As expected, there is nothing new at 1. FC Heidenheim, at least in the coaching position. A lot has happened in the squad.
That’s how last season went
All in all: positive. At least that’s what coach Frank Schmidt summed up after the past season. 15 wins, twelve losses and seven draws meant sixth place in the end. That was two places better than last year. The Heidenheimer made the first small phase of weakness quite early in the season. Against St. Pauli, Bremen and Nuremberg they lost three games in a row and fell back to eleventh place.
All the more astonishing that FCH had worked its way up to third place on the 19th matchday and thus to the relegation rank. The contact with the top of the table was there for a long time. So could it have been better than sixth place?
“Of the first eleven teams, we scored by far the fewest goals,” says coach Frank Schmidt, explaining the situation to the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”. But he doesn’t want to rate sixth place negatively, because after all you have to ask yourself “why do we manage to play a good, carefree season every year?”
Who comes? Who is going?
The Heidenheimers were particularly hard hit by the departure of their two top performers Tobias Mohr and Robert Leipertz. Mohr, the second-best scorer with eight goals, is leaving the club for Schalke and will play in the Bundesliga from the new season. Leipertz, who scored six goals and thus the third most goals in Heidenheim, remains loyal to the league and switches to the competitor from Paderborn. Also no longer in the squad are Oliver Hüsing (Arminia Bielefeld), Konstantin Kerschbaumer (Wolfsburger AC), Julian Stark (SC Freiburg II), Tim Seifert (Berliner AK), Maurice Malone (FC Augsburg, loan) and Gianni Mollo (still unclear). .
To fill the gap left by Mohr and Leipertz on the right flank, the Heidenheim team signed 23-year-old Jan-Niklas Beste. After two years on loan at Jahn Regensburg, he would have actually gone back to his home club Werder Bremen this summer, but he has now signed a three-year contract with FCH.
The club was also able to sign Thomas Keller (FC Ingolstadt), Lennard Maloney (Borussia Dortmund II), Adrian Beck (SSV Ulm) and Tim Köther (Düsseldorf II). Merveille Biankadi (1860 Munich) and Florian Pick (Ingolstadt) return after loans. Mert Arsland and Elidon Qenaj also made the leap to the pros from their own U19s.
The trainer
As in the last 15 years, everything remains the same in the coaching position. In September 2007, Frank Schmidt took over the job from Dieter Märkle, initially on an interim basis. A contract was originally planned until the winter break, but Frank Schmidt is still on the bench, making him the longest-serving coach in the second division.
The 48-year-old is a Heidenheimer through and through. He was born there, played in the club himself from 2003 to 2007 and immediately took over the coaching position after his playing career. At that time, 1. FC Heidenheim was still playing in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, but in 2014 they were promoted directly to the 2nd division. His contract was extended early last year until 2027.
expectations for the season
Even if the Heidenheimers have always been in the top ten in the past four seasons and even fought for promotion to the Bundesliga in the relegation in the 19/20 season, this will not be an issue in the coming season. “We want to use the first 17 games until the World Cup break to set the course for as carefree and successful a season as possible,” explains Frank Schmidt. “HSV is the top favourite. Just like the two relegated Bielefeld and Fürth.”
