The 2011–12 season was the 117th season in the history of Fortuna Düsseldorf. The season started on 18 July against VfL Bochum.

Review and events

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

Hertha BSC vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf

The matches Fortuna Düsseldorf won a spot in the promotion/relegation playoff against the Bundesliga's Hertha BSC.

First leg Entering the playoff, Fortuna Düsseldorf had not played in the top flight for 15 seasons. 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.

Second leg In the return leg in Düsseldorf, both teams drew 2–2; Fortuna Düsseldorf won on aggregate 4–3. 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. It took 21 minutes to restore order 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.

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

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

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

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. The club was also sanctioned with a six-figure fine.

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

Match results

Legend

2. Bundesliga

Regular season MatchDateTimeVenueOpponentResultScorersAttendanceLeaguePosition118 July 201120:15HomeVfL Bochum2–0Rösler 66', Bröker 88'33,1502224 July 201115:30AwaySC Paderborn1–1Langeneke 42' (pen.)11,014335 August 201118:00HomeFC Ingolstadt4–1Rösler 43', Bröker 50', 72', Fink 54'21,2401415 August 201120:15AwayEintracht Frankfurt1–1Beister 54'42,0006519 August 201118:00Home1860 Munich3–1Rösler 43' (pen.), Lambertz 46', Beister 67'28,3005627 August 201113:00AwayAlemannia Aachen0–0—23,8647710 September 201113:00HomeKarlsruher SC4–2Langeneke 12' (pen.), Rösler 20', Bröker 67', 75'27,2303816 September 201118:00AwayErzgebirge Aue4–2Langeneke 14' (pen.), Rösler 22', Lukimya 84', Juanan 89'10,1003924 September 201113:00HomeEnergie Cottbus4–2Beister 4', 26', Rösler 17', Grimaldi 90'+3'25,4502103 October 201120:15AwayEintracht Braunschweig1–1Langeneke 85' (pen.)23,05031117 October 201120:15AwayFC St. Pauli3–1Lambertz 45+1', 57', Beister 75'24,48731221 October 201118:00HomeHansa Rostock2–0Langeneke 27' (pen.), Rösler 54'23,55031330 October 201113:30AwayFSV Frankfurt5–2Rösler 16', 55' (pen.), Dum 66', Beister 82', 85'7,7191144 November 201118:00HomeDynamo Dresden2–1Beister 20', Jovanović 90'+2'32,30011519 November 201113:30AwayUnion Berlin0–0—18,43221628 November 201120:15HomeGreuther Fürth2–1Fink 18', Langeneke 39' (pen.)33,0171175 December 201120:15AwayMSV Duisburg2–0Langeneke 57' (pen.), Rösler 59'23,11711810 December 201113:00AwayVfL Bochum1–1Rösler 74'17,50011916 December 201118:00HomeSC Paderborn2–3Juanan 56', Jovanović 75'25,2401204 February 201213:00AwayFC Ingolstadt1–1Langeneke 30' (pen.)6,58512113 February 201220:15HomeEintracht Frankfurt1–1Langeneke 90+1' (pen.)41,21312219 February 201213:30Away1860 Munich1–2Beister 44'21,40042327 February 201220:15HomeAlemannia Aachen0–0—28,7125243 March 201213:00AwayKarlsruher SC5–0Fink 10', Beister 16', Ilsø 49', Rösler 53', Lambertz 76'16,41942510 March 201213:00HomeErzgebirge Aue3–1Beister 22', Ilsø 65', Bröker 72'30,23732619 March 201220:15AwayEnergie Cottbus1–1Matuszczyk 81'7,81932724 March 201213:00HomeEintracht Braunschweig1–1Bröker 47'35,4273282 April 201220:15HomeFC St. Pauli0–0—47,4843295 April 201218:00AwayHansa Rostock1–2Jovanović 85'14,50033010 April 201217:30HomeFSV Frankfurt1–0Jovanović 55'25,10733116 April 201220:15AwayDynamo Dresden1–2Bröker 44'26,36743222 April 201213:30HomeUnion Berlin2–1Ilsø 15', Rösler 22' (pen.)33,63733329 April 201213:00AwayGreuther Fürth1–1Ilsø 60'15,5003346 May 201213:30HomeMSV Duisburg2–2Fink 18', Lukimya 21'51,0003 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.

Promotion playoff 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. 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:

DFB-Pokal

Player information

Roster and statistics

Squad Season 2011–12Sources:Player2. BundesligaDFB-PokalPromotion playoffTotalsPlayerNat.Birthdayat FortunasincePrevious clubMatchesGoalsMatchesGoalMatchesGoalsMatchesGoals GoalkeepersMichael Ratajczak2007Rot-Weiss Essen17020 190Robert Almer2011Austria Wien3000 30Markus Krauss2011VfB Stuttgart0000 00 DefendersJeron Hazaimeh2002SV Wersten0000 00Juanan2011Real Madrid Castilla11210 122Jens Langeneke2006Rot Weiss Ahlen19710 207Tobias Levels2011Borussia Mönchengladbach12010 130Assani Lukimya2010Carl Zeiss Jena19120 211Kai Schwertfeger1997Mettmanner SC0000 00Johannes van den Bergh2009Borussia Mönchengladbach19020 210Christian Weber2009AEL8020 100 MidfieldersMaximilian Beister2010Hamburger SV19820 218Adam Bodzek2011MSV Duisburg18020 200Sascha Dum2010Energie Cottbus14120 161Tugrul Erat2009Union Nettetal12000 120Oliver Fink2009SpVgg Unterhaching17221 193Andreas Lambertz2002VfR Neuss17320 193Jules Schwadorf2011Bayer Leverkusen0000 00 ForwardsVillyan Bijev2011Liverpool0000 00Thomas Bröker2010Rot Weiss Ahlen17521 196Timo Furuholm2012Inter Turku2000 20Adriano Grimaldi2011Mainz 057120 91Ken Ilsø2011Midtjylland13000 130Ranisav Jovanović2008Mainz 055100 62Robbie Kruse2011Melbourne Victory11010 120Sascha Rösler20101860 Munich181123 2014

Sources

Match reports

Other sources