Opposition Check: 1. FC Heidenheim

In the last 20 years, they have only failed to reach a single-digit place in the table twice, they have always had at least 40 points, and in the last five years they have always had over 50. A balance sheet for 1. FC Heidenheim that can of course be described as very stable and quite successful. Frank Schmidt has been on the Swabians‘ coaching bench for over 16 years now and is responsible for the constantly growing success of the FCH. Schmidt started in September 2007, when the Heidenheimers were still in the Oberliga (then 4th league), and the Ostalb team has now made it into the middle of the Bundesliga.

SV Darmstadt 98 has become a constant companion for Heidenheim over the last 16 years. On November 15, 2008, both clubs met for the first time in a competitive game at the Böllenfalltor, and the score was 1-1. Since then, both teams have dueled 22 more times. The Lilies were also able to celebrate promotions twice in parallel with the Baden-Württemberg team – in 2013/14 and 2022/23, SV 98 went one league higher together with the FCH, the Lilies followed the Heidenheimers in 2014 thanks to the „Miracle of Bielefeld“ in the 2nd Bundesliga, and last season we went up to the German football upper echelon together.

This is exactly where 1. FC Heidenheim will probably play next season. Four match days before the end of the current season, Schmidt’s team is seven points ahead of the relegation place, and there are still five clubs between them and VfL Bochum, which holds this place. Direct relegation is rather unlikely with a twelve point lead and a better goal difference than Köln.

But it’s not just the table situation that excites the fans of 1. FC Heidenheim, the fact who FCH scored so many points against also impresses the Heidenheim fans: two and a half weeks ago (April 6th) Heidenheim celebrated a sensational 3-2 home win against FC Bayern Munich after they were already behind 0-2. FCH also scored two and four points in two games against the Champions League aspirants BVB and VfB Stuttgart.

“To put it somewhat exaggeratedly, last season you could actually sometimes get the impression that the coach might not even be needed at one club or another,” said Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt in May 2019, after many clubs changed coaches in the 2018/19 season. As soon as the results are not correct, the coach as the weakest link is often replaced almost reflexively, he said. “There is often just a lot of nervousness and hectic pace in this business. “The trainer is not solely responsible in the event of success, nor in the event of failure,” says Schmidt, describing the coaching system.

He and his club, 1. FC Heidenheim, impressively show what continuity can achieve. Frank Schmidt will be head coach of the FCH for 17 years in September; he previously played for five years at the previous club Heidenheimer SB. Schmidt led the club from Baden-Württemberg from the relegation battle of the fourth division to the Bundesliga.

But it’s not just his loyalty to a single club that makes the 50-year-old popular in football in Germany, Schmidt is also characterised by his down-to-earth yet meticulous manner. “I make mistakes every day. But that’s part of it if you want to develop and get better. It is important that mistakes arise from passion or courageous decisions and not from stupidity, laziness or dishonesty,” said the FCH trainer in an interview with the FAZ. This attitude also generates a lot of sympathy. “The coaching job is a bit like being a conductor of an orchestra. You don’t have to be able to play every instrument. But you have to know how they work together,” said Schmidt, summing up his job.

It is Heidenheimer’s running strength that immediately catches the eye when looking at the statistics. No team has done more sprints than the promoted team, Heidenheim has 7,559. Heidenheim is also way ahead in terms of total kilometers; with 3,612.7 kilometers, Frank Schmidt’s team has the second-highest league value. The Swabians also landed on the podium in the “intensive runs” statistic, with 22,571 actions included here; only Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg can boast a higher value.

With Jan-Niklas Beste, Heidenheim also has the second best assist provider in the league in its own ranks; the 25-year-old has already collected twelve assists. Tim Kleindienst is also the eighth top scorer in the squad; the Brandenburg native has eleven Bundesliga goals.

“Crazy in Regensburg! Föhrenbach passes to Beste, whose flat cross slips through the area and ends up with Kleindienst, who has a lot of space and uses it to push in from close range to make it 3-2,“ it said on May 28, 2023 in the live ticker of the “ Kicker“. In the ninth minute of injury time, Tim Kleindienst shot 1. FC Heidenheim to the first promotion in the club’s history to the Bundesliga – and that after being 2-0 down.

Tim Kleindienst himself already had some Bundesliga experience before the season; the 28-year-old had already played 26 times in the Bundesliga for SC Freiburg. The striker even played European football with KAA Gent in 2020, with five Europa League games and three appearances in qualifying for the Champions League to his name.

The former U20 national player was born in Jüterbog (Brandenburg), about an hour away from Berlin. The center forward moved to Energie Cottbus in his youth, where he was able to collect his first second division minutes. The move to Freiburg followed in 2015, before Kleindienst came to Heidenheim for the first time and met Frank Schmidt. After a decent second division season, the attacker tried to assert himself again in Freiburg before moving back to Heidenheim in 2019. But Kleindienst’s transfer journey wasn’t quite over yet, just a year later he went to the aforementioned KAA Gent.

The 1.94 meter tall striker has been back home in Baden-Württemberg for a little over three years now and is particularly enthusiastic about his coach Frank Schmidt and praises him highly – including in an interview with Transfermarkt.de in May 2023 „He sticks to his style and knows exactly what he wants. And that’s what he conveys to the players. Especially in transfer discussions, he shows you what he would like, what is important and what to expect. He demands that every year with new players and the players implement it,“ enthuses Kleindienst and adds: „What’s more: He simply has a certain status here and is a brutally respectful person. New players subordinate themselves to that and I think that is also part of his success .”

Kleindienst repays the trust shown in him primarily with goals. After becoming top scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga last season with 25 goals, he has eleven goals to his name again this season, as well as four assists.