Season 2019-44 proved to be a gigantic rollercoaster for Lokomotive Bryggen. After only 11 games, the team had already amassed an impressive 23 points and all talk of relegation was effectively silenced. However, the last 19 games of the season only netted a further 18 points, and although relegation wasn’t really an issue, it was still a disappointment that the team – once again – wasn’t able to keep the steam going for a complete season. Bryggen finished in 10th place which still is respectable.

The DFB-pokal wasn’t a success either. After two away games and a bye, Bryggen left the tournament in the third round, and now has eight straight away games in that tournament.

At the end of the season, Belgian team captain Raoul Scifo left the team for FC Søløverne. As his replacement, Bryggen invested 4.55M in 29 years old Virgilio Beltrones from Spain. Mauno Nurmela took over the captaincy from Scifo.

The financial statement showed a minus of 10.4M but there is a good explanation for that. Team owner Ai-Pwn Yu explains: “Throughout the season, Bryggen Arena was sold out at its max capacity of 38K. We want as many people as possible being able to watch Lokomotive at home, so we invested 20M in upgrading two sections of our stadium. Bryggen Arena now has a capacity of 53.8K”.

Asked about if the goal for the next season is the same as the previous five seasons, German Head Coach Sepp Piontek was clear: “Aber Selbstverständlich! We keep getting better, but the opposition does too. There is nicht viel that separates the 10th and the 20th best team in Germany, so wir können easily get relegated if we have a half bad season. Wir lieben in Die Bundesliga to play, so we will keep our eyes at the relegation line”