"We don't fear anybody" – How underdogs Elversberg plan to survive the Bundesliga on their own terms

After narrowly missing out on Bundesliga promotion following a play-off final defeat to 1. FC Heidenheim in 2024/25, SV 07 Elversberg made history last season by finishing second in the 2. Bundesliga and securing a place in the German top flight for the first time ever.

It was another remarkable step forward for the small club from Spiesen-Elversberg, a municipality of around 13,000 people in Saarland, who have risen from the Regionalliga Südwest to the Bundesliga in just five years.

Elversberg have enjoyed remarkable success with a high-intensity, dominant and attacking style of football. And despite going from facing the likes of 1. FC Magdeburg and Eintracht Braunschweig to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, there is little reason to expect their approach to change.

“We won’t do anything differently. The identity stays the same,” SV Elversberg technical director Josef Welzmüller told Bulinews.com and other selected media outlets during a media roundtable on Friday.

“Of course, we’re making small adjustments as we adapt from the 2. Bundesliga to the Bundesliga, but the core idea and philosophy stays the same,” he added.

“We have a lot of respect for the Bundesliga, but we don’t fear anybody. That’s very important for us.”

36-year-old Welzmüller has been working for the club since April, when he was installed in a newly-created role as technical director. His key responsibilities include overseeing the club’s playing philosophy, methodology and player development.

Following the club’s promotion, Welzmüller and the rest of Elversberg’s management faced a fundamental decision: should they adopt a more defensive approach in an attempt to adapt to the demands of the Bundesliga, or should they stick with the philosophy that had taken them there?

They chose the latter.

“We sat down together and said: ‘Hey, we made the playing style part of our identity and this is bigger than everything. We chose players and a coach that fit our playing style, so we can’t change anything. We need to play the Elversberg way.’ I’m very glad we decided to do that,” Welzmüller explained.

Photo: SV 07 Elversberg

A proven track record for young players

A key part of Elversberg's identity is their commitment to recruiting young, talented players and providing them with the trust and environment they need to take the next step in their development.

Hoffenheim’s Fisnik Asllani, PSV’s Paul Wanner and Newcastle United and Germany forward Nick Woltemade are among the players who have benefited from loan spells at the club in recent years.

"From Fisnik Asllani to Paul Wanner and Nick Woltemade, we can tell the story that players came in, got their time on the pitch, the responsibility from the coach and individual player development, which turned them into better players,” Welzmüller explained.

“Even the agents know that this helps and works and ask if they can place players at Elversberg. That history did a lot of good for us. Ole Book [the former Elversberg sporting director, now working for Borussia Dortmund] and all the other guys that were here before me did a great job in that regard, and we can use that.

“It’s even easier now because we can offer them the chance to play in the Bundesliga. It was a bit more difficult in the 2. Bundesliga, but it’s quite easy this year. We can’t offer high wages, but we can offer a good development pathway for the players.”

Elversberg have remained true to that philosophy in their recruitment this summer, bringing in young players such as Cole Campbell from Dortmund (€6m) and Maurice Krattenmacher from Bayern Munich (€2m), while also signing Francis Onyeka from Bayer Leverkusen and Noah Darvich from Stuttgart on loan (€750,000 each).

“We simply can’t afford proven Bundesliga players. Or maybe we could afford one or two, but then we would break our whole wage structure. Our intention was always, when you go back the years, to bring in top talented players and develop them. That’s our core business, and we have a coaching staff that is insanely good at that. We have a very calm environment here in Elversberg, which also helps to do that," Welzmüller said.

"So naturally, our focus was on those kind of young top talents. And to be honest, we could secure all of them we really wanted, and we’re really proud to have them in. Cole [Campbell] is a very good example, but we also have Noah Darvich, Maurice Krattenmacher and Francis Onyeka. We’re very sure we’ll have a lot of fun with these players this year.”

Asked specifically about Campbell, Welzmüller revealed just how much faith he has in the 20-year-old US international.

“He’s our record signing, which probably shows how much we believe in Cole. He’s a fantastic player. He’s very fast and strong with the ball and in one-on-one situations. I’ve spent some time with him now, and he’s a very good kid with a very good character. We just want him to go into one-on-one situations and solve spaces for us. We are very, very sure that he will have a breakout season," he said.

“Our biggest loss would be to lose our identity"

Time will tell whether Elversberg’s brave philosophy will ultimately be enough to secure another season in the Bundesliga. 

But regardless of the outcome, the club’s decision-makers want to be able to look themselves in the mirror at the end of the season and know they stayed true to the football that brought the club this far.

“We need to look short term at staying in the league and try to pull all the levers we can. But the most important thing is to keep our identity," Welzmüller said.

“I can tell you next May if it worked our or not, but our biggest loss would be to lose our identity. We want to secure and keep that because that’s the most important thing for us," he concluded.

Elversberg will begin their historic Bundesliga campaign at home against Bayer Leverkusen at the Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 15:30 CEST.