Had the occasion not been so important, FSV Rheinfelden footballers could have taken a special route to FV Rot-Wei Elchesheim on Thursday: a boat about 200 kilometers from the Rhine to Elchesheim-Illingen. In a community of nearly 3,400 inhabitants, located a few kilometers north of Rastatt and at the northernmost end of the Baden Association Zone, the FSV is starting to rise to the Association League.

But last summer it wasn’t entirely certain whether red and white would play in Elchesheim. The club was arguing with the community over the sports field, they had not been allowed to use them since July, and all play and training operations had to be organized abroad. The dispute went to court, a compromise was found for the future, and in mid-September RW returned to his seat.

Despite this turmoil, the Elchesheimers had an amazing season with champion-worthy statistics: least missed goals (25) and least defeats (one) out of all three national league seasons, and RW also remained undefeated away. The fact that the SC Hofstetten team had to leave the championship was due to another superlative: most draws (twelve).

Rot-Weien coach Dirk Rohde, 30, can rely on an experienced team, some of whom have experience in the national league. Four players have double-digit numbers this season: Nikola Kandic (13 goals, former Karlsruher SC junior), Dominic Frey (12), Rico Olajos (11, former SC Freiburg U 19) and Lukas Frisch (10). Elchesheim have not lost 22 games – the longest series in the region. The longest series this season has been exactly 23 matches in the entire district: FSV Rheinfelden.