As part of the big season opening in the Merck Stadium, the Lilies also play a friendly against Swift Hesperange. The game on Saturday (July 13th) kicks off at 4pm. We will introduce you to the Luxembourg first division team in more detail. Both teams met in the Merck Stadium in preparation for the 21/22 season, and the Lilies won 1-0.
The club looks back on a long history that dates back to the 1910s. Until the Second World War, Swift played in the third and fourth leagues, with the 1928/29 season being an exception when the team was promoted to the honorary promotion (second league).
In the post-war period, the team went through a development that took them from the fifth division in the mid-1960s to their return to honorary promotion in 1976. Just a few years later, the Red and Whites achieved their first promotion to the National Division, the highest league in Luxembourg. A milestone for Swift Hesperange was qualifying for the European Cup Winners‘ Cup in the 1990/91 season by winning the Coupe de Luxembourg against AS Differdange.
Since the 2020/21 season, Hesperange has been playing continuously in the BGL Ligue, as the top division has been officially called since 2009. As a promoted team, the team finished third in 2021, which qualified them to qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League. There the red and whites lost 0:1 and 1:1 to NK Domžale (Slovenia).
In the 2021/22 season, Swift Hesperange reached fourth place in the BGL League with a total of 60 points in 30 games. The next season the team won its first-ever championship title. “This first title will of course go down in history, it is extraordinary for the people who have been there for many years,” said Swift President Fernand Laroche at the time. At the end of the 2023/24 season, second place in the table was achieved, five points behind FC Differdingen 03.
The current squad includes numerous players who were already used in the 2022/23 championship year. They also include the offensive midfielder and captain Dominik Stolz, who scored 17 goals in 28 appearances in the BGL league in the 2023/24 season. The former SV Sandhausen footballer moved to Swift Hesperingen in 2020 and is one of the team’s most successful goalscorers.
This summer, four new players were signed by Swift: former Austrian youth international Anthony Schmid from SC Austria Lustenau, midfielder Eldin Cikotic from rivals FC Rodingen 91, Kobe Bohets from Jong KV Mechelen and Yanis Bouazzati from their own U19 team.
Last season in the Bundesliga, Anthony scored two goals in 16 games. With FC Lustenau he finished last in the table with two games won. In the 2023/24 season, Eldin Cikotic played 29 games for FC Rodingen. He scored three goals and prepared nine goals. 18-year-old Yanis Bouazzati will have the opportunity to prove himself in the top flight.
Emmanuel Da Costa has been the new head coach at Swift Hesperange since July 1st. The 46-year-old Frenchman can look back on a long-standing coaching career. In 2004 he started at CMS Oissel and has since gained experience in numerous French clubs. In the period from 2004 to 2020 he coached eight different clubs, the longest being the third division club US Quevilly (later also US Quevilly-Rouen Métropole). Most recently he was an assistant coach at AS Saint-Étienne in the second division in France.
The pairings for the first round of the DFB Cup have been drawn: SV Darmstadt 98 will face FC Carl Zeiss Jena away from home. The draw took place on Saturday evening (June 6th) at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Under the supervision of DFB Vice President Peter Frymuth, Referee of the Year 2026, Deniz Aytekin, who acted as the draw's host live on ARD, drew the match between Darmstadt and Jena.
From the warm opening ceremony to the awards ceremony: The German Football ID Championship in Darmstadt offered exciting games, many wonderful encounters and a well-deserved German champion in the Hesse selection, which also included players from the SV 98 ID team.
The first dates for SV 98's preparations for the 2026/27 second division season have been set: On June 25th, the professional team will return to the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor to undergo various medical tests and performance diagnostics. The first team training session will take place on June 27th in the Odenwald region.
Who will SV Darmstadt 98 face in the first round of the DFB Cup? This question will be answered this coming Saturday (June 6th). The draw for the first round will be broadcast live on ARD's Sportschau. We'll be taking a look and providing you with all the information. We'll also be celebrating with the fan team's survival in the Kreisklasse B (eighth tier) and taking a look across the border to Texas in the USA. All this and more for you in "Lilies Across the Board" on Wednesday.
Fraser Hornby's time at Darmstadt 98 comes to an end after three years. The Scottish attacking midfielder is moving to VfL Wolfsburg. Both clubs have agreed to keep the transfer fee confidential.
An eight-goal thriller to close out the season. The SV Darmstadt 98 U21 team took to the pitch one last time this season on Saturday (May 30th) – away against FC Eddersheim. The young Lilies secured a 5-3 victory in Eddersheim, finishing the 2025/26 Hessenliga season in eleventh place. Even more remarkable, however, was the U21's run at the end of the season: the Blue and Whites won their last five matches, scoring an impressive 22 goals in the process.
Barcelona, Spain. A global city right on the Mediterranean. Over 1.7 million people live here. And one of them is Clemens Riedel. The 22-year-old former Darmstadt player moved from SV 98 to Espanyol Barcelona last summer – from youth academy to professional in the Spanish first division. We spoke with Riedel about his first year in Barcelona, the past season, and his still close ties to Darmstadt.
SV 98 can continue to rely on the services of Fabian Nürnberger. The Lilies have extended the expiring contract with the Bulgarian international.
Grayson Dettoni will continue to wear the SV 98 jersey. The Lilies have exercised their option to buy the defender, who was previously on loan from FC Bayern Munich.
The German Football Championship for People with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) kicks off on Sunday – and it's taking place in Darmstadt's Bürgerpark! Last week, the Darmstadt 98ers' home ground offered a different kind of sporting event: a karate demonstration. We also take a look at the opponents for the new season and celebrate two birthdays this week. You'll find all this and much more about Darmstadt 98 in our usual "Lilies Across the Board".
„I’m proud of you,“ were the words of U21 coach Sebastian Schmitt to the team after they secured their place in the Hessenliga. On Saturday (May 23rd), SV Darmstadt 98’s U21 team had the chance to stay in the league against Turabdin Babylon Pohlheim – and they seized it impressively! The young Lilies delivered a convincing 5-1 goal fest, but at the same time still needed help from other teams to guarantee their survival. However, because their direct rivals, CSC 03 Kassel, narrowly lost in Stadtallendorf, the U21 team was finally able to celebrate.
For the fourth time, the Haftpflichtkasse insurance company and SV Darmstadt 98 have jointly awarded four clubs with the Volunteer Award. The award ceremony, including the presentation of the checks, took place last Sunday (May 17th) before the home game against SC Paderborn at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. The Volunteer Award, established in 2023 by the Haftpflichtkasse and SV Darmstadt 98, aims to strengthen volunteer engagement and promote outstanding projects.