Heidenheim continue to prove doubters wrong

When Chelsea visit Heidenheim in the UEFA Nations League on 28 November, it is safe to say they will perform in front of home fans still pinching themselves at the fact they are watching international stars rather than amateurs. 

Upon the Baden-Württemberg side reaching the top flight of German football in summer 2023, it's fair to say there was little opposition to those claims that they would go straight back down. After all, they were debutants at this elite level and were operating on a fairly meagre budget.

Their 15,000-capacity Voith-Arena may be the highest above sea level in German professional football, but it is the smallest in the Bundesliga, just one-fifth the size of Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena. In fact, the entire population of Heidenheim an der Brenz (barely 50,000) could fit inside the Allianz or Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park with plenty of seats left over.

Fast forward a year and a bit, and those who wrote off Heidenheim are now being served a big slice of humble pie.

Watch: The story of Heidenheim's maiden Bundesliga campaign

That's because Heidenheim have been simply excellent in the Bundesliga. As last season drew to an end, they were nowhere near the relegation zone. In fact, Heidenheim finished a whole nine points clear of the bottom three and 15 better off than the automatic trapdoor of second bottom - in such a lofty position, eighth, that they even earned a spot in the play-off round for the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League.

They made it in, and after recording a maximum nine points from nine in their first three league phase fixtures, their biggest reward is coming up next on Matchday 4 when they welcome Premier League giants and two-time Champions League winners Chelsea.

All of this came despite a disruptive summer where key men Jan-Niklas Beste, Tim Kleindienst and Nikola Dovedan departed, only for Heidenheim to fly out the blocks with five wins to open the campaign, including 2-1 and 3-2 scorelines against their play-off opponents BK Häcken.

Now with three wins from three against NK Olimpija, Pafos FC and Hearts, coach Frank Schmidt is in dreamland.

"I can't believe it," he said in his press conference after taking down their Scottish opponents. "We have nine points - and if we have the chance to progress, we want to take it. Now Chelsea are coming, which is not such an easy game, but something special."

It is simply a remarkable return for the team and their iconic coach, the local-boy-come-good, who had talked down his team's ambitions until late in 2023/24.

"We don't limit ourselves in our heads," Schmidt told kicker. "If [European qualification] happens, we'll be happy to accept it... We'll do everything we can to have the best possible placement at the end."

The 50-year-old is German football's longest-serving coach, having been in charge of a team he first joined as a player in 2003 since 2007. "Everything we've been told over the last decade that isn't possible if we don't do this or that - if these people had been right, then we wouldn't still be in the top league," he continued.

He may not want to limit his team's ambitions, but he was quick to play down the hype after Heidenheim made it five wins from as many competitive fixtures with a 4-0 victory over Augsburg on Matchday 2 of the current season to send the one-time minnows to top spot in the German football pyramid for the first time ever.

“It is always in the eyes of the beholder. Of course, it is great to start with two wins, but honestly, the way I see it is that we have six points and 15 percent of the points that we need to stay up in the end. For us it is about staying in the league," Schmidt stated post-match.

"We have a lot of games in October, November, December. If we can do anything, it is to be realistic and to go into every game and try to win it. You can do the dreaming. You can look at the table for two weeks now but I won't."

Watch: Heidenheim took to the summit with a big win over Augsburg

Another man who will have heard those doubts loud and clear for years now is Holger Sanwald.

Now the club's CEO, he joined Heidenheim as a 27-year-old with the club playing amateur football in the Landesliga - the seventh stop down on the German footballing pyramid. He's now 57 and the club are flying at the pointy end of the pyramid under his good friend Schmidt.

"What makes us strong is diligence, ambition and honesty. We all treat each other sensibly, don't betray sponsors or partners," explained Sanwald on a recent TV programme. Schmidt echoed those sentiments around Heidenheim doing things their own way, saying: "Everyone knows what we stand for and what I stand for."

This identity, paired with an incredible work ethic both on and off the pitch, has rubbed off on the players too.

Watch: Find out all about the story of Heidenheim

"I think we have a brutally strong character and won't let anyone pull us down," said star striker Tim Kleindienst, who finished wth 12 league goals for the season before his summer departure to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Typical of this humble club, Kleindienst always talked down those chances, even if he surpassed his own pre-season expectations.

"It could have been the case that I only scored two goals here. We were only just promoted," he said in an interview with kicker. "I'm even happier that I'm now at 12, because I didn't believe that before the season."

Vice-captain Norman Theuerkauf also thought back to those days in Bundesliga 2 prior to the Häcken tie: "Around 15 months ago we played a game against Regensburg. So, it wasn't even a dream in my mind, but I'm obviously now delighted that we get to play in Europe."

He definitely isn't the only person to go through those feelings over the last year and a bit, but unthinkable dreams are now a reality for one-time minnows Heidenheim, the newest club on the European scene.