BY OLIVER GRISS AND ULI WAGNER (PHOTO)
When the Löwen bus turned into Grünwalder Straße 114 late on Saturday evening after the 1: 3 bankruptcy, the players and those responsible couldn’t believe their eyes: Hundreds of fans were waiting at the 1860 training ground to celebrate the team.
Many fans were already waving their flags on the motorway bridges, as they did at the Audi Sportpark when almost 2,000 fans said goodbye to their heroes for the summer break despite having missed the qualification for relegation. Sascha Mölders, who became the top scorer with 22 goals, had tears in his eyes. The 36-year-old was so exhausted that he couldn’t get a word out at the end when he had the microphone in his hand. The season was tough – especially for him. He’d cut everything. That he ran out of breath in the end? For free!
“I’m going to get drunk now,” said coach Michael Köllner in a spontaneous press conference to db24 when it was clear that TSV 1860 would have to stay in the third division for another year.
Shortly after the lions got off the bus on Grünwalder Strasse in frustration, they climbed onto the roof of the Löwenstüberl to thank the loyal fans. Ivonne Mölders, the player’s wife, brought live pictures of the lion party on Instagram.
The team and fans deliver sensational pictures that prove once again: If the performance is right, then the fans of their great football love are at their feet. You don’t even want to imagine what happens at sixty when this club moves up to the second division again. But we have to wait at least another year for that …
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