Celebration command to fans
Darmstadt President Rüdiger Fritsch celebrated the return to the Bundesliga with euphoric words. “For us it’s like the Champions League for others. That’s how we feel too. I wonder what all the people in front of the goal in front of the stadium want. Obviously something big happened,” said Fritsch on Friday evening in the “Sportschau”. The “lilies” had previously secured their fourth promotion to the top flight with a 1-0 win over 1. FC Magdeburg.
“From the outside, I don’t think anyone can really assess how much energy, strength and tears it took to achieve this,” Fritsch clarified. One was rewarded for everything “that we as the Lilien family didn’t do that wrong”, added the President, looking back at the past few years. In the new season, games against record champions FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are on the agenda again.
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Fritsche did not want to draw comparisons with the rise of 2015. “Back then, that was Easter and Christmas at the same time, now we’ve gradually worked our way forward. That doesn’t mean it isn’t just as beautiful. At the time it was almost bizarre. This time we got it done. But that’s also awesome,” says Fritsch.
After the rise of Darmstadt 98: Lieberknecht thanks predecessor Schuster
Coach Torsten Lieberknecht emphasized the merits of his predecessors and explicitly mentioned ex-coach Dirk Schuster. “It all came about with the rise of Dirk and his assistant coach Sascha Franz,” said Lieberknecht. Schuster was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga with Darmstadt on May 19, 2014, exactly nine years ago. A lot has happened on the club grounds since then. The stadium at Böllenfalltor was only reopened at the end of 2022 after modernization.
“Many of those who were there before us and saw the old and honorable Bölle probably have an even more incredible day for them,” Lieberknecht explained. “But I’m also very proud. Also that we managed to get promoted the day Dirk and all the legends of the club got promoted. Those are the stories that football sometimes writes.”
Schuster, now coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, told the “Deutsche Presse-Agentur”: “I congratulate SV Darmstadt 98 on their promotion to the Bundesliga. I am particularly happy for my colleague Torsten Lieberknecht, whose great work has now been crowned with this success. This second division is anything but easy. In the end, climbing up so confidently speaks for itself.” The rise is well deserved and he knows “what it means for the entire city”.
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Greetings to the people of Darmstadt were also given by the German Football League. “Anyone who has been at the top of the table for months without a break has done a lot right and undoubtedly deserves the step up,” said Hans-Joachim Watzke, spokesman for the DFL Executive Committee. “Congratulations to the entire club and those responsible around President Rüdiger Fritsch, who has also been a member of league committees for years and is writing a remarkable success story at the same time as the lilies.”
In any case, there wasn’t much to see of the grass in the Böllenfalltor stadium on Friday evening after thousands of fans had stormed the field full of joy. Veteran Tobias Kempe gave the order to celebrate in the evening. “All season we gave everything for this one moment – brutal! Those were the hardest three points of my career. There isn’t a second of sleep today, just partying,” said Kempe. The fans followed his request, as the pictures from the glowing Darmstadt night showed.
And here are the votes for the game #sv98 | #lilies | #Uffstiesch pic.twitter.com/Za9AVku5p1
— SV Darmstadt 98 (@sv98) May 19, 2023
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