1. FC Schweinfurt 05: David under monument protection

When it was completed, in mid-May, even the town hall on the edge of Schweinfurt's market square was bathed in green. The old half-timbered building, in its new splendor, had an almost fairytale quality. With a little imagination, it could have been a fairy castle, perhaps even a gingerbread house, just an oversized one – but in Schweinfurt, everything related to the football club is currently going up a notch, faster, further.

The town hall was painted green, the color of FC 05, and "a very nice gesture" for the club's promotion to the third division, says Schweinfurt's managing director, Markus Wolf, a good four weeks later. Since then, the town hall has long since returned to its usual appearance. The lighting was, of course, only temporary, but beyond the market square, a whole series of interventions and adjustments are needed that must be permanent – ​​now that FC Schweinfurt 05 is in the third division.

Last Friday, the team began preparing for the new season, but shortly after the last Regionalliga match, the first excavators arrived to dig up the turf and prepare the Sachs Stadium for professional football. The biggest project is a heating system under the pitch so the ball can keep rolling in the colder months. "The entire stadium and the forecourt were torn up," says Wolf, "but it's not just the undersoil heating that needs to be done. There's a lot to do that you don't really think about." New fences and refreshment stands, cable ducts – and new seats next to the away section and between the main stand and the scoreboard are also needed.

While the work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the week, the fact that the Sachs Stadium, now almost 90 years old, is a listed building hasn't exactly made the renovation any easier. "It would have been a good idea to enlarge and modernize the main stand, but of course we have to adhere to the regulations," explains Wolf. Not even the trees surrounding the pitch are allowed to be felled. Yet they are also what give the stadium its flair.

It's a special and venerable venue where Schweinfurt will host former first division teams such as Hansa Rostock, TSV 1860 Munich, and Energie Cottbus when the season begins on the first weekend of August. A friendly against second division side 1. FC Nuremberg is scheduled for mid-July.

Schweinfurt will be up against some big names from now on. One might think that the question of whether the club is David or Goliath in the face of these opponents doesn't even arise – after all, the Zero Five are newly promoted and are playing professional football for the first time in over twenty years, with many players who were still amateurs last season. In that sense, they will often be underdogs in the new season. But are they really underdogs, given their history, their charisma, and the energy that permeates the city, especially when they face Verl or Viktoria Köln?

Schweinfurt was a founding member when the second division began in 1974, and Wolf also says that the third division is "new territory for us. That can be positive or negative" – but with the improved squad, it's "possible to finish between 10th and 16th." The most notable new signing is Johannes Geis: a 31-year-old Schweinfurt native who returns to his hometown with the experience of 121 Bundesliga and 155 second-division matches for Fürth, Mainz, Schalke, Cologne, and Nuremberg. The transfers of third-division veterans Pius Krätschmer and Tim Latteier are also impressive, and talented striker Uche Obiogumu is on loan from 1. FC Nuremberg. "With these signings, we've done everything we can to ensure we can stay in the league," says Wolf, "I see ourselves well positioned. We're no worse than the other teams."

Schweinfurt, whose history makes them a Goliath of the past compared to many other third-division teams, may be returning to the national stage as a David, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Zero Fivers already showed last year that they can rise above themselves – occasionally even rising above the treetops of the Sachs Stadium.