A flash in the pan in the 2nd Bundesliga? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. SV Elversberg is currently in its second year in the second division. And apparently feels right at home in the German lower house of football. With fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, the smallest location in the top two German leagues in the municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg has come to stay. In the 2022/23 season, the SVE was promoted to the 2nd league for the first time in the club's history. Even back then, President Dominik Holzer said: “We don’t just see this as a pure adventure, but will use our resources to try to stay and establish ourselves there.”
In their first second division season, Elversberg finished in a solid eleventh place in the table. With 43 points collected, the Saarlanders had a total of twelve points ahead of a direct relegation zone after 34 match days – strong numbers for an absolute newcomer to the league. And this season? The SVE started the season with two draws – first a 0-0 at 1. FC Magdeburg, then a 2-2 against Bundesliga relegated 1. FC Köln. This means that the Elversberg team started the season better than in their first year in the second division, when they only had one point after four match days. Meanwhile, the team from Saarland showed no weakness in the DFB Cup and moved into the second round of the cup with a confident 7-0 win against upper division team VfV 06 Hildesheim. The first defeat of the season followed on the third matchday. The SVE lost 2-3 away to Karlsruher SC.
We’ll take a closer look at SV Darmstadt 98’s upcoming opponent before the duel on Saturday (August 31st). SV Elversberg in the opponent check.
| Top Signings | Departures |
| Elias Baum (Defender, Eintracht Frankfurt) | Jannik Rochelt (Hannover 96) |
| Fisnik Asllani (Attacker, TSG Hoffenheim) | Thore Jacobsen (1860 München) |
| Lukas Petkov (Offensive Midfield, FC Augsburg) | Dominik Martinovic (Slaven Belupo) |
| Maximilian Rohr (Defender, SC Paderborn) | Kevin Conrad (Retired) |
| Tom Zimmerschmied (Left Winger, Dynamo Dresden) | Marcel Correira (Released) |
Horst Steffen is an experienced football coach who has experienced a number of ups and downs in his coaching career. Before he started working at SV Elversberg in October 2018, his previous jobs didn’t exactly go according to plan. He was relieved of his duties at both Preußen Münster and Chemnitzer FC due to a lack of success after 28 and 23 games respectively. But on the SVE sidelines, things are going well for Steffen. The 55-year-old has been in the saddle there for 223 competitive games. „In my first season in Elversberg in the regional league there were a few defeats at the beginning that weren’t great,“ Steffen once recalled in a kicker interview: „But from the winter break onwards I had the feeling that it was okay.“
And it fits. With SV Elversberg, Steffen was only promoted to the 3rd league in 2022 and in the summer of 2023 to the 2nd Bundesliga as third division champions. But that’s not enough. The second division newcomer managed to stay in the league immediately under the direction of his head coach. Father of success? Horst Steffen. The native of North Rhine-Westphalia is the son of Bernhard Steffen, who once played successfully for Fortuna Düsseldorf. As a defensive midfielder, Horst Steffen played over 200 Bundesliga games for Uerdingen, Duisburg and Mönchengladbach. In 2003 he ended his active career to move to the coaching bench. From then on, Steffen worked at MSV Duisburg II as well as in the Zebras youth team and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s youth team. Before his positions in Chemnitz and Münster, he was also head coach at the Stuttgarter Kickers.
That has been SV Elversberg’s running strength to date. The men from Saarland covered a distance of 356.2 kilometers on the first matchdays – that’s an average of 118.7 kilometers per game. Only 1. FC Köln exceeds the Elversberg values – 360.7km in total and 120.24km on average per game. The many sprints by the Saarlanders during the 90 minutes are also noticeable. The SVE sprinted a total of 672 times – only FC Schalke 04 (677) five times more.
…Robin Fellhauer. The defensive midfielder, who was once trained at 1. FC Saarbrücken and SC Freiburg, has had an impressive journey with SV Elversberg: from the Regionalliga Südwest through Liga 3. to staying in 2. Bundesliga. The current Saarland captain has been wearing the SVE jersey since 2019. Before Fellhauer took to the pitch in the URSAPHARM Arena at Kaiserlinde, he played for five years in both the youth and second teams of SC Freiburg. In any case, the Fellhauer family is welcome at the club from Breisgau: twin sister Kim, who ended her career in February of this year, played for the SCF women’s team for ten years.
The 26-year-old Fellhauer has now become a long-running favorite for the SVE. In total, he played 154 competitive games in the Elversberger jersey and enjoyed his most successful seasons with the team. The Mannheim native is now much more than just a clearer in the defensive midfield. In addition to eleven goals, there are also 35 assists in his Elversberg resume. A captain who leads the way on the pitch with passion and commitment. By the way: In the first four competitive games of the current season he scored one goal in the DFB Cup and prepared two goals in the league.
After 13 unbeaten second-division matches, SV Darmstadt 98 suffered their first defeat this Friday evening. Three unfortunate minutes just before halftime, during which Patric Pfeiffer was sent off and Vincent Vermeij scored twice, paved the way for Dresden's victory. After the match, the focus was primarily on the differing assessments of two very similar incidents by the refereeing team – incidents which both coaches subsequently evaluated identically.
For the first time since October, Darmstadt 98 finished a league match without any points: SV 98 lost 3-1 (2-0) to SG Dynamo Dresden. After a controversial red card against Patric Pfeiffer (42nd minute), the home side scored two goals in first-half stoppage time to secure the victory.
Under the floodlights at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadium. On Friday evening (February 27th/6:30pm), Darmstadt 98 will play away against Dynamo Dresden. Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting eleven. Raoul Petretta makes his first start, replacing Fabian Holland. Luca Marseiler starts in place of the suspended Marco Richter, and Hiroki Akiyama replaces Fraser Hornby, who is sidelined with a thigh injury. Fabian Nürnberger, Matthias Bader, and Bartosz Bialek remain unavailable due to injury.
A floodlit match at the Rudolf-Haribig-Stadion is always something special. Darmstadt 98 are aiming to take three points back to southern Hesse this Friday evening (February 27th). Kick-off is at 6:30pm. All the important information about the 24th matchday of the 2. Bundesliga is clearly summarised for you in our "Matchday Guide".
Darmstadt 98 aim to extend their unbeaten run to 14 games in Friday evening's match against Dynamo Dresden. While Darmstadt's potent attack has resulted in a respectable goal tally, they are wary at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion. The Saxons have been on an upward trend since the winter break and will have a vociferous home crowd behind them. We've compiled all the facts and figures surrounding this clash in this report. Here you'll find the key facts for tomorrow's match.
Darmstadt and Dresden are 598 kilometres apart. On Friday evening (February 27th, 6:30pm), SV Darmstadt 98 will travel to the Saxon capital for the 24th matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga. The next away game will take place under the floodlights at the historic Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion. You can find all relevant fan information here.
Before SV Darmstadt 98 plays under floodlights in Dresden on Friday evening (27.02/18.30), Florian Kohfeldt spoke at the press conference about the strengths of Dynamo Dresden and the special atmosphere in the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion.
Raoul Petretta joined SV Darmstadt 98 in the winter and already feels very much at home. He talks about his arrival and his goals. Besides their sporting focus, the Lilies are also committed to sustainability: On March 15, 2026, over 3,500 trees will be planted as part of the fifth "In the Sign of the Lily" tree-planting campaign. In our "Lilies Across the Board" section, we provide you with the most important news from SV Darmstadt 98 every week.
Numerous Dynamo Dresden fans flock to the stadium on home match days. But one day, they came for a single reason: What should their stadium be called in the future? Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in front of the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, ready to cast their votes. In cooperation with regional partners, Dynamo Dresden's management took the unusual step of letting the club's supporters decide for themselves.
WirLilien – Together for nature conservation! Together with our partner Krombacher, we will once again plant more than 3,500 trees on Sunday (March 15th) – under the banner of the Lily. You can still register for the event at short notice.
On Friday (February 27th, 7:30pm), SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team begins the second phase of their Hessenliga season. With 23 points after 20 matchdays, the Lilies are currently in 14th place. Following intensive weeks of winter training, the team aims to start the upcoming challenges with renewed energy and secure crucial points.
A fast-paced, thrilling exchange between SV Darmstadt 98 and Fortuna Düsseldorf reached its ecstatic climax in the 88th minute. Thanks to Matej Maglica's header, Darmstadt secured a 2-1 victory in a wild battle that resembled a 12-round boxing match, with both sides neglecting their defences and constantly searching for the next hook or punch. A day later, sv98.de looks back on what was probably the most exciting home game of the season so far for the South Hessian side.