The district clubs have a turbulent year behind them. We look back on ten emotional moments.

Thousands of Schalke fans celebrate last-minute madness in Mainz

It was a memorable comeback that FC Schalke 04 started after the first half of the season, when they were supposedly lagging behind. One of the highlights, if not the highlight, was the 3-2 away win in Mainz. More than 10,000 guest fans turned large parts of the FSV stadium royal blue. S04 took the lead twice, but Mainz struck back twice. It all came down to a draw before Schalke was awarded a dubious penalty deep into injury time. It was already the 102nd minute when Marius Bülter stepped up, converted and caused complete ecstasy on the pitch and in the stands. With the win, Schalke even jumped to a non-relegation spot – but still missed out on staying in the league in the end.

Schlotterbeck sparks ecstasy at VfL Bochum in Berlin

VfL Bochum secured their place in the league in the dramatic end of the Bundesliga season. Defender Keven Schlotterbeck provided an emotional highlight on the penultimate matchday: At Hertha BSC, there was already a strong smell of defeat in the air. But in the fourth minute of stoppage time, the defender headed a corner kick into the goal to equalize. Hertha was relegated, while Schlotterbeck jumped over the boards and celebrated his important goal with teammates and a five-digit number of Bochum fans. Thanks to the 1-1 draw, VfL remained ahead of Schalke and went into the season finale with a psychological advantage.

Preußen Münster celebrate promotion to the 3rd division

Nobody doubted that Preußen Münster would return to the 3rd division this year. For months, it had been clear that Sascha Hildmann’s team was playing well. And yet there was no holding them when the eagle bearers defeated Fortuna Düsseldorf’s U23 team on April 22 in the sold-out Preußenstadion and could no longer be pushed out of the top of the table in the Regionalliga West. The team celebrated on the pitch, then on Mallorca. And fans were even able to relive the most emotional moments on the road back to professional football in the city’s cinemas, thanks to a documentary about the team’s promotion.

Borussia Dortmund misses out on the league title

The chance to win their first championship after eleven years of Bayern dominance was handed to Borussia Dortmund on a silver platter. On the penultimate match day, BVB took the lead in the standings, and a home win against Mainz 05 would have been enough to clinch the title. But then came the shock: a 2-0 deficit early on, a missed penalty kick by Sebastien Haller. The Borussia team fought their way back and equalized in the added time to make it 2:2. But since Bayern scored the winning goal in the final minutes of the parallel game against Cologne to make it 2:1, the mood at the Signal Iduna Park after the final whistle was one of hangover rather than celebration.

Rot-Weiss Essen wins the Lower Rhine Cup

Criticism of the coach, the departure of the sporting director, the battle against relegation lasting well into spring – Rot-Weiss Essen experienced a turbulent end to the season. One week after the end of the 3rd division, all the negative noise was forgotten, at least for a day. RWE defeated Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2-0 in the final of the Niederrhein Cup and advanced to the DFB Cup. Key players such as Simon Engelmann, Felix Herzenbruch and Oguzhan Kefkir made their farewells in the final – with Engelmann and Kefkir scoring the two goals.

Aachen and WSV kick off the regional league season in front of a record crowd

During the summer break, Alemannia Aachen and Wuppertaler SV were already engaged in a kind of arms race on the transfer market and went into the season as favorites for promotion. As luck would have it, the traditional clubs met on the first match day. For weeks, the fan bases feverishly anticipated the game, and in the end, over 27,000 spectators came to the Tivoli on the evening of July 28. They saw little in the way of highlights, but a dramatic finish: with two goals in stoppage time, WSV turned a deficit into a 2-1 win, silencing large sections of the stadium.

RWE wins first league derby against Duisburg in 18 years

Last season’s matches between Rot-Weiss Essen and MSV Duisburg were special moments, the first time the two clubs had faced each other in a competitive game for over 15 years. Both duels ended without a winner (1:1, 2:2). This was set to change in the new season. On match day 13, RWE went into the final phase with a 1:0 lead, before events took a dramatic turn. In the final minute, the Zebras managed to equalize, much to their relief. But in injury time, RWE struck again. Mustafa Kourouma headed the ball into the net to make the final score 2-1, giving Essen their first league victory against Duisburg since February 2005.

KFC Uerdingen knock MSV out of the cup

Four times in a row, MSV Duisburg were knocked out of the Lower Rhine Cup by lower-league opponents. This year, this unfortunate streak was set to continue. The Zebras found Oberliga side KFC Uerdingen a tough nut to crack. In extra time, they even fell behind and were unable to respond. For Boris Schommers, this humiliation marked the start of his tenure as MSV coach. Instead of a spirit of optimism, there was frustration and malice.

Schommers celebrates first victory as Duisburg coach

And it was to take several more weeks before Schommers celebrated his first success with the Zebras. At the beginning of December, there was a basement duel with VfB Lübeck, with enormous pressure on MSV. And it looked as if Duisburg would not be able to withstand it. But in injury time, there was relief: youngster Santiago Castaneda scored the lucky goal, MSV gave a sign of life in the relegation battle and the arena experienced a positive outburst of emotion for the first time in a long time – even if isolated whistles were heard from the fan section after the final whistle.

Revier talents triumph with the U17 national team

A few weeks after being temporarily suspended from the Borussia Dortmund squad, 17-year-old up-and-coming talent Paris Brunner experienced a moment of glory. The striker played a prominent role in the German U17 national team’s victory in the World Cup in Indonesia. Brunner scored in every game starting in the quarterfinals and was named player of the tournament. It is only a matter of time before he makes his professional debut for Dortmund. When the German national under-21 team won the European Championship this summer, the spotlight was also on Schalke 04 starlet Assan Ouedraogo, who scored the decisive penalty in the final.