The biggest match in the club’s history

SV Elversberg are playing 1. FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga promotion playoffs. There is no shortage of parallels between the two clubs.

When the starting whistle sounds for the Bundesliga playoffs at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday evening in the Heidenheimer Voith-Arena, it will mark the start of a new, very special chapter in German football history. On one side is 1. FC Heidenheim, Bundesliga team and even Conference League competitor this season. On the other is SV Elversberg – seemingly the underdog, but a team that has become one of Germany’s most exciting football stories in recent years. Promotion to the Bundesliga would be not only a sporting miracle, but also a historic event.

Third division in the summer of 2022, second division in the summer of 2023 – and now promotion playoffs participant in May 2025. SV Elversberg‘s rise has not come about by accident. Under coach Horst Steffen, who has been overseeing things since 2018, Elversberg have become a model club with continuity, a clear sporting concept, and remarkable team unity. A look at the recent 2. Bundesliga season shows that these principles bring success: third place, just one point behind HSV.

Elversberg have remained unbeaten for eight games in a row – a club record for professional matches. The team gained 18 points during this period, scored 19 goals, and boasted the league’s top scorer in Fisnik Asllani. With six goals and three assists in the last eight games alone, Asllani epitomises more than anyone else the dynamism and efficiency of SVE’s attack.

1. FC Heidenheim of course have Bundesliga experience, and this season coach Frank Schmidt’s team have played against clubs such as FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund – and Chelsea. But despite all of this routine, FCH are facing a major challenge, as Elversberg are not just any second-division team. They are a team that know exactly what they want. A team with varying tactics, physical strength and above all a stable mindset. A team that plays with confidence – but no arrogance.

Coach Horst Steffen laid things out matter-of-factly: 

We are fundamentally facing a high-quality Bundesliga team.

And yet, Elversberg will show what they can do. 

We may have to make some adjustments depending on what our opponents throw up and what we have to defend against – but we also want to stick to our strengths.

This combination of tactical discipline and attacking clarity has been the key to their success for much of the season.

1. FC Heidenheim are entering the playoffs as a Bundesliga team, inevitably bringing the associated status this entails. 20 out of 26 Bundesliga playoffs have been won by the top-division team – a statistical advantage that cannot be denied. Although Heidenheim lost 1:4 to Bremen on the last day of play, the team showed character in previous weeks: wins against Stuttgart and Union Berlin and a draw against Bochum demonstrate that FCH can step up in crucial matches.

This is therefore an encounter between two teams that are similar from more than just a sporting perspective. Both clubs set great store by continuity, a clear plan, and the power of community. Frank Schmidt and Horst Steffen are the longest-serving coaches in German professional football. Both clubs have an experienced functional team and a leadership that demonstrates long-term thinking and action.

Holger Sanwald, CEO of FCH, summed things up: 

SVE, shaped also by Nils-Ole Book, pursue a very clear sporting concept and focus in particular on team unity.

Elversberg are where they are today thanks to hard work, foresight and trust. These same qualities have characterised FCH’s rise.

Elversberg (13,000 inhabitants) and Heidenheim (50,000 inhabitants) are the two smallest towns to meet in a Bundesliga playoff. This is more than just an aside: it highlights an interesting and emboldening development in German football. Size, glamour and budgets of millions alone cannot ensure success. What matters is structure, vision and sporting clarity.

If Elversberg are promoted, they will be the 59th club to achieve this in Bundesliga history – and the smallest Bundesliga location ever. They would also be the fourth Saarland club in the league’s history, after Homburg, Neunkirchen and Saarbrücken. For Saarland, promotion would be an emotional highlight, and for German football it would serve as a reminder of this region’s strength.

As well as an impressive form curve and versatile tactics, Elversberg also have another asset: the euphoria of a whole region. The club have managed to inspire enthusiasm far beyond their local borders. President Dominik Holzer and chairman of the supervisory board Frank Holzer have worked with the leadership team to create an environment that combines professional work with emotional identification.

Elversberg is also well set in terms of its lineup. Although Lukas Pinckert will be out following a yellow-card ban picked up in the previous match, the core of the team is fit and ready. A combination of young talent and experienced leaders makes Elversberg unpredictable – in the best possible way.

Coach Steffen is realistic about their chances. 

I don’t want to say 50:50 now

he noted. And yet, it does not feel meaningless when experts describe their chances of promotion as being evens. There are arguments for both teams, and both coaches understand how to precisely deploy their players. In matches like these, it is often the details that make the difference – a moment of focus, a well-timed pass, a set piece that lands.

However, Elversberg have proven time and again that they are ready for precisely these moments. The promotion playoffs are not a reward, they are a stage. And it is this stage that will prove which team can make the last and perhaps biggest step of this season.

It is a David versus Goliath match – but only is you judge solely on the league numbers. Anyone who has followed the 2024/25 season closely will know that SV Elversberg are no product of chance, no fairytale, but rather a worthy candidate for promotion. Elversberg have fought their way to the top of the 2. Bundesliga with discipline, passion and a clear plan.

In FCH, Elversberg are now facing a team that epitomise many of their own values: long-term thinking, a down-to-earth approach and sporting strength. But regardless of the respect they have for their opponents, Elversberg will head out onto the pitch in the firm belief that this is their moment. For Saarland, for the region – and for a club that have long been more than just an insider’s tip.

The Bundesliga adventure is just two matches away. Will they make it? No-one knows. But Elversberg are ready. And that alone is an extraordinary story.