Second division champion 1. FC Heidenheim is the 57th club in the Bundesliga. The small club from the Swabian Jura, with coach Frank Schmidt, is working its way from the Verbandsliga to the upper house and is the counter-proposal to the current gigantism.
“Work, work – Heidenheim”. That sounds like the deepest stereotype. But coach Frank Schmidt never tires of emphasizing exactly this spirit of Bundesliga promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim. Heidenheim, a medium-sized town with 50,000 inhabitants in eastern Württemberg, is a place where people work a lot, says Schmidt. The coach also explains this to the new players. Because that’s exactly the type of football he wants to play. “Everything is closer, closer. There is a good sense of togetherness, you often get into conversations. That’s not possible in many locations,” said Schmidt in an RTL / ntv interview at the beginning of July. In short, Heidenheim is: “A lot of industry, a lot of medium-sized companies, a lot of work, so that you’re doing well.”
That can also be transferred to the club. A lot of work was done in Heidenheim, the team is doing well. Frank Schmidt and 1. FC Heidenheim is a success story. One of the few club-coach symbioses that still exist in modern football. From fifth to premier league, with an ingenious duo who have been working together for decades, with honest football without any real stars. If you like, this provincial club from the rough east Alb is the maximum alternative to the Ronaldos, Messis and gigantic Saudi transfer offensives.
Born a stone’s throw from the stadium
Schmidt has been coach in Heidenheim for 16 years, the 49-year-old was born just a stone’s throw from the stadium. He has now been with the club for 20 years. Heidenheim means home for him. When Schmidt started playing in Heidenheim, the club even had a different name. In 2003 (then 1860 Munich and Hansa Rostock were still playing in the Bundesliga) he came in the fall of his career as a defensive player and captain for Heidenheimer SB (2007 followed the splitting off of the football department and renaming) in the Baden-Württemberg Association League, at that time the fifth division.
Holger Sanwald, another one-of-a-kind and doer directly from the region, had the idea of having Schmidt as a trainer. Compared to his time in Heidenheim, even Schmidt’s work faded a bit. In 1994, Sanwald joined the club. He has only been the full-time managing director of the team since 2007. According to his own statement, the 56-year-old has done almost everything himself, organized trips, fried sausages – and implemented the world idea with Schmidt.
In September 2007, shortly before Schmidt had resigned, the ex-player was supposed to take over for two games on an interim basis. Schmidt himself was even still looking for his own successor. Well, things turned out differently. Because the young coach convinced Sanwald with his style and results. The first game ended 2:1, the second 9:1. Good arguments for a longer contract. What happened next is football history. The regional league (2008 to 2009) led to the 3rd league (from 2009 to 2014) and the 2nd league. The highlight followed in May 2023: the dramatic promotion to the Bundesliga, including the second division championship. Made possible by two goals in stoppage time. “In terms of sport, it was the greatest moment,” said Schmidt a few weeks later. “An absolute highlight and a very special moment.”
Completion of an almost unbelievable journey
The rise to the House of Lords is the preliminary conclusion of an almost unbelievable journey. In recent years, Heidenheim has established itself as one of the most consistent teams in the 2nd league, if you exclude HSV because of their higher ambitions, always in close proximity to the promotion ranks. The work paid off with good results. If it (almost) always works, it’s no longer a coincidence.
Now one must not make the mistake of confusing the manageable size of Heidenheim with the fact that the club is poor or clammy. Swabian medium-sized companies are based in the region, as can be seen from the club’s sponsors. In addition to small and medium-sized financiers from the region, the pool consists of 400, there are also big players on board, such as the mechanical engineering company Voith – after whom the stadium is named, the IT and management consultant MHP or the medical device manufacturer Paul Hartmann AG.
The money is used in a targeted manner in Heidenheim. Large transfers are rarely seen, instead there has been a clear guideline under Schmidt for years: He prefers to bring German or German-speaking players, at best from the region, which the club emphasizes has nothing to do with a lack of cosmopolitanism. It is important to Schmidt that the players speak German so that communication within the team works well. Over the years, Schmidt and Sanwald have always signed players who follow the Heidenheimer path, which means putting the team above themselves. There were and are mainly players from the 2nd and 3rd leagues with little-known names – but they still function as a collective.
For decades, Marc Schnatterer was the face of the team. Heidenheim veteran. record player. 457 games, 121 goals. He played for the FCH on the Ostalb for 13 years, was Schmidt’s extended arm and went from the Oberliga to the 2nd division. But it wasn’t until two years after his departure that the Bundesliga dream came true. The new pillars in the game are Tim Kleindienst, who was top scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga last season with 25 goals, captain Patrick Mainka and Schalke signing Marvin Pieringer.
Again “exciting transfers” made
The promoted team spent 2.3 million euros on new players before the start of the season. “Exciting transfers” have been made again, which one does not necessarily expect in the Bundesliga, said Schmidt on SWR. “But I don’t really care.” In addition to Pieringer (1.8 million euros), ex-player and offensive power Nikola Dovedan (Austria Vienna/free transfer), Benedikt Gimber (Jahn Regensburg/free transfer) strengthened the defensive. Central defender Tim Siersleben from VfL Wolfsburg was signed after his two-year loan from VfL Wolfsburg (500,000 euros).
The Schmidt football can not only be seen in such heads, but also in numbers. The Heidenheim teams almost always stand out in categories such as kilometers run or sprints. In the 2022/23 season, it reads like this: 2nd place for “crosses from the game”, 1st place for “header duels won”. 1st place in the “running distance”. By a wide margin: 1st place in sprints and intensive runs. It’s not just a cliché: football is actually worked in Heidenheim, “gschaffen”, as they say in Swabian. Speed football in both directions with quick transitions. Fitness as a basis is very important to Schmidt, and he doesn’t accept a lot of “whining”.
Schmidt needs certain types of players for this. The squad only includes players who have “completely believed” in Heidenheim and “do not take themselves more seriously than they are”. 1. FC Heidenheim is a team that doesn’t give up easily and fights to the death. That immediately reminds you of the 3-2 win on the last matchday, which gave FCH promotion at the last second and sent HSV into tears. The first leg against Regensburg in the home stadium on the 17th matchday was a reflection of the past season or perhaps the entire Heidenheim journey of the last 15 years. Heidenheim led 1:0, then 3:1, later 4:3, only to concede the 4:4 equalizer shortly before the end. In the fourth minute of added time, Stefan Schimmer then headed Heidenheim to a 5-4 win. A tremendous tour de force with a happy ending. Mentality is a popular topic in German football. In Heidenheim it is practiced by the people who stand up.
“Enjoy the moment, live the present”
Schmidt has the potential to become a “cult coach”, as it is quickly called today. Now it won’t quite be enough for Christian Streich, but then maybe the really big emotions or the philosophical drift are missing. Although Schmidt can also exclaim clear messages here. After a thrombosis in his calf, he had to go to the hospital in 2018, apparently even in mortal danger. An experience that changed him. It’s just like so often in life when you’re “shot”, said Schmidt in the RTL/ntv interview in July. “In the first few weeks and months you pay very close attention to many things, you live more consciously. You look more to the left and right. It doesn’t matter whether you are a football coach, normal in professional life, every minute, every second something in life can change. You have to Enjoy the moment, live the present.”
In his daily work he alternates between clear announcements, between hard dog/hand and chumminess. He used to scream more, he explained to SWR. According to his own statement, he is quite an “alpha animal”. Someone who likes to make decisions. “I am direct in speech, honest and unfiltered.”
He therefore forms the team according to his ideas, but it only works if the players follow. “You can talk to him about anything,” says left winger Jan-Niklas Beste. In relation to people, he is a “great guy”. “When it matters, he also gets louder. That’s part of it. He does it exactly right. He finds the right words, the right way.” Returnee Nikola Dovedan puts it in a nutshell: It’s “quite easy” with Schmidt: “Step on the gas, be correct, then you get everything you want from Frank.”
“After nine years in the 2nd division it will be a challenge”
So far, Schmidt has had to manage more success than failure. The goal for the coming season is clearly defined: staying in the league. “After nine years in the 2nd division, it will be a challenge,” said Schmidt to RTL/ntv at the start of training. “All things in life are difficult before they become easy. We have few players who have played in the Bundesliga, and I haven’t been a coach in the Bundesliga either. We will learn a lot and also have to suffer. We want to be like a hamster before winter collect points diligently.”
The dress rehearsal for the Bundesliga (Start on Saturday, 3.30 p.m. against VfL Wolfsburg/Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker) has already succeeded. In the first round of the DFB Cup, the Heidenheim team cleared Rostocker FC without any problems (8-0). After a quarter of an hour everything was already clear against the overwhelmed Oberliga club. In the coming weeks, the tasks will become much more demanding. The example of Freiburg shows where the path can lead: Schmidt names the club from Breisgau as a role model, even if they are a decade or two ahead. In a way, the SCF paved the way for Heidenheim. The sports club has often achieved a lot with relatively modest means, and they are now permanent guests in Europe. Even in the event of a failure, they held on to the coach in southern Baden and formed a unit of fans and surroundings.
Schmidt’s contract runs until 2027. He doesn’t want to talk or think about what will happen after that, he says. “I’m going into my 17th season, I’m looking forward to it. I was able to recharge my batteries on vacation. I’m looking forward to new tasks, looking too far into the future doesn’t make sense. Until then, we’ll continue to work diligently in Heidenheim, that’s for sure, just like in the training camp against the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.FCH won the friendly against the team from the Gulf state with superstar Roberto Firmino and Co. 6:2.Schmidt struggled with the wet pitch (Heavy rain) and the opponent: “In particular, the quality of the opponent was not what we need as a challenge in the training camp.”