Worry about license in the 3rd league
Schalke is preparing for a really bad crash
March 18, 2024, 5:38 p.m
The city of Gelsenkirchen says that FC Schalke will “almost inevitably” go bankrupt if the traditional club is actually relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga. The Royal Blues are confident that they can avert total collapse – but are also preparing for the 3rd league.
Christina Rühl-Hamers submitted the documents for a license for Schalke 04 in the 3rd league on Friday, before the horror scenario became more realistic again with a major away debacle. The CFO of the deeply fallen Bundesliga relegated team did not reveal what figures she presented to the German Football Association (DFB), but she did say that approval to play was by no means certain.
“As far as the third division plans are concerned, we expect that the provisional granting of the license will only take place under conditions,” said Rühl-Hamers when presenting the 2023 financial report – one day after the bitter 2:5 at Hertha BSC and now only still two points away from the relegation place. Because the variables are numerous and the imponderables are great, it is currently impossible to quantify how the traditional club could economically survive the second relegation within a year, nor how likely it would be to be eligible to play.
A third division team, which recently recorded annual sales of 168 million euros and liabilities of the same amount, would also be a novelty for the DFB. If the license is refused, Schalke would have to continue playing in the regional league – that’s what the second team is registered for. The city of Gelsenkirchen, which has a 35 million euro stake in the stadium, primarily through a subsidiary, recently made it clear that this perspective would be the more likely one. A further relegation would result in “almost inevitable insolvency proceedings,” the administration wrote.
Money problems and sporting decline go hand in hand
Only one more second division year is planned at Schalke. With a licensed player budget “almost at the level of the previous season”, i.e. an estimated 25 million euros, we are “already able to act on the transfer market”. However, in order to prevent points from being deducted, a profit would have to be made again. Just like last year, when Schalke recorded an increase of 6.9 million and was back in the black for the first time in five years. This meant that negative equity was reduced to 103 million euros. The condition of the German Football League (DFL) is a further reduction of five percent.
Rühl-Hamers is convinced that he will “manage to stay in the league”. For the time being, this task will continue to be addressed by coach Karel Geraerts, who received support from Marc Wilmots. “There is no coaching discussion,” said the sports director: “I am relying on continuity.” However, the Belgian didn’t want to give his compatriot a free pass for the rest of the season: “Nobody has a job guarantee.”
Schalke had recently shown improving form in the 3-1 win against leaders FC St. Pauli and the 3-3 win against SC Paderborn, but then suffered their tenth defeat in their 13th away game. The defense in particular is the biggest concern: with 54 goals conceded, the Royal Blues are the weakest defensive team in the league, and not even the bottom-placed Osnabrück team had to get the ball out of the net that often.
Because the competitors in the bottom third of the table have recently been busy scoring points, the situation is the same before the home game on Easter Sunday (1.30 p.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) precarious against Karlsruher SC. In the worst case, a defeat threatens to fall from 14th place to 17th place. “Everyone knows how important the game is,” said Wilmots: “Everything is very close. There are seven or eight teams that are still fighting to stay in the league.”