The team can no longer avoid relegation. Sportfreunde Hamborn 07 are facing premature relegation to the Landesliga.

The relegation battle in the Oberliga Niederrhein has had a permanent guest in Sportfreunde Hamborn 07 since the start of the 2023/24 season. The spectre of relegation hovered over the Hamborn Lions for the entire season. This then struck on the penultimate matchday.

Despite the 3:1 home win against Germania Ratingen 04/19, who had long vied with KFC Uerdingen for promotion to the Regionalliga West, the 07s from Duisburg have nothing to celebrate. It was already clear before the matchday that they would definitely have to win their last two games, but at the same time the competition also had to play along.

The 2-2 draw between DJK Adler Union Frintrop and 1. FC Kleve meant that the team from Essen were already out of reach. All eyes were on the pitch of SC St. Tönis, who were hosting their great rivals Mülheimer FC 97.

A win for the home side could have given the Hamborners hope for the final matchday, but the 97ers equalized in stoppage time to make the final score 1:1 and send the Lions into the Lower Rhine regional league for good.

Marcel Stenzel, coach of SF Hamborn 07, spoke to Forecasting after the final whistle of their game against Ratingen about the eventualities that could come their way – completely unaware of the result on the SC St. Tönis pitch: “Looking at the table makes no difference to us. We can and must play our next game in Schonnebeck positively anyway. That’s all we can do.”

However, the 32-year-old also took a very realistic view of the issue of relegation. Above all, the direct duels lost in recent weeks against Adler Union Frintrop (0:4) and Mülheimer FC 97 (3:4) were decisive for his team’s situation: “We could have scored big points in these games, but I’ve said before that you have to look at the whole season in the end. The table doesn’t lie. There are many reasons that come together.”

The Hamborn Lions must now keep their heads up. On the final matchday, Stenzel’s eleven will play host to Spielvereinigung Schonnebeck, who are aiming to finish runners-up in the championship. For Hamborn, it will be a last dance in the Oberliga Niederrhein for the time being.