Recent Graduate & Web Content Editor
FC Heidenheim's Humble Beginnings and Recent Success
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 e.V. is no different from almost every other football club in Europe; their history is packed with highs and lows. They currently call the Voith-Arena their home and play in the second tier of German football.
The club has undergone several reformations, the first being the establishment of a football department by the original sport club in 1911 and the most recent being the formation of the current association in 2007. The World Wars caused a few mergers and dissolutions over the past century and a half but the club's name still includes "1846," which refers to the year that the Turngemeinde Heidenheim (gymnastics club) was founded.
The current club has found success in recent years; spending most of their time in the 2. Bundesliga, they've made their way up from the fourth division in only twenty years. This is interesting because of the way in which the soccer club economy works in Europe. While American sports leagues basically force their franchises to distribute their earnings and wealth so that each team has a chance to succeed, their European counterparts utilize an inherently capitalist system. When a team is able to get promoted to higher divisions of their respective leagues, they are then able to earn more money through ticket sales and sponsorships. More wins provides for more media exposure and thus even more money. On the flip side, when a team starts to decline, they will eventually lose financial power and the ability to sustain their players' wages. This leads to highly skilled players leaving for greener pastures at other clubs. Much like a business, a European soccer team is highly capable of completely tanking and falling from grace in a very short amount of time.
In the case of 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, the players and staff have been able to build a team that is able to maintain excellent posture over the past few seasons without big name star players and billionaire takeovers. It is absolutely amazing that a club that was formed less than fifteen years ago has been able to see promotion to the new third league and eventually secure a safe position in the second division. Moreover, by the end of the most recent season, FC Heidenheim had the chance to be promoted the to German top-flight for the first time in their history. In third place by the end of the 19/20 season, they faced the Bundesliga's 16th placed team, SV Werder Bremen in a two match play-off. The first match saw a hard fought 0-0 draw which set the stage for an intense second leg. At home in the second match, FC Heidenheim were able to score two goals but Bremen leveled the tie and won on the away goals rule. It is arguable that the away goals rule should not have been applied to this tie because there no fans allowed at either of the two match play-off games due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Because of this, Bremen stayed safe and FC Heidenheim missed out on of their best chances to break into the top division for the first time in their history.
Though they remain in the second tier of German soccer, FC Heidenheim have finally proven their worth as a force to be reckoned with. They've demonstrated that success is in their reach through loyalty, passion and motivation. The lack of financial investment can plague any European football club but the team built on the banks of the Brenz river have shown an unprecedented path that I'm sure will lead to a bright future.
