First division football teams have the advantage
Relegation saves crisis clubs in particular
May 23, 2024, 7:31 p.m
Since the 2008/09 season there have been relegation games again between the third from last in the Bundesliga and the third in the second division. The statistics clearly speak for the first division teams, who get a second chance to stay in the league through relegation – and almost always use it.
The joy at Holstein Kiel was immense on May 11, 2024. It was the day on which the long, long run of the traditional club from Schleswig-Holstein towards the Bundesliga was finally successful and the special first-time promotion to the top division was finally made perfect. Kiel will go down in the Bundesliga history books as the 58th club.
The fact that Kiel does not wear the number 56, but that this honor was bestowed on Union Berlin, is due to the relegation between the Bundesliga and the second division, which was reintroduced in the 2008/09 season. This stipulates that only two teams are relegated directly from the first division and only two teams are promoted directly from the second division. The third-to-last team in the first division and the third-placed team in the second division play off the third-to-last team in a home and away match. And it was precisely this relegation that cost Kiel its first direct promotion in the 2017/18 season and also prevented Schleswig-Holstein from getting its first first division team.
For the then-stricken first division club VfL Wolfsburg, it was the second year in a row that the relegation play-offs offered a second chance to avoid relegation. Overall, the relegation statistics since 2008/09 clearly speak in favor of the first division clubs: In the 15 duels so far, the lower-class club has only been able to prevail and advance three times. The first division club managed to avoid relegation 12 times – most recently VfB Stuttgart, who then achieved a miraculous resurrection by finishing second in the 2023/24 season.
Stuttgart had saved itself in the previous season against the former Bundesliga dinosaur Hamburger SV, which is now the relegation dinosaur with four participations. HSV’s record is balanced with two wins and two defeats. But: Hamburg achieved both victories – of course – as a first division team.