BUNDESLIGA 2002-03

No drama this year, as Bayern mercilessly crushed all opposition and ran away with the title.

Runners-up Stuttgart was a pleasant surprise. The team is essentially rebuilt with young players, and showed initiative and drive, and were rewarded by a Champions League spot. Whether they flame and burn out like the exciting team of a few years ago is still in the cards, but for this year at least, the future looks bright.

Defending champ Dortmund had a solid season on paper, but by everybody's expectation, they sucked, since they wanted to seriously defend their title. Hamburg and Hertha Berlin on the other hand, have to be relatively pleased with their campaigns, as both looked to have laid the foundation for improvements.

Schalke is another team at the crossroads. Bitter disappointment is in order "Auf Schalke" as the team basically quit near the end of the season. The clubhouse is in turmoil, and not just because they have "Heulsuse der Nation" (crybaby whiner of the nation) Andy Moeller in their ranks. The listless play was an affront to the dedicated Schalke fans, so expect a major house cleaning in the off season.

Kaiserslautern looked dead and buried by mid season. The club was mired in last place and financially bankrupt. But ex-Belgian international Erik Gerets took over for a clueless Andy Brehme, and FCK began the climb back to salvation. On the financial side, the taxpayers of Rheinland Pfalz ended up footing the bill to get the club out of the crapper.

Nuernberg was clearly not Bundesliga quality, and pretty much sucked. Like Bielefeld, they lived "down" to their reputation as an elevator club. Cottbus' superhuman efforts of staying up finally came to and end, and with financial difficulties mounting, they could disappear from the radar.

From an attendance standpoint, despite the small parks in Cottbus and Leverkusen, it was another successful year, with the average draw over 34,000.

  1.  Bayern München    	34   23    6    5    70:25   +45    75  CL
  2.  VfB Stuttgart    		34   17    8    9    53:39   +14    59	CL
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  3.  Borussia Dortmund (M)	34   15   13    6    51:27   +24    58	CLQ
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  4.  Hamburger SV    		34   15   11    8    46:36   +10    56  UEFA
  5.  Hertha BSC Berlin		34   16    6   12    52:43   +9     54	UEFA
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  6.  Werder Bremen    		34   16    4   14    51:50   +1     52  
  7.  FC Schalke 04 (P)		34   12   13    9    46:40   +6     49  
  8.  VfL Wolfsburg    		34   13    7   14    39:42   -3     46  
  9.  VfL Bochum (N)		34   12    9   13    55:56   -1     45  
 10.  1860 München    		34   12    9   13    44:52   -8     45  
 11.  Hannover 96 (N)   	34   12    7   15    47:57   -10    43  
 12.  Borussia M'gladbach    	34   11    9   14    43:45   -2     42  
 13.  Hansa Rostock    		34   11    8   15    35:41   -6     41  
 14.  1. FC Kaiserslautern    	34   10   10   14    40:42   -2     40  
 15.  Bayer Leverkusen    	34   11    7   16    47:56   -9     40
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 16.  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	34    8   12   14    35:46   -11    36	relegated  
 17.  1. FC Nürnberg    	34    8    6   20    33:60   -27    30  relegated
 18.  Energie Cottbus    	34    7    9   18    34:64   -30    30  relegated


Scoring:

 1.  Elber (Bayern)    		21     
 2.  T. Christiansen (Bochum)   21     
 3.  Ailton (Bremen)    	16     
 4.  Kuranyi (Stuttgart)	15     
 5.  Pizarro (Bayern)		15     
 6.  Bobic   (Hannover)		14     
 7.  Marcelinho (Hertha)	14     
 8.  Romeo (Hamburg)		14     
 9.  Schroth (1860)		14     
10.  Koller  (Dortmund)		13     
11.  Lauth (1860)		13     
12.  Ciric (Nuernberg)		12
13.  Maric (Wolfsburg)		12     
14.  Wichniarek (Bielefeld)    	12    

Average Attendance:	34,198

 1. Dortmund		67,859		10. M'gladbach		29,000
 2. Schalke		60,583		11. Nuernberg		28,247
 3. Bayern		52,471		12. 1860		26,518
 4. Hamburg		45,625		13. Bochum		25,015
 5. Hertha		42,131		14. Bielefeld		23,267
 6. Hannover		36,496		15. Leverkusen		22,500
 7. Kaiserslautern	36,230		16. Rostock		19,871
 8. Stuttgart		34,376		17. Wolfsburg		19,412
 9. Bremen		32,804		18. Cottbus		13,157


ZWEITE LIGA (2nd Division)

High drama in the 2.Liga this season. Whereas Koeln and Freiburg ensured promotion early, the last promotion and relegation spots went down to the wire. In the end, Frankfurt scored twice in injury time against Reutlingen to sneak past Mainz, who were beating Braunschweig away. This allowed the Frankfurters to go up on goal difference. Fuerth, which might have also sneaked in with a win, instead was thumped by relegation threatened Karlsruhe.

On the bottom, Mannheim had a crap season and was dead last. St.Pauli put in a good end run, but ran out of gas. Reutlingen was unfortunate, as they were penalized 6 points by the DFB for financial irregularities - points that cost them relegation. In addition, they failed to take care of tyhe problem that got them into the mess in the first place, and were denied a Regionalliga license, forcing a drop to the Oberliga. Braunschweig was dead last most of the season, but fought back. But they needed a win against Mainz to save possibly save themselves, and got ripped instead. St.Pauli struggled all season on the field and financially. They seemed to be getting both things in order in the 2nd half, but ran out of gas. For Mannheim, it would be a grim season indeed. The previous semi-fusion between Waldhof and VfR was only partially successful, as obviously the team failed to deliver. Then at the end of the season, the Waldhofers had to declare bankruptcy, and the DFB Finance Committee denied them a Regionalliga license, so they srop down to the Oberliga.

  1.  SC Freiburg (A)   	34   20    7    7    58:32   +26   67   promoted
  2.  1.FC Köln (A)		34   18   11    5    63:45   +18   65	promoted  
  3.  Eintracht Frankfurt    	34   17   11    6    59:33   +26   62	promoted
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  4.  FSV Mainz 05    		34   19    5   10    64:39   +25   62  
  5.  SpVgg Greuther Fürth    	34   15   12    7    55:35   +20   57  
  6.  Alemannia Aachen    	34   14    9   11    57:48   +9    51  
  7.  Eintracht Trier (N)	34   14    6   14    53:46   +7    48  
  8.  MSV Duisburg    		34   12   10   12    42:47   -5    46  
  9.  1.FC Union Berlin    	34   10   15    9    36:48   -12   45  
 10.  SV Wacker Burghausen (N)	34   10   14   10    48:41   +7    44  
 11.  VfB Lübeck (N)		34   13    5   16    51:50   +1    44  
 12.  LR Ahlen    		34   11    7   16    48:60   -12   40  
 13.  Karlsruher SC    		34    9   12   13    35:47   -12   39  
 14.  RotWeiss Oberhausen    	34   10    7   17    38:48   -10   37
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
 15.  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)34    8   10   16    33:53   -20   34  relegated
 16.  SSV Reutlingen    	34   11    6   17    43:53   -10   33  relegated
 17.  FC St. Pauli (A)		34    7   10   17    48:67   -19   31  relegated
 18.  SV Waldhof Mannheim    	34    6    7   21    32:71   -39   25  relegated

Scoring:

 1.  Woronin (Mainz)		20     
 2.  Frommer (Reutlingen)	18     
 3.  Ivanovic (Aachen)		18     
 4.  Scherz (Koeln)		18
 5.  Bajramovic (Freiburg)	15     
 6.  Ebbers (Duisburg)		15     
 7.  Braham (Trier)		13     
 8.  Lottner (Koeln)		13     
 9.  Roesler (Fuerth)		13
10.  Labbadia (Karlsruhe)	12     
11.  Baerwolf (Luebeck)		12
12.  Beliakov (Oberhausen)	11     
13.  Bella (Ahlen)		11    


REGIONALLIGA NORD (3rd division)

To look for the sensation, you only have to look at the top: Erzgebirge Aue stunned everybody, including themselves, by taking the title. The club had hoped for a secure place in mid-table, but solid performance throughout the season carried them to the top. For the decisive battle on the last day against Borussia Dortmund Amateurs, they drew 16,500 fans; this in a town of only 19,700!

Both Essen and Wattenscheid were contenders throughout the year, but stumbled badly at the end.

On the bottom, bad luck for Verl, which went down at the last instance. In fact, HSV Amateurs had an unfair advantage, as they played and won on Monday at Uerdingen, knowing that they needed a win. The rest of the league had ended on Sunday. The other relegated teams, Bablesberg, Leverkusen mini-aspirins and Dresdner SC were pretty lame throughout the campaign, so deservedly go down.

Essen and Osnabrueck averaged over 9,000 per home game. Meanwhile, most of the "amateur" squads had averages of 1,000 or less.

  1.  Erzgebirge Aue    	34   20    6    8    59:34    +25    66	promoted 
  2.  VfL Osnabrueck		34   19    8    7    56:29    +27    65 promoted
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  3.  RotWeiss Essen    	34   16   12    6    56:33    +23    60 
  4.  Wattenscheid 09    	34   16    8   10    66:49    +17    56 
  5.  Bor. Dortmund Am.    	34   13   12    9    57:51    +6     51 
  6.  Werder Bremen Am.    	34   13   11   10    59:53    +6     50 
  7.  Dynamo Dresden    	34   13   11   10    34:34     0     50 
  8.  SC Paderborn 07    	34   13    8   13    58:49    +9     47 
  9.  1. FC Koeln Am.   	34   12    9   13    52:55    -3     45 
 10.  KFC Uerdingen 05    	34   13    6   15    43:51    -8     45 
 11.  Chemnitzer FC    		34   12    8   14    47:55    -8     44 
 12.  Preussen Muenster		34   12    7   15    45:55    -10    43 
 13.  Holstein Kiel    		34   10   12   12    54:54     0     42 
 14.  Hamburger SV Am.    	34   10   11   13    44:52    -8     41
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 15.  SC Verl    		34   12    4   18    47:65    -18    40	relegated 
 16.  SV Babelsberg 03    	34    9    7   18    54:73    -19    34 relegated
 17.  Bayer Leverkusen Am.    	34    9    6   19    46:59    -13    33 relegated
 18.  Dresdner SC    		34    7    8   19    32:58    -26    29 relegated 

Scoring:

  1. Guscinas (Kiel)		23     
  2. Halil Altintop (Wattens.) 	19     
  3. Demir (Chemnitz)		18     
  4. Gerov (Paderborn)    	18     
  5. Loebe (Wattensch.)		17   
  6. A. Weber (Essen)    	16     
  7. Haedo Valdez (Bremen Am.)  15     
  8. Antwerpen (Muenster)	14
  9. Claassen (Osnabrueck)	13
 10. Jank (Aue)    		13     
 11. Bester (HSV Am.)    	12     
 12. Chalaskiewicz (Babelsb.)	12     
 13. Federico (Koeln Am.)	12
 14. Lau (Babelsberg)    	12    
 15. Steegmann (Koeln)		12

Attendance:

 		Total:  937,246		Average: 3,063 

 1. Rot-Weiss Essen	161,376 	9,492 
 2. VfL Osnabrück  	154,550	 	9,091 
 3. Dynamo Dresden  	113,465	 	6,674 
 4. Erzgebirge Aue 	 84,020	 	4,942 
 5. Chemnitzer FC 	 62,154	 	3,656 
 6. Preußen Münster 	 57,367	 	3,374 
 7. SV Babelsberg 03 	 38,491	 	2,264 
 8. KFC Uerdingen 	 35,963	 	2,115 
 9. Holstein Kiel 	 33,665 	1,980 
10. Dresdner SC 	 32,473 	1,910 
11. SC Paderborn 	 28,400 	1,670 
12. Wattenscheid 09 	 28,078 	1,651 
13. SC Verl  		 21,213 	1,247 
14. Bor. Dortmund Am.	 19,667 	1,156 
15. 1. FC Köln Am. 	 19,036 	1,119 
16. Hamburger SV Am.	 17,878 	1,051 
17. Bayer Leverkusen Am. 17,250 	1,014 
18. Werder Bremen Am.	 12,200 	  717 
 



REGIONALLIGA SÜD (3rd division)

Not too much excitement at the top as relegated Unterhaching immediately bounced back to claim the title on goals scored. Regensburg was a bit of a surprise, in the sense that they sailed through without much trouble.

There weren't too many surprises. Augsburg, although newly promoted, were expected to be decent. Saarbruecken was expected to contend, but quickly fell off.

On the bottom, no stunning news. Stuttgart ended up being saved as relegated 2.Liga club Waldhof Mannheim declared insolvency, and were denied a Regionalliga license. Siegen was initially relegated due to an error. They won 1-0 at bayern amateurs, but failed to field the required U24 player, and thereby forfeited. Their fate will depend on whether relegated 2.Liga Reutlingen's appeal for a Regionalliga license will be uphelp.


  1.  SpVgg Unterhaching (A)   	36   22    7    7    75:34    +41    73  promoted
  2.  Jahn Regensburg    	36   22    7    7    66:25    +41    73  promoted
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  3.  FC Augsburg (N)   	36   17    8   11    55:39    +16    59  
  4.  FC Bayern Amat.    	36   16    9   11    51:35    +16    57  
  5.  TSG Hoffenheim    	36   15   10   11    60:44    +16    55  
  6.  1. FC Saarbrücken (A)	36   15   12    9    43:38    +5     53  
  7.  SV Wehen    		36   13   11   12    52:47    +5     50  
  8.  Kickers Offenbach    	36   11   17    8    42:38    +4     50  
  9.  RotWeiss Erfurt    	36   12   14   10    44:44     0     50  
 10.  VfR Aalen    		36   14    6   16    48:55    -7     47  
 11.  SC Pfullendorf (N)	36   13    8   15    51:61    -10    47  
 12.  1. FC Schweinfurt 05 (A)	36   13    6   17    56:54    +2     45  
 13.  1.FC K'lautern Am.    	36   11   12   13    43:47    -4     45  
 14.  SV Elversberg    		36   13    6   17    38:51    -13    45
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 15.  Stuttgarter Kickers    	36   11   12   13    40:54    -14    45	 
 16.  Spfr. Siegen    		36   11   10   15    47:55    -8     43  relegated
 17.  Darmstadt 98    		36   11    9   16    42:53    -11    42  relegated
 18.  Eintr. Frankfurt Am. (N)	36    7   11   18    36:64    -28    32  relegated
 19.  Borussia Neunkirchen (N)	36    3    9   24    23:74    -51    18  relegated

Scoring:

 1. Copado (Unterhaching)    	24     
 2. Roemer (Pfullendorf)	22
 3. Popovic (Schweinfurt)    	20     
 4. Ollhoff (Hoffenheim)    	19     
 5. Reeb (Augsburg)    		15     
 6. Teinert (Hoffenheim)    	14     
 7. Coulibaly (Augsburg)    	13     
 8. Mehic (Wehen)    		13     
 9. Papic (Regensburg)    	13     
10. Adzic (K'lautern)    	12     
11. Ben Neticha (Wehen)    	12     
12. Delic (Schweinfurt)    	12     
13. Hasenhuettel (Bayern)	12
14. M. Zimmermann (Unterh.)	12     
15. Maier (Darmstadt)   	12     
16. Rogosic (Aalen)    		12     
17. Theres (Aalen)    		12     
18. Toelcseres (Regensburg)	12


M = Meister (defending Champion)
P = Pokal (defending Cup winner)
A = Absteiger (relegated last season)
N = Neuling (promoted last season)
 

(c) Abseits Guide to Germany