The German Luton Town

Luton Town captivated hearts all over the world for their amazing climb up the English leagues back to the top flight, but what if I told you there was another team that just broke into the top five leagues and less than 20 years ago, they were in the 5th division too. Oh also, this team? They have never been in the top flight of their country before, until now.
Germany has produced some insane stories of club growth from Leipzig to Hoffenheim, but without an injection of serious cash, it’s basically someone pupeteering a football manager run up through the divisions. For this club, the puppeteer is their actual manager, who has been in charge for the entirety of their run to the Bundesliga.
Much Love,
The Zealand
Sources
► Transfermarkt
www.transfermarkt.us/oberliga...
www.transfermarkt.us/regional...
www.transfermarkt.my/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.co.in/hesse...
www.transfermarkt.com/1-fc-he...
www.transfermarkt.us/3-liga/s...
www.transfermarkt.com/1-fc-he...
www.transfermarkt.us/3-liga/s...
www.transfermarkt.us/3-liga/s...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/spielber...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/2-bundes...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/spielber...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/2-bundes...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/1-fc-hei...
www.transfermarkt.us/2-bundes...
► Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._FC_H...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_S...)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberlig...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSV_Hes...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3._Liga
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2...
► Bundesliga
www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesl...
► AP News
apnews.com/article/heidenheim...
► Twitter
eurofootcom/statu...
matt_4d/status/16...
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#Heidenheim #Football #Soccer #Hashtags

[@deletedchannel4477]

And people say football manager is unrealistic

[@shahir1395]

@kurt0411 says that

[@SPProduction02]

In most of my saves, this club become a powerhouse

[@fdaratz4949]

Won ucl in third season with wolves arda guler n moukouko carrying 🤣

[@farhanatashiga3721]

​@@fdaratz4949 wolves in 2019-2021 were really good

[@rickygrimshaw1255]

Try saying that too Will Still. 😎

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

I thought Club Legends only really existed in FM. Frank Schmidt proves me wrong. From being a player to coach in 5th/6th division into the Bundesliga is absolutely legendary.

[@davidshatto7604]

One of the most spectacular careers I’ve ever heard of for sure

[@diogobarrote6960]

My team, Belenenses from Portugal, just completed five consecutive promotions in a row, from the 7th division (Lisbon regional leagues) to the 2nd division (already professional)... The best thing? We kept the same coach until last season and two of the players have made all this journey with us, one of them still being a regular presence in the starting eleven!

[@Dahen_playing_fifa]

@@diogobarrote6960 why did you change coach ?

[@marco26gdm]

Don't forget Schnatterer, he's a legend on the pitch, who helped them climb and establish themselves in second tier football

[@AurelAvramescu]

@@diogobarrote6960 difference is that heidenheim never been a professional club before started this journey. Belenenses are not for the first time in first league.

[@Papabeartheo]

As a football fan I love this As a Hamburg fan I want to die

[@maximilianrobespierre8365]

Hahaha true, sucks to be you. But HSV will go up...eventually.

[@Nabend1402]

@@maximilianrobespierre8365 That depends. HSV is a club that is being artificially held alive by its billionaire quasi-owner Kühne. He's 85. When he dies, we'll see if the club survives. It is 100% incapable of surviving without money from investors. Way worse than Hoffenheim and co. If Kühne hasn't put the HSV in his will, the HSV's next promotion will be from Kreisliga C to Kreisliga B.

[@espben360]

@@Nabend1402 same kühne that makes the gherkins?

[@antirb9197]

@@Nabend1402wtf thats so much bs in one comment. The Hsv would always get sponsors already because its a big club. Yes without Kühne the club would probably not be able to play for promotion this long without getting the money from being promoted. But Hoffenheim wouldnt even exist in the first 5 divisions without their investor. And there's no club as big as the Hsv that got lower than 3rd division even without an investor.

[@vailerian]

@@espben360 no its a different one. The HSV Kühne has a huge transportation and logistics company called Kühne + Nagel

[@pop6839]

Fun fact: The coach Frank Schmidt was born only 300m away from the stadium, in the hospital of Heidenheim next to the stadium

[@Dahen_playing_fifa]

Born to be legend / born to be one of the best coaches

[@JoshuaKimbrough]

True Hometown hero.

[@espben360]

The most epic story book is no where near as good as the story of Schmidt

[@joelxoegleoj1421]

Me too 😊and he lived 300m from my house till i moved away

[@klamin_original]

@@joelxoegleoj1421 couldn’t cope with his epicness, could you?

[@johnny1710]

20 years ago my dad took me to a game of our smalltown Club in division 5. I was only 5 years old and had a season ticket ever since. Two weeks ago I watched our club going up to the Bundesliga. Sadly my dad passed years ago and could not witness this miracle. I hope he watched it from heaven 🖤

[@lovistheking2108]

Rip😢

[@aninstmo]

Ruhe in Frieden bruder

[@vicozan6466]

Rest in peace ❤

[@markusistmuss9913]

Ruhe in Frieden

[@laeminiscence]

may your dad rest in peace 🙏🕊️

[@jonande]

Heidenheim and Union Berlin make me believe that all Football Manager saves could one day become reality.

[@muhammadjimmyramadhan4687]

yes.... but those who not watching bundesliga will never knew the beauty

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

"What happens if we give a club 1 billion pounds?" - Ultra-rich people watching FM saves

[@N1tr0u5]

And bournemouth entering administration twice then making it from league 2 to the PL in 6 years

[@JUmAHQ]

As a Hamburg fan this was kind of painful to watch. Heidenheim denied us two promotions in the span of three years. But honestly, I really like Heidenheim. It is such a fairytale story and I will definately root for them next season!

[@paulie-g]

To be fair, HSV denied themselves promotion. I don't understand how a club that size could have been mismanaged to the point of relegation first, then not being able to get promoted over multiple years. It takes some doing. When friends tell me how efficient Germany is, I point them at that airport and HSV. Good fans though, hope you go up soon. Lots of work to be done still though if those results against Stuttgart are anything to go by.

[@JUmAHQ]

@@paulie-g It’s a very depressing story of how we got to this point. It all started with Hamburg signing Frank Arnesen from Chelsea and then there was also a rich investor who wanted to have power within the club. It was all a mess. But I agree. Hamburg did bottle all of those 5 seasons. I am just saying that we always got the shot to get promoted when no one was expecting it anymore just to be denied

[@symptomofsouls]

You aren't allowed to get promoted, you will be in the 2nd division until the end of time

[@paulie-g]

@@JUmAHQ I absolutely get what you're saying. It's just to me, HSV has had every opportunity to fix itself. Club size/attendance still matters a lot in Germany in terms of finances unlike elsewhere. HSV is a massive club. Whatever mistakes were made in the past, there's enough of a base there that, if run properly and long-term for a couple years, you could get yourselves back to the top division and stay there at the very least. Much smaller clubs with much fewer resources have done more, by being run well and doing smart things. I don't mean to pour salt in the wound, I'm sure you are aware of your club's failings intimately, but HSV is really competing with itself and its own organisational incompetence. Just being average in terms of competence would result in a place in the top division given the size of the club.

[@klimaanlaqe]

@@JUmAHQ I Think Tim Walter has an underrated ability to get his team to realize when it matters. We won the last 6 games in 21/22 which was the only way to secure 3rd place at all. This season we were 4 points away from 2nd with 3 matches to go and with 3 wins out of 3 at the end we were still as close to 2nd as ever. I think if we keep Walter he can really form a mentality monster for promotion and of course staying in the Bundesliga after that.

[@kickerich9402]

Great to see this story covered. Here in Germany sadly many football-romanticians are tilted bc in their opinion "Heidenheim takes away a Bundesliga-Spot from Traditional Clubs like HSV/noone needs them here,...", which is quite absurd ngl. I'm just happy a new face is presenting itself in the highest league

[@ticktacktate2484]

its not cuz next year heidenheim is relegated and even if they arent even in home games you will hear the chants from the opposing team because they have like 2 fans

[@JChris2403]

yeah seems like german fans dont care about good football as long as the fans are loud. They why they are okay with the performance of the national team. Cause the fans can sing loud

[@ticktacktate2484]

@@JChris2403 have you even seen 1 heidenheim match thats anti football at its finest its union berlin and morinio levels of football

[@Morgan_Black]

You're mixing things up here. We (or I personally at least) love to see a club like Heidenheim up there and they have every right to be where they now are. In theory however, this shouldn't come at the cost of Schalke, Hertha or Hamburg not having a spot in the first divison. The issue is that their three top flight spots have been occupied by Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and (especially) Leipzig, who not only are even less interesting to watch than Heidenheim but also would have no ground to exist on in a financially fairly executed league system with 50+1 in place.

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

I can't really believe that ! I mean underdogs are always popular because they can make fairytales. Here in Belgium every neutral supporter rooted for Union Saint-Gilloise since they promoted and instantly finished 2nd (twice now). I can't really believe the majority of neutral supporters root for traditional clubs, but yeah maybe Germany is an exception but that would be very sad.

[@piekay7285]

Frank Schmidt originally was asked to take over the position of coach for two games, while they searched for a new coach, then he got asked to sign a contract for 6 months. After securing promotion his position was never questioned again and he actually got offered a lifetime contract by the club, which he refused, because „that wouldn’t fit football“. Edit: the lifetime contract was mentioned near the end

[@Nabend1402]

Pretty much the same thing happened in Mainz with Jürgen Klopp. Except he only had one level to climb and eventually Dortmund lured him away. But Mainz is still in the Bundesliga so here's hoping Heidenheim is here to stay as well.

[@MrJamier98]

I want to try keep them in the Bundesliga in FM24 after seeing this...but I cannot fill the shoes of Frank Schmidt

[@shahir1395]

coz no one can.

[@Josh7204]

He is a god amongst men

[@birni3078]

Just imagine he wants to take a break for a few years and you need to substitute for him till he comes back. Just an idea

[@J.M-S]

​@@birni3078 If he would be interested in being hired as a Director of Football in such a save, some years after, it would perhaps justify taking over from him more.

[@lightsoul9739]

I was in Sandhausen when the Hamburg fans thought the were getting promoted only then to realize the Heidenheim game is still on. Because of the bad internet connection there (germany an their internet -_-) nearly no one could find out about the score of the Heidenheim match. At some point a dude next to me finally was able to get a live update and told me Heidenheim had just won. Im kind of sad for Hamburg that they didnt make it, because they have a huge fan base and the HSV would suit the Bundesliga well. Nevertheless Heidenheim have definetely earned their promotion, also taking in consideration they pulled it of with only a fraction of the money the HSV has to operate with

[@BeWe1510]

Yeah, in the video the Hamburg fans come of a bit more foolish than they actually were. From all they could know, they were promoted. Really unlucky, after exactly the same thing happened to Wiesbaden in the 3. Liga just one day earlier. What are the odds of that?

[@lightsoul9739]

@@BeWe1510 German leagues in general were insane this season. The bundesliga with bayerns 89th minute title win was also insane, but seems kind of average when compared to the 2nd tier and 3rd tier finishes

[@QuarterMag]

Heidenheim just today won their first match in the Bundesliga on the exact date where Schmidt startet hid coaching career 16 years ago 😊❤

[@antoniopuccia8684]

As someone born and raised in Heidenheim what Frank Schmidt achieved is one of the biggest feats of german football. Thank God there are some great content creators shedding a little bit of light on our beautiful FCH because a lot of people just see its a small club and hate unnecessarily.

[@darthmarticusLFC]

I cannot see how anything is here is worth any hate. This is a footballing miracle and exactly what the sport is all about

[@NeonColored]

jealous VfR fans. /s

[@AlexRN]

Now if only someone could stop Bayern Munich from winning its TWELVE consecutive league title… if only!

[@farhanatashiga3721]

​@@AlexRNhi from the future, guess what happens..... And guess who's the reason for it 😊

[@schlaepp1502]

It was around ten years ago when my granddad and my dad took me to the Voith Arena for the first time (actually that was my first time in a football stadium ever). They still played in the third division at that time. I remember us joking about Heidenheim getting promoted to the Bundesliga because it seemed to be so unlikely back then. Little did we know what would happen 10 years later... Seeing the football club I love since i was a child achieve this makes me so emotional. I basically grew up simultaneously with the club. No matter what happens next season there will never be a football club i can feel so connected to. ❤💙 Thank you for this great coverage. This is my first time watching a video on your channel and I can say confidently that it wont be the last. 😉

[@relaxedmonk4515]

Ich weiß noch wie ich früher von allen meinen Freunden belächelt wurde, als ich sagte dass Heidenheim irgendwann einmal Bundesliga spielen wird. Jetzt ist mein Kindheitstraum in Erfüllung gegangen!❤️💙

[@schlaepp1502]

@@relaxedmonk4515 💙❤

[@timenzngr]

Greetings from Heidenheim! Franky is a legend here. We tripled our amount of members from 3000 to 9000 this year and our Voith Arena is always sold out. Currently we are on the upper half of the Bundesliga ranking (Place 9). It is our season our year

[@shoobydoobydoooo]

Jahn Regensburg mention! My long-term save in FM23 is with them...simply because they have 'Regen'sburg as a name! Haha, get it? Regen players...Regensburg? I'll see myself out.

[@cmdrravenwulff5272]

I see what you did there

[@JLNHB]

well done.

[@LiftandCoa]

My man is filling an entire castle with regens and there is nothing we can do about it

[@man4437]

Fiago crying in the background

[@robertro-ytb1281]

There is also a club in Romania named FC Hermannstadt, which was founded in 2015 and promoted from lowest league in Romania straight to Liga 1 (now named Superliga) earning the promotion in every year until they reached in the first league

[@malvo2496]

It's so crazy to see other people talking about my hometown club :D I grew up like 5 Minutes away from the stadium.

[@justfrank5661]

How’s the mood over there??

[@malvo2496]

@@justfrank5661 I currently don't live in Heidenheim, because of work and university but what I gathered from friends and family is that people are pretty hyped! Even my mother who never cared about football posted videos and pictures with captions like: "1. Bundesliga here we come!". All in all pretty crazy. I mean Heidenheim has 49.000 inhabitants. Some Bundesliga stadiums have a higher capacity than that haha. It really is an honor to be playing in the Bundesliga.

[@farhanatashiga3721]

​@@malvo2496bet you and the rest of your townfolks are absolutely delirious rn after pulling a miracles comeback on the mighty Bayern Munich of all people and putting the final nails in their league dominance coffin 😂

[@malvo2496]

@@farhanatashiga3721 Not gonna lie, it's pretty insane. I actually had tears in my eyes 😁 I thought the comeback against Stuttgart the week before was already crazy but this is just madness.

[@farhanatashiga3721]

​@@malvo2496you love to see it, the biggest shut up by the smallest.

[@Daixtey]

Fun fact Zealand: You were kinda spot on with your "Darmstadt apparently partied too hard after winning promotion", the team after the 33rd matchday did go on a 3 day trip to Mallorca celebrating their promotion to the Bundesliga, they did for a long time plan to go to Ibiza though but one of their midfield players said after the game "Ibiza? Nah the boys would not be fitting in there, so we go to Mallorca there we could fit in, there we could feel at home."

[@exsandgrounder]

Darmstadt may not have won the league, although getting promoted is the real prize (although maybe the extra prize money for winning the league would have been useful)

[@einfach_miro]

The midfield player saying this was Braydon Manu

[@Daixtey]

@@einfach_miro Ah yeah, I had to look to paraphrase Manu's comment since I didn't know how to correctly translate "asozial" like he said too, bit hard to translate into English for me.

[@einfach_miro]

@@Daixtey yeah, some German words are hard or impossible to translate into English. But you did a good job there.

[@SHYNJII]

Legendary story.. i saw the complete Conference of the games .. it was incredible. But if you look at all German Leagues, you will see that this year was in every league a crazy ending ... i dont wanna talk about that as a Dortmund Fan.

[@dirtInfestor]

FYI, its not 'Hamburger', its just Hamburg. A Hamburger is an inhabitant of Hamburg (or the fast food dish, for that matter). If you want to say Hamburger you have to also add the SV (or use the abbreviation HSV).

[@diogobarrote6960]

It's not a non-familiar face to professional leagues in Portugal, but Belenenses is also writing a beautiful story here! Belenenses is one of the most historic teams in Portugal, being the 5th team with the most titles, including the League and the Portuguese Cup and even being invited by Real Madrid to play the first game at Santiago Bernabeu. However, in 2018, Belenenses members took a bold move and split from the investors' team: Belenenses SAD (now known as B SAD), deciding to restart at the bottom of Portuguese football: the 7th division (amateur Lisbon regional league). Fast forward to 2023, last month they just celebrated the promotion to the 2nd League (already a professional competition), having achieved 5 consecutive promotions, equalling the world record... If they repeat this next season, they will break it and will be the first team in the world to come straight from the last division to the first one! Impressive

[@J.M-S]

As a Dons fan I really understand and enjoy the Belenenses story. Who has the record? NK Zavrc or similar? They had 4 or 5 promotions before going bust...

[@ElkjaerTV]

Great video. Another awesome story that might be worth covering is Lyngby BK in the Danish Superliga. They set a new record this season for greatest escape being 16 points behind 10th place aka last surviving spot in the league. But what makes it all the more interesting they did not win a single game until round 16 or 17 (not sure) and they did all this WITHOUT firing the head coach, plus they sold most of they key players in the winter break. They Survived on the last day sending AaB out of the league for their first time.

[@_UberEats_]

Having less wins and escaping in the relegation playoffs in goal difference against 11th place Horsens

[@_UberEats_]

Coach saved their ass in the playoffs

[@arrexi]

I know this is not promotion but a great story is ac monza. They were once in the 4th division of Italy and now they finished a solid 11th in Serie a

[@rockthahouse1]

​@@arrexiMonza is a great story in their own right. This was their first ever season in Serie A. Owned by Berlusconi (yes, the former AC Milan owner) as well.

[@arrexi]

@@rockthahouse1 pretty similar to Brentford

[@gabriellangenbucher5121]

I live in the US but my dad is from Heidenheim. I would always go to their games as a kid. The first game I went to was the the first year they were promoted to the 3. Bundesliga. Seeing them get promoted to the Bundesliga was one of the happiest moments for me. I’m trying find a way to fly over there and watch them this year.

[@broefkip]

It's nice to see some smaller clubs like Heidenheim get the attention they deserve. I feel like nowadays so much of all the coverage goes to such a small select (and also extremely greedy and dirty business practises) top clubs, they even wanted to a super league to exclude all the smaller teams all together. Stories like this don't happen with super leagues or if we cater everything towards the top teams making all the money. Us too, as viewers should act on this and support more smaller clubs to bring back a more competitive field where a team like Heidenheim could grow into the biggest baddest club just because they handled everything well, because nowadays, look at teams like Ajax, Porto, PAOK, Marseille, Celtic and there is plenty other clubs that have a beautiful history but just simply can't compete because there is almost a monopoly on dirty business by big clubs just sniping every good player away for amounts that no one but them can compete with. It's almost like a cartel...

[@knownasthebundo7640]

As someone who is born in Heidenheim and a fan of FCH for quite some time now I had goosebumps watching this video. Well made sir 👏🏼

[@maxgraf438]

7 months in they are punching far above their weight... and we lost to them :D

[@adamtucker7736]

Luton Town fan here, great video. Would love to see you do a luton one as I believe our story is even more insane than this one. Though not taking anything away from them, I now have a new German team

[@lukasstammschroer8500]

The last game day of German professional football (1st - 3rd devision) was crazy. 3rd devision Wehen Wiesbaden thought they were automatically promoted and their fans invaded the pitch just to be heartbroken by Osnabrück in stoppage time and got to play the Relegation matches. 2nd devision was covert in the video. 1st devision Dortmund could have won with an victory but just drew against Mainz who has nothing to play for in that game. But Bayern had to win the game to jump to the top and was tied till the 88th minute and scored to win against cologne who also had nothing to play for.

[@muhammadjimmyramadhan4687]

best season yet in my entire life watching it...

[@NIDELLANEUM]

It feels bad that German football seems to always have these crazy things happening, but many football fans only care about "Bayern Munich wins all the time" and never care

[@muhammadjimmyramadhan4687]

@@NIDELLANEUM im bayern fan my self but... i know what you mean.. in 2000"s no body care about our liga.. suddenly so many seem know BuLi but in reallyti their only bandwagon it.. if you want the competitive atmostfer watch 2.BuLi its always good... many traditional big club in those tier because not every season 3 teams got promoted like this season S04 back to this tier...Hamburger still pushing too

[@lukasstammschroer8500]

@@NIDELLANEUM yes we have many crazy things happen but most of it doesn’t involve the fight for the Bundesliga title. This year was the biggest opportunity to have another title winner besides Bayern and in the next years there won’t be a big change to it. And if someone will challenge Bayern there is a big possibility it will be Leipzig and them as champions is in my opinion even worse.

[@user-op6kt8pg9y]

​@@NIDELLANEUMyeah exactly Germany has the best second division in the top 5 league it's always crazy and the games are always fun to watch, people who say German football is boring don't watch it

[@davinnicode]

This last matchday in the professional german football leagues was absolute mental. I'm glad someone outside of Germany picks theses stories up. We haven't seen such an intense matchday since the infamous last matchday in 2001 when Schalke was crowned 1. Bundesliga champion for 4 minutes for the first time in their history until Bayern scored an indirect freekick extra time. Surprisingly, this incredible season ending is not that much well known outside of Germany. You have to see the pictures to see how ridiculous and heartbreaking it was. I haven't seen such a season ending til this day although the current Belgium season ending was also incredible.

[@eliasruhnau]

Tbh this last matchday was more intense than the 4-Minuten-Meisterschaft just because it happened across all professional leagues

[@reo_1907]

This madness all happened on a single weekend: - Saarbrücken are on a direct promotion rank after an early goal, they hold on to this until Wiesbaden scores late and rises into 2nd, this is all only possible because Osnabrück are 0-1 behind against Dortmund II - the Wiesbaden game ends and the fans invade the pitch celebrating - Osnabrück scores two in injury time and secure direct promotion - the very same thing happens in the 2.Bundesliga when HSV are technically promoted for 7 minutes until Heidenheim scores the winner - Heidenheim also become Champions after being top of the table for an entirety of 3 minutes over the entire season because former top of the table Darmstadt are mentally already on Mallorca when losing to Fürth 0-4 - Dortmund bottling the BL title against a Mainz on a five game loss streak while Bayern themselves almost bottle it at Köln - Wolfsburg bottling UEL qualification at home against already relegated Hertha - which in turn saves Leverkusen who were doing their own bottling against Bochum - Stuttgart struggle to score the winner against Hoffenheim for the whole 90 minutes while relegations rivals Augsburg end up completely chanceless in their own game but stay up because Stuttgart miss several sitters - Schalke almost magically saving themselves until Nkunku ends up sending them to the 2.BL again, a single weekend

[@eliasruhnau]

@@reo_1907 exactly what I meant so crazy

[@christopherbentley7289]

@@reo_1907 This is all very interesting but VfL Osnabrück were actually playing at their Bremer Brücke ground at the time, not 'at Dortmund II'. I know that place through having been to a few early-season matches there while I was working in Osnabrück as a part-time mature undergraduate back in the 1990s.

[@reo_1907]

@@christopherbentley7289 that is entirely true, I meant to write "against"

[@SimonCyriac]

I spontaneously went to the stadium there 2 years ago and the atmosphere was great

[@dieneuereichskanzlei6360]

Holy shit few years ago we played in 3 rd division now theres foreign youtubers making videos about our Club. What a time to be alive and a fan

[@leonesushi]

I just love when you're speaking german. Or at least try to..😊❤

[@grid462]

Luton should totally arrange a pre season friendly Vs them.

[@christopherbentley7289]

After my club, Norwich City had won the Milk (League) Cup in 1985, playing against Sunderland, since both clubs went on to be relegated from the Top Flight that season, in a mutually consoling sort of way the Friendship Cup was founded between the two clubs - contested in seasons in which both clubs inhabit the same division, decided by goal aggregate over the two matches of a League season. Perhaps Luton Town and FC Heidenheim could have their own 'Friendship Cup'/„Freundschaftspokal“ as a regular season's opener over two legs in Luton and Heidenheim.

[@max_kirchi_fca]

Especially as a fan of another team from Swabia, I am very happy about the promotion of the Heidenheim team In addition, as you also mention in the video, Florian GOATlechner (played the best individual season of all times for FC Augsburg) was once a Heidenheim player and is one of my absolute favourite players of all time I would like to see three Swabian teams in the Bundesliga in the coming years, a huge representation for the region and, after North Rhine-Westphalia, the biggest in the Bundesliga at the moment

[@thealchemist6355]

Good to see you here. I follow you on Twitter

[@Eldarion-kd6rr]

Max kirchi und stefan e. Legenden!

[@delffriedrichsalgado3809]

Nur der FCA! ❤💚🤍

[@horscanigunger5098]

Beste Grüße aus Unterhaching nach Datschiburg! 😂❤

[@DaThomsonGames]

Amazing as always! Your style is definitely superior!

[@sonbuffio8043]

Hessen Kessel Fan Here… thank u for reminding me of the biggest heartbreak in my football fan history brother … appreciate it

[@JuBall1803]

I love how you pronounce the german names. 3.Liga ist called Dritte Liga. Like the third leauge.

[@KaitoSchmidtOfficiial]

Dritte Liga

[@NanobanaKinako]

Glodelania's Premier League is called Примэра Лига (Primera Liga) in their language.

[@PhilippBunkBunka]

"Luton is not in the Bundesliga" got me 10/10.

[@Thomas-der-Zweite]

Heidenheim absolutly deserved their promotion. They had some good years and had grown as a club so much. With such limitations (small stadium, small city, only a few sponsors etc) they overachieved so much. And the amount of good players that their coach and staff can lead to Heidenheim and improve them is just impressive. A great role model for many clubs.

[@maxgraf438]

I love the story of heidenheim and the fact that they took their inspiration of doing things right is my favorite club SC Freiburg... Its good to see that a longterm approach works and i hope to see both matches against them

[@schlaepp1502]

Christian Streich vs Frank Schmidt. I am so excited to see these matches. 😍

[@tiggrem6101]

As someone from Heidenheim and a fan of our soccer club. It is still so weird to see people from outside of germany talk about this club from a small town with 50.000 inhabitans. 😁😁

[@frazerbrown9426]

Honestly only started watching your videos a couple months back but have binged soooo many of them and get so excited when you put a new one out - love the way you dive into a topic and summarise it really succinctly whilst keeping it numerous. ❤️

[@heyaketo]

Wir steigen jede Saison auf, die nächste Saison gehört uns💙❤️

[@hanneslustermann2477]

Mister Zealand you are such a great storyteller. freaking awesome. Keep it up, big shoutout and many thanks for your content!

[@hisholinessanatolitodorov7303]

Amazing work, Z! I love that you're branching out from just FM content (which you are amazing at). Keep up the great work man! Much love from Seattle

[@ava0003]

Your binge watching assistance is greatly appreciated and actually KZbin brilliant

[@hiddie5318]

When Frank Schmidt became coach of Heidenheim Rasenballsport Leipzig didn't exist.

[@KaitoSchmidtOfficiial]

It was Markenstedt before it became RB Leipzig

[@dinohermann1887]

​@@KaitoSchmidtOfficiial SSV Markranstädt, a 5th division amateur club, that not a single soul has ever heard of before the partial takeover by Red Bull.

[@tonyzweb]

I used to sell sausages in the stadium in 2019, the stadium was always full, which is pretty impressive for such a club. Massive props

[@jakobbaumgartner4313]

Wow, thanks for your research and the nice video. It’s so nice to see our club and history to become popular all over the world of football. And that’s just the beginning… 🤩

[@stefanschwalenberg8320]

Awesome video sir! Hopefully you can make a similar one some day if ever/when TSV 1860 Munchen make a triumphant return to the Bundesliga. Many current American fans of the Bundesliga don't realize that, at one point many years ago, Bayern Munchen wasn't the only big team in the Bavarian capital. Ich bin ein Lowen-fan! In ewiger treue!

[@sandervandertol7889]

Loved this, what a great summary!

[@slash58anilyo]

I'm from the Heidenheim Area, my Uncle still has a contract offer from Schmitd back from 2007. It's so unreal to see them in the Bundesliga now

[@kaiser7604]

A really really good and entertaining Video! Thumbs up 👌

[@GoodCauseGaming]

Hey Zealand, your content is getting more and more amazing! I really really love your channel man, it’s hilarious! Greetings from Germany and keep up with your work, I really enjoy your channel’s and personal progress.

[@Someone23453]

The same happen this season in the 3rd German division, between Osnabrück, Saarbrücken and Wehen Wiesbaden.

[@loic_berlin]

Could you do a Video about Union Berlin? From Relegation (and being promoted 3 yrs ago) Then Midtable Conference League Europa League And now Champions-League All achievements one year after another, while selling every summer there most important players. Thank you

[@neilproctor5163]

This is what football is all about, I love stories like this! 👍

[@ohyeah8330]

Great Video such an awesome journey

[@kristian-wilmhenniges8207]

its crazy to see my home town club Hessen Kassel appear in a Zealand video

[@GZBro]

So weird to see a Video completley dedicated to FC Heidenheim. I follow the club since the promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. Have been to the Stadium a couple of time, the best game I have been was of course the win against Leverkusen. Awesome Storytelling! Heidenheim and especially Schmidt made something happen what no one ever could even think about.

[@Kyle_Apgar]

Cool story to bring to light. Love these football manager miracle team stories. I am rooting for Luton Town and now FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.

[@tylerturnpaugh7021]

This hits home since I’m doing a save with Stuttgarter kickers in the Oberliga Badem-Wurttemberg. All these teams are so familiar man

[@tylerturnpaugh7021]

7:06 to be back in the third division…

[@Adi97Ronnie97martin]

Great choice of club mate

[@db3nnet782]

Fantastic video! And what a manager Frank Schmidt is, remarkable job

[@therodian96]

The quiet "Agüerooooo" in the background when Kleindienst scored 😂😂😂

[@mgold259]

It is so crazy my neighborhood going to the Bundesliga 😂 Amazing Evolution since 2007🙏🏼

[@melondasher]

Hamburg celebrating early reminds me of Schalke celebrating early back in Idk when just before Bayern scored one more goal against Hamburg.

[@reverendroar]

These stories keep our faith in football alive

[@jaydanpearce8846]

As a lifelong Luton fan it's so surreal, I've spent my life getting Luton to the top on fm and more recently fifa too, and now they're actually using the same tactic and formation I always did with them, just feels gratifying as a fan to see my dreams come full circle

[@lordfizzz]

Awesome video Z you tell stories really well

[@p.georgie]

we have a 🆕 fave Bundesliga club to root for 👋🏼👊🏼 thanks Zea

[@Paule18]

Great Video. Greetings from Heidenheim ❤️💙

[@darrentreen2286]

Brilliant video

[@magicalhikari5859]

To think we got to see two different clubs complete such miraculous rises to their top flights in the same season is nothing short of astonishing. Props to both

[@joshphelps7576]

Long story short Luton’s story is still better 😮‍💨

[@christopheryoung2874]

Great video!

[@n0body550]

12:40 i like the subtle *AGUEROOOOO* in the background 😂

[@NeoCherrn]

The 2. bundesliga is such an underrated league

[@miamitv7725]

Well pronounced Greetings from Germany

[@user-bj4gn7gy7g]

Great video!! Fantastic story!! Maybe you could do one for the end of this year's Belgium's league finale!! That one was also amazing!!

[@olympicsczechia]

That is awsome! It really sounds like story mode, I noticed Hamburger fans celebrating but I did not know it was Heidenheim. Incredible miracle!!!

[@la1ex01]

Ive managed in germany before on fm and after needing a new challenge i think i have one thanks zealand what an incredible story

[@scorpigames1476]

Great Video👌

[@PRIMErachacha]

My man Zealand doesnt miss! Another great video bro!

[@NotXripX-gt4wx]

FInishing the top of championship to the top of premier league in GERMANY BUNDESLIGA is remarkable. Congrats Heidenheim and Stuttgart.

[@Hamburg0703]

I was on the pitch in Sandhausen and Heidenheim needed 2 goals in added time. I still cant believe how they managed to pull it off while we were celebrating our promotion already

[@TrentEvans01]

Honestly a friendly between Luton Town and this club needs to happen ong

[@jasonnchuleft894]

It's gonna bring back so many memories when Heidenheim comes to Leipzig again to play a league game. Haven't seen them in ages 😀

[@philw6056]

Poulsen(still the most expensive player in third league history) played against Heidenheim(with Coach Schmidt) and Darmstadt(with midfielder Tobias Kempe) in the 13/14 third league season.

[@falagarius]

Switzerland also has a Luton Town this year: FC Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy. (No not Lausanne Sport who have been in the Super League a lot)

[@canethesquire]

I dont know why but as a Regensburg fan I always get excited when someone mentions us

[@joelxoegleoj1421]

Maaaan this is crazyyy. I Remember going in the Stadium in 2010 where they played 4th League 😂😂 I Know the Coach because it was my neighbor, he was Just a regula, (big) guy. Our football club isnt that Big and our city isnt big neither, we have no big sponsors but we Are playing in the Bundesliga 🥲 And now i am seeing an English guy making a Video about our small Club ❤️❤️

[@nirutivan9811]

Luton Town in the UK, Heidenheim in Germany and Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in Switzerland. It‘s funny that three different clubs in three different countries achieve the promotion to the top flight, after they played in the 5th tier of the respective country not that long ago, in the same season.

[@Dstigler12]

Hi Zealand, this is another banger! I would like to suggest a video idea on Claudio Ranieri and Cagliari's recent promotion, I think it may be a decent shout. Enjoy this channel and the live channel's content a lot, appreciate you sir!

[@theentitledsiriowlsx]

Many English clubs, especially the Championship clubs need to learn something from Frank Schmidt, "Patience gives you success." A good manager doesn't mean good results, but exemplary dedication to success is.

[@cassius_at]

In Austria, there's a club called SV Grödig, hailing from a small town of 7.000 people. In 2013 they qualified for the Austrian Bundesliga where they were able to spectacularly claim 3rd place in the following season. Afterwards, this club from a town of 7.000 (!) played on the international stage when they tried to qualify for the Europa League. Unfortunately, their streak of luck ended there and they placed last in the Bundesliga season of 2015/16. Instead of being relegated to the Erste Liga (which is now called Zweite Liga), the club chose not to renew its professional license and now plays in the amateur 3rd division.

[@Cainjaa17]

What’s wild is basically the same thing that happened to Hamburg happened in the third division with Wiesbaden. Stormed the field in 2nd place, ended up 3rd due to 2 goals in stoppage time. Still promoted though!

[@mz.7934]

Ahhh, I'd never thought of the club I played for, Hessen Kassel, being mentioned in one of your videos. That was a big surprise for me 4:13

[@wotansen2]

That was the first game I ever watched in stadium 8:48. It was soooo great to watch!

[@Neckelism]

For Hamburg it was enormously hard since they have been for decades the only team that was never relegated to 2nd Bundesliga. They have been trying to get back up for years now. So happy for Heidenheim and their coach, I saw a documentary about coaches when they were 3rd League, he's the real deal, football and competition in his blood.