2024-09-03 21:27:29
Torsten Lieberknecht resigned from Darmstadt 98 just on Sunday. Now he said an emotional goodbye to the club and fans. Tears flowed.
Torsten Lieberknecht’s time as coach of second division Darmstadt 98 is over. On Sunday, the 51-year-old resigned from the Bundesliga relegated team. After four match days, his team had only collected one point. Most recently, they suffered a 4-0 defeat at SV Elversberg. A clear defeat that apparently finally prompted Lieberknecht to leave Darmstadt.
On Tuesday, the former coach of the Hesse team spoke out again. A video was published on the club’s Instagram page in which Lieberknecht expressed his feelings about his resignation. It became highly emotional. In the end, the coach could no longer contain himself.
“Dear Lilien fans, dear Heiner, dear beloved Darmstadt,” Lieberknecht began his statement. “My time as Lilien coach is over. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for an incredible time that we experienced together, but also lived through.” The former coach of Eintracht Braunschweig and MSV Duisburg then spoke of the highs and lows that he had experienced with the Darmstadt team. In the difficult times, however, he always felt the affection of everyone involved. “This affection was both an obligation and a responsibility for me,” said Lieberknecht. “To always get up and give my best for Darmstadt 98, every day.”
As the video continued, Lieberknecht praised the city, club and fans, but also gave the reasons for his decision to turn his back on the club. “If the benchmark in our fast-moving business were the unbelievably cool football location, the Bölle (Stadium at Böllenfalltor, editor’s note), your lived fan culture inside and outside the stadium, if the benchmark were all the employees here at Darmstadt 98, if the benchmark were the city of Darmstadt and the people of Darmstadt, my time here would last forever,” he stressed. “However, we have different standards. These standards are points, wins or losses.”
He was unable to stop the recent negative run, said Lieberknecht. “That’s why I decided to give the greatest possible impetus, to clear the way for a new coach who will find exactly this impetus and the key to get everything back on track to success, to give the team and, above all, you back the success you deserve.”
As the video progressed, Lieberknecht’s voice became increasingly fragile. He appealed to fans and the club to remember him as a person and coach who “lived the city and club and tried to present it in every game, with full identification and with all his heart.” He also thanked the local people on behalf of his family for their sensitivity and support in difficult moments. “We will never forget that. I will never forget this time here at Bölle. Unfortunately, Bölle is no longer our sporting home, but Darmstadt has become our home as a family. That says a lot.”
Lieberknecht, who was visibly upset, was already fighting back tears. “The sun is shining outside and that’s why I’m looking forward to hearing you sing ‘The sun is shining’ again and again at the weekend,” he managed to say, before saying goodbye with: “Bye, your Torsten.” His voice was already choked with tears as he spoke the last words. Lieberknecht then abruptly left the chair he had been sitting on with a pained expression on his face. His emotional sniffles could still be heard in the background.
Lieberknecht had been coach in Darmstadt since 2021 and had led his team into the Bundesliga in 2023. However, the team had no chance in the top division and was relegated straight away.