When Heidenheim came up to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2023, they were tipped by many as certain one-season wonders. Well, it did turn into a wonder - a European one, as they qualified for the UEFA Conference League to complete their journey from Germany's sixth tier to competing on the continental stage. And now they even top the Bundesliga table for the first time in their history, which for the last two decades features one constant...

When Heidenheim, a club that traces its history back to 1846, first reached the top flight of German football, it's fair to say there was little opposition to those claims that they would go straight back down.

After all, they were debutants at this elite level, were operating on a fairly meagre budget. Their 15,000-capacity Voith-Arena may be the highest in German professional football but it is the smallest in the Bundesliga, just one-fifth the size of Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena. In fact, the entire population of Heidenheim an der Brenz (barely 50,000) could fit inside the Allianz or Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park with plenty of seats left over.

Fast forward a year, and those who wrote off Heidenheim are now being served a big slice of humble pie.

Watch: The story of Heidenheim's maiden Bundesliga campaign

That's because, in fact, Heidenheim have been excellent in the Bundesliga. As last season drew to an end, they are nowhere to be seen near the relegation zone. In fact, Heidenheim finished a whole nine points clear of the bottom three and 15 better off than the automatic trapdoor of second bottom - in such a lofty position, eighth, that they even earned a spot in the play-off round for the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League.

And now the club from Germany's southwest will be welcoming European heavyweights such as Chelsea and jetting around the continent for the rest of the year after a 5-3 aggregate win over Häcken of Sweden saw them into the Conference League proper.

Two games in UEFA competition, two wins - easy stuff for Heidenheim, right? 

"Somehow we only do the spectacular here, at least in important games," said captain Patrick Mainka after the return leg at the Voith-Arena.

It is simply a remarkable return for the team and coach Frank Schmidt, the local-boy-come-good, who had talked down his team's ambitions until late in 2023/24.

"Unbreakable together" - Heidenheim's players took to the pitch to thank their fans for a remarkable season at the end of 2023/24. - IMAGO/Michael Weber IMAGEPOWER

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"We don't limit ourselves in our heads," Schmidt, who is German football's longest-serving coach having been in charge of the team since 2007 and first joined as a player in 2003, told kicker. "If [European qualification] happens, we'll be happy to accept it... We'll do everything we can to have the best possible placement at the end."

He continued: "Everything we've been told over the last decade that isn't possible if we don't do this or that - if these people had been right, then we wouldn't still be in the top league."

He may not want to limit his team's ambitions, but he was quick to play down the hype after Heidenheim made it five wins from as many competitive fixtures with a 4-0 victory over Augsburg on Matchday 2 to send the one-time minnows to top spot in the German football pyramid for the first time ever.

“It is always in the eyes of the beholder. Of course, it is great to start with two wins, but honestly, the way I see it is that we have six points and 15 percent of the points that we need to stay up in the end. For us it is about staying in the league," Schmidt stated post-match.

"We have a lot of games in November, October, December. If we can do anything, it is to be realistic and to go into every game and try to win it. You can do the dreaming. You can look at the table for two weeks now but I will not."

Watch: Heidenheim took to the summit with a big win over Augsburg

Another man who will have heard those doubts loud and clear for years now is Holger Sanwald.

Now the club's CEO, he joined Heidenheim as a 27-year-old with the club playing amateur football in the Landesliga - the seventh stop down on the German footballing pyramid. He's now 57 and the club are flying at the pointy end of the pyramid under his good friend Schmidt.

"What makes us strong is diligence, ambition and honesty. We all treat each other sensibly, don't betray sponsors or partners," explained Sanwald on a recent TV programme. Schmidt echoed those sentiments around Heidenheim doing things their own way, saying: "Everyone knows what we stand for and what I stand for."

This identity, paired with an incredible work ethic both on and off the pitch, has rubbed off on the players too.

Watch: Find out all about the story of Heidenheim

"I think we have a brutally strong character and won't let anyone pull us down," said star striker Tim Kleindienst, who finished wth 12 league goals for the season before his summer departure to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Typical of this humble club, Kleindienst always talked down those chances, even if he surpassed his own pre-season expectations.

"It could have been the case that I only scored two goals here. We were only just promoted," he said in an interview with kicker. "I'm even happier that I'm now at 12, because I didn't believe that before the season."

Vice-captain Norman Theuerkauf also thought back to those days in Bundesliga 2 prior to the Häcken tie: "Around 15 months ago we played a game against Regensburg. So, it wasn't even a dream in my mind, but I'm obviously now delighted that we get to play in Europe."

He definitely isn't the only person to go through those feelings over the last year and a bit, but unthinkable dreams are now a reality for one-time minnows Heidenheim, the newest club on the European scene.

About the clubs

1. FC Heidenheim 1846

Voith-Arena