„I feel a tremendous amount of appreciation.“

“We had two goals today: We wanted to give our club legend Fabain Holland the appropriate setting, a fitting farewell. We more than succeeded. I saw a team that gave their all. We played the way Fabi played his entire career. We left everything we had on the pitch. For me, Fabi is a Darmstadt legend, an absolute role model, and a true team player, not just when things are going well for him. I’m incredibly happy for him that, despite his injury in Karlsruhe, he was still able to end this remarkable career of 319 competitive appearances for one club in such a way. Hats off to Fabi.

But we also desperately wanted to win this game. We had to replace an incredible number of players. What I take away from the last third of the season is that we have an incredibly strong team, always ready to fight against adversity. We will learn from the fact that we didn’t achieve better results in the final third of the season this year. But overall, I have to say: huge respect to the team and the staff.” Anyone who has followed us throughout the season knows the passion and the footballing experiences we’ve had. This doesn’t blind us to the fact that some things need improvement, but it was a fantastic season for the Lilies. Many thanks to everyone who was a part of it.

„Congratulations to Darmstadt on a great season. The game was a tough nut to crack, and the early goal certainly helped. Especially in games like this, where you have to win, your mental game is crucial. And an early goal like that can be liberating. Then we had to weather a few difficult moments. In the end, luck was on our side, and it doesn’t really matter how we won, because we won. In these situations, it’s often not about how we won, but about the points. It definitely wasn’t easy here. Despite all the absences, you could see the quality Darmstadt possesses, because they played a really good game.“

…about the game

„We really wanted to win this game for Fabi, but we didn’t manage it. I was very pleased with the team today, though, but it’s another game that’s symptomatic of the last nine matches. We had enough chances to win and conceded very little at the back. We did everything we could to win today, the lads gave it their all, but unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way.“

…about the season

„Up until March, we did everything a team needs to do to compete at the top. The last nine games aren’t up to our standards. We don’t want to sugarcoat anything, because overall it was a successful season, but we just couldn’t bring our best performance to the pitch after March. Now we’re analysing why things went the way they did, but we won’t carry this hangover into preseason training. We’ll put it behind us, learn from it, and look ahead. My final conclusion is: It was a great season, but there was more potential.“

„I’ve noticed the excitement building over the past few days. I’ve already been able to enjoy it a little, but today was a lot to take in. I think it will only really sink in over the next few days what’s happened here. Standing up there with the fans, looking into the eyes of family and friends, is incredibly emotional. Seeing everything that’s been done for me is a huge expression of appreciation. It definitely brings tears to my eyes. Even though we would have loved to win, it was a wonderful day for me. It makes you realise that twelve years is an enormous amount of time, and I’ve also played a part in what we’ve built here. I feel that, and I’m very grateful for it.

I’ll definitely be coming back here more often. You’ll certainly see me in the South Stand sometime. This year has shown that we can be a solid team in the league and that we can always challenge for promotion. The club is very stable and is doing excellent work.“