FSV annual review 2024 part 2: Relegation and squad planning

A successful year for FSV Frankfurt is drawing to a close and it is time to take stock.

FSV bid farewell with a 3:1 win against TuS Koblenz on March 28 and the associated relief in the relegation battle. Despite an unspectacular 0-0 draw against KSV Hessen Kassel, Bornheim improved from 14th to twelfth place in the table just one matchday later. It also became clear how tight the situation in the relegation battle was. Only two points separated 11th to 15th place from each other and FSV were one point away from the relegation zone. After squandering a 2:1 lead against the second team of 1.FSV Mainz 05, the Black & Blue dropped back to 14th place in the table with a 3:2 defeat on matchday 28. On the following weekends, however, the team from the Bornheimer Hang were to get their hopes up. After a 2-0 away win at TSV Steinbach Haiger, FSV left FC-Astoria Walldorf in their wake and pulled off a miracle on the next matchday: Onur Ünlücifci fired league leaders Stuttgarter Kickers home with a hat-trick, while Bornheim sent the Swabians home with a 3-1 home win. With just four league games remaining, Bornheim were six points away from relegation to the fifth division. During this time, the young, talented Jan-Erik Eichhorn extended his contract for a further year at Bornheimer Hang.

Off the pitch, Dr. David Rothschild and Alfred J Meyers were posthumously named honorary presidents of FSV Frankfurt to mark the 125th anniversary of the sports club. The club honored them for their activities as FSV chairmen. Among other things, Meyers had the most modern stadium of the time built on the Bornheimer Hang and remained associated with the club throughout his life.

In sporting terms, it remained exciting until match day 33 as to whether and how FSV Frankfurt would stay in the league. On matchday 32, Bornheim lost to Eintracht Frankfurt II and now wanted to secure relegation on their own. A late goal from Malik McLemore in the 87th minute of the match to secure a 0:1 away win against TSG Hoffenheim II not only ensured FSV stayed in the league, but also destroyed any hopes of promotion for Hoffenheim’s second team.

The last matchday of the past season was to provide a conciliatory end. Against SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz, head coach Tim Görner’s team shone with a 4:0 win and thus managed a nice farewell to this difficult season and even finished the season in ninth place in the table. In addition, eight players (Luca Schlax, Oluwabori Falaye, Lukas Hupfauf, Elias Oubella, Fabian Messina, Amid Khan Agha, Ajet Grajcevci, Miguel Costa) and two of the coaching team (Nils Schick, Madunna chidi Maduwuihe) were given a fitting send-off in front of the home crowd.

In addition to the match and transfer activities, there were also changes in the business areas of the youth training center and the FFH Soccer School. The new cooperation partner FC Germania 08 Dörnigheim was introduced, opening up opportunities for new projects and ways of working at a high level.

At the end of May and the end of June, two Tims extended their contracts for the upcoming season. The first was defender Tim Weißmann and the second was head coach Tim Görner, the latter even extending his contract early until 30 June 2026. FSV also strengthened its ranks in June with the signings of Tobias Peitz from Wuppertaler SV, Hassan Mourrad from Bahlinger SC, Birkan Celik from TSV Schott Mainz, Seok-Min Park, who returned from his loan, and the well-known defender Lukas Gottwalt from Würzburger Kickers. FSV sold Noah Awassi to the latter club in the summer. The Hessen Cup winner, who captained FSV 15 times, moved to the Regionalliga Bayern.

This also marks the end of the second quarter of FSV’s year. Some arrivals and departures are still pending and the start of the new season is still to come. Find out more in the third part of this series.