Tobias Kempe twisted his ankle during training on Friday (May 16). It's currently unclear whether he'll be able to play in Sunday's home game against Jahn Regensburg (May 18, 3:30pm). Florian Kohfeldt explained this at the press conference before the final matchday. The SV Darmstadt 98 head coach also spoke about the achievements of Darmstadt's No. 11, the upcoming opponent, the season drawing to a close, and also gave an outlook on the upcoming season. We've compiled the most important information for you.
Personnel update: Fabian Holland, Matthias Bader, Paul Will, Christoph Zimmermann, as well as Othmane El Idrissi, Alexander Brunst, Guille Bueno, Meldin Dreskovic, and Jean-Paul Boetius are unavailable. Matej Maglica is suspended due to a yellow card. Tobias Kempe, who sustained an injury in training on Friday, is still undecided as of Friday afternoon.
Tobi would have deserved to be in the starting lineup on Sunday and lead the team out as captain in his final game. That’s what we all want. I would have wanted it too. The tragedy of football, however, is that Tobi twisted his ankle in training today. As of now, we can’t say whether he’ll be able to play on Sunday. This is very upsetting for me. We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow, Saturday, brings.
I’ve known Tobi for 15 years. Back then at Werder, I was still a player myself – and I often had to clear the ball out of the goal against that cheeky guy (grins). I’ve followed his career over the years. Tobi created difference-making moments with incredible consistency. He was with the Lilies for a decade and managed to decide games out of nothing. Some players go through a phase of one or two years where they can do something like that. Tobi, on the other hand, managed it for ten years. In those ten years, he’s been one of the best set-piece takers in the 2nd division. And he can be incredibly proud of his career and the path he’s taken. He’s also an outstanding character. I have the utmost respect for him.
Tobi was a daily advisor to many players this season. He was also an advisor and inspiration to me. Especially in the first half of the season, he was also an important part of the team’s sporting career. I remember the game in Karlsruhe and the cup match in Dresden, in which he provided assists and goals. In this turbulent season, Tobi was also a calming influence. Overall, he was a very important factor.
Sunday is a very important occasion for us. We want to give Tobi the best possible farewell. We are highly motivated to secure this home win, hopefully with him, but above all for him. Overall, the club still has something at stake: We want to maintain our position in the table; that would be very important for us. Of course, we are not at all happy with the results in the second half of the season. Our home game run since Schalke has been positive, and we absolutely want to end the season with a positive result. The way the team performed this week in training and in the last game in Kaiserslautern makes me optimistic that we will do everything we can to win Sunday’s game. I, too, absolutely want to win. After all, a win means you go into the summer break differently. We absolutely want to avoid ending the season with three defeats. That’s why we are very combative.
They played a good home game against KSC. They play with a back three and press very hard man-to-man. They also try to bridge the midfield with lots of crosses. They have the players for that. It’s very difficult to win back the ball against teams that put a lot of players on the back line. The first leg was by far the worst game of the season under my leadership. I watched it again this week. We weren’t able to find solutions against them there. Their style of play hasn’t changed dramatically compared to the first half of the season.
I believe we need to take a very differentiated view of the current season. After the Elversberg game in the first half of the season, there were newspaper headlines like „Now it’s just a matter of survival“ or „A second relegation in a row is looming.“ As the sporting management, we were tasked with developing a game plan and getting through the season on a stable basis, which would also develop players. Player development wasn’t just about sporting issues, but also about the team structure and leadership responsibility. To go through the tasks and goals step by step: We developed a game plan, but it reached its limits in certain games. We need to evolve and find other solutions. Nevertheless, the Lilies stand for a certain style of football, and we want to further consolidate that. Many players have developed athletically. Have we also managed to develop a structure within the team? Not really. With the exception of Marcel Schuhen, Aleksandar Vukotic, and Clemens Riedel, none of the players who were supposed to form a core team were consistently available. So we need to significantly increase player availability in order to be able to train the axis.
I have enormous confidence in Paul Fernie. He has put together the squad extremely well. The injury woes this season – we were without twelve players in Kaiserslautern as well – have prevented the depth of the team from being utilised. If we draw the right conclusions and manage to find the right profiles in one place or another, then I am very optimistic that we can be more successful in terms of results in our second year. I see many indicators that we can have a significantly more successful season next year. This is not a declaration of war, nor is it a formulation of goals for the season. This is a realistic assessment.
We, as a team and coaching staff, know that it hasn’t been the greatest season for a Lilien fan. Nevertheless, I noticed throughout the season that the city recognised how hard the team worked and played with passion – even if it wasn’t always successful. I would be delighted if we could all come together again on Sunday to create that Bölle atmosphere. Not just for Tobi, but for all of us. One crucial factor we have here at Darmstadt 98: the close bond between the team and the fans. Thank you very much for that.
Darmstadt 98 lost to Hannover 96 while playing with ten men and must continue to wait for their first win of this second division season. Read our analysis to find out what positives remain and why Darmstadt 98 had factored in setbacks on their chosen path.
Around the time of the home game against Hannover 96 on Sunday (August 30th), the Jonathan Heimes Square was officially inaugurated. Before kickoff, club president Markus Pfitzner and Martin Heimes, father of Jonathan Heimes, who died of cancer about ten years ago, gave speeches highlighting "Johnny's" importance and his commitment to people with cancer.
The Lilien Team Marathon is not just about athletic performance and the shared experience around the Böllenfalltor stadium – but also about making a difference together.
The SV Darmstadt 98 U21 team drew 2-2 (0-1) against SV Unter-Flockenbach. After a heated home game, the young Lilies had to settle for a frustrating, but ultimately deserved, draw. In this extremely balanced league, Patrick Kurt's team continues to grow week by week, gaining valuable experience.
An emotional match with many controversial moments unfolded on Sunday afternoon at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. Ultimately, Darmstadt suffered their first home defeat of the young season. We've compiled the post-match reactions for you.
Tried everything, but to no avail: SV 98 came up short in their home game against Hannover 96. The final score was 1-0 (0-0) to the visitors, whilst the Lilies had to play with ten men after Vukotic was sent off in the 20th minute.
Home game against Hannover! On matchday 3, Darmstadt 98 will host the ambitious Lower Saxons at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting lineup compared to the victory in Jena. Hiroki Akiyama replaces the suspended Kai Klefisch, while Nicolas Verkooijen (making his first start) and Yosuke Furukawa start in place of Carlo Sickinger and Manolo Merx.
Weekend, Lilies fever! On Sunday (August 30th/1:30pm), the Lilies have their third matchday on the schedule. Hannover 96, the club from the Lower Saxon capital, will be visiting the Bölle. What do the two head coaches have to say before kickoff? Who will be refereeing the match? And where can you watch the game? As usual, we've compiled all the important information about the match against Hannover in our "Matchday Guide"
One day before their home game against Hannover 96, Darmstadt 98 have announced another new signing. William Mikelbrencis will now wear the SV 98 jersey. The 22-year-old Frenchman was under contract with Hamburger SV until June 30th.
In the press conference before the second home game of the still young season, our head coach spoke about, among other things, our team's attacking play and the past week. As usual, you can find the most important statements before the match against Hannover 96 (August 30th/1:30pm) here for you.
A second-division team on the Berlin Mount Olympus: Hannover 96 achieved something unique in 1992. On May 23, the Lower Saxony club defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the DFB Cup final, securing another major title in the club's history 38 years after their German championship win in 1954. Hannover became the first and, to this day, only "true" second-division team to win the DFB Cup, causing one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.
