2011–12 Fortuna Düsseldorf season

Fortuna Düsseldorf became the most successful Herbstmeister ("Autumn champion") in 2. Bundesliga history after earning 41 points from 17 matches.[1][2] The 41 points accumulated is the most in history since the three-point system was introduced in 1995.[1] Düsseldorf lost their first six matches in 2010–11 season.[2] since then, they've earned 94 points which is most out of all professional football clubs in Germany.[2]

Fortuna Düsseldorf won a spot in the promotion/relegation playoff against the Bundesliga's Hertha BSC.[3]

Entering the playoff, Fortuna Düsseldorf had not played in the top flight for 15 seasons.[4] They won the first leg against Hertha BSC 1–2 in Berlin's Olympic Stadium with goals from Thomas Bröker and an own goal from Hertha's Adrián Ramos.[4]

In the return leg in Düsseldorf, both teams drew 2–2;[3][5] Fortuna Düsseldorf won on aggregate 4–3.[3][5] However, the match's second half was marred by trouble, first after Hertha supports threw flares onto the pitch after Fortuna scored its second goal of the night to go up 2–1. The other problem was when several Fortuna supporters ran onto the field with around one minute remaining in the match.[3][6][7] It took 21 minutes to restore order[8] and stoppage time ended up being 28 minutes by the time the final whistle blew. With Fortuna winning the two-legged affair, they secured a return to the Bundesliga after 15 seasons.[7]

Hertha BSC appealed the result of the match.[9][10] The German Football Association (DFB) met on 18 May 2012 to discuss the incidents of the second leg.[9][10] Campino, singer for Die Toten Hosen, called Hertha BSC's protest "indecent".[11] The hearing at the DFB lasted for six hours.[12] The panel's decision will not be known until a further meeting on Monday.[12] It is expected to make a decision at 15.00 CET.[12] 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.[12] The players being investigated are Levan Kobiashvili, Christian Lell, Thomas Kraft and Andre Mijatović.[12] Second leg referee Wolfgang Stark was a key witness at the first hearing.[12] Fortuna canceled a planned trip to Mallorca due to the hearing on 21 May 2012.[13]

Sports law expert Michael Lehner said that Hertha can hope for replay after the second leg of the promotion/relegation playoff.[14] 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."[14]

The sports court of the DFB ultimately rejected Hertha's appeal,[15][16][17] with Hertha ordered to pay the cost of the proceedings.[17] Hertha then appealed the decision of the DFB's sports court.[15][16][17] The sports DFB court president Hans Eberhard Lorenz 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."[16] The Federal Court of the German Football Association confirmed the Sports Court decision.[18] Hertha can appeal the decision to the Sports Court for Arbitration.[18] After the final verdict, Hertha players went on vacation, while Fortuna players were not immediately released for vacation.[19]

The disciplinary panel of the DFB decided that Fortuna must play their first home match of next season behind closed doors as a result of their fans running onto the field during the second leg of the promotion/relegation playoff.[20] The club was also sanctioned with a six-figure fine.[20]

Another incident, as reported by Die Welt the next day, was that Hertha players attacked second leg referee Wolfgang Stark.[8] Stark pressed charges against an unknown player for assaulting him off the field.[12] Hertha apologized for the conduct of some of the club's players.[13] The decision on the misconduct of Kobiashvili, Lell, Kraft and Mijatović are due later this week.[15][16] The four players are accused of verbally and physically harassing the referee.[16][17] Fortuna's Andreas Lambertz is also being investigated.[16][17] He celebrated with a torch in his hand after the match.[16]

  Win   Draw   Loss

• 1.^ Match times before 30 October and after 24 March are played in Central European Summer Time. Match times from 30 October to 24 March are played in Central European Time.
• 2.^ Fortuna Düsseldorf goals listed first.

As third-place team, Fortuna Düsseldorf faces the 16th-placed 2011–12 Bundesliga side in a two-legged play-off. Hertha BSC finished in 16th place.[22] 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 as following:[23]

As of 17 December 2011

Squad Season 2011–12 Sources:[24][25][26]
Player					2. Bundesliga		DFB-Pokal		Promotion playoff		Totals
Player	Nat.	Birthday	at Fortuna since	Previous club	Matches	Goals	Matches	Goal	Matches	Goals	Matches	Goals
Goalkeepers
Michael Ratajczak		16 April 1982	2007	Rot-Weiss Essen	17	0	2	0			19	0
Robert Almer		20 March 1984	2011	Austria Wien	3	0	0	0			3	0
Markus Krauss		16 September 1987	2011	VfB Stuttgart	0	0	0	0			0	0
Defenders
Jeron Hazaimeh		13 February 1992	2002	SV Wersten	0	0	0	0			0	0
Juanan		27 April 1987	2011	Real Madrid Castilla	11	2	1	0			12	2
Jens Langeneke		29 March 1977	2006	Rot Weiss Ahlen	19	7	1	0			20	7
Tobias Levels		22 November 1986	2011	Borussia Mönchengladbach	12	0	1	0			13	0
Assani Lukimya		25 January 1986	2010	Carl Zeiss Jena	19	1	2	0			21	1
Kai Schwertfeger		8 September 1988	1997	Mettmanner SC	0	0	0	0			0	0
Johannes van den Bergh		21 November 1986	2009	Borussia Mönchengladbach	19	0	2	0			21	0
Christian Weber		15 September 1983	2009	Larissa	8	0	2	0			10	0
Midfielders
Maximilian Beister		6 September 1990	2010	Hamburger SV	19	8	2	0			21	8
Adam Bodzek		7 September 1985	2011	MSV Duisburg	18	0	2	0			20	0
Sascha Dum		3 July 1986	2010	Energie Cottbus	14	1	2	0			16	1
Tugrul Erat		17 June 1992	2009	Union Nettetal	12	0	0	0			12	0
Oliver Fink		6 June 1982	2009	SpVgg Unterhaching	17	2	2	1			19	3
Andreas Lambertz		15 October 1984	2002	VfR Neuss	17	3	2	0			19	3
Jules Schwadorf		19 October 1992	2011	Bayer Leverkusen	0	0	0	0			0	0
Forwards
Villyan Bijev		3 January 1993	2011	Liverpool	0	0	0	0			0	0
Thomas Bröker		22 January 1985	2010	Rot Weiss Ahlen	17	5	2	1			19	6
Timo Furuholm		11 October 1987	2012	Inter Turku	2	0	0	0			2	0
Adriano Grimaldi		5 April 1991	2011	Mainz 05	7	1	2	0			9	1
Ken Ilsø		2 December 1986	2011	Midtjylland	13	0	0	0			13	0
Ranisav Jovanović		5 November 1980	2008	Mainz 05	5	1	0	0			6	2
Robbie Kruse		5 October 1988	2011	Melbourne Victory	11	0	1	0			12	0
Sascha Rösler		28 October 1977	2010	1860 Munich	18	11	2	3			20	14