“It’s a strange situation when you’re suddenly promoted to the 1st league without a shirt, without sweat and without any work done“, he said in the sports show conversation. “Of course, one imagines that in one’s wishful thinking in a slightly different way. Preferably with 4,000 people behind you. So it was a very strange situation. All in all it’s a great thing and now everyone is looking forward to the next home game on Saturday. I think it will be a long week in Gummersbach.”
VfL Gummersbach would have preferred to share this experience and the associated emotions with its many fans against the Eulen Ludwigshafen. “Sitting in front of the TV and climbing up is not so cool in principle, but in the end we didn’t care, otherwise we would have done it at the weekend,” said pivot Jonas Stüber and right winger Lukas Blohme. “We’re celebrating anyway. We’re officially promoted now, on Saturday we can crown ourselves at home and become champions, that’s motivation enough for everyone.”
A hard time comes to an end
After three years, VfL has made the leap out of the second division. It was a difficult time. Very few of the current VfL players witnessed the dramatic relegation at the end of the 2018/19 season, when only one point was missing to save them. Then the Corona period with a canceled season, games without spectators and therefore no income.
Former world-class left winger Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, who played in Gummersbach from 2005 to 2008, was hired as coach in 2020 – a coup by managing director Christoph Schindler that has more than paid off. The 42-year-old Icelander captivates with charisma and identifies with the club and the fans. He could have a great coaching career ahead of him, Gummersbach is his first stop in the role.
Köster is the figurehead
The fact that 22-year-old Julian Köster, a current A national player, has been playing in the 2nd Bundesliga at VfL since January 2021 helps the club immensely. Despite his young age, Köster is a role model. In the “Handball Performance Index” of the HBL2, a rating in terms of efficiency, Köster is at the top of all players. The backcourt shooter scored 151 hits in 30 appearances, and more than 61 percent of his throws found their way into the goal.
But Gummersbach has also been able to recover economically. “It’s nice that we’re not just doing very well in sport,” said Schindler. After relegation, there was an important defiant reaction around the club, including a season ticket record and continued cooperation with partners and sponsors. Everyone wanted to help VfL to return to the Bundesliga as quickly as possible. Incidentally, the club received the license for them.