Farewell, legend! | Fan team sniffs promotion

Tobias Kempe’s final game with the Lilies is approaching. After being substituted on last weekend in Kaiserslautern, there was already a small foretaste of his highly emotional farewell in his own living room. Kempe will now bid his final farewell to the team and the fans in front of a home crowd against SSV Jahn Regensburg. Yesterday, Tuesday (May 14), the Lilies‘ number eleven already made his presence felt via social media. „I wanted to thank you again with all due respect; you are such incredibly great fans. Please stay the way you are. (…) I am incredibly grateful to have played with the Lily on my chest for so long,“ he explained on his Instagram-Channel. And he and the Lilien fans were already in the mood for the coming Sunday.

On Sunday, the day has come: Tobias Kempe will lace up his football boots for SV Darmstadt 98 for the last time. One of the Lilien’s greatest players of the past decades says goodbye – and all 98 fans want to give him a farewell that does justice to his Lilien career. To mark SV 98’s number 11’s anniversary, there’s a very special farewell shirt with a message for Tobias Kempe. This will be available for €15 on match day.

You can get the shirt here on Sunday:

• at the mobile fan shop in front of the stadium
• in the Fanshop at the Merck-Stadion
• as well as at several sales stands around the stadium

The „Thank You, Legend!“ coffee mug is now available.

In the top match of the District League C between the SV Darmstadt 98 fan team and SKG Roßdorf II, the Lilies celebrated a sensational 4-0 home victory against the league leaders. The visitors from Roßdorf got off to a better start and created their first chances. But SV 98 held firm, digging in and creating clear opportunities of their own towards the end of the first half. While they still didn’t score, the visitors were clearly paying the price for the battle of attrition.

After the break, the dam finally broke: A stunning long-range goal gave them the long-awaited lead, followed shortly thereafter by a goal from a tight angle and a brilliant combination play that resulted in the third goal. The Lilies were now unstoppable – and sealed the game with a 4-0 win. The defence also remained tight at the back: The defence fought relentlessly, and Alex, the fan team’s keeper, saved everything that came his way.

Thanks to the impressive victory against SKG Roßdorf II, the „second second team“ – with two games still to play – is at the top of the table, four points ahead of third place. A win on Thursday evening (May 15th, 7pm) against FTG Pfungstadt II can secure early promotion. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for you!

The remaining games of the fan team at a glance:

Want to see the SV Darmstadt 98 pros in action one last time this season? Then you have your last chance on Thursday (May 15, 11am). The team will be holding their last public training session of the season. Of course, you’ll also have the opportunity to collect autographs and take photos with the pros after the training session.

On Saturday (April 26), the SV Darmstadt 98 ID football team competed in the HBRS Hessen Championship for intellectually disabled athletes at the VfB Offenbach facility – and ultimately achieved a strong fourth place in the statewide comparison.

In the preliminary round of Group A, the Lilies finished second behind hosts VfB Offenbach and thus deservedly advanced to the final round for places one to four. There, two real heavyweights awaited them: defending champions Team United Köppern and TSV Klein-Linden. Despite great commitment and a strong performance, the Lilies ultimately „only“ finished fourth in the final Group A. Team United Köppern once again secured the title, thus confirming their success from the previous year.

A special highlight of the tournament day was the traditional HBRS 9-meter Cup. Here, the Lilies fought their way to the final – but lost 1:3 to TSV Klein-Linden, who thus secured the 9-meter challenge cup.

The Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor was transformed into a running arena: 7,100 participants from almost 300 companies took part in the 12th Darmstadt Merck Corporate Run on Tuesday (May 13th) – a record number of participants! The route led from the start behind the back straight through the adjacent forest and ended with a special highlight: the finish line directly in front of the main grandstand. In the middle of the field: a 25-person team from SV Darmstadt 98, consisting of employees from the office, the sports department, and the youth performance center (NLZ).

And for those who still haven’t had enough: The race continues on August 27, 2025 – with the „Lilien Relay Marathon“ at Böllenfalltor for companies, clubs, and recreational athletes.

SV Darmstadt 98’s U17 team suffered a narrow 2-3 away defeat at SpVgg Unterhaching on Saturday (May 10), but showed great morale. The match got off to a particularly unfortunate start for the young Lilies: The hosts scored twice in the 5th and 12th minutes to make it 2-0 early on. But Darmstadt didn’t give up and pulled one back in the 21st minute, making it 2-1.

A setback followed shortly after: After a red card and a subsequent penalty, Unterhaching increased their lead to 3-1 in the 31st minute – a bitter blow to an already difficult away game. Despite being outnumbered, the Lilies fought their way back into the game and scored to make it 3-2 in the 70th minute. However, it wasn’t enough to secure a point in the end.

The B-Juniors still have three home games to play at the end of the season, starting on Wednesday (May 14th/7.30pm) with the home game against the U17 team of SV Wehen Wiesbaden.

The Lilies‘ U19s secured an important 2-1 victory against SC Freiburg’s U19s in their final home game of the season on Saturday (May 10th), moving them up to third place in the DFB-Pokal (German Youth League). Despite the win, the match didn’t get off to a great start: In the second minute, the visitors took an early lead after converting a penalty. The Lilies‘ U19s needed time to recover from the setback and didn’t really get into the game until about 30 minutes had passed.

Then, however, it had an impact: In the 27th minute, SV 98 scored a well-deserved equaliser, and before halftime, the Lilies completely turned the game around. In the 43rd minute, they took a 2-1 lead, which they held until the break.

The second half remained intense, but the score remained unchanged. The Lilies defended with focus and secured three important points in the season’s final stretch. The A-Juniors continue on Saturday (17.05/1pm) away at FC Augsburg.

Peter Cestonaro, former center forward for the Lilies, celebrates his 71st birthday on Wednesday (May 14th)! The Haiger native began his career at SSV Langenaubach, later playing for MSV Duisburg, and returned intermittently before moving to SV 98 in 1976. In seven years, Cestonaro made 191 appearances for the Lilies, scoring an impressive 93 goals. This makes him SV 98’s all-time record goalscorer to this day. After his time in Darmstadt, he played for KSV Hessen Kassel and ended his playing career at Eintracht Haiger in 1989. Also this week, we congratulate Lilies manager Oliver Zach, who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Friday (May 16th). All the best, good health, and continued joy with the Lilies family!