Cologne return to Bundesliga, 'village club' Elversberg into play-off
Cologne fans celebrate their team's promotion to the Bundesliga after the German 2nd Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Cologne and 1. FC Kaiserslautern at RheinEnergieStadion. Anke Waelischmiller/dpa
Traditional German club Cologne have returned to the Bundesliga and clinched the second division title, while small town club SV Elversberg will face the relegation/promotion play-offs.
Cologne defeated Kaiserslautern 4-0 to clinch promotion and leapfrog SV Hamburg in the standings to also take the title in the final matchday of the second division.
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Hamburg had already secured promotion last weekend and will return to the Bundesliga after seven years in second tier.
Cologne, meanwhile, only spent one season in the second division following their relegation in 2023-24.
Jubilant fans stormed the pitch after goals from Eric Martel, Luca Waldschmidt, Florian Kainz and Mark Uth secured the victory.
Elversberg defeated Schalke 2-1 and have the chance to complete a meteoric rise through the German football leagues with Bundesliga promotion, just three years after playing in the fourth division.
It is the latest success story for the club from the municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg, population of around 13,000 and no train station, in the south-western Saarland state.
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In the play-offs, they will face Heidenheim, who finished the Bundesliga in 16th. The first leg is on Thursday and the second leg on May 26.
Elversberg would be the first club in the Bundesliga from the Saarland in 32 years since Saarbrücken were relegated in 1993.
It was just their second season in the second division after spending only one in the third tier into which they were promoted from the fourth division Regionalliga in 2022.
Schalke, one of the biggest clubs in Germany, will spend another year in the second tier after their relegation in 2022-23.
Jahn Regensburg and SSV Ulm were relegated to the third tier, while Eintracht Braunschweig will face Saarbrücken in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
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