Everywhere you look in German football there are teams who have seen better days. Nick Bidwell takes a closer look at some of the 2. Bundesliga’s fallen giants
Whatever the terminology employed – temporarily embarrassed, on the slide, sleeping giants – the German second tier is absolutely jam-packed with big-name clubs trying to adjust to harder times, never quite knowing which way to face, either ruefully looking back on the glory days or plotting a path to a renaissance.
No fewer than 11 participants in the current 2. Bundesliga were once national champions: Schalke, Karlsruhe, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Greuther Furth, Hannover, Hertha Berlin, Holstein Kiel, Hamburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern – the latter four of which have been crowned champions since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963. Indeed, of the nine clubs with the most German league titles, four compete in today’s second division: Nuremberg (with nine), Schalke (seven), Hamburg (six) and Kaiserslautern (four).
Nor is there a shortage of European pedigree. Hamburg won the European Cup in 1983 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977; Schalke lifted the UEFA Cup in 1997; Magdeburg, once one of East Germany’s top dogs, won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1974; Dusseldorf reached the final of the same competition in 1979, while Karlsruhe, featuring goalkeeping great Oliver Kahn, reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1994.
Some of the most popular clubs in the country are to be found here: Schalke with its 174,000 members, Hamburg (95,000) and Hertha Berlin (46,000). Despite their struggles, all three teams’ average attendances for this season are in the top ten in the country. In total, nine present-day 2. Bundesliga clubs boast membership rolls of at least 20,000.
So, what does the future hold for these sleeping giants? Are they set to slumber on indefinitely, or are some of them beginning to stir?
Hamburg
There was a distinct air of inevitability to Hamburg’s decision to fire coach Tim Walter in February. Despite spending most of the current campaign in the top three of the 2. Bundesliga, Hamburg under Walter regularly failed to convince, shoddy and careless at the back and terribly inconsistent, making a habit of dropping points against weaker opponents. Given the quality of their squad they should have been running away with the league, but even before Christmas rumours were swirling that director of sport Jonas Boldt was preparing to pull the plug on Walter, who had been at the club since the summer of 2021.
This is a club where expectations are gargantuan and patience is in short supply. Three-time Bundesliga champions (and sixtime national ch
