How can FC Heidenheim stave off another fight for survival? | OneFootball

Heidenheim made a very impressive start to life in the Bundesliga, surpassing all expectations by finishing 8th in the 2023/24 season and securing European football for the first time in club history. All of this was achieved whilst operating on the smallest budget in the league - earning praise from fans and media not just in Germany, but worldwide too.

Unfortunately, it seemed the so-called ‘second season syndrome’ - a phrase often coined in England - got the better of them in the most recent campaign, as they could only manage a 16th-placed finish which landed them in the playoff against SV Elversberg. It could be argued that after their debut Bundesliga season, they were victims of their own success, as for a team with Heidenheim’s limited financial resources even merely surviving could be seen as punching above their weight.

Facing a team with even less financial firepower in Elversberg, Heidenheim retained their Bundesliga status thanks to a dramatic last-gasp goal from Leo Scienza in the second leg, thus sealing a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Now, Frank Schmidt’s side face a crucial offseason as they look to regroup and aim for a much more comfortable campaign - for both the team and its supporters.

What went wrong?

A comparison with the previous season reveals several downward trends that could have well contributed to Heidenheim’s decline in 2024/25.

First and foremost, the drop in attacking output is pretty damning. In 2023/24, Heidenheim scored 50 goals in the Bundesliga; this past season, that number fell to just 37. Much of this can be attributed to the departure of top scorers Tim Kleindienst, who moved to Gladbach, and Eren Dinkçi, whose loan from Werder Bremen ended. The duo finished the campaign with 12 and 10 league goals respectively.

No player hit double figures this past season. Marvin Pieringer ended as the side's top scorer with seven Bundesliga goals. With goals at a premium, the absence of Kleindienst and Dinkçi’s clinical finishing was sorely felt.

Set pieces - once a key weapon in Heidenheim’s arsenal - also dried up. At the halfway point of the 2023/24 season, they had scored 10 set-piece goals, more than any other team in the league. By contrast, they managed just eight across the entire 2024/25 campaign - a significant drop from the 15 they scored the previous season.

The departure of Jan-Niklas Beste to Benfica could be a large factor in the decline of goals from dead ball situations, as his menacing deliveries caused the opposition all sorts of problems in the 2023/24 season. The left back ended the season with a team-high 11 assists.

Finally, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of European football when assessing Heidenheim’s struggles. They began the season with a thin squad and were then stretched further by the demands of competing in three different competitions.

Despite giving a strong account of themselves in the Europa Conference League - reaching the last 32 before eventually being knocked out by FC Copenhagen - the added midweek fixtures clearly took a toll on their domestic form. Heidenheim managed just two league wins following their Thursday night European outings.

Keys to improvement

A key factor in Heidenheim’s amazing first season in the top flight was their home form. They ended the 2023/24 season ranked seventh in the home form table, securing 26 of their 42 points at the Voith-Arena, scoring 30 and conceding 26 in the process.

In contrast, this past season saw Heidenheim finish the season rock bottom of the home form table. They could only muster up 11 points and 13 goals at home all season - a major contributor to their 16th-place finish.

There have been flashes of how tough a place the Voith-Arena can be to come too, especially visible in wins over FC Bayern and VfB Stuttgart in the 2023/24 season. But if Heidenheim want to avoid another relegation battle, they will need to turn their home ground into a nightmarish prospect for visiting teams once more.

Another worrying trend is the decline in aerial dominance. In 2023/24, the team won 53% of its aerial duels. In 2024/25, that figure dropped to just 46%.

Interestingly, defenders Patrick Mainka and Benedikt Gimber actually improved individually in this area, suggesting the real problem lies in attack. Kleindienst, for example, won 60.5% of his aerial duels in 2023/24, while Pieringer only managed 37.1% this past season. The lack of aerial presence up front may have played a significant role in Heidenheim’s struggles - something Frank Schmidt must address this summer.

Transfers

So far, Heidenheim have been relatively quiet in the transfer market, bringing in attacking midfielder Arijon Ibrahimović on loan from Bayern Munich. They’ll hope he can replicate or exceed the contributions of fellow Bayern loanee Paul Wanner, who ended last season with seven Bundesliga goal involvements.

Another area of concern is at left-back, with the departure of yet another Bayern loanee, Franz Krätzig. While filling the shoes of Jan-Niklas Beste was always going to be a tough ask, the 22-year-old impressed and will be missed on the left flank. Despite several links, no imminent replacements appear to be lined up.

Up front, Heidenheim again face the task of replacing Kleindienst and Dinkçi. As mentioned earlier, the loss of goals after their exits proved costly. While Kleindienst went on to score 16 Bundesliga goals for Gladbach, Dinkçi endured a frustrating season at Freiburg, failing to score in 23 league appearances.

In January, Heidenheim attempted to address the lack of attacking threat by signing Budu Zivzivadze from Karlsruher SC. Unfortunately, the Georgian international contributed just two goals in 17 appearances.

With Pieringer still recovering from ankle surgery, bolstering the forward line should be a top priority before the new campaign begins.

Looking ahead to next season

Just over a month after narrowly avoiding relegation, head coach Frank Schmidt reconvened his squad for preseason training on July 1st, with one clear objective: survival.

Schmidt has made his ambitions for the new campaign crystal clear: “We want to improve in all areas,” he stated, adding that the 29 points earned last season “would no longer be enough.”

When asked how he plans to achieve those objectives, he was direct: “Our home record last season was disastrous - there’s no other way to put it. In recent years, we’ve thrived on being one of the strongest home teams. We want to get back to that. To do that, you have to score goals. But we also need to stabilize our defence again. We want to be more compact over 90 minutes plus stoppage time, and we need that resilience that has defined us over the years. We want to bring that DNA and identity back onto the pitch - and in every game!”

There has been frequent debate surrounding Frank Schmidt’s future and whether the 51-year-old remains the right man for the job. Towards the end of last season, he came under growing scrutiny, with sections of the media questioning whether a change was needed following a series of poor performances. However, the club has consistently backed the Bundesliga’s longest-serving current head coach - a testament to the work Schmidt has done at Heidenheim.

Heidenheim are continuing their preparations with a training camp in South Tyrol, which has already included a 2-0 friendly victory against Austrian side Wacker Innsbruck. Further friendlies against Ingolstadt, Strasbourg, and Parma are also scheduled in the coming weeks.

At the start of training camp, it was confirmed that Patrick Mainka will once again captain the club - his fifth season in the role. Speaking about the honour, Mainka said:

“Even for the fifth year in a row, it’s by no means a given, and at the same time, it’s a special honour for me to be captain of 1. FC Heidenheim. After the challenging and instructive past season, I’m full of energy and excited to fight for our Bundesliga survival together with the team, the coaching and support staff, and our entire FCH family. We will give our all to achieve this ambitious goal!”

Heidenheim will kick off their 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign at home against Wolfsburg on August 23rd, hoping to start strong and avoid another tense battle for survival.