2. Bundesliga winners to UEFA Conference League Group Stage: The Rise of FC Heidenheim

Sunday 1 September 2024

2. Bundesliga winners to UEFA Conference League Group Stage: The Rise of FC Heidenheim

FC Heidenheim's team for 2024/25.

Rewind back to 2007 for a bit of history. Current manager, Frank Schmidt, became the manager of a small club whose arena is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, when this team was in the 5th tier of German football. They're not the most expensive team in Germany like Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig & Borussia Dortmund, just to name a few.

And since then, they've been on a big rise. They competed in the 3.Liga for 6 years, until they won promotion to the second tier of the German Bundesliga. Then there was a key moment in the club's history in the COVID-19 hit 2019/20 season. They finished 3rd in the Bundesliga relegation/promotion play-offs to face off a historic team in SV Werder Bremen, who were relegated in 2021 after spending 40 years in the Bundesliga. It was the second leg on July 6 2020, which was played at their home ground, the Voith-Arena. But they fell short to a struggling Werder Bremen side, who won 2-0. 

The Heidenheim players were dejected after their 2-0 home loss to Werder Bremen

After that game, Heidenheim continued the fight to the top-flight by recruiting even more players. The main part was, they kept faith in their long-serving manager, Schmidt, and as a result of that, they spent three more seasons in the second tier, until their historic moment arrived in the 2022/23 campaign. It was May 2023, where they faced fellow contenders, Holstien Kiel for a place in the Bundesliga season. Heidenheim were on the verge of failing promotion as they were losing 2-0, which gave Hamburger SV, another fallen giant in German football a chance at automatic promotion. But, they pulled off the impossible, by scoring two late goals, to deny Hamburg and consign SSV Jahn Regensburg to a home loss, which sent them up to the Bundesliga for their first-ever season in the top flight. They had influential players like, Jan-Niklas Beste, Tim Kleindienst, Kevin Müller, Patrick Mainka, and many more, that have contributed to the club's promotion. In the end, Heidenheim won by 3-2, which sparked the club's celebration and their first-ever appearance in the top flight. That was also the season where Tim Kleindienst won the golden boot for the most goals scored.

Heidenheim players after they won 3-2 away to secure promotion.

In their first season in the Bundesliga, it was a rather rocky start to the club, after losses against Hoffenheim & Wolfsburg. They did however steal a point off Borussia Dortmund and got their first home win against Werder Bremen, who regained promotion back in 2022. They won 4-2 on the 17th September. At first, they were in a relegation scrap, as they were losing to teams like, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig, just to name a few. But, the second half of the season, was their best-ever yet. They had Eren Dinkci on loan from Werder Bremen, who was very crucial to their plans, as they went on a winning streak by drawing and collecting points off the teams. One of the more notable games, was their historic 3-2 home win over Bayern Munich on the 6th April, who were struggling that season. Two goals from the prolific Tim Kleindienst and Kevin Sessa sealed a historic win for the team located close to the South of Germany.

Tim Kleindienst wheels off in celebration in their 3-2 win.

Remarkably, their unbeaten run from December-February, combined with their 4-1 home win over 1. FC Köln, secured them their highest-ever finish in the Bundesliga, as they finished 8th place with 42 points from 34 games. And since the unbeaten winners, Bayer 04 Leverkusen won the Bundesliga as well as the DFB-Pokal, they got themselves, European Football. FAST Forward to 2024 August. The start of the new Bundesliga season, they were off to a superb start to the season by winning their first two games of the season. As they learned from their UEFA Conference League group stage draw on Thursday, it is going to be one hell of an adventure. Can Heidenheim make history by going far in the competition? That's a story, only you will find out this year in the 2024/25 season.