SC Werden-Heidhausen is a football club based in the southern Essen suburb of Werden. The club was formed in 1995 following a merger between former clubs ASV Werden and SV Heidhausen who were previously local rivals.
ASV Werden
The first prominent football club in the suburb was SV Werden 08 e.V. that was formed in 1908. The 1930’s saw the team rise from 1. Bezirksklasse Ruhr to Ruhrbezirksliga before dropping back down, with a victory against Rot-Weiss Essen among the highlights.
Following the Second World War, the Werdeners qualified for a place in the Ruhrbezirksliga in 1946, before winning promotion to Landesliga Niederrhein the following season. This was the highest level amateur league in the region at the time.
However, Werden were relegated in 1948-49 after defeat to SC Kleve 63 in the play-offs, prior to just missing out on promotion at the first attempt. Further relegation to the Kreisklasse followed in 1951-52.
Promotion back to the Bezirksklasse came in 1961-62 before the club merged with another local club, VfB Werden, who had been formed in 1912 to create ASV Werden who were playing in the Kreisliga in 1995.
SV Heidhausen
SV Heidhausen was formed in 1887, and played their football at Volkswald in the nearby village of Heidhausen. The first team were also in the Kreisliga at the time of the merger.
SC Werden-Heidhausen
The merger in 1995 saw the new club move into Werden’s former home, Sportpark Löwental, which was given a new look with an artificial pitch and new facilities off it, with the clubhouse modernised.
The club also saw a large increase of members, as many of the committee stayed on from the previous two clubs. It also led to a stable financial situation. Previously, both Werden and Heidhausen did not have a lot of money.
The side progressed from the Kreisliga to the Bezirksliga, before dropping back down again. A runners-up spot in 1.Kreisliga was achieved in 2003-04 before the title was lifted in 2004-05, along with promotion to Gruppe 4 of the Bezirksliga where the team consolidated in fifth place.
Werden-Heidhausen finished runners-up of Gruppe 3 in 2008-09 prior to ending third twelve months later. The good finishes continued with fourth place in 2011-12 and fifth the following two campaigns.
However, the club suffered relegation from Gruppe 2 in 2015-16 before fighting back with a runner-up finish in Kreisliga A in 2016-17 which saw hopes of promotion scuppered in the play-offs. The league title was secured in 2018-19 as the side went back up a level.
In Gruppe 6 of the seventh tier Bezirksliga, the side ended the 2019-20 campaign in eighth place when the season was ended early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The pandemic hadn’t cleared, with the side from Löwental in second place when the 2020-21 season was aborted early.
SC Werden-Heidhausen will play in Niederrhein Bezirksliga Gruppe 3 in the 2021-22 season.
SC Werden-Heidhausen 3 SC Velbert II 1 (Saturday 7th August 2021) Friendly (att: c60)
The Saturday
of my latest trip to Germany’s North Rhine Westphalia was going better than I could
have hoped for. I’d seen a fine youth game at FC Kray and then really enjoyed
myself at Rot-Weiss Essen. The bus had deposited me at the city’s main station
after the second match.
Realising I could do with some food and drink I discovered an Aldi inside the main building. A guard shouted after me and indicated I had to have a trolley. Blow that. He did me a favour as I found an excellent value bratwurst stall. Fully nourished I went to find the right platform.
It was around a fifteen minute ride on the train to Werden, which looked a pretty little settlement across the Ruhr. Sadly, there wasn’t time to explore. Instead, I followed Im Löwental by the railway to the entrance to the sports park.
Once again admission was free. The entrance took me behind the curve of the four lane running track that surrounded the pitch. The clubhouse was behind the entrance end. To the right was a few steps of open terracing, to the left some grass banking with occasional benches.
Both goals had high fences behind them to stop errant balls heading off into the distance. Not great for spectating purposes, but ideal as a time saver. I headed along the road side and sat on the top step on what was turning into a pleasant early evening.
I’d timed it bang on as the game began as soon as I took up my position. The visitors for the match, the second string of SC Velbert plied their trade in Kreisliga A, a level lower than their hosts and had a more youthful line up.
The extra strength and physicality were decisive factors in a dominant home team first half performance. They went 1-0 up when a forward nipped in from of keeper Timm Schreiber who was furious as he kicked his post in disappointment.
Werden-Heidhausen had an absolute stone wall penalty turned down by referee Henrik Adolphs. I got a dirty look from the visiting player when I tried to kick the ball back after it came over the fence, managing to hit the floodlight pylon instead. It seemed to amuse the locals anyway.
The lead was doubled mainly in thanks to the run of Tmo Orlic who beat Velbert’s offside trap, in the view of the ref who officiated without the club linesmen flagging for such offences, before he squared low and hard for a teammate to tuck the ball away.
Niklas Cirkovic squandered a good opportunity to make it three when clean through. Bang on half time, Johann Alex of Velbert brought down Max Richter in the box. Marius Neef made no mistake with the penalty.
At the interval I had a walk round the impressive and pretty venue, which had a smaller artificial pitch on the far side as well as beach volleyball courts. A gent continually went round collecting any litter. It had a good vibe about the place.
A hatch in the clubhouse was selling sausages and beers were available, but I was going to wait for the night before any more imbibing, tempting though it was. I went back round to the steps to retake my position for the second half.
Velbert’s coach Andreas Nitas had obviously had words with his charges as they put in a far better showing. There was plenty of passion for a friendly game. Nitas and his counterpart Danny Konietzko would later have a good barney along the touchline.
Velbert got a lifeline soon after the restart when a lobbed pass allowed a forward in to score. The game became stretched and end to end as it went on. Werden were the more fluent side as their strength again told.
Despite that, Velbert had a couple more opportunities. Substitute Tim Bruns twice brought out the best of home custodian Lars Weber, first with a fierce shot and later with a header that was well tipped over the bar.
In between of which the game saw some theatrics and wailing, which probably led to the crankiness from the corresponding benches. I didn’t enjoy that part, and thought it spoiled an otherwise enjoyable game.
The fulltime whistle worked perfectly to head back to Essen-Werden station and catch the 6.59 S6 service back to Düsseldorf, which took us past some lovely scenery, taking half an hour. I collected my bag from the left luggage locker and headed to my digs.
Monopol Hotel was on the tired side but had nice friendly welcoming staff and covered all my requirements for a couple of nights at the decent price for somewhere so centrally located. I listened to the end of the South Africa v British Lions game before having a rest and freshening up.
It was time to head to the Altstadt, an area I love going out in. My word, it was as busy as I could remember, even during festival. I grabbed a seat in the side room of Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel and start the evening with a few small alt biers.
Ideally, I’d have gone in the characterful Hühnerstall but it was packed out, as were most bars, included many spilling out onto the streets. I managed to get in a place a couple of doors up, once I’d shown proof of being double vaccinated against Covid.
It was just the job, looking out of an open window into the throbbing lane and watching the action of other bars and passers by. A few pints later my eyes were beginning to tire. There was time for one of my favourite suppers anywhere, of currywurst and fries.
The most popular place in the area sold out as I neared the end of the queue. Yes, it was that busy. Fortunately, the Altstadt has lots of options. I headed back on the U Bahn a contented man and looking forward to more football and fun the following day.
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