The 2011–12 season of
Hertha BSC began on 31 July 2011 with a
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
match against
ZFC Meuselwitz
Zipsendorfer Fußballclub Meuselwitz is a German association football club from Meuselwitz, Thuringia.
History
The origins of the club go back to the establishment of ''Aktivist Zipsendorf'' in 1919. After World War II the club played as ''BSG ...
, and ended on 15 May 2012 with the second leg of the
Bundesliga relegation play-offs. For the first time since
2006–07, Hertha made it past the 2nd round of the DFB-Pokal, making it as far as the quarterfinals before losing to
Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the Bundesliga, Hertha finished 16th, qualifying for the relegation play-off.
Review and events
Overview of season
On 18 December,
Hertha BSC fired head coach
Markus Babbel
Markus Babbel (; born 8 September 1972) is a German professional football coach and former player who last managed the Western Sydney Wanderers FC. He played as a defender for clubs in Germany and England. Babbel won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1996 ...
after a disagreement with
Michael Preetz
Michael Preetz (born 17 August 1967) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent his whole career in Germany, playing for Fortuna Düsseldorf, 1. FC Saarbrücken, MSV Duisburg and SG Wattenscheid 09, but he is m ...
.
Preetz fired Babbel because there is no trust and so the club can "avert damage".
[ Babbel he told Preetz that he would not sign a contract extension during the November international break while Preetz claim Babbel told him on 13 December.][ Babbel responded to Pretz's claim by stating that "when someone has another opinion, then maybe he wasn't listening properly".][ On 22 December, Michael Skibbe was named Babbel's replacement. On 12 February, Hertha BSC fired Skibbe after losing all 5 matches in charge.
]
Hertha BSC vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf
The matches
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga.
Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...
won a spot in the promotion/relegation playoff against first division side Hertha BSC.
=First leg
=
Going into the playoff, Fortuna Düsseldorf hadn't been in the top flight for 15 seasons. They won the first leg against Hertha BSC 1:2 in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
's Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
from goals from Thomas Bröker and an own goal
An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
from Hertha BSC's Adrián Ramos
Gustavo Adrián Ramos Vásquez (; born 22 January 1986), commonly known as Adrián Ramos, is a Colombian footballer who plays as a striker for Colombian club América de Cali.
He made his debut for the Colombia national football team in 200 ...
.[
]
=Second leg
=
In the return leg in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
, both teams drew 2-2. Fortuna Düsseldorf
Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga.
Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...
won on aggregate 4–3.[ However, the second half was marred by trouble. Hertha BSC supporter threw flares onto the field.] Hertha BSC supporters did this after Fortuna Düsseldorf scored their second goal of the night to lead 2–1. The other problem of the night was when several Fortuna Düsseldorf supporters ran onto the field with about a minute left. It took 21 minutes to restore order and stoppage time ended up being 28 minutes by the time the final whistle blew. With Fortuna Düsseldorf winning the 2 legged affair, they returned to the Bundesliga after 15 seasons.[
]
The appeal
Hertha BSC appealed the result of the match. The German Football Association will be meeting on 18 May 2012 to discuss the incidents of the second leg.[ Campino, singer for ]Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf.
History
The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...
, called Hertha BSC's protest "indecent". The hearing at the German Football Association last for six hours. The panel's decision will not be known until a further meeting on Monday.[ It is expected to make a decision at 15:00 CET.][ The German Football Association stated that any possible disciplinary action against either club or any of the players will be taken at a later date.][ The players being investigated are ]Levan Kobiashvili
Levan Kobiashvili ( ka, ლევან კობიაშვილი, born 10 July 1977) is a Georgian former professional footballer and the current president of the Georgian Football Federation and a member of Parliament of Georgia.
He pla ...
, Christian Lell, Thomas Kraft
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and Andre Mijatović
Andre Mijatović (born 3 December 1979) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Career
Mijatović was born in Rijeka, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia and started his career at the local club HNK Rijeka, where he be ...
.[ 2nd leg referee ]Wolfgang Stark
Wolfgang Stark (born 20 November 1969) is a German former football referee who is based in Ergolding. He refereed for DJK Altdorf of the Bavarian Football Association.
Refereeing career
In addition to German domestic competitions, Stark offic ...
was a key witness at the first hearing at the German Football Association.[
Sports law expert Michael Lehner said that Hertha BSC can hope for replay after the second leg of the promotion/relegation playoff.] Lehner went on to state, "Is not the game has been properly placed on the principle of equal opportunity at the end there was a break in terms of game development" and "The team of Hertha BSC through the fault of third parties a real opportunity has been deprived of the game even. get why there should be a replay from a legal point of view".[
The sports court of the German Football Association rejected the appeal of Hertha BSC.] Hertha BSC will pay the cost of the proceedings. Hertha BSC appealed the decision of the German Football Association's sports court. The sports German Football Association court president Hans Eberhard Lorenz
Hans Eberhard Lorenz (born 3 March 1951) is a German jurist.
Lorenz is Presiding Judge of the criminal division at the Regional Court Mainz.
At the 39th Bundestag of the German Football Association in October 2007, Lorenz was elected as Presi ...
stated, "The appeal was unsuccessful, because no ground of opposition was to prove the referee has traded at any time conform to the rules, and the alleged Hertha BSC-sided weakness due to the interruption could not be proven.." He also stated that "There was no Berlin players injured or assaulted or were needed to be replaced. Had this been the case, the objection would have been done."[ The Federal Court of the German Football Association confirmed the Sports Court decision.] Hertha BSC can appeal the decision to the Sports Court for Arbitration.[ After the final verdict, Hertha BSC players went on vacation while Fortuna Düsseldorf players were not immediately released for vacation.
The disciplinary panel of the German Football Association decided that Fortuna Düsseldorf must play their first home match of next season with no fans for the fans running onto the field during the 2nd leg of the promotion/relegation playoff.] The club was also hit with a six figure fine.[
]
Other incidents
Another incident reported by ''Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter All ...
'' the next day was that Hertha BSC players attacked second leg referee Wolfgang Stark
Wolfgang Stark (born 20 November 1969) is a German former football referee who is based in Ergolding. He refereed for DJK Altdorf of the Bavarian Football Association.
Refereeing career
In addition to German domestic competitions, Stark offic ...
.[ Stark pressed charges against an unknown player for assaulting him off the field.][ Hertha BSC have apologized for the conduct of some of the club's players.] The four players are accused of verbally and physically harassing the referee. The German Football Association (DFB) handed down suspensions for Levan Kobiashvili
Levan Kobiashvili ( ka, ლევან კობიაშვილი, born 10 July 1977) is a Georgian former professional footballer and the current president of the Georgian Football Federation and a member of Parliament of Georgia.
He pla ...
, who was banned for a year, Christian Lell, who was banned for six matches, Thomas Kraft
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, who was banned for five matches and Andre Mijatović
Andre Mijatović (born 3 December 1979) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Career
Mijatović was born in Rijeka, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia and started his career at the local club HNK Rijeka, where he be ...
, who was banned for four matches. Kobiashvili's suspension was reduced to seven and a half months and Lell's ban was eventually reduced to 5 matches.
Match results
Legend
Bundesliga
''Note: Results are given with Hertha BSC score listed first.''
Relegation play-off
As 16th-placed team, Hertha BSC faces the 3rd-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga
The 2011–12 2. Bundesliga was the 38th season of the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second tier of its football league system. The season commenced on 15 July 2011, three weeks earlier than the 2011–12 Bundesliga season, and ended with the last ga ...
side in a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn a spot in the 2012–13 Bundesliga.
Dates and times of these matches were determined by the Deutsche Fußball-Liga
Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to:
*''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places
*''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym
*Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...
as following:
----
DFB-Pokal
''Note: Results are given with Hertha BSC score listed first.''
Player information
Roster and statistics
Roster, goals and appearances
Disciplinary action
: ''Disciplinary records for 2011–12 league matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.''
: ''Last updated on 5 May 2012''
Summer Transfers
In:
Out:
Winter transfers
In:
Out:
See also
* 2011–12 Bundesliga
*2011–12 DFB-Pokal
The 2011–12 DFB-Pokal was the 69th season of the annual German football cup competition. It commenced on 29 July 2011 with the first of six rounds and concluded on 12 May 2012 with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Since both finali ...
* Hertha BSC
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Hertha Bsc Season
Hertha BSC seasons
Hertha BSC