FC Pipinsied: From the rise and fall of the village club from the hinterland – sport

Whistle, the ball rolls, but it rolls slower than before. Nobody mowed. Maybe that’s intentional. A slow run is considered an advantage for the inferior team, and on this Friday evening it is clearly the host FC Pipinsried, who has already been relegated to the regional league before the game against FC Augsburg II.

That would have been unthinkable before. As president and greenkeeper in one, Konrad Höß sometimes liked to walk barefoot across the lawn to protect it. The lawn was sacred to him. He had once received the site from the diocese of Augsburg, thanks to good relationships – 99 years of hereditary lease. They had built the stadium here on their own. And Höß, the founder of the club, became something of a papa, a football pope with a claim to infallibility. For decades the announcer’s booth was his pulpit, then he used to preach: “Today the team is playing nonsense again!”

In 2018, however, it happened that Höß, then 77, was suddenly no longer allowed to decide who walked on the lawn and when. When a game is canceled and when not. Because regional league – that’s more for professionals, not for aging, imperious presidents. Of course, no one said that back then. But Höß was voted out after 51 years, the first team was spun off into a limited liability company, so it went into quasi-secular ownership.

A lot has happened since then, with the village club of the village of 580 people coming and going enormously. In May 2018, for example, TSV 1860 came to a legendary regional league game, for which they quickly converted the field next to the field into a “natural grandstand” – for 7000 visitors; an event of which they are justifiably proud to this day. But in everyday life it became clear that such a small club can quickly get out of hand if there are not enough volunteers.

Today some say: In Pipinsried too many outsiders were in charge

A month before he was voted out, Höß told SZ: “A great danger will come to FC Pipinsried if the current coach Fabian Hürzeler and manager Roman Plesche, who I brought here, stop. They are doing a good job, but only see Pipinsried as a springboard for professional football. Afterwards, all the stops have to be pulled out so that the high-class football in Pipinsried is maintained.” A valid warning. The 2022/23 season now ended in a crashing crash. The 2018 revolution ate their children.

Today some say: At FC Pipinsried too many outsiders were in charge – Höß calls them “foreigners” – for whom offices and prestige were more important than the club. One of the 11 coaches who have come and gone over the past five years recently said: “I quit again because I had to do everything on my own.” Nobody felt responsible.

Open detailed view

So there is the accusation of gentrification, which comes from the place itself. And there are accusations from outside that simply nothing happened. This goes with the anecdote that Türkgücü Munich, a year ago in a desperate search for a stadium, also made representations in Pipinsried. The offer for a handful of games was said to be extremely lucrative, but it was turned down. Reason: too much work.

Last fall, everything suddenly happened very quickly. A short-sighted squad composition, sporting failure, then player-coach Nikola Jelisic had to go. In protest, attacker Pablo Pigl stopped. Some players refused to even say hello to new coach Frank Peuker, who left after one game. In winter, several top performers turned their backs on the club, and the sporting descent ended in chaos. On April 13, FC Pipinsried sent out a dry press release: “The sporting director of FC Pipinsried announced today that he is resigning from his post with immediate effect. FC Pipinsried would like to thank you for your commitment.” Tarik Sarisakal was meant. A little later, President Roland Küspert no longer stood for election, and his successor is now Benny Rauch. Together with his new team, the 41-year-old seems to be able to stop the free fall.

The game against Augsburg II is lost 0:4 that Friday evening. “But we didn’t let ourselves be slaughtered. It’s important to still show a face,” said Enver Maltas, the current coach. He will be sporting director next season. He knows that the remaining appearances are important for the coming season, despite their sporting insignificance. It’s about signals, about a spirit of optimism. “Just a break, no farewell,” President Rauch quotes a sponsor who may be returning soon.

At the last home game against Burghausen, Höß is to be appointed honorary president

New President Rauch should bring the necessary toughness with him, last June he became kickboxing world champion in the over 35 class and second in the open men’s class. Of course, it is important to know your weight. FC Pipinsried have experienced great things in the regional league, he now says, but you don’t need this league. At least not at any price: “It’s also not as attractive as it is often made out to be.” Rauch says that FC have often not used their potential – which he doesn’t mean in a sporty way, but the ability to stand for his region as a sports club. He thinks the Bayernliga fits in very well in this respect. One with a lot of identification is now also sports director: Atdhedon Lushi is a promotion hero of FC Pipinsried, under the then player-coach Fabian Hürzeler – who is currently at FC St. Pauli.

While the squad planning is in progress, there is one more important thing to do. Actually, they had already said in 2018 that Konrad Höß had to be appointed Honorary President. Only the eternal president stayed away annoyed, angry about what was being done with his life’s work and his lawn. He now comes to the home games again and stands next to the goal with a corduroy hat, leaning against the advertising board, just like he used to. At the last home game of the season, against Burghausen, he is to be appointed honorary president.

“I’m happy to be back where it all began,” said Augsburg’s Tobias Strobl at the press conference in the clubhouse. “And I’m happy that Conny is back here. Not just at the club, but in the club,” he says. Strobl is 35 and has the highest coaching license. He was 24 when Höss made him player-coach. Höss looks down skeptically from a photo from 1979 hanging directly above Strobl. But sometimes Höß can also smile. For example, if you ask him how many successful players and coaches he has produced, just like Strobl. “I was a genius,” says Hoess. Maybe, just maybe, the grin is meant ironically.