SV Lippstadt has had a more than solid season in the Oberliga Westfalen so far. However, this does not mean the club’s objectives will change.

SV Lippstadt heads into the Oberliga Westfalen winter break as the closest challenger to league-leading SG Wattenscheid 09. This suggests the chances of promotion are high. However, SVL’s sporting director, Dirk Brökelmann, is striking a very different tone for now and also points to the goals set before the season began.

Dirk Brökelmann, how do you assess the first half of the season?

For us, the first half of the season has gone very successfully and satisfactorily so far. We see development within our squad, our team. We are absolutely satisfied with our current position in the standings. There are always things you can work on, things you can further develop. Those are our goals for the second half of the season, and then we’ll see how it turns out.

What has been the highlight for you so far?

That was definitely the last matchday with an absolute top-tier game against SG Wattenscheid 09. That is certainly something that will absolutely stick in our memories and was a highlight of this first half of the season—not only because of the floodlight failure, but also because of the quality both teams brought to the field.

And what was the biggest negative experience?

That we didn’t reach our full potential in one or two games. I’m thinking specifically of the first half of the match against Rot Weiss Ahlen, which we ultimately lost. That was certainly one of our weakest halves of the season. But we drew the right conclusions from that at the time and went on to have a good rest of the season.

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

There are no plans regarding departures or new signings.

What is your goal for the rest of the season?

We have clearly stated that our goal is to finish in the top six of the league. And that remains our goal. We won’t be changing that. And even if people don’t like to hear it, or if it sounds like a cliché: We’ll continue to take it one game at a time in the second half of the season and really try to get the best possible result. And if, in the end, the best possible result happens to be one of the top two spots, then we’ll gladly accept that. But that doesn’t change our objective, and we won’t be making any course corrections.