When SC Magdeburg lifted the championship trophy in 2001, a certain Bennet Wiegert was in the crowd of jubilation. As a 19-year-old player at the time, he was part of the successful team around top stars like Olafur Stefansson, Stefan Kretzschmar and Joel Abati, who became German champions under coach Alfred Gislason.
21 years later, things have come full circle. After this 31:26 (15:15 – win against Balingen-Weilstätten on Thursday evening (June 2nd, 2022), which mathematically eliminated the last doubts about the second championship title of the SCM, Wiegert found himself again in the midst of a cheering cluster – this time as a coach whose work over the past few years is bearing the deserved fruits.
Wiegert: “I worked for that every day”
“The thought of the championship has always driven me. I worked for it every day,” said the 40-year-old Wiegert: “As a player I didn’t perceive it that way, now it feels more intense. It’s awesome.”
Backroom ace Weber: “I get goose bumps”
“Even when I say it: ‘German champion’ – I get goosebumps. We will celebrate one of the biggest Magdeburg parties ever,” added Philipp Weber, who only moved to Magdeburg before the season and right in his first year was able to celebrate the great triumph on the Elbe.
SC Magdeburg rushes through the Bundesliga
The fact that the German championship goes to Magdeburg this year didn’t really surprise anyone. The “Green-Reds” acted too consistently, which the numbers impressively show: the team has been in first place since the 4th matchday. The first 17 games were all won. Only shortly before the New Year broke through SG Flensburg-Handewitt the dominance of the SCM – it should be one of only two Bundesliga defeats on the way to the championship title.
At the end of last year, the competitors from Kiel, Flensburg and Berlin were already in agreement: This year, the championship only leads through Magdeburg. Even national coach Gislason couldn’t stop raving 20 years after his successes as SCM coach. But in addition to the undoubtedly outstanding performances on the record, other aspects paved the way to the second title: humility, diligence, a clever transfer policy and the support of an entire city.
Wiegert is the driving force
Early on, the SCM had to shoulder the burden of being a title contender. But instead of resting on the laurels, much of which was directed at him, Wiegert kept his side grounded. Again and again he swore his team. Like a prayer wheel, the 40-year-old only ever talked about the next game. In every game, the native of Magdeburg whipped his protégés forward over 60 minutes in the halls from Flensburg to Balingen-Weilstetten and saw the goal getting closer from matchday to matchday.
The consistency that SCM showed in the Bundesliga carried over seamlessly into other competitions. The quadruple, consisting of the already won in October, was allowed in Magdeburg until April Club World Cup as well as the titles in the DHB Cup, the European League and the Bundesliga. Above all, winning the Club World Cup marked the start of SCM’s dominance in the league. Since then, they have played in a “flow”, said Magdeburg’s managing director Marc-Henrik Schmedt and described the appearance in the final against Barcelona as a “key game”.
Wiegert himself remained modest at the moment of the great triumph, he passed on the “master coach” calls from the supporters directly: “I think that’s a champion team that doesn’t need a master coach. The team has done a masterly job. I’m so happy that they could finally be rewarded.”
SCM emerges stronger from defeats
In the end it was “only” two out of four trophies, but the way of digesting defeats and also getting something useful out of them was one of the great strengths of this season. So the SCM found the deserved one Defeat in the final of the DHB Cup immediately back on track against THW Kiel.
In the European League too, concentration remained high until the end – despite the championship final sprint. The failed title defense after a Heartbeat final against Lisbon was bitter for the players and club officials, but the pent-up anger was successfully channeled and converted into another sovereign performance against Balingen-Weilstetten.
Wiegert: “It will be tighter at the top”
But what comes after the championship? Have the boundaries in German handball shifted as a result of Magdeburg’s title win? Not at all, says Wiegert. “Kiel and Flensburg will always be there at the top. But it will get tighter at the top, the league is becoming more and more balanced.” However, he doesn’t want to know anything about a “one-hit-wonder”. “It’s my job to keep at it for the next few years. With our current performance, we’re not just raising expectations in Magdeburg that we want to live up to.”
Over the past six and a half years as a coach at SCM, Wiegert has been able to more than meet expectations of himself and himself. And on top of that, the architect of success has aroused desires. The first voices have already been raised, bringing Wiegert into play as the successor to national coach Gislason. You don’t know “what the future will bring”, but saying goodbye to the heart and brain of the SCM is out of the question at the moment. “I have visions with SC Magdeburg and not with DHB,” Wiegert clarified. One thing is certain: the first vision became reality on June 2, 2022.
Jonas Schlott