Three-quarters majority

“To do better than last season – with the hope of a single-digit league position.” That was Paul Fernie’s answer in early September to the perennial question about a specific season goal. Darmstadt had finished the previous season in 12th place with 42 points. The timing of announcing their ambitions was deliberate; Fernie made the announcement just a few days after the summer transfer window closed.

During the transfer window, Darmstadt 98 had focused primarily on retaining their key players and starting the season with a core group of players. This proved successful. And the first half of the season impressively demonstrated that this approach would pay off. The season began with a bang. Florian Kohfeldt’s team defeated Bundesliga relegated side VfL Bochum 4-1 on the opening matchday. The start of the first half of the season saw Darmstadt display a flexible approach to their tactics and tactics, securing some spectacular victories (Düsseldorf, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Fürth), while also demonstrating a willingness to play from a deeper defensive line in matches (Münster, Paderborn) and ultimately achieve success.

This flexibility was one of their greatest strengths in the first half of the season. The team from southern Hesse combined it with a considerable amount of resilience, collecting an impressive 12 points after falling behind in the first 17 matches. „The team has conviction. They don’t let situations shock or set them back,“ Fernie summarised after the 4-2 home win against Greuther Fürth on matchday 13.

This same 4-2 victory against the Franconians was followed by a goalless draw on matchday 14 against SV Elversberg. Even without a goal, this game highlighted the deep conviction that had developed within Darmstadt 98 during the first half of the season. Head coach Kohfeldt, in the aftermath of the draw, emphasised his team’s „very good structure,“ noting that they had recorded an impressive 54 percent possession in Saarland that day and could easily have taken all three points.

In the three remaining matches before the winter break, Darmstadt collected another seven points, and after the 2-2 draw in Paderborn, Kohfeldt quite rightly spoke of an „outstanding first half of the season.“

And that evening in East Westphalia, the 43-year-old uttered a sentence that made many sit up and take notice: „I am incredibly proud of the team. They have rekindled my joy in coaching.“

When asked about this statement in March 2026, the coach explained: „I felt an incredible amount of trust from the players in our idea of ​​how to play football. Furthermore, a hierarchy developed in the locker room that comes very close to my ideal of a team. The lads address conflicts openly, are opinionated, always want to win, and are incredibly respectful of one another. The feeling within this team was so strong that I wanted to give everything for them.“

Mutual trust, a functioning core, and a special sense of unity. The recipe for third place at the winter break. Added to this was a high level of player availability in the first half of the season, which contributed significantly to the fact that Darmstadt 98, as a well-oiled machine, were able to implement their playing principles on the pitch week after week.

And for a certain period, Darmstadt 98 are even able to overcome obstacles and compensate for situations where things aren’t running smoothly. Which brings us to the winter training camp.

„The year didn’t start well.“ Kohfeldt’s conclusion after the days in El Saler, Spain, was clear. While the conditions there were once again „excellent,“ Darmstadt were missing nine players at times during training. „There were too many players who couldn’t even begin to complete the program.“

All the more remarkable, then, are the results of Darmstadt’s first half of the season. SV 98 collected eight points in matchdays 18 to 21, and after a thrilling 4-0 victory over 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the team from southern Hesse sat atop the table. It’s only natural that expectations rise, and dreams and a certain longing arise when your own club is in first place after almost two-thirds of the season. Especially since Darmstadt had recorded eleven unbeaten games in a row at that point, a record they subsequently extended to 13.

Looking back on this period, Florian Kohfeldt also explained that after Darmstadt’s 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin on matchday 20, the post-match team talk changed somewhat: „We said on the pitch: If you’re capable of turning around a game like that away from home, then you have the basic quality to get promoted. But for us, it was still game by game.“

And successfully so. SV 98 earned seven points from the three matches following their draw at the Olympic Stadium – placing them second in the table on matchday 23. It should be noted, however, that five teams consistently collected points over several weeks, meaning that the top five positions were separated by only four points. Therefore, the three points the team from southern Hesse secured against Fortuna Düsseldorf on matchday 23 were far more important than their final league position. A late goal from Matej Maglica secured the 2-1 victory, and Kohfeldt commented afterwards: „We believed in the win until the very end.“

The Lilies managed to collect points week after week, even in matches where they didn’t always perform at their best. During this period, they also managed to compensate for existing injury issues. While some players lacked a consistent training rhythm at this time, head coach Kohfeldt was usually able to call upon the majority of his squad on weekends.

The defeat in Dresden also marked a small turning point in this respect. After 13 games unbeaten, Darmstadt 98 lost a football match for the first time in a while, a game marred by a controversial red card shown to Patric Pfeiffer. Furthermore, the team from southern Hesse was missing key players Nürnberger and Hornby due to injury, as well as the suspended Richter.

However, anyone who thought the Lilies would then plummet into a slump was proven wrong just one matchday later. Despite the absences of Nürnberger, Hornby, Corredor, Pfeiffer, Bader, and Bialek, the team secured a 2-0 victory against Holstein Kiel, delivering a particularly convincing performance in the second half. Marcel Schuhen used the match as an opportunity to say the following after the game: „We are not individual players, but Darmstadt 98.“

Based solely on the chronology of the second half of the season so far, it is clear that it would be completely wrong to draw a negative overall conclusion for the second half of the season. At that point (matchday 25), Darmstadt were in second place, not only in the overall standings but also in the second-half rankings. What no one knew at the time was that the home win against Kiel would be their last victory of the season.

Before the international break in March, they drew in Magdeburg and against Schalke, with the draw against the eventual second-division champions being a particularly remarkable performance. Despite the injury setback of Luca Marseiler and falling behind, Darmstadt came back and were even closer to victory than Schalke in the second half. Looking back on the match, the subsequent international break, and the remaining season, Kohfeldt explained: „The positive takeaway is that all the ingredients were there for us to lose this game. But we didn’t. Now I’m looking forward to a week without any match plan meetings. After that, I’m ready for the final stretch and seven weeks of full throttle.“

Across Germany, the question was: which team might slip up after the break, or would the five-way battle for the title go down to the wire?

Today, everyone knows that it was Darmstadt who, as their head coach rightly put it, „dropped too many points at the wrong time of the season.“ Fernie echoed this sentiment: „In the last nine games, we haven’t been able to deliver. That hurts, because there was even more potential this season.“

SV Darmstadt 98 collected just two points in the seven games after the international break. Too few to stay in contention for the top spot. Almost every one of these matches had its own story: a complete collapse in Bielefeld, a superb second half playing with ten men against Elversberg, and a dominant performance in Fürth with an inexplicable final 15 minutes. The (bitter) common thread in all these games: Darmstadt failed to secure a victory.

The explanations for this dip in form are quite varied, and those in charge at the Böllenfalltor stadium are already deep into analysis. „Ultimately, we have to reflect on whether we’ve found the right balance between ease and focus,“ says Kohfeldt. Fernie notes that while player availability has improved overall, the absence of key players caused problems for SV 98 during this crucial phase.

Kohfeldt elaborates on this point: „From January onwards, we were only able to train with twelve to thirteen players at our training camp in Valencia. This negatively impacts the quality of training. You can’t do certain things anymore. Competition for places also suffers to some extent. And this is something we obviously need to examine.“

Furthermore, it wasn’t always possible to get players back to their peak performance level after recovering from injuries. Fernie adds: „We will analyze whether we all made the right decisions in our risk assessment.“

Furthermore, Darmstadt conceded goals repeatedly in the final stages of the season following „chaotic situations“ (Kohfeldt), meaning deflected crosses or second and third balls. Ultimately, they simply didn’t accumulate enough points in the final stretch to finish in the top three. Adding to their woes were a staggering 13 draws, the most of any second-division team. This illustrates just how difficult Darmstadt were to beat this season, but also points to their frequent failure to secure maximum points, particularly away from home.

Nevertheless, the overall assessment of the season must be overwhelmingly positive. „Overall, it was a fantastic season; we’ve taken a step forward in many areas,“ emphasises Fernie, whose conclusion is supported by numerous memorable moments as well as the hard facts. Darmstadt collected ten more points than in the previous season. Only Schalke and Hannover lost fewer times than Darmstadt, and they suffered only two defeats at the Bölle stadium this season. With 57 goals, Kohfeldt’s team boasts the fourth-best attack in the league, and their 19-point deficit is the second-best in the league. Furthermore, numerous players made significant strides in their development this season.

When asked, Florian Kohfeldt gave the season a grade of „2+“ (on a scale where 1 is the best and 6 is the worst). His accompanying explanation could stand alone as a season summary: „Playing style, game plan, overall experience – that was outstanding. Team spirit, cohesion, internal dynamics – outstanding. Results: Outstanding until March. Poor after that.“ He further explained after the match against Paderborn: „We’re in a results-driven sport. If you don’t win nine games, not everything was perfect. But based on our fundamental development and our performances, measured against what was possible in all phases of the season, I stand by my assessment and arrive at a 2.“

If one were to divide the season into a percentage value between positive and negative, one would certainly achieve a three-quarters majority. On the positive side, logically. Such a high score is usually only required for particularly important decisions, such as a constitutional amendment. Therefore, if an entire season also achieves this score, one can confidently call it a good season. Even though it’s understandable that everyone who supports Darmstadt was still dreaming of complete satisfaction at the beginning of March.

We therefore conclude our analysis with the words of Fernie: „A top-six finish is always a successful season for Darmstadt. That should remain the headline.“