Heidenheim Coach Schmidt Declares Team Has Earned Its Place

Frank Schmidt, the head coach for Heidenheim, described it as “unbelievable” to guide his local team onto the field to face Hearts in the Conference League on Thursday. Schmidt assumed leadership of the team in 2007, though his connection to the club predates this, having joined as a player more than two decades ago. “It is an incredible journey which has taken a long time,” Schmidt remarked. His team is scheduled to host Chelsea later this month. “It goes all the way back to lower leagues where I started as a player. I had a beer after every game, and even after training!” “I took over as coach in the fifth division. If someone told me that 17 years later, we would be in the Conference League, we would have needed to do some sort of mental examination.” “I’m not really thinking about how incredible it all is. It’s more that we deserve to be where we are. We are always striving to improve. Although we come from a small place in Germany and we don’t have a huge history in professional German football, we still deserve to be where we are.” “It’s exciting for me. Alex Raaf, our team manager, started with me together as players in the sixth division. Now we are sitting here ready to play against Heart of Midlothian. It’s unbelievable.”