Is the Bundesliga threatened with ruralization? The small town of Elversberg dreams of promotion

Where exactly is Elversberg? Many people will have asked themselves this question when they first became acquainted with a club that is now aiming for promotion to the Bundesliga: SV Elversberg.

Elversberg: Phonetically, Elversberg could be anywhere in Germany. In the north as well as the south, in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as Thuringia. But Elversberg is located in Saarland, the federal state bordering France, which, with its 1.2 million inhabitants, is the smallest. The municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg, formed from a merger of several small towns, has 13,000 residents. Five and a half thousand people are members of SV Elversberg; the stadium at the Kaiserlinde has a capacity of 10,000.

At the weekend, Elversberg secured a place in the relegation play-offs with a win against FC Schalke 04, a former giant of the first Bundesliga . On Thursday, Elversberg will face Heidenheim in the first leg of the relegation play-off, with the return leg on Monday (both matches at 8:30 p.m.). It's the story of a remarkable rise. Just three years ago, Elversberg was playing in the fourth division, not even professional football. Furthermore, at around €10 million, Elversberg's budget is one of the smallest in the second Bundesliga. In this respect, the achievements of coach Horst Steffen cannot be overestimated. He has been in charge of the team for seven years.

The budget isn't the only issue facing Elversberg: Should they prevail in the two games leading to promotion, the question of a proper celebration arises. The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported that Elversberg's town hall doesn't have a balcony of sufficient size. The mayor took a pragmatic view of the unexpected success to the newspaper: "We weren't ready for the third division, and we weren't ready for the second division."

Not having meticulously planned for success, but being surprised by it, being ready because you have to be, not because you absolutely want to be: That's pretty much the exact opposite of the drawing-board planning that usually characterizes professional football. In a way, it's curious that within two years, a second club is fighting for promotion to the top division under very similar conditions. Even at FC Heidenheim, whose promotion in 2023 was a sensation, participation in the Bundesliga was considered a sheer utopian dream just a few years ago.

Heidenheim: This is another remarkable club, as even in its second year in the Bundesliga, the underdog managed to avoid direct relegation. And just like Elversberg, Heidenheim is a place name that doesn't betray any regional affiliation. Heidenheim could be located anywhere. Just like Hoffenheim, the club that just barely avoided relegation and, in 17 years in the Bundesliga, has never been able to shake off the stigma of being a parvenu , generously supported by SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp. However, Hoffenheim differs from the other small towns in one key respect: Even today, no one there needs to worry too much about their budget.

If Elversberg were relegated and Heidenheim relegated, at least one thing would remain: the Bundesliga remains a thoroughly provincial event – ​​even if two clubs from major cities, Hamburger SV and 1. FC Köln, were promoted. Instead, VfL Bochum, the club for which the term "unrelegable" was once coined, would join the second-division former champions from Kaiserslautern, Schalke, and Nuremberg.