Who Are Elversberg And Can They Reach The Bundesliga This Season?

Football maybe about to witness its greatest success story in recent years. We have all heard of Luton Town’s meteoric rise to the Premier League, but a side called SV Elversberg may just display an ascent more impressive.

The German outfit are two matches away from being in the Bundesliga, despite playing in Germany’s fourth tier just three years ago. They have quickly raced up the leagues and if all goes well in their promotion qualification matches across the next week, their achievement will be written into the history books forever.

Who Are Elversberg?

SV Elversberg are a football team from a small town named Spiesen-Elversberg, which is situated upon Germany’s Western border. The town has a remarkable population of approximately 12,500 as of 2022 yet are all brought together by the popularity of their football team.

It's the first leg of the Bundesliga's relegation playoff this evening: Heidenheim vs Elversberg.

Local population of Spiesen-Elvesberg: 12,500 — and they could be in the top flight for the first time in their history next season.

Dorf-Klub = Village Club.

— Seb Stafford-Bloor (@SebSB) May 22, 2025

In the last half a decade, Elversberg have defied all odds. They spent eight consecutive seasons in Germany’s fourth tier between 2014 and 2022, playing in the Regionalliga Southwest division against some of the Bundesliga sides’ B teams. They knocked on the door of promotion many times during this stint, finishing second multiple times and failing at the final hurdles. However, their luck finally changed in 2022 when SVE were eventually awarded promotion after winning the league with 80 points.

A fresh start in the 3. Liga was all that was needed to ignite a rapid turn of events. In their first season in the third division, Elversberg made it back-to-back league titles as they won the league again after an astonishing season. This meant that in 2023 the club were promoted one step further to the Bundesliga 2. They did not quite grasp another promotion straight away, however, an incredible season in the second tier saw them finish 11th. They were five places clear of any threat of relegation that season, despite competing against teams with barrels of Bundesliga experience – a sensational achievement for a club of SVE’s stature.

🖤🤍#DieElv #UnsereElv #miteuch pic.twitter.com/wCvoHAnJt8

— SV 07 ELVERSBERG (@SV07Elversberg) June 4, 2023

This leads them onto today, where they have exceeded all expectations…

What A Season!

After the jubilation of earning their keep in the Bundesliga 2 last season, Elversberg have attempted to break boundaries they never thought they could this campaign. The regular league season has just finished for them and after 34 games they have managed to finish in third spot, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion by one point. However, instead they have secured the only spot for promotion qualification, as they will play two legs against the team third from bottom in the Bundesliga.

Regardless of where ELV end up, this season has been phenomenal. The team have been absolutely flying – especially as of late, only losing one of their last fifteen games and winning eight of them in the meantime. They have only lost eight matches all season and have the second highest goal difference in the league, thanks to the talent flowing through their ranks. A key player for them has been Fisnik Asllani, a man on loan from Hoffenheim, who has scored 18 goals and collected nine assists in the Bundesliga 2 this season.

🔵 Borussia Mönchengladbach, Stuttgart and 4 other Bundesliga teams are interested in on-loan Elversberg striker Fisnik Asllani. (Bild)

⚽️ 18 goals and 9 assists for 3rd place Elversberg in the 2.Bundesliga.
📍 Hoffenheim would like to keep the striker. pic.twitter.com/MmjCWI8gcP

— Get German Football News (@GGFN_) May 21, 2025

However, none of Elversberg’s success could have been recorded without their manager Horst Steffen. The German has been with the club since 2018, experiencing all highs and lows. Although, he has been responsible for most of the monumental highs ELV have reached recently. With the potential to gain three promotions in four years is something unheard of, but Steffen might just make that possible in two games time.

Bundesliga Qualification

Just two more matches, that is all it takes. SV Elversberg could be in the Bundesliga. The German divisions have a unique system where the team that finishes third from bottom in the top tier will play two matches against the team that finishes third in the second tier. If the Bundesliga team wins on aggregate, both sides stay in the league they are in. However, if the Bundesliga 2 team wins, the sides swap divisions.

This year, as Elversberg finished third in the Bundesliga 2, they will play against FC Heidenheim from the top flight. The first leg is tonght at the Voith-Arena in Heidenheim, which will then be followed by the reverse fixture at the Ursapharm-Arena on Monday.

MATCHDAY! 🖤🤍🔥

⚽️ @FCH1846
⏰ 20.30 Uhr
🏟 Voith-Arena#DieElv #UnsereElv #FCHELV pic.twitter.com/gkLsnpd2c5

— SV 07 ELVERSBERG (@SV07Elversberg) May 22, 2025

FC Heidenheim have had a very disappointing season this year. After finishing eighth in the Bundesliga last term, earning a place in the UEFA Conference League, they have now fallen to 15th after only winning eight matches all season. Despite this drop, FCH were also on a gentle incline of their own. It is only their second season since being promoted to the Bundesliga, and similarly to Elversberg, they spent many years in the 3. Liga and even the Regionalliga just over 10 years ago. In fact, Heidenheim played against Elversberg when the two occupied the 3. Liga in the 2013/14 season. Heidenheim won one of the fixtures and drew the other in that year, as they were promoted alongside a familiar RB Leipzig. Meanwhile, Elversberg suffered the drop.