retired_tinkfaeree

Very interesting conclusions. Unfortunately, you obviously have never visited a Hoffenheim game before, nor do you know details about it.

Mr. Hopp is one of the biggest investors in regional sports in Germany. He rescued a local ice hocky team (Mannheim) and made them the biggest ice hockey club in Germany. And one of the few profitable ones at that.

The same goes with football. He has the vision of a local Bundesliga team, now that all former Bundesliga clubs in the area have gone out of business because of bad management. (Waldhof Mannheim for example). He wanted to help with Waldhof too, told them that Mannheim is too small a city for two rivalling teams sharing the small market when it comes to sponsoring etc, and suggested a merger between the two Mannheim clubs. Well, the responsible ones refused the offer.

So, Hopp went to his former club (he used to play football himself when he was young, for TSG Hoffenheim), and started there. He started at the bottom not by buying players but by putting a foundation stone: he built a youth academy. He sent scouts out to search for regional talents, and brought them into the academy. The talents walked the leagues, and when they arrived in the 2. Bundesliga, he also got some staff to aid in the process. He signed Ralf Rangnick, a manager that has a very scientific and modern approach, and the coach of the German HOCKEY national team, who had some interesting ideas about how training schedules should work, regardless of sports.

First half of the season in the 2. Bundesliga didn't look too good, so he invested a bit in some experienced players. Not old, overpaid donkeys though, but mainly players that fit well together and do not block the places for talents. I've only rarely before seen a club sign players so well for their weaknesses.

The youth academy is working really well: lots of their first teamers are from the academy, and their youth teams are going to win the championship ahead of Bayern Munich and other Bundesliga teams. For example, they went and signed the best youth players of a local club and as a signing fee they gave the club the money to build a new training pitch.

So, of all the sugar daddies around, this is one of the few I can think of, who is really doing it right. They absolutely deserved it, and I'd rather see more Hoffenheims in the league than clubs that only make it into the newspapers because their staff wage some rose wars against each other.

Just a final sentence:
The essence of sport is that anybody may be promoted, regardless of "fanbase", "tradition" or whatever else. They made more points than the other teams, and they did it not by cheating but by working hard for it. Even with the financial backing, other clubs in the 2. Bundesliga still have more money available. And while there are only few original Hoffenheim supporters, the region longed for a Bundesliga club for quite a while, and I'm glad they now got their wish fulfilled.

retired_tinkfaeree

Oh, before I forget:
He also founded a women's team in Hoffenheim 2 years ago, and the stadium he builds is possibly going to be a place for the women's football World Championships in 2011.

The youths in question are the U17 team. The U19 team is also in the Bundesliga and doing very well too (top half finish)

retired_tinkfaeree

Hoffenheim is only a district, so the district hasa population of 3000. It's like saying that Bayern Munich only has a potential fanbase of 48.075 people (because that's the amount of people living in the district they're from).

Sinsheim (the town where Hoffenheim is in) is part of one of Germany's biggest metropolitan areas, called "Rhein/Neckar Metropolitan Area", with about 2,4 million people within a very short distance.

isabe

Ok, I stand corrected - or rather, I am picking-my-teeth-from-the-floor-while-shaking-my-head-to-clear-it-of -that-strange-dizzy-feeling corrected. In my defence I can only say that this is what a number of people from Germany I am in contact with told me about the club. Their opinions were unanimous and very unfavourable.

On second thoughts, they all support Nürnberg so maybe they are simply bitter at the moment?

retired_corbettk4

Bravo Cosmo - quite an eloquent posting.
After reading your posting, it reminded me of something I had read a few months ago - there is a German columnist for ESPN - Ulli something (I don't want to slaughter his last name). And he had posted a really long article on Hoffenheim, really good too!

I looked for it but ESPN doesn't seem to have archives (or at least not straightforward), since it is a nice example of how a LLM team can make it up the ranks.

Anyway, good posting Cosmo...

retired_corbettk4

Here is one:
one

but got tired of looking around and couldn't find the good ones...

retired_pmetzger1

Not on my 08 save they don't.

retired_sandra

I'm with Michal. Quick rises are now far more a rare occurance and seems more realistic.

retired_corbettk4

fewer rises is less realistic indeed, I am not saying that.

Heck, all I wanted to say from the beginning was hail Hoffenheim, a lower league team that did it right and rose through the ranks...