Off to the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. No, it's not going to Hamburger SV this time. Not even to FC St. Pauli. In the first round of the DFB Cup, the Lilies will face FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen from the Hamburg-Ottensen district of the same name. However, the game will not be played in the Hoheluft stadium of the regional league team. Kick-off next Sunday (August 18th) is at 3:30pm in the Millerntor Stadium - so there's still enough time to take a closer look at the Lilies' cup opponents. Who is the head coach? How many times has Ottensen been represented in the DFB Cup? And how did Teutonia start the current season?
Regional League North. FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen plays there. The season is already three match days old. But the Hamburgers don’t seem to have really arrived in the league yet. The troops from the Altona district have one point to their credit so far. On the first matchday, Ottensen drew 1-1 against Blau-Weiß Lohne. This was followed by a clear 2:5 defeat at VfB Oldenburg and a 1:3 defeat against Werder Bremen II. In addition, FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen, who recently won the Hamburg State Cup three years in a row, had to say goodbye from this competition early on. In the second round, the Black and Whites lost 7:8 on penalties to the sixth division club Kosova Hamburg.
His name is Christian Stark, the center forward of FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen. He is something of a built-in goal guarantee for the team. Because if anyone scores for the team from Hamburg-Ottensen in the regional league, it is the 26-year-old. All four of Teutonia’s goals this season so far have been scored by Stark. In his 109 regional league appearances – in the north and south-west seasons – he has now scored 22 goals and prepared a further twelve goals.
But the Bad Hersfeld native, who once played seven international matches for the German U19 national team, has only been under contract in Ottensen since this summer. However, Hamburg is not new territory for the 1.82 meter tall attacker. Trained at HSV in his youth, he played in the Hanseatic city for both the second representative of the Rothosen and FC St. Pauli II. Stark finally ended up at Teutonia via Kickers Offenbach, Rot-Weiß Koblenz and ETSV Hamburg.
“I am looking forward to the new task at Teutonia. “I’m looking forward to the club and of course to the time with the team,” says the new head coach of FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen, full of anticipation during his introduction. His name is Nabil Toumi and he takes over from interim coach Immanuel Höhn. Since July 1st, the helm of the traditional club from Hamburg-Ottensen has been in his hands. Meanwhile, Toumi began his coaching career at Hamburger TB, where he was able to gain a lot of experience as an assistant coach alongside former Pauli and Cologne coach Timo Schultz. He then worked with various youth teams at FC St. Pauli before leading the Hamburg Oberliga team TSV Buchholz 08 as head coach.
After a year-long break in the 2023/24 season, he is now returning to the sidelines with renewed vigour. This time at the Kreuze in Hamburg. Crosses? Teutonia trains there on the local Kreuzkirche sports field, hence the nickname. “We are pleased that we were able to win Nabil, a coach from Hamburg, for us. By filling the coaching position, we have taken an important step in the planning for the new season,” emphasises the sporting director, Liborio Mazzagatti, about the commitment of the new face to the black and whites.
The club from Hamburger-Ottensen looks back on a long history in Hamburg football and, in the recent past, also on successes at regional level. The Black and Whites won the Hamburg State Cup three times in a row (2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24). The 2-1 win in the final against Altona on May 21, 2022 brought the Teutons qualification for the DFB Cup for the first time. In the first round, the North Germans met the Bundesliga club from Leipzig – and lost by a score of 8-0. A result that was to be repeated in the second DFB Cup appearance a year later: Teutonia also had to admit defeat 0-8 against Bayer Leverkusen. In the new cup season there will now be a duel with Darmstadt 98 in round one. Both teams are meeting each other for the first time.
The second consecutive away game, and the last of the season, is upon us. Once again on a Sunday (May 10th, 1:30pm), Darmstadt will be playing away – this time against SC Preußen Münster. Everything you need to know for your final away trip of the season to the LVM-Preußenstadion, about three and a half hours away, can be found here in the usual fan information section.
There's a lot going on at the Bölle. The 98th Darmstadt baby of 2026, along with their family, visited the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor, and they weren't the only ones. Where else the Bölle gang has ended up, and many more news items about the club, can be found here in our "Lilies Across the Board" section, as every Wednesday.
SV Darmstadt 98 informed all season ticket holders about the season ticket procedure for the 2026/27 season on Wednesday (May 6th) and would also like to share this letter on the club's own website.
Autographs, photos, and personal encounters with the Lilies: You'll have the opportunity to do so on Thursday (May 7th) from 5pm to 6pm. As part of an autograph session presented by Merck, Patric Pfeiffer, Kai Klefisch, and Fynn Lakenmacher will be at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. You'll also receive a ten percent discount in the fan shop during this time.
Darmstadt's 2-1 defeat at Karlsruher SC also ended any remaining theoretical hopes the South Hessian club had of finishing the season in the top three. The loss at the Wildpark stadium served somewhat as a symbol for the past few weeks, during which SV 98 had only managed one point from five matches since the international break in March. Following the game on Sunday afternoon, the Darmstadt players addressed the assembled media representatives with mixed feelings.
Three points! SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team secured a victory in the Lotto Hessenliga on Saturday afternoon (May 2nd). In their match against Hünfelder SV, the young Lilies overcame an early deficit to clinch a convincing 3-1 win. This result puts the U21 team currently outside the relegation zone. "Our trend is clearly upward," said a delighted U21 coach Sebastian Schmitt.
The successful collaboration between the Hessian Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports Association (HBRS) and SV Darmstadt 98 will continue long-term: Both partners have extended their existing agreement to promote inclusive sports indefinitely. This sends a clear signal for the sustainable development of inclusion and disability sports in Hesse.
A bitter end in Karlsruhe: After 90 entertaining minutes in which both teams sought salvation in attack, Darmstadt suffered a narrow defeat. The final score was 2-1 after a late goal from the home side, following Isac Lidberg's earlier equaliser. After the match, the players were particularly frustrated with the missed opportunities in the first half.
The away form continues to be poor: SV 98 suffered a 2-1 (0-0) defeat against Karlsruher SC. Lidberg scored the equaliser for the team from southern Hesse in the 70th minute.
Darmstadt 98 visit Karlsruher SC on matchday 32 (May 3rd, 1:30 PM). Florian Kohfeldt has made five changes to his starting lineup. Killian Corredor replaces the injured Fraser Hornby, Aleksandar Vukotic comes in for the suspended Patric Pfeiffer, and Fabian Holland starts in place of Matej Maglica, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Merveille Papela and Niklas Schmidt also join the team, replacing Sergio Lopez and Yosuke Furukawa. In addition to Hornby, Pfeiffer, and Maglica, Darmstadt will also be without the injured Matthias Bader, Fabian Nürnberger, and Luca Marseiler.
Finally, the weekend is here, finally Sunday! On Sunday afternoon (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV Darmstadt 98 will face Karlsruher SC away. What do the two coaches have to say about the match, who will be refereeing, and where can you watch it if you're not at the stadium? All the important information about the Lilies' 32nd matchday is compiled for you here in "Matchday Guide".
Continuity in sporting management: SV Darmstadt 98 has extended Paul Fernie's contract early and for the long term. As part of the contract extension, the current sporting director will move into the club's management board and will now serve as managing director of sport.