SC Werden-Heidhausen is a football club based in the southern Essen suburb of Werden, formed following a merger between local rivals ASV Werden and SV Heidhausen to create a single club with a strong community ethos.
ASV Werden
The first prominent football club in the suburb was SV Werden 08 e.V., formed in 1908. Among their early highlights was a victory against Rot-Weiss Essen. Hollowing World War II, the Werdeners won promotion to Landesliga Niederrhein, which was the highest-level amateur league in the region at the time.
Some promotions and relegations followed before the team returned to the Bezirksklasse in 1961-62. They then merged with another local club, VfB Werden, which 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 its 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 around it, with the clubhouse modernised.
The club also saw a large increase in membership, as many of the committee members stayed on from the previous two clubs. It also led to a stable financial situation, whereas previously, neither Werden nor Heidhausen had much money. The side progressed from the Kreisliga to the Bezirksliga, before dropping back down again.
Hopes of promotion scuppered in the play-offs before the league title was secured in 2018-19 as the side went back up a level to the seventh-tier Bezirksliga. The 2024-25 campaign saw Werden-Heidhausen win the league title, where Antoine Pierre Feld led the scoring to take the team up to Gruppe 2 of the Landesliga Niederrhein.
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 and said I had to have a trolley. Blow that. I found an excellent bratwurst stall instead. Fully nourished, I went to find the right platform for the train. It was a fifteen-minute journey to Werden, which looked like a pretty little settlement across the Ruhr. Sadly, there wasn’t time to explore.
I followed Im Löwental by the railway to the sports park entrance. It 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 were 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. I headed along the steps by the roadside to relax 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.
SC Velbert, the visitors for the match, fielded their second string. They played at a level lower than their hosts and had a younger line-up. The extra strength and physicality were decisive factors in a dominant home team's first-half performance. They went 1-0 up when a forward nipped in front of furious keeper Timm Schreiber, who 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 return the ball and hit the floodlight pylon with it, which meant he had to fetch it. It seemed to amuse the locals anyway.
The lead was doubled mainly thanks to the run of Tmo Orlic, who beat Velbert’s offside trap, in the view of the ref who officiated without the club's 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 around 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 around to the steps to retake my position for the second half.
Velbert’s trainer, 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 told again. 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.
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 full-time whistle worked perfectly to catch the 6.59 S6 half-hour service back to Düsseldorf, which took us past some lovely scenery.
I collected my bag from the left luggage locker and headed to my digs. Monopol Hotel was on the tired side, but it had nice, friendly, welcoming staff and covered all my requirements for a couple of nights. It represented decent value for a central location. I listened to the end of the South Africa v British Lions game while resting and freshening up.
It was time to head to the Altstadt. My word, it was as busy as I could remember, even during the festival. I grabbed a seat in the side room of Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel and started the evening with a few small altbiers. Ideally, I’d have gone to the characterful Hühnerstall, but it was packed out, as were most bars, including many spilling out onto the streets.
I managed to get into a place a couple of doors up, once I’d shown proof of double vaccination 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.