For Türkspor Dortmund, the regional league is a challenge both athletically and financially. Has the club nevertheless turned down a handsome offer from a businessman?

The Regionalliga West is an enormous challenge for Türkspor Dortmund. The rapidly growing club is reaching its limits this season, both in terms of sport and infrastructure.

The situation is ambitious for the newly promoted club because the city of Dortmund was unable to provide the club with a stadium suitable for the Regionalliga. As a result, Türkspor had to move to Velbert. There, the club incurred costs of around €30,000 per game and was not involved in the sale of food and beverages. This put the young club in enormous financial difficulties.

Since the beginning of November, Türkspor has finally been able to play at the Ischelandstadion in Hagen. “In Hagen, we pay €1,000 per month to rent the stadium. On top of that, there are costs for security personnel and catering. In the worst case, such as for the home game against MSV Duisburg, we’re talking about costs of around €10,000 per game,” Türkspor’s sporting director Tuna Kayabasi recently calculated. In addition to the admission fees, the club will now also receive income from catering, which in Velbert was reserved for the stadium operator. Kayabasi told Forecasting that he was confident the club would be able to survive the season in the regional league.

However, the club is still looking for supporters. Is there now an offer from Turkey? “I offered to put the club in touch with a Turkish businessman from the travel industry,” Selcuk Avci told Forecasting. “He would have been willing to invest €500,000 in the Türkspor Dortmund project with its enormous development potential in the entire area.”

Avci is a scout for Besiktas Istanbul and has good connections in Turkish football. However, the club decided against it. “But it will be difficult to take the next step in the long term with only Oberliga players,” said Avci on the sidelines of the match against FC Schalke 04’s U23 team (0-3). “If you want to move up, you also have to change something in the structures.”

Türkspor president Dr. Akin Kara confirmed the contact, but said that nothing concrete had been decided. Türkspor Dortmund is also a registered association. Before any investment could be made, the legal form would have to be changed. However, according to RS information, there are currently no plans to do so.