FC Brünninghausen may have been relegated from the Oberliga Westfalen, but they are already ready for the coming season. Coach Reza Hassani is relieved that the pressure is off.
After just one season, the Oberliga Westfalen chapter is over for FC Brünninghausen for the time being. The 4-1 defeat against SG Finnentrop-Bamenohl saw the Dortmund side leave Germany’s fifth-highest division with 26 points.
Even before the game, coach Reza Hassani spoke about the psychological strain of the relegation battle. Despite the bitter outcome, the head coach, who only took over in the second half of the season, was relieved.
“I just sat on the bench for another ten or 15 minutes, I always need a bit of time. I’m relieved that it’s over, to be honest. There’s no more training now either,” he summarized.
Nevertheless, the relegation did not leave him unscathed: “Nevertheless, I’m still sad. We could have done it and, because we’ve been through so much, we would have passed a certain maturity test this season.”
Hassani will miss the league in particular: “Next year, we would have tried to stay in this league again, which is mega cool.”
Starting the new season with positivity
There were also words of encouragement from within the club immediately after the final whistle: “The first chairman just gave me a boost and said: ‘Cheer up, we’re going to build something again. We’ll draw up a plan so that we can get back to where we were at some point.”
He even sees the lower division as an advantage for the development of next season’s squad: “We have a lot of young people and we’re losing a lot of old people. That’s not meant to sound stupid, but it may even be more beneficial for the development of the youngsters to play in the top third of the Westfalenliga than to play against relegation in the Oberliga.”
Nevertheless, FC Brünninghausen would like to return to the Oberliga Westfalen in the future. Hassani goes on to praise the management and structure of the club, especially as the U17s have been promoted to the Westfalenliga. The U19s are also playing a solid season in the Landesliga. There is a “family” environment within the club.
However, Reza Hassani will probably no longer be seen as a coach: “The coaching job, as it is in this constellation, has really taken a lot of energy from me, but I did it because the club is very close to my heart.”
The squad planning for the upcoming Westfalenliga season has already been completed. Only one place is still open
