All friends of Essen amateur football can look forward to a real top match on Sunday. TGD Essen-West will meet SuS Haarzopf in the Kreisliga A.

In the late 1990s and 2000s, Turngemeinde Essen-West was a big name in Essen amateur football and established itself as a showcase club in the Landesliga under the direction of coach Thomas Gleis. But in the recent past, the TGD plummeted to the Kreisliga A and was almost pushed through to the B-class in the 2018/19 season.

In the meantime, however, the former Landesliga club is enjoying much better days. Not only has the club finally received an artificial pitch after many years, but things are also going really well from a sporting point of view. Eight games, eight wins – Essen-West leads the table in the Kreisliga A, followed by the “star ensemble” of SuS Haarzopf, who also have a perfect points tally after seven games. On Sunday (09 October, 13.30 hrs), it will come to a showdown of the two top clubs at Haedenkampstraße.

RevierSport spoke to TGD board member Arndt Krosch before the match. The 56-year-old was previously sports director at Turngemeinde and returned to his old love in the summer after 14 years at SC Phönix.

We have a real board coming up on Sunday. But we also have a well-functioning team and are all looking forward to a really good Kreisliga game.

Arndt Krosch

Arndt Krosch (56) about …

his return to the TGD: “I joined the TGD in June. Unfortunately, the 2nd chairman Jürgen Stürzenbecher passed away shortly before. We were all very sad then. Now I am active on the board of the association. When you come to the TGD, it’s like coming home after a long journey. I also had to find my way around first. But everyone in the association supported me and helped me. Here, everyone lends a hand. Even on the board, people don’t just talk, they work hard. Of course, we are still a long way from where we want to be, but some things just take time. The artificial turf will make a lot of things possible. For example, our youth department has had an A and a B team for a long time.

The outstanding start to the season: “The new coaches Dietmar Krause and Torsten Hartmann, who were hired by our sporting director Dennis Discher, proved to be an absolute stroke of luck. We also have to mention our second team, which was promoted this year. Our flagship, however, is of course the first team. With eight wins from eight games, we have done very well so far. We will continue to work hard.”

The top match against Haarzopf: “Haarzopf has a great squad at its disposal with some players who have already gained experience at the higher level. We’re in for a real challenge on Sunday. But we also have a well-functioning team and are all looking forward to a really good Kreisliga game.”

A possible promotion: “Last season, the TGD already finished second. This year we want to try to play at the top. But in the league, anyone can beat anyone. Many games were very close and even. What makes me very happy is that old players from the Landesliga days under Thomas Gleis are supporting the club. Everyone has offered to help. We hope to bring the club back to where it once was. It will be a difficult road, but we will give our best. “