Cologne's journey back to the Bundesliga | OneFootball

Immediate return: Cologne's journey back to the Bundesliga

After five consecutive years in the Bundesliga, Cologne were relegated to Bundesliga 2 ahead of the 2024/25 season. Coach Gerhard Struber took up the reins and and led the Billy Goats' to the brink of promotion, before Friedhelm Funkel finished the job by winning the league.

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Cologne’s relegation at the end of the 2023/24 season ended a torrid campaign for the Billy Goats, and a five-year stay in the Bundesliga, the club’s second longest stint in the division.

Back then, they finished in 17th place in the top-flight, six points off safety and with the fewest goals scored in the league (28), with Steffen Baumgart, and then Timo Schulz from January onwards, unable to arrest their slide into the second division.

Cologne's then top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with six goals was Davie Selke, who departed for fellow promotion-hopefuls Hamburg after the season’s conclusion. Jeff Chabot, a rare positive in their backline, also headed for the exit door and joined Stuttgart, while talented goalkeeper Jonas Urbig answered Bayern Munich’s call for a new custodian last January, at which point Cologne were level on points with table-topping HSV in the second tier.

Damion Downs, Tim Lemperle and Linton Maina have been crucial to Cologne's attack this season, with 23 goals between them. (IMAGO/HMB Media/Claus)

Despite three big losses to the spine of their team, newly-arrived coach Struber was able to navigate a title charge thanks to the efforts of players such as Linton Maina, Damion Downs and Tim Lemperle. Struber subsequently left the club in May, with Funkel taking over to finish the job.

Prior to that coaching change, the aforementioned three attack-minded players got their heads down and would ultimately play a huge part in helping the club return to the Bundesliga.

Maina has chosen the right time to have his most productive season in professional football. (IMAGO/Revierfoto)

With 10 goals and three assists from 29 appearances this season, 20-year-old Downs blossomed into a key player for the Billy Goats in 2024/25. His goal and assist against Eintracht Braunschweig on Matchday 20 turned the game around for his side after going a goal down, and meant they regained top spot having started the day in second. He also scored the only goals of the game in 1-0 wins against Greuther Fürth and Schalke.

However, with all goalscorers, there is someone putting those chances on a plate for them, and this season that person has been Maina. The former Hannover man bagged 11 assists this season, three of which were for Downs, as well as three goals, making this his most productive season ever.

Somebody who got even more goal involvements than Maina was another young star in Lemperle, who managed 10 goals and six assists in 2024/25, proving himself invaluable to Cologne’s frontline with his ability to be effective in various attacking positions.

It was a difficult start to life in Bundesliga 2 for Effzeh, however, as they only managed three wins from their opening 10 games, conceding four against Karlsruhe on Matchday 7 in a thrilling 4-4 draw, before being beaten 5-1 by Darmstadt just two weeks later.

By the time of their fourth league win of the season against Hertha Berlin on Matchday 11, Struber’s side sat in 12th, and faced an uphill challenge to return to the Bundesliga – a challenge they faced head on.

From their win against Hertha until their away win at Kaiserslautern on Matchday 17, Cologne won six and drew one of their seven games, climbing to the top of the table by the time they met promotion rivals Hamburg a week later.

Despite a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Red Shorts, they didn’t drop out of the top three for eight weeks, although they immediately corrected this on Matchday 26 in their return fixture against Darmstadt, from which point they remained in the top two before sealing the title on the final day of the season.

With 53 goals scored this season, Cologne did not have the league’s most clinical attack, but they did have the second best defence in the entire division, conceding just 38. At the heart of that stubborn defence were the experienced Dominique Heintz and captain Timo Hübers, as well as Marvin Schwäbe in goal, who hardly put a foot wrong as the club returned to the promised land.

As well as being difficult to breach, they’ve also been difficult to beat away from home, and have the second best away record in the league behind Magdeburg.

Since the new year, Cologne actually lost more games (five) than they had in the first half of the season (four), but also drew less, with only three in 2025. Nevertheless, with largely familiar starting elevens to the ones we saw throughout their relegation campaign, they have managed to re-group and grab the chance of an immediate Bundesliga return with both hands.

Younger players such as Downs, Lemperle, Jan Thielmann and Eric Martel have all taken the pressure of promotion in their stride, forming a brilliant blend with senior squad members such as Heintz, Hübers, Schwäbe and Florian Kainz.

Now, Funkel’s men have a new Bundesliga season to look forward to, where they’ll hope to continue their upward trajectory.

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