Fans of the German Bundesliga side Hamburg disrupted match activities as the team relagates for the first time in their history on Saturday, as a 2-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach proved too little too late.
A proud run of 55 season in Germany’s top flight came to an ugly end, as Hamburg fans set off a flurry of fireworks, releasing a cloud of black smoke across the Volksparkstadion, forcing play to be suspended just minutes from time.
The six-time German champions, who won the European Cup in 1983, are the only team to have played in every single Bundesliga season since the league’s inauguration in 1963, earning them the nickname “dinosaur”.
Hamburg had battled to victory over Moenchengladbach, but were doomed to relegation as Wolfsburg beat Cologne 4-1.
Wolfsburg – who started the day two points above Hamburg in the play-off relegation spot – beat Koln 4-1 to hold onto 16th place, leaving Hamburg in the automatic drop zone.
Aaron Hunt put Hamburg ahead 11 minutes in before Josip Drmic levelled in the 28th minute.
Lewis Holtby put Christian Titz’s side back in front in the 63rd minute before Bobby Wood was sent off eight minutes later.
It’s been a disastrous season for Hamburg, who looked dead and buried when Christian Titz replaced Bernd Hollerbach in March.
On April 16, they were eight points off a play-off spot — despite having recently claimed a heroic 3-2 victory over second-place Schalke a week earlier.
Their next two matches pitted them against two of the three sides above them in Freiburg and Wolfsburg, and they managed to clinch a priceless six points with former Tottenham man Lewis Holtby the hero in both games.
It is not certain whether the team will be sanctioned by the league management, but the activities of the fans surely brought disrepute to the team.
Although no one was injured in the incident, but a certain area of the stadium had to be evacuated as a result of thick fumes that emanated from the fireworks.
