Key Figures — Paderborn

Steffen Baumgart: on 16 April 2017 the club

Steffen Baumgart: on 16 April 2017 the club appointed Steffen Baumgart as successor to Stefan Emmerling in a last-ditch effort to save the side from dropping into the Regionalliga.

Steffen Baumgart: on 16 April 2017 the club appointed Steffen Baumgart as successor to Stefan Emmerling in a last-ditch effort to save the side from dropping into the Regionalliga. In the final five matches Baumgart took an excellent eleven points, yet could not prevent the sporting relegation. Then luck intervened: 1860 Munich lost their third-division licence and Westphalia’s side were allowed to stay up.

Energised by that reprieve, Baumgart led SC to second place in 2017/18 and direct promotion to Bundesliga 2, with 90 goals setting another 3. Liga record. Only a year later, Paderborn reached the Bundesliga and also won the Westphalia Cup. Thanks to his passion and emotional edge - he became the first German club official to receive a yellow card in the Bundesliga - Baumgart is hugely popular with both players and supporters.

He is also a devotee of attacking football. 4-3 is better than 1-0: that is the creed of the former striker in Paderborn.

André Breitenreiter: for two years Breitenreiter steered the

André Breitenreiter: for two years Breitenreiter steered the club’s fortunes.

André Breitenreiter: for two years Breitenreiter steered the club’s fortunes. He arrived for the 2013/14 season, turned the team upside down and at the end of a magnificent campaign led them into the Bundesliga for the first time in club history. Yet because the training-centre conditions still lagged behind, the success coach immediately tried to cool the euphoria before the new season.

“The excitement must not turn into unrealistic self-assessment. If we stay up, that will be an even bigger sensation than promotion,” he told Spiegel in 2014 - and he proved right. Paderborn did not pull off the sensation and were relegated despite a strong first half of the season.

Even so, to the fans Breitenreiter remains the coach who first took the team to the top flight, and for that they are grateful to this day.

Moritz Stoppelkamp: a penalty only raises a tired

Moritz Stoppelkamp: a penalty only raises a tired smile from Stoppelkamp - that distance is nothing.

Moritz Stoppelkamp: a penalty only raises a tired smile from Stoppelkamp - that distance is nothing. The attacking midfielder spent two years in Paderborn colours and scored ten times. On Matchday 4 of the club’s first Bundesliga season, he achieved the almost impossible.

In stoppage time of the 2-0 win over Hannover 96, he scored from an incredible 82.3 metres into an empty net. The Benteler Arena erupted and celebrated not only what later became the “runner-up Goal of the Year”, but also the temporary league lead of the promoted side. To this day, Stoppelkamp still holds the Bundesliga record for longest-range goal, scored in the 93rd minute.

Daniel Brückner: the left-footed midfielder remained one of

Daniel Brückner: the left-footed midfielder remained one of the most beloved players in Paderborn history even after his departure.

Daniel Brückner: the left-footed midfielder remained one of the most beloved players in Paderborn history even after his departure. Brückner joined in 2009 and wore the blue-and-black shirt until 2016. In 197 appearances he scored 14 goals and was part of the club’s first-ever promotion to the Bundesliga. In his first season, Paderborn finished fifth, earning Brückner a place in Kicker’s Team of the Season and the award of “Player of the Season” from the supporters.

His fighting spirit played a major role in the 2014 promotion, so even his suspension a year later did nothing to tarnish his standing.

Wilfried Finke: the furniture entrepreneur was the club’s

Wilfried Finke: the furniture entrepreneur was the club’s greatest backer in his lifetime.

Wilfried Finke: the furniture entrepreneur was the club’s greatest backer in his lifetime. From April 1997 to May 2018 the native of Paderborn served as president and chief financier of his home club. Under him, SC went up to Bundesliga 2 four times - in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2018 - and once to the Bundesliga, in 2014. Finke always believed in top-flight football for “his” club and pushed hard for the construction of a new stadium as well as the training and youth development centre.

He sometimes rubbed politicians up the wrong way with his drive, but within the club he was always valued. That included his idea of spinning off the professional side into a corporation so that financial security would endure even after his departure. Without him, SC Paderborn would not be what it is today.