Despite the good sporting starting position, SpVgg Unterhaching foregoes promotion to the 3rd league and causes great discontent among their fans. Club patron Manfred Schwabl talks about the reasons in an interview with BR24Sport.
It will soon be 26 years since SpVgg Unterhaching tipped the scales on the 34th matchday of the Bundesliga and helped FC Bayern Munich to the German championship with a 2-0 win against leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Unterhaching foregoes promotion
It was perhaps the greatest moment in the football history of the Munich suburb. The “small” gaming association played a leading role in the concert of the big ones. The reality is now different, because Unterhaching could hardly be further away from being the protagonist on the floor of the German upper house.
As the club confirmed on Tuesday, they will no longer pursue the almost tangible promotion to the 3rd league. The reason? The dear money. Fulfilling the requirements above the Regionalliga Bayern cannot currently be sustainably financed for the club.
Fans demand explanation General meeting
The news sparked an outcry in the Red-Blues’ active fan scene. The ultra group “Classic Squad” called for “a general meeting to be called as quickly as possible” in order to outline “a clear and transparent roadmap for the coming years”.
The supporters’ anger was particularly ignited at the time of the announcement three game days before the end of the season with a one point lead over their biggest competitor Würzburger Kickers.
Schwabl understands fan anger
President and managing director Manfred Schwabl can understand the displeasure. “You can’t completely brush off the opinion. It’s clear that the fans who really cheer for the team are disappointed. Afterwards you’re always wiser. Maybe we should have announced it earlier, but ultimately the decision was only made at the end,” explained the 60-year-old in an interview with BR24Sport.
The team is also anything but happy about withdrawing from promotion ambitions. The players “were of course not happy,” Schwabl reported, before adding: “But it’s not a dream concert and it’s simply not possible this year.”
Unterhaching “not so structured in terms of structure”
Schwabl only hinted to BR24Sport why the 3rd league is not an issue for Unterhaching, at least in the short term. “The economic conditions simply don’t allow us to do that at the moment,” reported the four-time national player: “We’re simply not structured in such a way that it just happens like that. The income situation simply isn’t what you need it for the 3rd league.”
Another problem is the economic situation on a global level with rising inflation caused by the Iran war. “There are always new plans, but the economic environment on this planet is not very rosy at the moment,” said Schwabl, without shirking responsibility: “That’s not an excuse, but simply an explanation.”
Unterhaching shows problems in the 3rd league
The case of Unterhaching, which is the second contender after the second team of 1. FC Nürnberg to forego possible promotion from the Regionalliga Bayern, points to a profound dilemma in the 3rd league.
After several clubs such as Türkgücü Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern went bankrupt during the Corona period, the German Football Association (DFB) tightened its requirements for the clubs in the third highest division in order to increase economic stability.
Among other things, clubs “whose total income is used for personnel expenses in game operations at 80 percent or more” must also deposit a financial cushion of one million euros with the DFB.
Unterhaching’s motto: Youth researches
Even if the measures are effective, the conditions make it more difficult for clubs like Unterhaching. In order to at least come close to playing a supporting role on the German football stage at some point, the game association wants to rely even more on its own youth in the future than it already does.
“Great work is being done among young talent and there are now generations coming along that are really very promising,” assured Schwabl: “Work with young talent has to be the foundation. It’s clear that not everyone likes it. But as a board of directors you have to decide together with the supervisory board that it’s best for the club.”
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Source: BR24
April 29, 2026 – 4:30 p.m
