Bundesliga 2 records: goals, promotion and relegation for players and clubs
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 enters its 48th season in 2021/22.
Promotion and relegation
Most promotions: Nuremberg and Arminia Bielefeld have both gone up the most times, with eight promotions apiece.
Most relegations: Nuremberg hold this record outright, though, having gone down from the Bundesliga nine times. They have 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 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 Düsseldorf (2018).
Clubs
Most matches: Greuther Fürth have played the most fixtures in Bundesliga 2 with 1,126 (correct as of the end of 2020/21).
Most goals: Fürth have also scored the most goals in the division with 1,674 (correct as of the end of 2020/21).
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), Bielefeld (1979/80), Hertha and 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.
Players
Most goals: The league’s all-time top scorers are Simon Terodde and Dieter Schatzschneider with 153 goals each. Terodde is therefore also the outright top scorer in the single-division Bundesliga 2 (since 1981).
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.
Matches
Biggest win: Arminia Bielefeld beat Arminia Hannover 11-0 on 23 May 1980.
Most goals in a game: Kaiserslautern beat Meppen 7-6 on 11 June 1997.
Related news
2021/22 DFB Cup overview
RB Leipzig won the DFB Cup for the first time, after beating Freiburg on penalties in the final.
Charting Frankfurt's unbeaten Europa League run
Thirteen games against teams from six nations, but Frankfurt didn’t lose a single one on their way to Europa League glory.
Borre, Trapp and Frankfurt's key players in Europe
Rafael Borre and Kevin Trapp were the heroes in the UEFA Europa League final, but who else starred for Eintracht Frankfurt?
Want more Bundesliga Action?
Get your front row seat to the Bundesliga experience by signing up for our official newsletter:
