FC Hansa Rostock is – and always had been – the only professional football club of Mecklenburg-Vorpmmern. Many people here are incredible proud of their “Heros in blue”, me too! I really adore this football club. To be honest it’s nearly impossible to visit Rostock without getting in contact with Hansa Rostock. But the last years hadn’t been the bests for Hansa. Hansa had been at the very top but now most of the glory has gone. But wait…is really ALL the glory gone? To my mind not! Hansa has had some bad years, bad luck and “managers” not able to handle the situation. However Hansa Rostock is definitely not lost so what happend?
In the season 1991/1992 Hansa Rostock was the last champion of the GDR (German Democratic Republic). Therefore they were allowed to participate in the premiere league of Westgermany (Bundesliga), which became the league for the reunificated Germany. Unfortunately they only played in the Bundesliga of Germany for one season. In the year 1995 Hansa promoted to the Bundesliga again and beyond that they were very close to the qulification for the UEFA-Cup but sadly they missed it. After being the campion of the GDR that has been the most successful season for Hansa. Hansa was again in danger of relegation in the year 1999. They had to win the last match to keep playing in the Bundesliga.It was a grabbing match and everyone thought Hansa couldn’t make it. But they did! They scored the goal they needed in the last minutes of the second half time. So they could play – thank god – in the Bundesliga the next season, too. Since 1995 Hansa Rostock has been playing in the Bundesliga for 10 year! And Ladies and Gentlemen THAT’S a record! Yes, you didn’t misshear, it really is (and you can imagine how proud we are ;)) a record. There is no other football club of the former GDR that was able to stay in the Bundesliga this long. Even some of the big and well-kown football clubs of Germany didn’t achieve that. Sadly the prime years of Hansa ended in the year 2005. They had to bow out of the Bundesliga again. So you can imagine how sad the year 2005 had been for every fan of Hansa. But we picked up ourselves and celebrate our comeback to the Bundesliga in the year 2007 (what a great year ;)). Only one year later (2008) our joy vanished again. Hansa wasn’t able to stay in the Bundesliga. The saddest thing is, we were never able to come back to the Bundesliga…and it even gets worser, we had to play in the league one of Germany (3. Liga) in the year 2009, managed to come back to the fooball league of Germany (2.Bundesliga) again in the year 2010/2011…BUT the year 2012 was very VERY sad. Hansa had to go back to the league one of Germany. In addition to that Hansa has got lot of debts.(Have a look at this blog, too!)
Maybe you are wondering now how this could happen? I’m not able to give the right explanation (actually no one can, I guess). We’re all still shocked.
To my mind one problem is, that Hansa is a really small football club. Therefor they don’t have lot of money. In addition to that the city of Rostock has got a lot of debts itselfs. That means Hansa Rostock is located in a very weak region and it’s hard to find sponsors. Nowadays the professional football is highly commercial affected. So if a club wants to play professionell football they need money (a lot of money). Many small football clubs are not able to effort this money, Hansa either. Of course Hansa has made a lot of misstakes. In the Bundesliga they spend money they didn’t had. But Hansa has to get back on track. Hansa Rostock is an important traditional club in Germany and truely belongs in the premiere league of Germany. It’s not only me thinking this way. For example Uli Hoeneß (the president of Bayern München) wants to help Hanas Rostock because he thinks Hansa is a great and important football club.
Why shouldn’t we be optimistic? Hansa played in the Bundesliga for such a longe time. Furthermore there had been a time when some players of Hansa played for the german national team, for example Thomas Doll, Rene Schneider, Marko Rehmer, Oliver Neuville, Stephan Beinlich. Hansa spoted some great football talents that played for popular German football clubs later, for example: Sergej Barbarez (Hamburg, Leverkusen), Johnathan Akponorie (Wolfsburg), Martin Piekenhagen (Hamburg, Mainz), Victor Agali (Schalke), Toni Kroos (München). There can’t be another way than back to this great times. Now Hansa is not able to pay such players but they have one of the greatest football acadamies of Germany. This players are a great alternative if you don’t have enough money. Many players of the acadamy of Hansa are memebers of the german junior national team (Nils Quaschner, Johannes Brinkies, Pelle Jensen, Kevin Müller, Edisson Jordanov).
Marsimoto/Matiria, a guy who played for Hansa, made a song about the story of Hansa. It’s German, but maybe you could give it a try.
I’m pretty sure that Hansa didn’t lost its glory and will find its way back to the Bundesliga; it’s just a matter of time. So keep Hansa Rostock in your mind to remember us when we’re back at the top (dreaming is allowed isn’t it? ;))
Keep your fingers crossed! 🙂
Greetings Anika Lundschien
