After 7 Years In The Second Division, Hamburg Return To The Bundesliga

After seven years in the 2. Bundesliga wilderness, the suffering is finally over for Hamburger SV fans. On Saturday, Die Rothosen secured their promotion back to the Bundesliga with a 6-1 win over SSV Ulm, who are now relegated to the 3. Liga with that result.

In typical fashion, however, Hamburg didn’t take the easy route to beat struggling Ulm. Die Spatzen opened the scoring early, with Tom Gaal scoring seven minutes in. Three minutes later, HSV was level with Ludovit Reis scoring.

Then, in the 35th minute, Ulm was awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR review. It was a questionable call, and perhaps justice was served when Daniel Heuer Fernandes stopped Semir Telalovic’s attempt.

In retrospect, that missed penalty turned around the momentum in Hamburg’s advantage. First, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdorffer made it 2-1 (42’), and then Davie Selke made it 3-1 just before halftime. Then, four minutes into the second half, the game was over when Ulm’s Philipp Strompf scored an own goal to make it 4-1 for HSV.

From then on, the party was truly on for most of the 57,000 spectators at the Volksparkstadion. That party only got further elevated when Königsdorffer completed his brace to make it 5-1 for Die Rothosen, and then in the 86th minute, Daniel Elfadli made it 6-1.

That goal truly ended the diehard Hamburg fans’ suffering, who have waited since 2018 for their club to return to the German topflight. Indeed, before relegation, HSV was the final founding member of the Bundesliga, never to be relegated from the first division.

The run of 55 years of first division football, from the Bundesliga founding in 1963 to the club’s relegation in 2018, led to the club’s nickname Die Dinosaurier. The club even had a Dinosaur as a mascot and a clock inside the stadium that counted up HSV’s time in the Bundesliga.

Dino Herrmann, the mascot, has survived the club’s relegation in 2018. The clock, however, which had become the source of jokes for other fan groups, was dismantled after the club was relegated.

Although maybe it would have been worth keeping it. After all, heading into this season, Hamburger SV had turned into a 2. Bundesliga dinosaur. Seven years in the league meant Die Rothosen have the longest run in the second division.

It really didn’t have to be that way either. Several times, Hamburger SV was on the verge of promotion. But too often, the club started to falter in the spring after strong starts in the fall. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, HSV would fall to fourth place and out of the promotion zone in the season’s final weeks.

In 2022 and 2023, Hamburg seemed on the way up only to slip to third place and the promotion playoffs. On both occasions, first against Hertha and then against Stuttgart, HSV couldn’t get past the Bundesliga side. Then last year, HSV not only slipped to third but to fourth to miss out on promotion entirely once again.

The club was again on course for a similar finish this season under head coach Steffen Baumgart. But this time, the leadership under former U21 head coach Stefan Kuntz saw the writing on the wall in time.

Hired at the tail end of the 2023/24 campaign, Baumgart failed to get the club back on track last year but was allowed to kick off this season. But was fired after matchday 13 as HSV struggled in eighth place in the 2. Bundesliga standings.

Former assistant manager Merlin Polzin was installed, and the 34-year-old finally steadied the ship. In 16 games in charge, Polzin has averaged 1.94 points per game with HSV, and during that span, Die Rothosen are the team with the best form in the 2. Bundesliga.

Indeed, in a league in which every single club is inconsistent, Hamburger SV came the closest to any form of consistency. The goal differential highlights this, HSV is +35 after 33 matchdays, and with a win next weekend, could put the cherry on top and add the 2. Bundesliga title to the club’s return to the Bundesliga.