Fernie officially introduced | “You are a fighter”

Paul Fernie is now officially a lily. On Monday (April 15th) he introduced himself to the team, and on Tuesday (April 16th) the new sports director of SV 98 took his seat in the Lilien’s press conference room for the first time in his new role. In addition to a lot of information about his decision to join Darmstadt 98, his qualities and his tasks at the South Hesse team, the 37-year-old also gave insights into his career to date. “My CV is certainly not entirely normal,” smiled Fernie, who was never a professional footballer himself. In his youth he played as a right-back, but could also be used in midfield or on the left and right wing. “But I was the type of player who asked a lot of questions. I always wanted to know “why”. That probably annoyed one or two coaches,“ said Fernie with a wink, before he then returned the focus to his new job as sports director at the Lilies: „It’s important to feel a commonality in terms of humanity. The feeling I have that at Darmstadt. We can build something together.”

“When it comes to “the”, “them” or “that”, I will always have my problems,” said Paul Fernie, immediately causing a laugh in the press conference room of SV Darmstadt 98. The Lilies’ new sports director was convincing on Tuesday afternoon ( 16.4.) as part of his official presentation, but with impeccable German. How well the British-born man speaks the German language did not go unnoticed by the journalists present, which is why he naturally had to answer questions about his language skills. “In my early days in Germany, I went to evening school twice a week. At some point I just started talking,” explained Fernie, who speaks to his wife and son at home mainly in German.

What very bitter news for Fabian Holland and the whole club. The captain of SV 98 will miss this and large parts of the coming season due to a torn cruciate and medial ligament. The diagnosis shocked all Lilien fans as well as teammates and former companions, so Holland was at least able to look forward to many encouraging words on social media. „Get well my friend. You are a fighter and will overcome the hurdle,” wrote Lilien keeper Marcel Schuhen on Instagram. Alexander Brunst also wished the defender a lot of strength: “Come back stronger, Captain.” Tobias Kempe joined in. “Get well soon, Capitano!” he typed in the comments under the post about Holland’s injury. Wilson Kamavuaka, who played with Holland at the Lilies from 2017 to 2019, also spoke up in his Instagram story with a “Get well soon, bro!” Overall, the entire Lilien family showed a high level of sympathy. We would also like to take this opportunity to wish Fabian Holland all the best: Come back quickly, Capitano!

After the Lilien fan team suffered an annoying 2:3 away defeat at DJK-SSG Darmstadt last weekend, there are two ways to make amends this week. The team led by coach Andreas Degenhardt will play on Wednesday (April 17/7:30pm) in the pursuit duel against the second representative of FTG Pfungstadt. Afterwards, the Lilies don’t have much time to rest, on Sunday (April 21/3pm) the second team hosts TSG Wixhausen II at home again.

This week it will again be possible for SV 98 fans to see the lilies during training. The training sessions on Wednesday (April 17/3pm), Thursday (April 18/3pm) and Friday (April 19/12:30pm) are all open to the public. The team around coach Torsten Lieberknecht is looking forward to your visit before the away game in Cologne on Saturday (April 20th/3:30pm).

Even Torsten Lieberknecht is not spared from fake profiles on social media. There is currently a Facebook profile circulating online that claims to be our head coach. Please note: This is a fake profile, Torsten Lieberknecht does not have an official Facebook profile. If you see content from this profile in the future, please report it.

Current and former lilies are celebrating their birthdays again this week. On Monday (April 15th) we were able to celebrate our long-standing team doctor, Dr. Michael Weingart, on his 73rd birthday. Benjamin Gorka also celebrated his birthday on Monday. The former central defender played for the 98ers from 2012 to 2017 and was now happy about his 40th birthday. Katrin Herbig’s blue-white birthday week ends on Friday (April 19th), the Lilies‘ current physiotherapist will be 28 years old. Happy Birthday! Good luck and happiness for everything to come in the new year to you three!