Victory against Gladbach II
© Imago
During the week, the footballers of MSV Duisburg were still demonstratively held back. Not on the sofa after the withdrawal of the insolvent KFC Uerdingen, but on the lawn they wanted to celebrate their ascent. On Friday evening it was time: 16,100 MSV fans traveled with a 1-0 (1: 0) victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach II and the return to the 3rd division.
The goal of the day scored in front of 20,893 spectators Tobias Fleckstein in the 6th minute. After the final whistle, the players cheered exuberantly. Eleven months after the first descent into the fourth league, Duisburg under coach Dietmar Hirsch made the championship in the Regionalliga West. This means that the MSV can no longer be taken.
The second -placed FC Gütersloh has not requested a license for the third division. The withdrawals from Türkspor Dortmund and most recently Uerdingen had increased the likelihood of Duisburg’s promotion significantly before the third last game.
Usually Gladbach’s U23 plays in the small border land stadium, but to deal with the fan shares, the game against Duisburg was moved to the Borussia Park.
MSV still 17th of the Eternal Bundesliga table
In 1963 the MSV was one of the 16 founding members of the Bundesliga and became runner -up behind the 1st FC Köln in the first season. After a total of 28 Bundesliga playing times, Duisburg ended out of the Bundesliga in 2008, in 2019 from the second division and in 2024 for the first time from the third. Nevertheless, the MSV is still in 17th place in the Eternal Bundesliga table.
On average, a good 16,300 spectators came to Duisburg’s fourth league home games. On average, the team accompanied almost 4,000 fans to the away games. Managing Director Michael Preetz recently said in the club TV: “The team is supporting this support throughout the season.” Preetz was relieved: “We can be proud of how we and the people in this club accepted this league. Ultimately, it is an incredibly great year.”
Duisburg’s “economic challenges are enormous”
On Thursday evening, the MSV had announced that it would receive the third division license under conditions. “The economic challenges for the MSV are enormous,” Preetz recently emphasized. In December, the game was only able to be secured after a sponsorship round with the city and sponsors.