The footpath to the home of 1. FC Heidenheim leads up to the Schlossberg. A difficult, steep undertaking, on arrival you can be out of breath. You have to do something if you want to go up. At least that could be the message behind the climb to the stadium.
And it also fits the club. The team of the native Heidenheim native Frank Schmidt is making steady progress with many small steps. In 13 years, the 46-year-old, the longest-serving head coach in German professional football, led the FCH from the Oberliga to the second division. In the evening (8.30 p.m., live ticker SPIEGEL.de; stream: Amazon Prime, Dazn), the club from the city of 50,000 plays for the first promotion to the Bundesliga in club history.
Opponent Werder Bremen, with a history of 55 seasons and four championship titles in league one, was no better in the first leg. The game in the Weser Stadium ended 0-0.
Now the return leg follows in the district town of Heidenheim, 80 kilometers east of Stuttgart on Autobahn 7. The Voith Arena is the highest stadium in Germany at 555 meters above sea level – and the smallest with 15,000 seats in a Bundesliga promotion. In sight, an expansion to 25,000 seats would be feasible, so that theoretically every second Heidenheimer would find a seat if spectators were allowed to enter the stadium again at some point.
An FCH starter set for every baby
The stadium was built around the old kiosk on the back straight, a reminder of former amateur times. At the end of the season, the fans at the place of worship also celebrate together with the team. In any case, the club is quasi born to the Heidenheimers. In the hospital where Schmidt was born, every newborn baby receives an FCH starter set.
“The FC Heidenheim is characterized by a familiar approach, but also a high standard for itself. It understood how to invest in the infrastructure and at the same time to keep your nerves in weaker phases, in the event of setbacks,” says Jürgen Neff. In the coming spring, the 48-year-old author will publish a crime novel called “Blutgrätsche”, which was inspired by the Heidenheim fan scene. Neff has seen how the club has worked its way up to the threshold of the Bundesliga.
Without patrons and investors
Heidenheim would not be the first club in the recent past to manage a sub-class march into the Bundesliga. Unlike the TSG Hoffenheim or RB Leipzig, the club works without patrons or investors. And compared to these projects, things are not going so fast in Heidenheim, the club is currently in its sixth year in the second division.
The FCH is based on medium-sized companies: Holger Sanwald, Chairman of the Board of Management, has spanned a network of 500 regional and now national sponsors. When Sanwald started in 1994, the club had a budget of 80,000 Deutschmarks. In the meantime, according to “transfermarkt.de” the fifth most valuable squad of the 2nd Bundesliga comes from Heidenheim.
Head scout Hans-Peter Baamann used to be on the pitch even for Heidenheim, reliability and language skills apply to possible approaches as much as athletic quality. The club likes to look around in the extended region, many players switch from Freiburg, Ingolstadt, Ulm to Brenz.
In the meantime, an increasing number of talents are supplementing the framework of regionally scouted players who want to make the leap from the Bundesliga club’s youth performance centers to the professional area in the second attempt. Midfielder Niklas Dorsch was trained in the youth of FC Bayern, defense chief Patrick Mainka came from BVB, right-back Marnon Busch was under contract with Werder.
Robert Andrich also fits into the Heidenheim strategy. Andrich used the Ostalb as a springboard to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. Previously, he was trained at Hertha BSC, recommended for the FCH through the third division. There he got to know his own versatility as a player – and that of coach Schmidt: “Heidenheim is more than just 4-4-2 and doing well,” says Andrich. “You think about how you can play differently against every opponent.”
A strong collective – and a Werder specialist
The first leg against Werder was the best example of this: Schmidt set up his team in the unusual 3-5-2. When the Bremen team alluded to their full-backs, Heidenheim’s dynamic wingers immediately started chasing the ball. If Werder tried it through the middle, the three center players immediately stuck to their heels. Thanks to her defensive discipline, Heidenheim was the second best defense in the second division last season.
Schmidt’s weapon was on the bench more and more this season: Captain Marc Schnatterer is no longer a regular player, but is still Heidenheim’s best master. Schnatterer spent twelve of his 34 years in the club, the Karlsruhe SC had sorted him out at the time. For him it could be the last chance to make it into the Bundesliga as a player. The memories of Werder are good: Heidenheim prevailed 2-1 in Bremen’s only guest appearance on the Ostalb in the first DFB Cup round in 2011. Victory scorer: Marc Schnatterer.
