The footballers from Aue and Dresden now meet in league three, it’s a big challenge for their clubs.
Foto: imago/Picture Point
This Friday, VfL Osnabrück and MSV Duisburg open the 15th season of the 3rd division. In this anniversary season, the football East is looking particularly to Saxony: In addition to FSV Zwickau, the second division Dynamo Dresden and Erzgebirge Aue are united in deep dislike in the third division. This is by no means a reason to celebrate, as this division is the most ambivalent in German football.
Two attributions that are used again and again stand for the contradiction of the highest league in the men’s field for which the German Football Association is responsible: success model and bankruptcy league. Both designations were also mentioned last Monday in the DFB media round at the start of the season. It was recalled that there have been ten bankruptcies in the past ten seasons. Türkgücü Munich provided the last example of a lack of professionalism: The final withdrawal from the game in March shook the table in the middle of the final sprint for promotion and relegation, because all previous games against the dubious upstart were taken out of the ranking.
Jürgen Wehlend only hesitantly said the word “successful model” on Monday. It is not in the statutes of the DFB, but seems to be specified in the official language of the association in terms of marketing. Wehlend, the managing director of SG Dynamo Dresden, immediately referred to another case of injustice and lack of fairness. 1. FC Kaiserslautern would have gained a legal competitive advantage in spring 2020 with its bankruptcy. Because this had no consequences due to the special corona regulations of the association.
In May, both clubs met in the relegation: FCK rose, SGD relegated. And the people of Dresden were boiling with anger. While they themselves managed very solidly, the people of the Palatinate simply got rid of millions of euros in debt that had accumulated over the years through insolvency. Others had to bear the consequences – including Dynamo Dresden. They no longer received a six-digit rate from the transfer from Lucas Röser. And with the sudden new liquidity, the Lauterers not only left other third division competitors behind in the following season, but were also able to outperform second division teams in the fight for newcomers. For example, striker Terence Boyd did not move to Dresden last January, but to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Manuel Hartmann makes a good impression when it comes to third-class status. He manages game operations at the DFB. In his view, a case like Türkgücü should not be repeated. He promised that “the 3rd league committee will deal with it”. On the other hand, he reported on the results of long-term observations. “Clubs with large and above-average personnel costs play against relegation or get relegated,” said Hartmann. On the other hand, clubs with average personnel costs would play for promotion. By describing “sporting competence” as an “important economic factor,” he blamed the clubs.
So if you plan wisely and sensibly, you won’t have any problems? Hartmann is partly right, there are always soldiers of fortune. However, an understandable objection came promptly from Jürgen Wehlend. The 56-year-old knows the 3rd division well. He managed the business at VfL Osnabrück for more than nine years, and at SG Dynamo Dresden since January 2021. He knows: “It’s always an economic tightrope walk.” When he himself speaks of the “successful model,” he means the proven “growth” of the league, but immediately mentions the “systematic problems.” And it’s been around since it was launched in 2008.
The DFB is aware of this. Therefore, in September 2020 – twelve years after the founding of the league – action was taken and the task force “Economic Stability 3rd League” was created. The first results of this commission will be implemented in the season that is now beginning. This affects structural reforms, new – extremely tightened – economic framework requirements will only apply from the 2023/2024 season. Hartmann informed on Monday, for example, that with the reduction from the previous 10,000 compulsory places to 5,001 in the stadiums, the admission requirements for smaller clubs had been eased.
The worries of the clubs in the economic struggle for survival in the third division are likely to have increased. Because what the DFB means by “specifications in the infrastructural and technical-organizational area” in order to “offer all fans and partners an optimal football experience in the 3rd division” further exacerbates the imbalance between the required effort and the guaranteed income. Two examples: “The requirements for floodlights are increasing in terms of improved TV transmissions.” This also includes floodlit games in the afternoon. And: “If neither turf heating nor a corresponding alternative stadium can be proven, the club in question would receive 25 percent less revenue from central TV marketing in the event of approval.” That alone is an enormous burden. Hartmann had no helpful answer as to how the clubs should cope in the face of rising energy prices.
