VfL Bochum kicked off their preparations in front of 1500 fans at their home stadium in the Ruhr. In a positive mood, coach Thomas Letsch took it easy at first.

The turf in the Ruhrstadion showed no traces of the festivities at the end of May. It was just over five weeks ago that VfL Bochum were able to celebrate staying in the league. On Wednesday, coach Thomas Letsch called for the start of training.

The euphoria at Castroper Straße is great. 1,500 fans were on hand to welcome the team, some with standing ovations. 20 field players and three goalkeepers took to the pitch.

The internationals Takuma Asano and Matus Bero were missing. The other newcomers were also present. So were the loan returnees Tim Oermann, Luis Hartwig and Moritz Römling.

Strength training for Riemann, Kwarteng and Pannewig

Keeper Manuel Riemann, newcomer Moritz-Broni Kwarteng and youngster Mats Pannewig showed up late. They were doing a strength training session. By then, their teammates had already trained for an hour.

The new athletics coach Klaus Luisser started the training. After stretching together, they were busy writing autgrams and taking photos with the many fans present.

Then Frank Heinemann and another new face, co-trainer Markus Feldhoff, took over. In simple passing, they got used to the ball again.

Long line at the final game

Following the game forms, coach Letsch blew the whistle. This was followed by the final game on the large field in ten-on-ten. The coach did not intervene, instead watching the action and giving his players free rein. Much to the delight of the fans, who applauded again and again.

But of course it was no comparison with the matchday atmosphere that will be present in the first home game. One week after the opener at VfB Stuttgart, the Revier rivals Borussia Dortmund come directly. But there are still more than seven weeks in between and a preparation that has only just begun.