The 2012–13 2. Bundesliga was the 39th season of the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second-level football league. The season began on 3 August 2012 and ended with the last games on 19 May 2013, with a winter break held between the weekends around 15 December 2012 and 2 February 2013.
The league comprised eighteen teams: The teams placed fourth through fifteenth of the 2011–12 season, the worst two teams from the 2011–12 Bundesliga, the best two teams from the 2011–12 3. Liga, the losers of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed Bundesliga team and the third-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the winners of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3. Liga team.
Teams At the end of the 2011–12 season, SpVgg Greuther Fürth and Eintracht Frankfurt were directly promoted to the 2012–13 Bundesliga. Greuther Fürth left the second level after fifteen seasons and will make debut for top level, while Eintracht only made a cameo appearance in the league. The two promoted teams were replaced by 1. FC Köln and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season. Köln re-entered the second level after four consecutive Bundesliga seasons, while Kaiserslautern returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two years.
On the other end of the table, Alemannia Aachen and Hansa Rostock were directly relegated to the 2012–13 3. Liga. Aachen dropped to the third tier for the first time since the 1998–99 season, while Rostock concluded a cameo appearance in the league. The two relegated clubs will be replaced with 2011–12 3. Liga champions SV Sandhausen and runners-up VfR Aalen, who earned direct promotion spots are thus both made their debut on this level of the league system.
Two further spots were available via two-legged play-offs. The playoff between 16th-placed 2011–12 Bundesliga sides Hertha BSC and third-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga team Fortuna Düsseldorf ended 4–3 on aggregate for the latter. Consequently, Fortuna finished a three-year spell at second level and returned to the Bundesliga after fifteen years in lower leagues; in turn, Hertha concluded a cameo appearance at the top level and returned to the 2. Bundesliga. However, this decision is provisional since Hertha have appealed the result of the second leg, which was marred by several incidents of crowd disturbance.
Elsewhere, the playoff between 16th-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga sides Karlsruher SC and third-placed 2011–12 3. Liga team Jahn Regensburg ended 3–3 on aggregate and saw Jahn promoted via the away goal rule. The Bavarian club returned to the second level after eight years; in turn, Karlsruhe finished a three-year spell at the second level and returned to the third level for the first time since the 2000–01 season.
Stadiums and locations Five clubs expanded the seating capacities of their stadiums. Following their promotion, Aalen, Jahn Regensburg and Sandhausen all increased the capacity of their stadiums to 12,500, 13,251 and 12,100 spectators, respectively. Elsewhere, St. Pauli's Millerntor-Stadion was undergoing reconstruction during the autumn as the entire Back Straight was being rebuilt. Finally, 1860 Munich will benefit from an expansion of Allianz Arena by co-tenants and city rivals Bayern Munich, who increased the total capacity of the ground to 71,000 people in late August 2012.
An additional three clubs will have a slightly decreased capacity, as Eintracht Braunschweig, FSV Frankfurt and Union Berlin all are rebuilding a stand of their stadiums. Braunschweig will thus be able to host 22,100 spectators, while Frankfurt and Union can accommodate 10,470 and 16,750 people, respectively, during reconstruction.
Team Location Stadium Stadium capacity VfR Aalen Aalen Scholz-Arena 13,251 VfL Bochum Bochum rewirpowerSTADION 29,299 MSV Duisburg Duisburg Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena 31,500 Dynamo Dresden Dresden Glücksgas-Stadion 32,066 Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweig Eintracht-Stadion 22,100Note 2 Energie Cottbus Cottbus Stadion der Freundschaft 22,528 Aue Sparkassen-Erzgebirgsstadion 15,711 FSV Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion 10,470Note 3 Hertha BSC Berlin Olympiastadion 74,244 FC Ingolstadt 04 Ingolstadt Audi Sportpark 15,445 Jahn Regensburg Regensburg Jahnstadion 12,500 1. FC Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern Fritz-Walter-Stadion 49,780 1. FC Köln Cologne RheinEnergieStadion 50,000 1860 Munich Munich Allianz Arena 71,000Note 1 SC Paderborn 07 Paderborn Energieteam Arena 15,000 SV Sandhausen Sandhausen Hardtwald 12,100 FC St. Pauli Hamburg Millerntor-Stadion 29,063 1. FC Union Berlin Berlin Alte Försterei 16,750Note 2
Notes The total capacity of Allianz Arena was 69,000 people before being expanded to 71,000 in late August 2012. Stadium is under reconstruction for all of the 2012–13 season. Stadium is under reconstruction during the 2012–13 season. The capacity will increase to 12,542 spectators upon completion of the works.
Personnel and sponsorships TeamHead coachTeam captainKitmakerShirt sponsor Ralph Hasenhüttl Leandro GrechadidasImtech Peter Neururer Andreas LutheNikeNetto Kosta Runjaić Branimir BajićNikeRheinpower Dynamo Dresden Peter Pacult Robert KochNikeVeolia Eintracht Braunschweig Torsten Lieberknecht Dennis KruppkePumaVolkswagen Bank Energie Cottbus Rudi Bommer Marc-André KruskaUmbroTropical Islands Erzgebirge Aue Falko Götz René KlingbeilNikeEibenstock Vakuum Technik Benno Möhlmann Björn SchlickeSallerSparhandy Hertha BSC Jos Luhukay Peter NiemeyerNikeDeutsche Bahn Tomas Oral Stefan LeitladidasAudi Jahn Regensburg Franciszek Smuda André LauritoSallerHändlmaier Franco Foda Albert BunjakuuhlsportAllgäuer Latschenkiefer Holger Stanislawski Mišo BrečkoErimaREWE 1860 Munich Alexander Schmidt Benjamin LauthuhlsportAston Martin René Müller (caretaker) Markus KröscheSallerMöbelhaus Finke Hans-Jürgen Boysen Frank LöningPumaDirect Line Michael Frontzeck Fabian BollDo You FootballDeutsche Fernsehlotterie Uwe Neuhaus Torsten MattuschkauhlsportBecker AutoSound
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment1. FC Köln Frank SchaeferEnd of tenure as caretaker30 June 2012Pre-season Holger Stanislawski1 July 20121. FC Kaiserslautern Krasimir BalakovSacked30 June 2012 Franco Foda1 July 2012Hertha BSC Otto RehhagelEnd of contract30 June 2012 Jos Luhukay1 July 2012Jahn Regensburg Markus WeinzierlFC Augsburg purchased rights30 June 2012 Oscar Corrochano1 July 2012SC Paderborn 07 Roger SchmidtFC Red Bull Salzburg purchased rights30 June 2012 Stephan Schmidt10 July 2012MSV Duisburg Oliver ReckSacked25 August 201218th Kosta Runjaić3 September 2012FC St. Pauli André SchubertSacked26 September 201213th Michael Frontzeck3 October 2012VfL Bochum Andreas BergmannMutual consent28 October 201217th Karsten Neitzel (caretaker)28 October 2012Jahn Regensburg Oscar CorrochanoSacked4 November 201216th Franciszek Smuda2 January 20131860 Munich Reiner MaurerSacked18 November 20127th Alexander Schmidt18 November 2012SV Sandhausen Gerd DaisSacked19 November 201217th Hans-Jürgen Boysen20 November 2012Dynamo Dresden Ralf LooseSacked9 December 201216th Peter Pacult3 January 2013VfL Bochum Karsten NeitzelEnd of tenure as caretaker8 April 201316th Peter Neururer8 April 2013FC Erzgebirge Aue Karsten BaumannSacked28 April 201315th Falko Götz29 April 2013SC Paderborn 07 Stephan SchmidtSacked5 May 201312th René Müller (caretaker)5 May 2013
League table
Results
Promotion/relegation play-offs
Dynamo Dresden, who finished 16th, faced VfL Osnabrück, the third-placed 2012–13 3. Liga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn a spot in the 2013–14 2. Bundesliga. The two sides met in the same fixture two seasons ago, although this time the roles are reversed.
Dynamo Dresden won 2–1 on aggregate and retained its 2. Bundesliga spot for the 2013–14 season.
Season statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Dominick KumbelaEintracht Braunschweig192 Daniel GinczekFC St. Pauli18 RonnyHertha BSC184 Mohammadou Idrissou1. FC Kaiserslautern175 Boubacar SanogoEnergie Cottbus156 Albert Bunjaku1. FC Kaiserslautern13 Anthony Ujah1. FC Köln138 Benjamin LauthTSV 1860 Munich129 Edmond KapllaniFSV Frankfurt11 Dennis KruppkeEintracht Braunschweig11 Frank LöningSV Sandhausen11 Adrián RamosHertha BSC11
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 RonnyHertha BSC122 Alexander Baumjohann1. FC Kaiserslautern113 Torsten Mattuschka1. FC Union Berlin9 Marc RzatkowskiVfL Bochum95 Marco StiepermannEnergie Cottbus8 Moritz StoppelkampTSV 1860 Munich87 Mohammadou Idrissou1. FC Kaiserslautern7 Adrián RamosHertha BSC7 Mario VrančićSC Paderborn 07710 Daniel AdlungEnergie Cottbus6 Daniel BrücknerSC Paderborn 076 Daniel HalfarTSV 1860 Munich6 Oliver HeinSSV Jahn Regensburg6 Jan HochscheidtFC Erzgebirge Aue6 Ken ReichelEintracht Braunschweig6
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Eintracht Braunschweig 1. FC Union Berlin 4–3
Scoring First goal of the season: Stefan Leitl for FC Ingolstadt 04 against FC Energie Cottbus (3 August 2012) Fastest goal of the season: Idir Ouali for Dynamo Dresden against MSV Duisburg (25 August 2012)
Largest winning margin: 5 goals Erzgebirge Aue 6–1 VfL Bochum (27 October 2012) SV Sandhausen 1–6 Hertha BSC (9 November 2012) Highest scoring game: 7 goals Erzgebirge Aue 6–1 VfL Bochum (27 October 2012) SV Sandhausen 1–6 Hertha BSC (9 November 2012) VfL Bochum 5–2 SV Sandhausen (18 November 2012) Eintracht Braunschweig 4–3 1. FC Union Berlin (17 December 2012)
References
External links