Dieter Schatzschneider once held the record for most goals in Bundesliga 2, while Friedhelm Funkel is the man to get a team promoted. - © DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga

2. Bundesliga

Bundesliga 2 records: goals, promotion and relegation for players and clubs

14.02.2024

Eleven years after the creation of the Bundesliga, the second division Bundesliga 2 was formed in 1974. Teams, players and coaches have since been fighting for a place in the top flight ever since, and setting records as the league celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024.

*All stats correct as of 23 December 2024

Promotion and relegation

Most promotions: Nuremberg have gone up from Bundesliga 2 the most times, with eight promotions. Arminia Bielefeld have also gone up to the Bundesliga on eight occasions, but once from the former Regionalliga in place prior to Bundesliga 2.

Most relegations: Nuremberg hold this record outright, though, having gone down from the Bundesliga nine times. They have, however, bounced back at the first attempt on four occasions.

Back-to-back promotions: In 2018/19, Paderborn became the eighth team to be promoted to Bundesliga 2 and then go up to the Bundesliga at the first attempt the following season. The previous clubs to do so were Darmstadt (2014/15), Hoffenheim (2007/08), Ulm (1998/99), Nuremberg (1997/98), Arminia Bielefeld (1995/96), Fortuna Düsseldorf (1994/95) and 1860 Munich (1993/94).

Most immediate returns: Bochum have bounced back from relegation to go straight back up to the Bundesliga five times.

Promotion coaches: No coach has earned promotion from Bundesliga 2 more times than Friedhelm Funkel (six), doing so with Uerdingen (1992 and 1994), Duisburg (1996), Cologne (2003), Eintracht Frankfurt (2005) and Fortuna Düsseldorf (2018).

Germany’s promotion expert is Friedhelm Funkel, who has taken teams up to the Bundesliga six times. - UWE KRAFT via www.imago-images.de/imago images/Uwe Kraft

Clubs

Most matches: Greuther Fürth have played the most fixtures in Bundesliga 2 with 1,211 (including matches as SpVgg Fürth).

Most goals: Fürth have also scored the most goals in the division with 1,785.

Most goals in a season: Hertha Berlin scored 123 times in 1980/81 (42 matches).

Most wins in a season: Hertha also became the only club to register 31 victories in a Bundesliga 2 season in 1980/81.

Fewest wins in a season: Pirmasens won only one of their 38 Bundesliga 2 matches in 1977/78.

Most goals conceded in a season: Pirmasens also set the record for the most porous defence in that 1977/78 campaign by conceding 120 goals.

Fewest goals conceded in a season: Cologne boast the most solid defence in Bundesliga 2 history from 2013/14 when they let in only 20 goals.

Most home wins in a season: Homburg (1976/77), Arminia Bielefeld (1979/80), Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen (both 1980/81) all registered 18 victories at home in a single season.

Most away wins in a season: Eintracht Braunschweig in 1980/81 remain the only team to chalk up 14 victories on the road in a Bundesliga 2 campaign.

Fewest defeats in a season: Arminia Bielefeld (twice; 1979/80, 2019/20) and Hertha Berlin (2012/13) jointly hold the record for fewest defeats in a single season, with just two losses across those campaigns.

Most defeats in a season: Pirmasens lost 33 times in 1977/78 - no team has lost more matches in a single campaign.

Most draws in a season: Blau-Weiß Berlin drew a total of 20 times in the 1990/91 season.

Most consecutive wins: The record is held by Bayer Leverkusen, who won 14 times in a row across the 1977/78 and 1978/79 editions.

Most consecutive defeats: Spandauer SV (1975/76) and Duisburg (1985/86) have both suffered 14 second division defeats on the spin.

Most consecutive draws: Unterhaching (1996/97) and Karlsruhe (2019/20) each drew seven games in succession.

Most consecutive games unbeaten: St. Pauli went 28 games without defeat across 1976/77 and 1978/79 (with a season in the Bundesliga in between), while Arminia Bielefeld did the same in 1979/80. For the single-division Bundesliga 2, Pauli equalled the record of 25 in 2023/24 held by Cologne (2002/03) and Fortuna Düsseldorf (across 2010/11 and 2011/12).

Most consecutive games without conceding a goal: Arminia Bielefeld managed a run of eight games without conceding a goal in 2009/10.

Most spectators in a season: The 2023/24 campaign set a new record of over 8.9 million spectators at games, making it the best-attended second division season of all time. That worked out at an average of over 29,100 per game, which was more than France's Ligue 1 (27,056) and Spain's LaLiga (29,034). Three matchdays that season even saw higher average attendances than in the Bundesliga.

Greuther Fürth are the team most familiar with Bundesliga 2 after 1,180 matches. - 2018 Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Bundesliga

Players

Most goals: The league’s all-time top scorer is Simon Terodde with 177.

Most appearances: Willi Landgraf played a record 508 games in Bundesliga 2.

Fastest goal: Benjamin Siegert scored after only eight seconds for Wehen Wiesbaden against Greuther Fürth on 5 October 2007. It is also the fastest goal in German professional football.

Most goals in a season: Horst Hrubesch scored 41 times for Rot-Weiss Essen in the North Bundesliga 2 in 1977/78. The record for a unified Bundesliga 2 campaign is 37 by Rudi Völler in 1981/82.

Simon Terodde is the division's highest scoring player, having scored 175 Bundesliga 2 goals. - Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images