SSV Ulm 1846 2–1 1. FC Nürnberg

On 26 August 2001, the fifth-tier club SSV Ulm 1846 defeated Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg 2–1 in the first round of the 2001–02 DFB-Pokal. The match was played at the Donaustadion in Ulm in front of 5,000 spectators. Gerold Skowranek gave Ulm the lead, Stojtscho Stoilow equalised for Nürnberg, and Dragan Trkulja scored the winning goal from a penalty.

The result was the first occasion on which a club from the fifth level of the German football league system eliminated a Bundesliga team from the DFB-Pokal. Retrospective accounts have described the game as one of the competition's notable cup upsets.

Background

Ulm had played in the Bundesliga as recently as the 1999–2000 season, but suffered successive relegations. After finishing 16th in the 2000–01 2. Bundesliga, the club was denied a licence for the third-tier Regionalliga because of financial problems and entered the 2001–02 season in the fifth-tier Verbandsliga Württemberg. Ulm nevertheless qualified for the DFB-Pokal on the basis of the preceding season.

Nürnberg, managed by Klaus Augenthaler, had moved in the opposite direction, winning promotion to the Bundesliga in 2001. The sides had therefore been separated by only one division during 2000–01, but began the cup tie four levels apart. Dragan Trkulja, who had remained at Ulm following the club's fall through the divisions, was the only member of their squad left from their Bundesliga season.

Match

Summary

Ulm took the lead in the 25th minute through Gerold Skowranek. Nürnberg responded in the 40th minute when Bulgarian midfielder Stojtscho Stoilow equalised, leaving the score 1–1 at half-time.

In the 60th minute, referee Thorsten Kinhöfer awarded Ulm a penalty. Dragan Trkulja converted it to restore the hosts' lead. Nürnberg did not score again during the remaining half-hour, and Ulm completed a 2–1 victory. Kicker's match record subsequently rated Kinhöfer's overall performance positively but described the penalty decision as controversial.

Details

Aftermath and legacy

The defeat compounded a difficult start to Nürnberg's first season back in the Bundesliga. The club later described the result as an embarrassing first-round exit and wrote that the season could hardly have begun more bitterly.

Ulm's cup run ended in the second round with a 3–0 home defeat by 1. FC Union Berlin on 28 November 2001. In the Verbandsliga, Ulm finished as runners-up and won promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.

The match retained a unique place in the history of the DFB-Pokal, as in 2021, both Ulm and Kicker reported that no other fifth-tier side had eliminated a Bundesliga club from the competition in the intervening 20 years. Die Welt ranked the game third in a 2013 selection of ten notable DFB-Pokal upsets since 1974.

See also

• 2001–02 DFB-Pokal