🇩🇪 How did a town of just 60k people produce a Bundesliga club?

FC Heidenheim have gone from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga under the same manager!

Located midway between Munich and Stuttgart is the small town of Heidenheim. Until recently, it was most widely known in Germany for its opera festival - ‘Opernfestspiele Heidenheim’ - which has been running since 1964.

Now, though, there’s another reason to talk about the town.

Heidenheim, a settlement of just 60,000 inhabitants, is now home to a Bundesliga club. Indeed, last season saw FC Heidenheim win the German second tier title, their prize being a place in the top flight.

Three games into their first ever Bundesliga campaign, FC Heidenheim will travel east to face Borussia Dortmund on Friday. The entire population of Heidenheim could fit inside the Westfalenstadion with over 20,000 seats to spare. 

RB Leipzig are the only other German club to have risen from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga this century, but FC Heidenheim’s story is very different to that of the energy drink-branded franchise. 

There’s no oligarch or multinational corporation behind FC Heidenheim - just a smart head coach, a good group of players and a small, but committed, community.

Their story epitomises what makes German football special.