Special Moments — Paderborn

It happened on 2 June 2017. Silence. A

It happened on 2 June 2017.

It happened on 2 June 2017. Silence. A silence so heavy you could feel it. Heavy as lead. It was so quiet in the dressing room of TSV 1860 Munich that the players could hear the blood rushing in their ears. The last words of coach Vítor Pereira echoed through the stunned squad: “There will be no 3. Liga for us next season.” No third division. Relegation. Amateur football.

Investor Hasan Ismaik had in fact refused to

Investor Hasan Ismaik had in fact refused to make the payments required to preserve the club’s 3.

Investor Hasan Ismaik had in fact refused to make the payments required to preserve the club’s 3. Liga status. The man who had come to rescue the Lions from financial crisis and lead them back to greatness now marked their final collapse. Nobody had believed he would really go through with it.

Silence. So loud that nobody dared break it. No pleading, no begging, no powerless shaking of heads could change the Jordanian investor’s decision.

Numbness spread. Then anger followed. Sporting-wise, they ha...

Numbness spread.

Numbness spread. Then anger followed. Sporting-wise, they had not lost their league status. If only the money had not been missing in the end. If only one man’s arrogance and overconfidence had not dragged this tradition-soaked club into the valley of tears while at the same time granting survival to another team.

“One man’s misery, another man’s joy!” Steffen Baumgart

“One man’s misery, another man’s joy!” Steffen Baumgart laughed and shoved his phone back into his pocket, shaking his head.

“One man’s misery, another man’s joy!” Steffen Baumgart laughed and shoved his phone back into his pocket, shaking his head. Who would have thought it? Only hours earlier, Paderborn’s new coach had still been brooding over the right phrasing for the coming relegation press conference.

Now he had to rewrite all those carefully prepared lines from scratch: Paderborn were staying in the league. The symbolic red lantern had all but been hung on the blue-and-black clubhouse already, because 18th place in 2016/17 should have meant relegation to the Regionalliga West. Should have.

On that historic Friday in June, Baumgart was

On that historic Friday in June, Baumgart was sitting in his car when the phone rang.

On that historic Friday in June, Baumgart was sitting in his car when the phone rang. Recently it had been ringing all the time. His defence mechanism had kicked in.

“Who is it this time? Who now wants to ask about the third relegation in three years? And where did all these people even get my number?” The same questions kept circling in his head.

He had not even been in office six weeks and already everything was spinning out of control. “We’ve been winning for weeks,” he muttered to himself. “So what exactly is the problem?”

He had a point. Win against Lotte, win

He had a point.

He had a point. Win against Lotte, win against Fortuna Köln, win against Preußen Münster. It was his predecessor Stefan Emmerling who had dug the hole of 18th place, not him. Since his arrival in Paderborn, the team had not lost once. So why was that damned phone ringing again?

Another journalist hunting for a headline? “Sportingly, we

Another journalist hunting for a headline? “Sportingly, we belong in professional football.

Another journalist hunting for a headline? “Sportingly, we belong in professional football. Full stop,” Baumgart told himself as he answered.

It was 2 June 2017 when a scream tore apart the silence in the Paderborn dressing room - a scream of joy and relief, light as a feather. The last words of coach Steffen Baumgart now rang in the stunned players’ ears: “There will be 3. Liga football for us again next season.” Third division. No relegation.

Professional football. Relief spread through the room like a warm wave. One face after another lit up.

What had seemed impossible was suddenly real. Just like that.