FC Sterkrade 72 were crowned city champions in Oberhausen in a heated final against SC 1920 Oberhausen. The final game also provided fuel for controversy afterwards.
SC 1920 Oberhausen only just missed out on defending their title at the Oberhausen Indoor City Championship 2024. The early lead of FC Sterkrade 72 was equalized by the Spielclub players shortly before the end of regular time.
In the end, Sterkrade prevailed 3-2 on penalties. The final between the two teams was marked by unrest. Both in the stands and on the pitch.
Just three minutes into the game, FC Sterkrade took a 1-0 lead before fisticuffs broke out in the stands. The situation in the packed Willy-Jürissen sports hall was chaotic. However, the fight definitely took place in the section with the SC 1920 supporters.
SC coach Thorsten Möllmann claimed the opposite: “Our block had nothing to do with it. They kept quiet. It was in the block of SuS 21 Oberhausen.”
For the first time since 2020, Möllmann was standing on the sidelines in the hall. Because after riots in 2020 during the duel between Arminia Klosterhardt and SC 1920 Oberhausen, the city championship title was taken away from Spielclub 20 and President Möllmann, along with some players, was banned from the club for two years.
Now the comeback and it got heated again. The arguments in the stands could finally be calmed down after more than five minutes and it was already hot on the pitch again. Deniz Fahri Batman did not want to accept a whistle against him and complained vehemently to the referee. The referee then showed the red card to the best player of the club.
“I generally find it extreme how much the referees are allowed to take out”
Thorsten Möllmann
“We played so well that we shouldn’t have conceded any goals at all. But I found some of the decisions baffling. If they then give our best man of the tournament a red card, even though he is fouled and no player is allowed to get upset, I can’t understand it anymore. I generally find it extreme how much leeway the referees are allowed to take,” Möllmann complained after the final bust, especially about the sending off.
Möllmann continued to rant and rail against the referees: “It is made public here and there how referees are approached. They are so supportive that some referees take advantage of it. This is ruining football. The referees are supposed to be the guarantors of fairness, and I want to see that.”
During the semi-final, a situation shortly before the final whistle against SuS 21 Oberhausen caused a stir and an angry Möllmann, who describes the situation with the score at 1-0 for SC as follows: “I have never seen an indirect free kick in the semi-final. Step fault from the goalkeeper? I can’t understand that. And then there are still 0.6 seconds left on the clock, he scores the goal and then the clock starts running again. Nevertheless, we are moving on. We were the best team on the pitch, the best team of the tournament and we played well. But they didn’t want SC to be the 20th city champion.”
Title-winning coach criticizes aggressiveness and shoots in the direction of other coaches
The coach of the city champions, Patrick Wojwod, shot in the direction of Möllmann and Co. after winning the tournament: “If you talk a big game in advance, you have to deliver. That’s for sure. It’s easier that way, especially for the young players. You keep your mouth shut and deliver from game to game. We weren’t good in the first two games. After that, we played good soccer.”
The coach of the district league A champions defended his team, but criticized the fans: “The bad thing about the final was that the game was interrupted so often. Does the aggression belong in the hall? Because one thing is for sure, the team from the club was super fair and everything was fine. I won’t let anything happen to that. But it’s a shame in the stands, it disturbs the rhythm. That’s why I went out on the court for the last 15 seconds to show that I can do it too.”