District league club Vogelheimer SV loses its most important striker this winter. Stephan Nachtigall is moving to a league rival.

Just a few weeks ago, Stephan Nachtigall announced his retirement in the summer of 2024 exclusively to Forecasting. At that time, however, it was not yet clear that the ex-professional would not end his career at Vogelheimer SV.

Nachtigall would move to league rivals Duisburger SV 1900 with immediate effect during the winter break and will be on the hunt for goals for the relegation candidates in the second half of the season. “I wanted a new challenge for the last six months. I want to enjoy these six months. Vogelheimer SV didn’t put any obstacles in my way. It was all handled reasonably and we are parting in peace,” emphasized Nachtigall when asked by RS.

There are several reasons why the now 38-year-old veteran is moving from fifth in the table to fifth from last. The Essen native explains: “Michele Mastronolardo, a very good friend of mine, is the sporting director at DSV. They are in a relegation battle. Michele told me that they need a striker like me. He’s actually been asking me for a year and a half, but I wasn’t ready to take this step before. You could describe it as a friendly service.”

Nachtigall continues: “There’s not much up or down at Vogelheim. In Duisburg, on the other hand, I have a very challenging task ahead of me. I want to help the team to stay in the league. “

My decision to end my career has not changed. The DSV knows that I’ll only be here until the summer.

Stephan Nachtigall

Regardless of the move to Duisburg, Nachtigall’s decision to call it a day at the end of the season remains firm: “My decision to end my career hasn’t changed. The DSV knows that I will only be here until the summer.”

The 38-year-old can look back on an exciting and eventful career. He played for FC Schalke 04 and Rot-Weiss Essen as a youth player. Later, the trained midfielder, who now plays as a striker, made a total of 54 third division appearances for Wuppertaler SV and Kickers Emden.

Nachtigall has laced up his boots for Vogelheimer SV since 2015 and has twice been top scorer in the Bezirksliga. This season, he scored 13 goals in twelve games. Now the family man is set to fire Duisburger SV 1900 to relegation