By Howard Borrell

 

We've all heard of the football club in Troyes, our twin town in France. They tend to yo-yo in and out of the French top flight.

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During the last year I've been quite involved in a twinning link with Chesterfield's German pairing, the city of  Darmstadt, close to Frankfurt.

 

Information on their football club was initially hard to come by. When I asked several inhabitants of Darmstadt the stock reply seemed to be " Oh yes,  there is a team but I don't know what division they are in, I'm sure they've just gone down again !"

 

The locals (obviously non-football fans) were right SV Darmstadt 98 had just been relegated to the equivalent of our League Two (fourth tier) but in Germany it's regional and known in the area of Hessen as the Oberliga.

 

However the Lilies (Darmstadt's nickname) are bouncing back and currently sit seven points clear at the top of the table nicely poised to begin their climb back to the Bundesliga. They're just about to resume league action after the winter break that saw the first team re-charge their batteries in the much more temperate climate of Majorca.

 

Maybe surprisingly, the club have actually had two seasons in the top flight, 1978-9 and 1981-2 but, like Chesterfield, money troubles kicked in and prompted a decline to their current level.

 

Formed in 1898 the club has never been a high achiever but set out to offer much more than an opportunity to watch football. The club charges a fee to its 1,200 members and  organises participation in table tennis, basketball, athletics, hiking, judo, and cheerleading and is a thriving part of the Darmstadt social infrastructure. At least 50% of those members participate in non-football activities,membership also allows discounts on match admission and club souvenirs.

 

Considering the level the club has dropped to the fans have remained very loyal and almost 4,000 attended the recent game against the second team of Eintracht Frankfurt.

 

I've made contact with Wolfgang Knöß (pictured with Alan Walters top right) , General Manager at the club who explained that "The sporting association aims to bring in to the club as many people as possible. Maybe they'll like football, maybe not but we want them all to be part of a great Darmstadt organisation that aims to provide activities for many age and interest groups".

 

The football club tends to be at the top of the tree but all sports play a part in stimulating the interest of the membership. There is even a programme, called the Lilien Social Club,  where key sponsors buy tickets for the underprivileged children of the area.

 

It all sounds similar to what we'd hoped the role of CFSS would have kicked off here but in Germany such a philosophy is much more common place. The government dictates that all Bundesliga clubs must be at least 51% owned by the supporters and this mandate trickles down to the lower levels where the community spirit remains strong and valued.

 

Staying on the fan theme, Darmstadt's manager  Tom Eilers recently praised the fans with "a big thank you for sticking with the club after a summer of change" (we know the feeling) and also stressed "how important it is that the fans (the most vocal are called the Darmstadt Ultras) sing their support for the full 90 minutes". (Think we've got a bit to learn on that point),

 

After winning the Hesse Cup in 2006 and 2007 and assuming the Lilies continue their current good form they are in for exciting times because the lower League structure all changes from next season.

 

At the top a new national Bundesliga 3 is being created and beneath there will be the new Regionalliga (three groups). Should SV 98 finish in the top 4 they will move into the appropriate group within the Regionalliga and look to consolidate. Wolfgang explained   "The plan is that after two or three years we move up to the new third division. But the most important thing is to build a new team with young players from Darmstadt and the region".

 

How commendable ! - I almost doubt if such a strategy would ever be accepted in this country where the "success at all costs" approach has done more harm than good but in Germany, even at the highest level, the fans seem to accept the common sense approach and are pragmatic enough to stick with the team in large numbers even when the bad times come around.

 

It would be wonderful to think our twin towns could both make significant on-field progress this season and I genuinely hope tonight as we welcome Wolfgang Knöß  and his colleagues to Saltergate for their first ever visit, that this heralds the start of a new footballing friendship.