Fortuna Bottrop is doing very well in the Lower Rhine District League Group 6. They are currently in seventh place.

When Sebastian Stempel, coach of SV Fortuna Bottrop, calls his team back to training on January 2, 2026, he will welcome the seventh-placed team in the Lower Rhine District League Group 6 – a very good interim result at the halfway point of the season.

Sebastian Stempel, how would you assess your team’s first half of the season?

Overall, I’m satisfied with the start. There were a lot of new signings that we had to integrate. Then, shortly before the start, the six new players from Rhenania Bottrop arrived, which meant we had to start all over again with our preparations. In the end, there were ten new additions, including a new coaching team. We definitely had a challenging start to the season. But after that, we still had a feeling that everything was coming together. We are now seventh. We have won seven of our last eight games. We can definitely be satisfied. What has been the highlight for you so far? There have been a few highlights. We beat Sterkrade 06/07, who are currently second in the table, in Oberhausen. We also beat former league leaders SV Burgaltendorf at home. The icing on the cake was the last game of the year, when we came back from 1-2 down to beat Fatihspor 3-2, with our goalkeeper even scoring the equalizer. It was all very emotional.

And what was the most negative experience?

That was definitely the game in Königshardt. It was weak in terms of soccer and also in terms of attitude. Unfortunately, that sticks with you.

Will there be any changes to the squad during the winter break?

There won’t be any major changes during the winter break. Nils Pelzer is moving to Preußen Eiberg. Hürkan Kindac will go to SuS 21 Oberhausen. I don’t want to rule anything out, but we probably won’t make any more changes. We have a large and good squad. What is your goal for the rest of the season? A single-digit position in the table would be great. We will continue to work towards that. This district league with its many Essen teams is very strong, but we are proving that we can keep up very well. We want to do the same in 2026.