Another journalist hunting for a headline? “Sportingly, we belong in professional football. Full stop,” Baumgart told himself as he answered.\n\nIt 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.\n\nProfessional football. Relief spread through the room like a warm wave. One face after another lit up.\n\nWhat had seemed impossible was suddenly real.
Just like that.