known for, and in 2002/03 they finished 2nd in the league.
Stuttgart once again emerged as a top team in the country, with 4th and 5th place finishes, but suffered a lack of ambition it seemed with promising youngsters leaving for other clubs - most notably a young Phillip Lahm moving to Bayern Munich - 2005/06 saw them slip to 9th amid the sales of experienced talent and managerial instability. But the bounce-back-ability of Stuttgart is nothing to laugh at, and in 2006/07 they overcame a poor start to the league season and on the last day of the season a 2-1 win saw a team that included Mario Gomez and Sami Khedira win the title for the 5th time in the club history, and with the cup final to be played they could have secured a double, but with Cacau seeing red and the club fatigued from battling to equalise they would succumb to Nurmeburg 3-2 after extra time.
2008-2015 has been a turbulent time for the club however, a 3rd place finish in their season as defending champions was marred by a 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich, and defeat to the same club on the last match day as they narrowly missed out on 2nd, 2009-2010 once again saw the club lose a star to Bayern Munich as Gomez departed. Another poor start was superseded by an almost unbeatable second half of the season, and the club once again claimed a European Football spot, 2010-11 was a mediocre season as their form threatened managing only 12th in the league as their second half of the season again saved face for the club, this has been much the theme for the club, before 2014-15 saw them barely escape relegation - 2015/16 is going much the same way - and the club is in a miserable decline.
This is where you step in.
In FIFA

The Aims

Revival of Stuttgart must come on the back of a young, vibrant attacking team that excels at scoring goals and entertaining - Youth Academy, Young Signings and attacking flair will be crucial, Brazil, Scandinavia and of course Germany have all contributed players to Stuttgart's history and you'll have your pick of the bunch.

The Squad

Stuttgart are by no means a bad squad to start with, the likes of Kostic, Werner and Baumgartl becoming main stays in a lot of careers they will be solid to the basis of the team you build, they are - unsurprisingly - a number of kids at the team.

Transfer Targets

The weakest position on the team is CB by a long way, with Niedermeier too old to be considered effective and Baumgartl too young to be a starter at a club hoping to challenge for the title.
To fix this, moving Schwaab central and pulling Klein back to RB, while signing in someone to start is best. This will mean you need a new RM however, as Kruse is only on loan and Harnik is at the peak of his powers.
And of course, a youth academy will be essential, Stuttgart have one of - if not the most - successful academies in the country, and it'd be a shame not to keep that legacy going.
Youth Academy
Definitely hire at least one scout of a decent quality to look at Germany, this way you can get a jump on the academy and bring through players like Stuttgart do in real life - I'd also consider using a Scout Future Star here and hoping to find a German talent who can be a captain of the future.
Centre Backs
I'd look at players between 20-25 who can start for you and grow some into a solid player alongside Schwaab now and then Baumgartl in the future.

Kempf

Freiburg's youngster, he'll take a little bit of time to grow into a solid player, but I am confident that he will reach it. Not the strongest, he's a good ball winner and ball player, which is crucial to an open and attacking team.

Dragovic

A contestable choice, he will likely start at Barcelona if FIFA 15 was anything to go by, but the Austrain defines "play playing centre back" at a young age. He's also decently strong, with a good header and tackle on him, he'll walk into the first team - and stay there for years.

Kanon

Ivory Coast player is more of a pure defender than the others, but what a defender he is - and will be - with strength and height, he'll walk into the first team and continue a long standing tradition of Eredivisie transfers into the Bundesliga.

Right Midfielder
Sisto

Skillful Danish winger, the 20 year old will be an absolute wonderkid for years to come. Adding him early will be best, starting Harnik or Kruse ahead of him and letting him grow into the fine footballer he's capable of, Kostic-Werner-Sisto could be the "magical triangle" renewed.

Villalba

Argentine kid could be cheap with his deal running low in 2016, and adding some South American flair to the side will be a good way to improve the attacking side of things. Quick with his feet, both in terms of dribbling and running, the winger will easily fit in.

Damm

Jurgen is a nice German name, and Mexican's featured in that title winning side of 2006/07. Damm could return that tradition, and his pace combined with fledgling ability could see him rise up the ranks fast - and fast is an understatement with 95 in both speed stats, there won't be many in the Bundesliga able to keep up with him, except Aubameyang of course.
FC Ingolstadt 04

Budget: £4,000,000 Stadium: Audi-Sportpark Rivals: Augsburg, Bayern and 1860 munich.

History
Well, they don't have much, this club was formed in 2004 having seen the merging of two other clubs: ESV and MTV Ingolstadt.
The two sides they formed from were never too exciting, as neither achieved anything more than 3rd division football, the real success came after they joined as one and Ingolstadt began in the 4th Division.
Their debut year would see them finish second in the Division, before the next year allowed them an improvement - winning the division title and making the step up to Regionalliga Sud, they would finish 5th in their first season, before a second placed finish awaited them in the second attempt, League Restructuring would take place and the club itself would successfully make the step up into the new 2nd Division on the back of this success.
However, despite winning their first league game of that season, the club would not do too well in this competitive league, managing to win just one in Eighteen matches in the second half of the year - making an instant return to the third tier of German football.
Their return to the third tier was steady guided by new coach Ralph Hasenhuttl, and on the back of a 3rd place finish they would qualify for the newly introduced Relegation/Promotion play off. Facing FC Hansa Rostock, the club would win in both legs of the competition and gain promotion back to the second tier with just one season played.
Hashuttle had improved and steadied the fledgling clubs play, and with just a seasons break the club that had been relegated so convincingly showed up to play - on the back of new signings across almost every position - the shrewd dealings changed the fortunes of the young club, and with wins (17) in half their games (34) that year the club sealed their first title since the 2006 4th Division win.
Their debut season in the Bundesliga will be the one you take charge of, and in real life they've not done too bad, placing 11th currently with 17 games played they've won 5, drawn 5 and lost 7, for a young club this is a fantastic achievement.
In FIFA

The Aims

The reason I choose the young team above others is simple, at just 12 years old the team is so young and at such a new stage of their life - you can spend 15 in game years stamping your image on the team, creating them into the future of German football, and basically shape an entire clubs philosophy and future for their existence - there are not many clubs in FIFA that you can do that with, and it's an exciting prospect, they are another Bavarian based club, so you can dismantle the Bayern dominance as well.
Playing as "Ralph Hassenhuttl" will allow for a touch more realism, as they are not likely to fire the coach after leading them through two promotions.

The Squad

They're not the best team by any stretch, though there are players in there who will be crucial to the back bone of the side for years to come if you choose to keep them - Grob, Pledl, Da Costa, Nyland and Danilo have enough to potential to build around and will easily suffice as squad players in the later years.

Transfer Targets

The best part about this team? There is no pre-determined path to follow in the transfer market, they sign players who will improve the side and don't worry too much otherwise - they're quite honestly a perfect side to manage in terms of freedom to do what you like.
Go wild targeting players who you want, and would realistically be interested in playing in the Bundesliga for a team like Ingolstadt - largely from Brazil, Australia, Scandinavia and of course Germany.
2. Bundesliga
The second division of German football comes with the best supporters in the world, both in my opinion and others of course, it is one that I loved managing in on FIFA with 1860 Munich and is quite challenging to take control of.
When it came to selecting my teams I had a hard time to select - 1860 came to mind due to their proximity to Bayern, the pair literally share a stadium and Armenia Bielefeld also came to mind - but then I found out that they probably don't really exist at all, which is a shame.
But I settled on the following:
RB Leipzig:

Budget: £15,000,000 Stadium: Red Bull Arena Rivals: All of German, see [**This**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RB_Leipzig#Criticism)

History
History? What History! RB Leipzig are the much hated, new kids on the block with a lot of money. One of only four teams, I believe though can't confirm, available from the former East German nation, they're the lasting hope of Eastern football in country dominated by the West and Bavaria, and for that reason alone they don't deserve as much hate as they get.
RasenBallsport Leipzig, as they're officially known, a common mistake we make is calling them Red Bull, it literally translates to "Leipzig lawn ball sports" the bizarre name allowing them to keep the RB initials that are associated throughout the clubs footballing infrastructure, RB Brasil, NYRB and RB Salzburg all quite famous teams on the back of investment and structuring by the notorious Red Bull group.
Officially founded in 2009, after the purchase of Fifth Division SSV Markanstadt and it's staff and the purchase of FC Saschen Leipzig, the club gained a structure including 4 levels of Men's football and 4 levels of Youth Football. With this in place, the board announced the plan to play Bundesliga football within 8 years, they spoke openly about the plausibility of winning the German First Division in the near future, becoming the first Leipzig based team to do so since VfB Leipzig, and it was predicted that 100m euro's would be invested in this project within 10 years, by no means a wild claim if true.
RB Leipzig would have to wait until July 2009 to play its first games, as the storm surrounding their establishment caused game after game to be cancelled, eventually beating SV Bannewitz 5-0, following this they played their first competitive match against VfK Blau–Weib Leipzig in the Saxony cup, again winning 5-0, before drawing 1-1 in their first league action of the fifth division.
2009-10 proved successful for the club, winning the league by the 25th matchday of 30, they would lose only twice and score 74 times along the way they simply dominated proceedings. This success saw Red Bull announce that RB Leipzig was going to replace Salzburg as the vocal point of its footballing projects.
The second season of Leipzig's existence saw them relinquish the reserve teams they already owned and purchase a new one altogether - a reserve team that is also dominating currently - and move into its new stadium in Leipzig for the first time. 2010-11 would prove ambitious for the club again, but after a series of draws in the early season they would be left chasing shadows, and eventually finished 4th, they did win the Saxony Cup and with that confirm their first title in their professional history - and secure qualification for the Pokal the following season, announcing themselves with a big 3-2 win over Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
Despite the season showing signs of improvement, including a massive 8-2 win against SV Willhelmshaven, they would again miss out on promotion - this time finishing 3rd following a crucial 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg's second team. Once again the side would go about making big changes, with a new coach announced for the second year running, and at the third attempt they would finally win the title and the opportunity to gain promotion out of the 4th tier, and once again RB would win the Saxony Cup - this time winning the final 4-2.
The side would have to play a promotion qualifier match with Regionalliga West winners Sportfreunde Lotte, and after winning the first leg 2-0, they would lose the second - also by 2-0 - and were forced to play Extra Time, the side would score twice in this additional period and with a 4-2 scoreline finally earned promotion.
The 2013-14 season saw the club spend money again, the most notable signing being Joshua Kimmich from Stuttgart, who like most Stuttgart's players has ended up at Bayern Munich. The team started the season with defeat at Augsburg in the Pokal for the second season running, losing a competitive game for the first time in a year, but would impress in league play and by mid-season they were placed 3rd in the league. The winter break saw yet more heavy investment, as the club brought in 4 players, and in the second half of the season duelled away with Darmstadt for the crucial second place finish and promotion, a feat that was almost confirmed when they beat Darmstadt 1-0 in April, it would be official two weeks later as they beat the bottom side 5-1, this result marked the first promotion of RB without a title and also the first time since the inception of 3. Bundesliga that a team was promoted after just one season in the division.
Garnering licensing for 2. Bundesliga proved difficult for the club, as the opposition from other teams around them began to gain momentum, they were to be granted a license only if they complied for three requirements - which were later deemed legally questionable - and the victimisation of the club rose, it took two appeals for them to finally get a compromise out the German Footballing Association, and the club were forced to re-design it's logo and prove that it's management structure was independent from that of Red Bull.
The transfer window also brought about change, as the club spend a massive 12m euros on players - the 8th highest spenders in the top two divisions - and saw Rani Khedira, brother of Sami, join from Stuttgart, Klostermann from Bochum, Sabitzer from their sister club Salzburg and Bruno from Anderlecht join - the latter two instantly loaned out to RB Salzburg - as the club showed incredible ambition.
The club would still find the step up in quality difficult, and considerably inconsistent results would see the club would sit in 8th place before the winter break - before yet more investment followed, the club signing Reyna and Rodnei from Salburg, Forsberg from Malmo in a window that took their seasons spending to 22,7m euros for the season - the 10,7m euro spend almost as much as the rest of the league combined.
However, results didn't improve, and without a win in four games the club was lagging behind the top sides in the division - manager Zorniger, who had led the side from the fourth to second division, would be the latest casualty of ambition, sporting director Ragnick eventually announcing himself as the manager after interim coach Beierlozer took the club to a 5th placed finish in the league.
At the start of the current season, the club again invested heavily bringing in Orban, Nukan and Selke in the window at a reported cost of 16m euros, while Kimmich was sold back to Stuttgart on option, before being sold on to Bayern Munich for profit.
Three players were moved from Salzburg to Leipzig in keeper Gulasci, midfielder Ilsanker and striker Quaschner, as hostilities mounted between the two clubs - Bruno and Sabitzer would also return from loan spells - the fans of the club would be heard singing anti-Leipzig chants during a pre-season cup.
And with that we are brought to the current season, Leipzig top the Bundesliga by three points after 19 games, and will most likely be top flight by the end of the season - one year ahead of the 8 year schedule.
In FIFA

The Aims

The board have made it very, very clear that success is the only option and that they want to top the Bundesliga, Pokal and probably Europe as soon as possible - and are willing to use whatever means possible to do so.

The Squad

The Team is stacked, seriously, they have spared no expense to ensure success at any point and it shows, with the future and present likely to be staved in joy.

Transfer Targets

With the club not shy about spending money, whether on a youth prospect, a depth player or someone to walk into the first team you are not too limited on how you do things.
They would however, appear to prefer a young player from Germany or Scandinavia, with raids on Salzburg a common theme. It would be my suggestion that you turn off the first window to ensure realism.
Some Targets to consider

Lazaro

You get the choice of Salzburg and it would be no surprise to see you bring in Alaba 2.0, the Austrian RM will grow into a player who you could sick anywhere bar keeper and he'll play at an 8/10 every match remarkable.

Oberlin

You may not need him right now, but in terms of potential the Swiss starlet looks to be special. Another Salzburg star with potential, signing him would continue the current theme - and piss them off some more.

Keita

Naby is quick and strong, and with DM the "weakest" unit of Leipzig, taking him in would improve the side massively. I'd definitely take a look.
FC St Pauli:

Budget: £740,000 Stadium: Millerntor-Stadion Rivals: Hamburg SV (although, being the nicest team in Germany, it's hard to assume they have any at all)

History
Picked for their goalkeeper kit and unique ultra left-wing view on the world, St Pauli are a team more famous off the field than on it - not that this bothers them, they promote equality and I guess sharing points is one way of doing that.
The club spent its life pre-Bundesliga as an unremarkable club, reaching the first division in 1934 by virtue of a restructuring, and were instantly relegated in 1935 before promotion in 1936 - they'd again be relegated in 1940 before promotion in 1942 saw them remain in the top division until the end of the war. The late 1940's and early 1950's saw the club enjoy mild success, with a number of national championship appearances - most notably reaching the semi-finals in 1948, losing to eventual champions Nuremburg. The next seven seasons (1949-56) saw them place second 5 times, though they could not overtake Hamburg, before dropping behind Wolfsburg and Osnabruck in the late 50's, managing to at least finish 4th consistently.
The 60's came with reform, and St Pauli found themselves in the second division, and despite winning the title in 1964 they would finish bottom of the promotion play-off group, they would win the league again 1966 - but fail to promote again, this time losing out on goal difference. The club would again win the league title in 1972 and 1973, and runners up spots in 71 and 74, the club continued to be tormented by poor play-off performances.
With the success of German football growing, a second national division was formed - the 2. Bundesliga - in which St Pauli were placed, and at long last in 1977 the club found themselves in the top flight, having won the title. Their climb would last one season however, as they were instantly relegated in 1978 and worse than that - after being denied a license due to poor finances, 1979 saw them sent down to the 3rd division, strong performances in '81 and '83 put the club on top of the division, but poor financial health meant they would not be allowed to promote - in 1984, they would finish second to the Werder Bremen second team, but due to the champions ineligibility for promotion St Pauli were offered the place, and at long last granted permission to return to the second tier.
What followed was the rise of the "Kult" fans phenomenon, the club refusing to succumb to the fascist uprising across Europe, the clubs entire image became entangled in partying and left-wing activism. This era birthed the pirate scene of St Pauli, as legend tells of Doc Mabuse and his drunkenly stealing a flag and carrying it en route to the stadium.
On the pitch the club bounced around Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, with a season stint in 3. Bundesliga - but their fame off the pitch was rising, and by the end of the 1990's their 20,000 capacity stadium was selling out - just 15 years prior they were struggling to get 1,600 fans to games.
What followed was a continuation of the fan-based fame, as the club gained promotion to Bundesliga and again fell into financial uncertainty, they began fund-raising appeals in the area and the club was saved by this - the fund-raising continues still, with money raised constantly to provide water coolers for schools in Cuba among other things.
The 2005-06 season saw the club climb through the Pokal and reach the semi-finals before defeat to Bayern eliminated them, the 1m Euro windfall from this run pretty saved save the club entirely.
Things haven't picked up since then, and a season stint in Bundesliga proved the highlight - as they beat Hamburg SV for the first time since 1977 - but eventually they succumbed to relegation, and since have sat in 2. Bundesliga.
In FIFA

The Aims

To provide this beacon of political correctness with a route to the top of the Bundesliga and to do it in the most left-wing way possible - bonus points if you win the league with your left winger as top scorer in the division.

The Squad

St. Pauli are a hell of a side, I mean average as you like, but the potential is there - kind of - especially with the likes as Dudziak is there to build around.

Transfer Targets

Your budget won't stretch to make them world beaters in a day, but Roma wasn't built in a day. Enjoy the party and make them the kings of Germany, using the cliche Scandinavian and Germany players.
I honestly have no suggestions, since I will bias my own signings from 1860 Munich - so it's open to the comments to suggest St Pauli signings!.
The Poll
So for next week, I'm opening the poll now, happy voting:
Who to Manage.. Next Week
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for the next "who to manage" post and during the week in the comments and posts of /FIFACareers.
TJO.

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