Getting to know: Mainz

History

The club known today as 1. FSV Mainz 05 traces its roots back to March 1905 and the local Café Neuf. Its sporting history remained confined to regional leagues and was relatively uneventful until a first promotion to the single-tier Bundesliga 2 in 1988. Since 1990 the 05ers have remained in the first or second division of German football.

In the early 2000s the club burst onto the national stage under coach and former player Klopp. The enigmatic defender took over in 2001 with the club at risk of relegation to the third division, but by 2004 he’d taken Mainz into the Bundesliga for the first time and in 2005 a maiden European campaign followed that ended with a 2-0 aggregate loss to eventual champions Sevilla in the UEFA Cup.

Despite relegation after three top-flight seasons, Klopp remained with the 05ers to try and secure promotion again. After narrowly missing out in fourth place for the third time as a coach, Klopp stood down and was given a farewell by 15,000 fans in the centre of Mainz.

The club did secure promotion and their so far only appearance in the DFB Cup semi-final the following year under Jorn Andersen. However, it was Tuchel, who had just led the club’s U19s to the domestic title with a team including the so-called 'Bruchweg Boys' of Andre Schürrle, Lewis Holtby and Adam Szalai, who took over for the return to the Bundesliga in 2009/10.

Under Tuchel they beat Bayern Munich on Matchday 3 and the following season sat top of the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history as Mainz equalled the record for seven consecutive victories to start a campaign. Their fifth-place finish that year remains their highest ever.

Tuchel would step down at the end of 2013/14 and eventually follow in Klopp’s footsteps to Dortmund. The 05ers took part in their first UEFA Europa League group stage in 2016/17 where they finished third behind Anderlecht and Saint-Etienne.

Honours

1x Regionalliga Südwest champions (1973)
1x German amateur champions (1982)
3x Oberliga Südwest champions (1981, 1988, 1990)
1x Amateurliga Südwest champions (1978)
3x South West Cup (1980, 1982, 1986)

Coach

Following a now well-trodden and successful path, Bo Svensson is another former player and youth coach at Mainz who has taken over the first team. The former Denmark centre-back was in fact signed by Klopp from Borussia Mönchengladbach and also played under Tuchel. He returned to the club in January 2021 with the team lagging second from bottom in the league, but an unprecedented turnaround saw him guide the 05ers to safety with games to spare and end the season with the best points-per-game rate of any Mainz coach in history.

Star man

Goals are like gold dust in Mainz. Jean-Philippe Mateta ended 2020/21 as the club’s 10-goal top scorer despite leaving on an 18-month loan to Crystal Palace in the winter. Next in the scoring stakes was Robin Quaison, whose seven goals last season saw him overtake Mohamed Zidan and Yunus Malli as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga on 31.

Last season

The fact Mainz finished 2020/21 in 12th place falls into the category of minor miracle. They looked dead and buried by Christmas with only six points and one win on the board. Coach Achim Beierlorzer had lasted only two games; Jan-Moritz Lichte was gone by the new year; Jan Siewert was beaten 5-2 in Munich for his only game; and Svensson earned just a point in his first three matches. Only the fact Schalke had been worse had kept Mainz off the foot of the table most of the time.

However, things suddenly turned around for the Rückrunde. Starting with a shock 3-2 win against RB Leipzig, the 05ers started playing like a European contender and were the fifth-best team in the second half of the season, earning two points more than Leipzig, for example. From seven points, they rocketed up to 39 to finish 12th after winning nine (including against Bayern) and losing only three of their remaining 17 games.

Watch: The Svensson Effect

The stadium

Mainz’s home since 2011 is currently known as the Opel Arena. The 34,000-capacity stadium was originally called the Coface Arena and was built to replace the ageing Stadion am Bruchweg. It was nominated for the Stadium Business Award for innovative and new ideas in stadium construction. The ground hosted its first and so far only Germany match in June 2014 as Die Mannschaft faced Armenia in their final warm-up game for the 2014 FIFA World Cup they won.

Getting there

Mainz lies just 10 miles to the west of Frankfurt Airport, which is Germany’s largest and busiest. It offers flights to all corners of the globe, so there is no shortage of ways to get to Frankfurt or Mainz. The S8 train then runs directly from the airport station into Mainz. The city is very well served by local and long-distance train services throughout Germany and Europe.

Getting to the Opel Arena

As with all Bundesliga matchday tickets, these allow free travel on local public transport to and from the stadium. The Opel Arena is reachable from the stops Hochschule Mainz, Plaza and Kisselberg via tram and bus.

Buying tickets

Tickets can still be bought via the official club website HERE.

Can’t make it? Watch here:

If you can’t make it to the stadium, Bundesliga matches are broadcast around the world. ESPN provides coverage in the United States, while BT Sports are the exclusive broadcaster in the United Kingdom. In Germany, Sky Sports show the majority of matches, with DAZN hosting one match per week.

Buy the kit

You can get your own Mainz jersey from the official club shop.