At the general meeting (November 17) of Fortuna Düsseldorf, the mood was good – despite the tragic course of the relegation matches against VfL Bochum.

Fortuna Düsseldorf is in third place in the 2nd Bundesliga, as it was at the end of last season. As is well known, this means that the second division representative will have to take the rarely successful detour via the relegation play-offs, which Fortuna was also unable to successfully contest. VfL Bochum spectacularly prevented Düsseldorf’s promotion.

For the club from the state capital and its leaders, this is no reason to mope. “In the past, there would have been a high risk of everything falling apart, of people turning on each other, or of someone being picked out to blame,” said supervisory board chairman Björn Borgerding at the members’ meeting about missing out on promotion. Because of a ‘new basic stability’, he explained, this was not the case now.

Despite the unfortunate course of the relegation, CEO Alexander Jobst also announced a remarkable record: “Today we have 35,312 members. That is the highest increase and the highest number of members in the history of the club. That gives us additional momentum.” 

He added: “We have partnerships with terms that no other club in the Bundesliga 2 has: our shirt, sleeve and equipment partnerships are not only at record levels, but also with record durations. That’s an incredibly strong foundation.”

His colleagues joined in the praise. The club is also breaking records financially, as Arnd Hovemann, CFO, HR and Legal, reported: “The 35 percent increase in revenue compared to the previous year proves that we are on the right track. We were able to generate sales revenues of €70.3 million, which is an absolute record for a second division season in Fortuna’s history.”

Borgerding has big ambitions in view of these promising figures: “If we continue on this path together and calmly, we will quickly take this club to where it belongs – namely, as a member-run club in the Bundesliga!”