SC Westfalia Herne is in good form in the Westfalenliga and has recently recorded two victories. Now the shock: a key player has suffered a cruciate ligament rupture.

After nine games, Westfalia Herne are in fourth place in the Westfalenliga 2 with 16 points as promoted team. The big goal is: the next promotion and the associated return for the traditional club to the Oberliga Westfalen. Westfalia is only three points away from first place, currently held by TSG Sprockhövel.

So things are going very well for Westphalia. Most recently, coach Christian Knappmann’s team celebrated an impressive 7-2 derby victory against DSC Wanne-Eickel.

Migel-Max Schmeling has been one of the best players in Herne in recent weeks. Four games, two goals, two assists – a strong record for the former regional league player, who only moved from Türkspor Dortmund to Schloss Strünkede a few weeks ago.

Now the shock: Schmeling tore his cruciate ligament in the Icon League, a rival product to the Baller League. Coach Knappmann is, understandably, angry that a Herne contract player has suffered this serious injury away from home.

“First of all, I want to emphasize that I suffer with ‘Schmelle’. He’s a super guy and a great footballer. And now he’ll probably be out for the rest of the season. That hurts all sides,” Knappmann tells Forecasting.

The damage incurred is now being borne by Westfalia Herne and not by the Icon League. It is clear to us that there will be no Westfalia player who will lace up their boots and participate for another team or in such formats in addition to our club!

Christian Knappmann

When the 43-year-old only thinks about where Schmeling got his knee injury, Knappmann gets really angry: “Westfalia Herne has suffered a great deal of sporting damage. ‘Schmelle’ has been outstanding in all areas in recent weeks. He scored and set up goals, so these qualities are of course a great loss.”

Once he gets going, “Knappi” really lets rip and shoots against formats like the ballers or icon league: “From a club’s point of view, I see these formats as highly problematic. Because the players used there simply put a completely different strain on the team during the week than the rest of the team. Furthermore, the match days are on Mondays, i.e. immediately after the highest load at the club, namely the match day on Sundays.”

Of course, former professional Knappmann is also aware that participants in these formats can collect up to €500 for just one match day.

Knappmann: “Of course I can understand that the players can’t resist the financial incentive. However, the players also have a duty to their clubs. Legally, there is certainly a difference between whether the player has amateur or contract player status. In Schmelles’ case, we are talking about a footballer who is a contract player at Westfalia Herne and has more demanding obligations than a pure amateur footballer.”

The people of Herne, who until now have allowed their player to participate in such formats and earn additional money, have learned from Schmeling’s cruciate ligament rupture. Knappmann makes it clear: “The resulting damage is now being borne by Westfalia Herne and not by Icon League. For us, it is clear that there will no longer be a Westfalia player who, in addition to our club, will still lace up their boots for another team or take part in such formats!”