The Darmstadt dream: The years into promotion

A perfect night that had been brewing for two games, all SV Darmstadt 98 needed was one more win. Slipping up at home against St Pauli and away at Hannover, their last home game against FC Magdeburg was the last chance to get promoted at the Bölle (Merck-stadion am Böllenfalltor — Darmstadt’s stadium) in front of their fans. They did just that, as I said, a perfect night with Phillip Tietz scoring in a 1–0 win.

Tietz’s goal was not only the icing on the cake for their promotion race but also of Darmstadt’s dedication through clever transfer policy and recruitment that laid the foundation of the next couple of seasons despite losing big performers from their team. Something I’ve had a privilege seeing both indirectly and directly from the 20/21 season from when I first moved to Darmstadt, up until last Summer.

After Dirk Schuster’s second exit from the club in Feburary 2019, Carsten Wehlmann was promoted to from Sport Cordinator to Sporting Director starting a new path for the club. Being a former chief scout at Holstein Kiel, he already had the experience of building a young squad and wanted to replicate that, essentially moving Darmstadt away from the sitting back, deep defending and gritty football that they had become recognised for. He…