In the second leg of the relegation against VfB Stuttgart, HSV does not manage to turn around the high first-leg defeat. The club has to get ready for another year in the second division and answer open questions.
It's not (again) enough for HSV – Stuttgart deservedly prevailed in the relegation
From Hamburger SV's point of view, five years of suffering will continue. In the Bundesliga relegation against VfB Stuttgart, HSV once again failed to get promoted back to the first division. After Hamburg had clearly lost the first leg in Stuttgart 0:3, the second leg in their own stadium also ended in a 1:3 (1:0) defeat.
“Of course it's brutally disappointing” , said a clearly devastated HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes after the game on the Sky microphone. “I think the whole of Hamburg believed in it today, you could tell from the first second, but in the end the second half broke our necks.”
What's next at HSV?< /h2>
After the disappointment has been processed, the club has to ask itself questions about the future: Is sports director Jonas Boldt staying? Can coach Tim Walter, who has now failed twice in the relegation with HSV, make another attempt to make it up? Or do you make a cut and hire a new coach? “I really don't care today,” Walter defended against questions about his future in an interview. He still has a contract until 2024. “I get along really well with Jonas and we've really built something here and everything else doesn't interest me.” The tendency is for both to stay, after all the club only extended the contracts with Boldt and Walter during the winter break.
However, it is questionable whether the squad, which is quite powerful by second division standards, can be kept together despite the failure. Goalscorer Sonny Kittel, with HSV since 2019, may leave the club. “My contract is running out, that's a fact,” said the striker at Sky. “We haven't spoken yet. Everyone who knows me knows that I feel good in Hamburg, but let's see what happens.”
Kittel's strike colleague Robert Glatzel, with 19 goals this season behind Tim Kleindienst von Promoted 1. FC Heidenheim, the second-best scorer in the league, is associated with Werder Bremen. He has an exit clause in his contract. This also applies to the Dutch U21 international Ludoveit Reis.
Schalke and Hertha are strong competitors
Moving up to the Bundesliga will certainly not be any easier next season than it has been this season. With SV Darmstadt 98 and Heidenheim, two clubs have been promoted that did not necessarily have promotion as their goal. For them, however, FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC are two clubs that have been relegated and will do everything possible to get promoted again immediately.
Hamburger SV can always count on the support of its fans
HSV doesn't have to worry about support from its fans. As in the first leg, which was disappointing from a sporting point of view, the supporters cheered their team on in the second leg – even after the goals conceded it was finally clear that promotion would not work again. Even after the final whistle, the team and coach Walter celebrated for minutes.
“There is no time for mourning,” said Heuer Fernandes, who, however, could not hold back the tears himself. “What we are as a team for a unit, that's great. And we will continue.” Walter also underlined this: “The big goal is not there, but we are not giving up,” he said. “I'm extremely proud of my team and my staff. It's really unbelievable what kind of character the guys go to work with. I'm Hamburg through and through, so I'm happy today, although it's difficult for me and I'm extremely sad. “
Great past
HSV was once one of the best and most successful German football clubs. The club of club legend Uwe Seeler, who died in 2022, was German champion six times (1923, 1928, 1960, 1979, 1982, 1983) and three DFB Cup winners (1963, 1976, 1987). In 1977 the “Red Pants” won the European Cup Winners' Cup and in 1983 the European Cup Winners' Cup. Since the 1980s, however, the club has not been able to repeat its great times and has not won a title since winning the cup in 1987.
Felix Magath (with the trophy) was the winning goalscorer in the 1-0 win over Juventus in Athens 1983
In the 2009/2010 season, HSV last took part in a European Cup competition: in the Europa League they were eliminated in the semifinals by FC Fulham. After 2012, Hamburg only managed to finish the Bundesliga season in the top half of the table once. HSV saved itself twice, first in relegation, before finally being relegated to the second division in 2018. At that time, the Hamburgers were the last remaining founding member of the Bundesliga that had never been relegated since the league started in the summer of 1963.
HSV's previous attempts to return to the first division had all failed. After relegation, the team only finished fourth three times in a row – partly because they gave away points in the final spurt of the season and gave up a good starting position. In 2022, HSV was relegated as third, but could not prevail against Hertha BSC.
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Hamburger SV – VfB Stuttgart 1:3 (1:0) [First leg 3:0 for VfB Stuttgart]
Goals: 1: 0 Kittel (6'), 1-1 Millot (48'), 1-2 Millot (64'), 1-3 Silas (90'+7')
Viewers: 57,000 (sold out)
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Draw at the start
Hamburger SV, still clearly the number one football club in the north at the time, was the clear favorite on the first day of the new Bundesliga on August 24, 1963 in Münster. But Prussia took the lead in front of 38,000 spectators thanks to a converted penalty by Falk Dörr. HSV striker “Charly” Dörfel managed to equalize the 1-1 final score with a headed goal.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Us Uwe
With his goals, Uwe Seeler shaped Hamburg's first Bundesliga decade. In the first season, “Us Uwe” became the top scorer in the league with 30 goals. HSV initially lost its supremacy in the north to Werder Bremen, who won the championship in 1965. The Hamburg team first had a chance of winning the championship title in 1975, in the end they finished second behind Mönchengladbach.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Mister Banana Flank
After Uwe Seeler, Manfred Kaltz becomes the HSV institution. The right-back wore the jersey with the diamond in 581 Bundesliga games for two decades, starting in 1971. Kaltz scored 53 of his 76 Bundesliga goals from penalties. Legendary are his so-called “banana crosses” from the right into the penalty area, preferably on the forehead of the header monster Horst Hrubesch.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Circus Krohn
Peter Krohn (left) has been in charge of the fortunes of HSV since 1973, first as president and then as manager. He gets the team the first shirt sponsor. For Krohn, football is also a show. For the 1976/77 season, he prescribed pink and baby blue jerseys for the team because, as he says, “women like those colors”. In the press, HSV is derogatorily called “Circus Krohn”.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
First European Cup
In 1977, HSV finished sixth in the Bundesliga – but can look forward to its first international title. The 1976 DFB Cup winners lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 2-0 win over RSC Anderlecht in Amsterdam. Georg Volkert and Felix Magath (2nd from right) scored the goals for HSV in the closing stages.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
MightyMouse
In mid-1977 manager Krohn managed a transfer coup. For the then record amount of 2.3 million marks, HSV Kevin Keegan (r.) Lost from Liverpool FC. The only 1.70 meter tall goalscorer, known as “Mighty Mouse”, is the first foreign superstar to go down in the annals of the Bundesliga. In the three years on the Elbe, Keegan was voted “European Footballer of the Year” twice – and brought HSV forward.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Netzer's success manager
“I can't do that,” replies Günter Netzer (r.), when HSV President Paul Benthien offers the former star of Borussia Mönchengladbach after his career ended in 1977 to become a manager. A year later, Netzer took over the post at HSV and kept it until 1986. He hired the successful coaches Branko Zebec and Ernst Happel and hired top players like Horst Hrubesch and Jimmi Hartwig (left).
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Champion 1979
Horst Hrubesch lifted the championship trophy into the Hamburg sky in 1979. The knot has broken. For the first time since the Bundesliga was founded, the German champions are called Hamburger SV. Under coach Zebec, HSV saved a point ahead of VfB Stuttgart across the finish line. The most successful goalscorer in the championship season is Kevin Keegan with 17 goals, followed by Hrubesch with 13 goals.
Bundesliga-Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Final lost
The defending champion ends the following season as runners-up behind FC Bayern. In the European Cup, HSV made it to the final in Madrid. England opponents Nottingham Forest win 1-0 thanks to a goal from No. 11 John Robertson. The ball bounces off the right inner post and into the goal. HSV goalkeeper Rudi Kargus has no chance.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Kaiser an der Elbe
In the autumn of his career, the “Kaiser” joins HSV. “Wouldn't you like to play in the Bundesliga again?” manager Netzer asks his old friend Franz Beckenbauer as his days at Cosmos New York in 1980 draw to a close. Often injured, Beckenbauer only made 28 league appearances for HSV until 1982. However, he says goodbye to the Bundesliga with a championship title.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
The grumper who wasn't one
The alcoholic Zebec, who lost his HSV coaching position in December 1980, was followed after a short interim period in 1981 by the chain smoker Ernst Happel. Notorious as a “grantler”, the Austrian led HSV to two championship titles in a row in 1982 and 83. “He was always portrayed as a growling dog, but he was the opposite,” says Horst Hrubesch later about Happel. “He was just a good guy.”
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Bundesliga- Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Magath's dream goal
May 25, 1983, Athens: Hamburger SV plays against Juventus Turin in the final of the European Cup. In the 8th minute, Felix Magath took a shot from the left edge of the penalty area and the ball went into the top right corner of the goal to make it 1-0. It remains the only goal of the game. HSV wins the most important trophy in European club football.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Two trophies
Hamburger SV is at its peak. The triumph in Athens is followed by the German championship title against Schalke: With a 2-1 away win, HSV keeps Bremen, who are tied on points, at a distance. The day after, the team around coach Happel (left) and striker Hrubesch (right) presented the fans with the trophies they had won: the European Cup and the championship trophy.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
End of the golden era
HSV cannot maintain the highest level in the following years. After all, two more runners-up championships followed (1984, 1986) and Hamburg's last title for the time being: “Manni” Kaltz (left) and Co. won the DFB Cup in 1987 with a 3-1 win against the Stuttgarter Kickers.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Game of the Century
The glory days of the 1980s are fading. In the Bundesliga, the club often ends up in midfield. Exception 2000: HSV qualifies for the Champions League in third place – and makes for a “game of the century” in the 4: 4 against Juventus Turin: After being 1: 3 behind, HSV catches up, goes through Niko Kovac (r,) 4: 3 in the lead and conceded the penalty just before the end.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Immer wieder Bremen
In the 2008/09 season, HSV danced at three weddings for a long time. In May 2009, however, he gambled away all chances of winning his first title in 22 years in four consecutive games against archrival Bremen. Hamburg lost out to Werder in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and also on the 31st Bundesliga matchday. HSV finished fifth in the league.
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Bundesliga dinosaur HSV: End after 55 seasons
One pack after the other
The guest appearances in Munich are emblematic of the decline of HSV in recent years: since 2011, FC Bayern have given Hamburg a total of 50 goals in eight Bundesliga duels, while HSV have only scored three times. HSV was particularly badly hit in March 2013 at 2:9. Not only goalkeeper René Adler (right) is at a loss.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Relegation by a hair's breadth
The 2013/14 season is disastrous for HSV. With Thorsten Fink, Rodolfo Cardoso and Bert van Marwijk, the club wears out three coaches. Under the fourth, Mirko Slomka, HSV finally ends up on the relegation place. With two draws against Greuther Fürth, the founding member of the Bundesliga just saved himself from being relegated for the first time in the club's history.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
Again narrowly avoiding relegation
Also in 2015 HSV has to go into relegation. In the second leg in Karlsruhe, Hamburg are 1-0 down just before the end. If it stays that way, HSV has been relegated. But in stoppage time, a shot by Marcelo Diaz sails into the left corner. KSC goalkeeper Dirk Orlishausen suspects the disaster. Nicolai Müller redeemed HSV with his winning goal in the second half of extra time.
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Bundesliga Dino HSV: End after 55 seasons
End in tumult
After almost 55 years, 2018 is the first relegation in the history of the HSV club. The race to catch up at the end of the season is in vain. Even a 2-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach is no longer of any use. Chaos cause an inglorious end with the burning of firecrackers and pyrotechnics. Referee Felix Brych can only end the game under police protection.