Football | Lok Leipzig and Havelse struggle with the unspeakable relegation

Rainy weather dominated Saxony throughout Wednesday, too. Nevertheless, fans of the regional league team 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig flocked to the venerable, yet dilapidated Bruno Plache Stadium in Probstheida that evening. The home section for the first leg of the relegation playoff for promotion to the 3. Liga was sold out. The fact that "only" 10,080 people attended was due to the away fans. Only around 200 TSV Havelse fans wanted to attend the first clash between the champions of the regional leagues Northeast and North.

The small group of upright fans from the Garbsen district near Hanover went wild one minute before the end of regular time. After the spectacular opening goal by striker Marko Ilic, who thus scored his 20th goal this season in his 30th competitive game, there was ecstasy, albeit a brief one. The Leipzig fans, whose club had last played national football in the 1997/98 second division season under the name of its predecessor VfB Leipzig, were quickly shaken out of their state of shock. 120 seconds after the visitors' opening goal, substitute Dorian Cevis scored to make it 1-1, a much-celebrated and deserved draw. After the final whistle shortly afterwards, Havelse could still feel like the moral victors. The majority of the Leipzig fans seemed rather pensive about the return match next Sunday.

The stadium announcer sensed this, too. "In the end, everything will be fine. And if it's not fine, it's not the end," he shouted to the Lok supporters. Goalscorer Cevis expressed himself somewhat more optimistically. "If we play like we did in the first leg, we'll definitely go home with a win on Sunday," the Croatian said, evoking the dream of promotion .

At the Bruno Plache Stadium, Lok fans also reminded us of the absurdity of the promotion play-off. "Champions must be promoted" read a large banner. The unspeakable relegation play-off on Sunday will result in either Lok or Havelse failing. "We mustn't forget that Lok has exactly the same quality as we do. They deserve to be promoted directly. Ultimately, we have to submit to the regulations and duel here," said Havelse coach Samir Ferchichi. "I think both teams deserve to celebrate this weekend. In the end, only one can win."

Lok fans are yearning for higher-level football. The five-time East German Cup winner and 1987 European Cup finalist, who had to start afresh in the eleventh division in 2004 after VfB Leipzig's insolvency, is once again at an important threshold. The last time they won the Regionalliga Nordost championship was in 2020, Lok lost the relegation play-offs after a 2-2 draw and a 1-1 draw against SC Verl due to the away goals rule that still existed at the time. To prevent a repeat of this, thousands of Leipzig supporters would have gladly made the trip to Havelse on Sunday to cheer their team on. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, the return match in the much too small Wilhelm Langrehr Stadium will not even allow the officially permitted 3,500 spectators.

Lok were only allocated 600 tickets. That hurts. Leipzig could certainly have filled the stadium on their own. Advance sales for away tickets on Wednesday took only a few seconds. "I think 6,000 Lok fans would have liked to come. So it's a shame for the 5,500 who can't be there. But I also expect our fans to be very, very loud," said Leipzig's sporting director Toni Wachsmuth.

Neither Wachsmuth nor the players are allowed to bring their wives and families to the showdown. If the worst comes to the worst, the celebration will take place after the team returns to Leipzig at the Bruno Plache Stadium. Starting next week, the grass will be removed to make way for undersoil heating, and part of it will be auctioned off for the club. The installation of the undersoil heating is a requirement of the DFB for third-division football and will enhance the aging stadium. The club is also working hard to obtain a license for higher-level sports, including the wooden grandstand built in 1932.