Hecking gives emotional promise
© Imago
VfL Bochum has been a relegation from the Bundesliga. After the 1: 4 against the 1st FSV Mainz 05 and the eighth game without a win in a row, the weakest season in club history is sealed. With currently 22 points, this would not change even with a threesome on the last match day. After four years in the upper house, the former elevator team goes back to the 2nd league.
It is the seventh descent for VfL. Only Arminia Bielefeld (eight) and the 1st FC Nürnberg (nine) rank from the Bochumers in this inglorious discipline, who needed eleven years after their last relegation in the 2009/10 season to celebrate the return to the Bundesliga.
In the first season after the last promotion in 2021, VfL played a round that was outstanding for its standards and scored 42 points, which were enough for 13th place – after that the trend continuously pointed down. 14th place followed before the relegation went into the relegation in 2023/24. After a 0: 3 in the first leg, the penalty shootout was won in Düsseldorf-one of the biggest comebacks in football history.
However, the Bochumers seem to have consumed their luck. VfL was on a relegation zone on 32 out of 33 match days, and the change of coach from Peter Zeidler to Dieter Hecking could not change anything in early November. This was probably late, because Zeidler started the season with a point from the first nine games and a goal difference of 9:29 – a team was never worse after nine games.
In the 2025/26 second division season, the Bochumers-as of today-go less with eleven players than are currently in the squad. The contracts of regulars such as Bernardo (29) and Felix Passlack (26) run out and the rental of Myron Boadu (24), Tom Krauss (23) and Georgios Masouras (31) end. When looking at the transfer market page “Squad of the next season”, VfL 23 professionals are listed, including four rental returnees and three talents, which are raised from their own offspring. Hecking’s contract is dated to 2027.
After leaving Bochum: Hecking gives emotional promise
The Bochum coach addressed emotional words to fans after the Bundesliga descent. “In front of you, I bow to the whole audience in the stadium-Chapeau,” said the 60-year-old at the stadium microphone in the Ruhr Stadium in a fragile voice. “Unfortunately we did not solve it, I apologize to you,” said Hecking after his failed rescue mission. With a view to the coming season in the 2nd league, which he also wants to look after as a Bochum coach, Hecking announced: “I promise you one thing: we will do everything we can to repair it.”