MSV Duisburg (Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V.)

MSV Duisburg was founded on 2 June 1902 as Meidericher Spiel⹀Verein in the town of Meiderich, which was united with Duisburg and Ruhrort three years later, registered with the local police administration on 4 August of the same year and admitted to the Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spiel-Verband (now Westdeutscher Fußballverband) on 28 September. In June 1905, the club merged with the 1903 Sportklub Viktoria Meiderich to form the Meidericher Sportverein. Three years later, the old name was adopted again. The entry in the register of associations at the Ruhrort district court (as Meidericher Spielverein von 1902 e. V. ) took place in January 1910.

From 1919 to 1923, the Meiderich footballers formed the large club Meidericher TuS 1880 together with the local Turnverein von 1880. In the course of the conflict between the gymnastics and playing associations, this club had to be split up again. In the aborted 1944/45 season, MSV formed a wartime playing association with local rival SpVgg Meiderich 06.

On 9 January 1967, the club was given the name Meidericher Spielverein 02 e.V. Duisburg, which had already been decided two and a half years earlier and is still valid today.

From the foundation in 1902 until 1925

After the first friendly matches, the club took part in the start of league play in West Germany in 1902/03 as a participant in Class III (also known as C-Class, the lowest division at the time). The games were played on a field in the shadow of the Westende colliery on what was then Friedrich-Wilhelm-, now Westender Straße. In the third year the club could celebrate its first promotion to the B-Class, in which it apparently immediately reached the 2nd place. The following year, however, ended disastrously and probably without any points, a relegation was only prevented by the exclusion of other teams, just as in 1907/08 when the club itself was disqualified. Thanks in particular to its first supporters, however, MSV had established itself as a football club early on, and this was one of the reasons why it was able to fight for promotion to the A-Class as early as 1909. However, after a 1:3 defeat in the decisive match against Turn-Club Essen, the dreams of promotion had to be buried for the time being.

But already one year later, in 1910, the long-awaited promotion to the A-class could be celebrated, in which the first season could be finished as 4th, behind the local rival VfvB Ruhrort. For the next season, the club had set itself the goal of promotion to the highest division, the so-called "Zehnerliga" (ten-team league), as it possessed a strong new generation of players. However, this venture did not succeed, as the decisive match against VfvB Ruhrort ended only 1:1. But in the season 1912/13 the Dr.-Haßlacher-Pokal could be won. The 1913/14 season was the most successful season in the club's history up to that point. The first team won all 12 games and had at the end a goal ratio of 88:13 goals, which made the promotion to the ten-team league.

From now on Meidericher SV could compete with the traditional teams Essener TB, Duisburger SV or Preußen Duisburg, but due to the war football was put in the background for the time being. In order to prepare for the first season in the Ruhr District League, the team tested against strong opponents such as Bonner FV (4:0), TB Essen (5:4) or Duisburger SpV (2:3), but the highlight was the 19:2 victory against TC Gelsenkirchen, who had played in the ten-team league just one year before. Although a large part of the members of the MSV were doing war service, the Zebras were able to win the war cup of the West German Spielverband in the Ruhr district in 1915 by beating FC Eppenhausen 5:0 in the final.

After the war, MSV had the goal of advancing to the Gauliga, but in the years that followed, during which the youth section of the Meiderich club was also founded, they finished at the bottom of the league. In order to climb the ladder, Karl Lebzelter was brought to the Westender Straße as the first coach. Thanks to a new league division, the Meidericher SV was able to participate in the 1922/23 Gauliga Niederrhein, which comprised 16 teams, so that the first season was played over two years.

The years up to the Second World War

From the 1925/26 season, the Meidericher played in the Bezirksklasse Niederrhein, where they finished the first year in 4th place. In the following season, the team played for the group victory, but the deciding match, which was watched by 15,000 spectators, was lost against Duisburger FV 08 with 2:3, and so only the vice-championship remained. When the Zebras were only runners-up again in the 1927/28 season, they were nicknamed "eternal runners-up", but the following year MSV won their group and qualified for the final round of the Lower Rhine Championship, their opponents being SpVgg. Oberhausen. After the first and second leg did not produce a winner (6:1 and 0:1), a deciding match had to be played, but this ended 0:0 after extra time, so that a second deciding match had to be played. Thanks to a 3:2 victory, Meidericher SV became Lower Rhine champions and were allowed to take part in the West German championship.

After five wins in the six games of the preliminary and final rounds, the club made it to the final of the West German championship, which, however, was lost 2-1 to FC Schalke 04. Nevertheless, the team qualified for the final round of the German championship, but they already failed in the first round against Hamburger SV with 2:3. The performance ensured that the Zebras went into the 1929/30 season as a title candidate, but in the end they only finished third. On the other hand, they became Lower Rhine champions again one year later (5:1 and 5:5 against SpVgg. Sterkrade) and took part in the West German championship again. Here, however, the Meidericher Spielverein failed in the final round against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Alemannia Aachen and VfB Bielefeld 03. Nevertheless, they played the third West German representative in the final round for the German championship with SF BW Barmen. By a 4:2 victory the MSV made it to the final round, but also in this year it was already over in the first round, they were defeated by TSV 1860 Munich with 1:4. In the following year the Meidericher were again Lower Rhine champions, this time the Duisburger FV 08 was defeated in three games. In the final round of the West German championship, the team was defeated in the semi-finals by FC Schalke 04. After the failed West German championship, Meidericher SV once again managed to finish 2nd in the Bezirksliga Niederrhein, but after a new league division in 1933, the Zebras had to compete in the Bezirksliga. Like many other successful clubs, the MSV was not allowed to compete in the highest division, the Gauliga, so the mood was bad. A large part of the top performers left Westender Straße because they did not want to play in such low classes; MSV had not played in such a low class for more than ten years. So it happened that the Meidericher now had to fight against relegation. During the Second World War, there was less and less talk of regular play, as many players had to do military service and Duisburg was increasingly affected by the bombing war. Nevertheless, MSV competed in the Bezirksklasse until it was discontinued in the autumn of 1944, playing in September and October 1944 as part of the wartime Spielgemeinschaft Meiderich 02/06 with local rivals Meiderich 06.

Post-war period and premier league (1945 to 1963)

The first games of the immediate post-war period were only friendly matches against teams from Duisburg. The British then allowed in 1946 that a city championship could be played in two groups, which the Meidericher Spielverein secured, but due to the situation in the city it was not celebrated. After the first official season after the war, MSV only reached 5th place in the Bezirksliga Niederrhein, which is why they did not qualify for the newly founded Oberliga of the West German Football Association (WFV). The following two seasons, 1947/48 and 1948/49, the Meidericher played in the Landesliga of the WFV, before one could compete in the newly introduced 2nd League West. In the first season they reached the 4th place, so that Meiderich started to dream of the Oberliga, which was the highest league at that time. Already in the following year there was a popular festival atmosphere in the Duisburg district, the MSV rose with a goal ratio of 96:37 goals and a lead of nine points with 48:12 points into the Oberliga.

The first year in the Oberliga started promisingly, although successful coach Willi Multhaup left the Zebras. Victories against Schalke 04, 1. FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund were achieved, Hamborn 07 was held to a 1-1 draw in front of 25,000 spectators. At the end of the first half of the season, MSV was in 4th place with 18:12 points, two points behind autumn champions Schalke. The second half of the season was not as successful. After the 3:6 defeat against Horst Emscher, the team missed the jump to the top of the table and slumped, ending up only in 8th place. The second season was also very satisfying, the Zebras ended up in 4th place and were able to show victories over top teams like 1. FC Köln or Rot-Weiss Essen. The crowds were also good, as they were the only Duisburg team allowed to play in the Wedaustadion, and so up to 25,000 spectators came. The next year was less successful. MSV refrained from bringing in new players at the beginning of the season and tried to promote young talent, but the first half of the season was disappointing. Only on the ninth matchday the first victory was achieved and accordingly they were on the last place for a long time, in the end they finished 11th and could avoid relegation for the time being. Only one year later, Meidericher SV was relegated after all.

The team was immediately promoted again, finishing second behind VfL Bochum, and thus played in the top division again from the 1956/57 season onwards. Despite a promising preparation, the start was not successful and MSV was only in the bottom of the table, but after two resounding victories against Schwarz-Weiß Essen (7:1) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (8:1), the Zebras managed to establish themselves in the upper third of the table. Since they lost too many points in the second half of the season due to too many draws, the Zebras ended up in 7th place. The season was played under the famous coach Helmut Kronsbein, not least thanks to victories over RW Essen (4:0) and Schalke 04 (4:1), they were in 3rd place at the end of the first half of the season, and thanks to an equally successful second half of the season, they were finally in 4th place. The next season was initially very satisfactory, and at the end of the first half of the season, in which they did not lose a home game, MSV was in 3rd place in the table. The second half of the season was the exact opposite, it was subterranean, and so the Duisburg team fell to 8th place. The financial situation forced those responsible to save money, also in the area of new signings, so that in the 1959/60 season more emphasis was placed on youth players. Accordingly, the first half of the season was weak, and they finished third from last. Thanks to an increase in performance and two points that were won at the green table (Schalke 04 used an ineligible player in the first leg), they finished eighth and managed to stay in the league.

The following season, in which they started with ten players from their own youth, was also rather mediocre. The start of the season was still very positive and they were even in second place, but then the crash followed and MSV only managed to stay in the league on the last match day with a 3:0 victory over Borussia Dortmund, so in the end they were in 11th place. At the beginning of the 1961/62 season, the introduction of the single-league Bundesliga was a topic of conversation in Meiderich, and so the return of coach Multhaupt moved into the background, with whom more successful times were aimed for. After the first half of the season, it did not look as if Meidericher SV would be able to meet expectations, as they only finished ninth, but an improvement in performance in the second half of the season saw them finish in 5th place.

The goal for the following season was clear: "Qualification for the Bundesliga". The start into this important season went badly, there were 3:5 points from the first four games. After a series of victories, MSV made contact with the top of the table and, in seventh place, was only two points behind first place. After a long winter break, caused by a harsh winter for three months, the Zebras came out of the starting blocks well and were able to beat Wuppertaler SV and 1. FC Köln, among others, but in the home stretch, their strength seemed to be waning. Two decisive games against Hamborn 07 and Viktoria Köln followed. In the game against Hamborn, Dieter Danzberg scored the winning goal in the 84th minute. Five days later he scored the 2:1 in the 90th minute. One day after the triumph, on 6 May 1963, the written confirmation followed, MSV was admitted to the Bundesliga, and the jubilation knew no bounds. The last game against Preußen Münster was therefore meaningless, but they still secured third place in the table with a 2-1 victory.

Bundesliga - the 1960s

On 24 August 1963, the first matchday of the Bundesliga finally kicked off. MSV played it with Helmut Rahn and coach Rudi Gutendorf in Karlsruhe, where Karlsruhe SC was beaten 4:1. The Zebras succeeded in establishing themselves in the top flight at the end of the first half of the season. Due to a strong second half of the season, Meidericher SV moved up to 2nd place and surprisingly became vice-champion behind 1. FC Köln. The 1964/65 season was not so successful, in the first half of the season MSV was in the relegation zone and only in the second half of the season under the new coach Hermann Eppenhoff they were able to establish themselves in the midfield, in the end they were in 7th place with 32:28 points. The following season was the highest scoring Bundesliga season in the club's history, with 70 goals, and another record was set. The 9:0 win at Tasmania Berlin was the highest away win of a Bundesliga team of all times. Despite the 70 goals, the team was only in 8th place at the end, but reaching the cup final still made the season successful.

The first half of the 1966/67 season was very disappointing; after 18th place at the winter break, relegation fears were running rampant in Meiderich. Therefore, 7 January 1967 was seen as a new beginning, the day when the team was renamed "MSV Duisburg". Only by a feat of strength in the second half of the season did MSV manage to stay in 11th place. The downward trend was stopped in the following season, after 34 games they were 7th and scored 69 goals, including seven goals from the highest home win in the club's history (7:0 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern). However, the year was marked by financial problems, one reason being the poor attendance figures. In the 1968/69 season, MSV had to continue to struggle with debts that had now reached 1.4 million marks, so the season's goal was a mid-table finish. The first half of the season exceeded expectations many times over, in the meantime MSV was in 4th place, after 17 match days they were in 7th place. At the end of the season the Zebras were only 12th, one reason being the too many draws, with 16 draws in the season they set a new Bundesliga record. Also in 1969/70 the MSV had a lot of debts, but it was hoped that the promotion of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Rot-Weiss Essen would bring in a lot of spectator revenue. The financial situation had the consequence that one belonged to the relegation candidates, therefore the 10th place was very satisfying to the winter break. In the end, they managed to stay in the league in 15th place with a four-point lead.

MSV "Dietzburg" (1970 to 1982)

After the Zebras had almost been relegated in the 1969/70 season, the following season saw major changes to the face of the team, and a reliance was placed on the tried and tested concept of home-grown youth. A talented young player signed from amateur club SV Bockum-Hövel in 1970 was Bernard "Ennatz" Dietz, who was to be the head of the team for more than a decade (he gave the club the nickname MSV Dietzburg). The concept worked, and the team finished seventh, despite a somewhat bumpy first half of the season that saw them finish eleventh. In 1971/72 the team wanted to confirm the form of the previous season, if not even improve it, but a stormy season put an end to these hopes. In the end, they only finished 14th, although they were able to beat top teams like FC Bayern München (3:0). MSV started the 1972/73 season with seven reigning A-youth champions from their own youth ranks. After finishing sixth at the end of the first half of the season, Meiderich were dreaming of the UEFA Cup, but as the team slumped towards the end of the season, Duisburg slipped from fourth to tenth. In the next season, the Zebras struggled to stay in the league and were in last place for a long time, but a final spurt with 9:1 points from the last five games made the impossible still possible.

Surprisingly, the Zebras were in first place on the second matchday of the 1974/75 season, the first time in eleven years, but the success was short-lived. By the winter break, the club was in mid-table, and after 34 matchdays, MSV was 14th. The only positive was reaching the 1975 Cup final, which MSV Duisburg lost 1-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt, however. While the Zebras made a splash in the UEFA Cup the next season, this trend was not reflected in the Bundesliga. The Zebras were in last place for a while, but still managed to jump up to ninth place at the winter break. The Meiderich side stayed in mid-table and eventually finished tenth. Under new coach Otto Knefler, MSV were hoping for a UEFA Cup place in the 1976/77 season, which didn't seem impossible given third place after 20 games, but a negative streak in the closing stages meant a fall to ninth. In the next season, MSV Duisburg managed to qualify for the international competition in sixth place. On 5 November 1977, the most legendary match in the club's history took place. Bernard Dietz scored four goals as a defender in a 6-3 win over FC Bayern Munich.

In the 1978/79 season, the strains of participating in three competitions (Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Cup) were apparent to the Zebras. While the team reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals, they struggled against relegation in the Bundesliga (16th place at the winter break), but managed to avoid it by finishing 13th. The next three seasons were also marked by the fight against relegation. The reasons for this were the financial crisis and the loss of many key players. In the 1979/80 and 1980/81 seasons, MSV managed to stay in the relegation zone (14th and 12th place respectively), but after 19 years in the first division, the Zebras had to make the bitter move down to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1982. At first, they were in the middle of the league, but after the highest defeat in the history of the Bundesliga (0:7 against Hamburger SV), MSV slipped lower and lower and was finally relegated with 19:49 points and in 18th place.

2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga (1982 to 1991)

After relegation, no one in Duisburg was talking about an immediate return to the top flight; the big-name departures and the lack of money caused the Zebras a lot of trouble. The bad start had the consequence that they were in dire need of relegation. Thanks to the change of coach to Luis Zacarias, relegation was avoided once again (eleventh place). For the next season they aimed for promotion. By a final spurt one reached still the third place, failed however in the Relegation at Eintracht Frankfurt (0:5 and 1:1). In the next season 1984/85 the club again fought against relegation, which could only be averted on the last matchday by a 3:1 victory over SV Darmstadt 98. Along the way, the club had such high debts that a dissolution of the club came closer and closer. In 1986, MSV then plunged into the Oberliga. Four coaches could not prevent the relegation to the third league and so they were relegated with only 15 points from 38 games and 18 points behind the saving shore.

From now on the Zebras had to play against teams from Rhede, Baesweiler or Lindlar. The goal was the promotion, and for a long time it looked like it, but then the Bonner SC and the BVL Remscheid stopped the MSV on the home stretch, and so they were only second. But they were allowed to play for the German amateur championship, which they won by beating the amateurs of FC Bayern München 4:1. Also in the second attempt the promotion did not work out. The team led by Ewald Lienen and Thomas Strunz reached the promotion round as league leaders, but failed to win against Hertha BSC. After three years, MSV made the leap back into professional football in the 1988/89 season. MSV was sovereign leader of the table with only two defeats and gained 60:12 points with 97:36 goals. Since they finished the promotion round in first place, they achieved their goal for the season.

After returning to professional football, MSV Duisburg had set itself the goal of returning to the Bundesliga after two years of second-division football. The Zebras eventually succeeded in doing so. They finished the 1989/90 season in tenth place, after being seventh at the winter break. On 16 June 1991, the Meiderich club was promoted to the Bundesliga again after nine years of abstinence. Right from the start, MSV was at the top of the table, losing it only on the 24th matchday, but this fact did not change the fact that MSV Duisburg was promoted to the Bundesliga as the runner-up.

Promotions and relegations (1991 to 2013)

The first Bundesliga season in nine years began promisingly, after 13 match days the Meiderich team was in second place and the topic of relegation was to remain a foreign word. After MSV received nothing but praise nationwide for its great performances (the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote: "The Bundesliga hasn't seen a team like MSV Duisburg in a long time"), there were more and more quarrels within the team, and the team got into serious relegation trouble. The 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund on the last matchday meant that MSV was relegated to the 2nd division in 19th place. In 1992/93, MSV Duisburg had to aim for direct promotion. The season was very bumpy, and the team always oscillated between the top group and midfield, but in the end MSV climbed to second place in the Bundesliga, where they caused a sensation in 1993/94. From the beginning, there was a sense of optimism around the Wedau, which the team also implemented in the Bundesliga, one of the highlights was the 5:1 at the German champions Werder Bremen. On the 22nd matchday, the climax was reached: after a 1-0 win in the second leg against Werder Bremen, MSV were top of the table, and the first with a negative goal difference to boot. But a defeat against Bayern Munich broke the Zebras' neck and they plummeted back to ninth place. The next season, on the other hand, ended in mourning, with MSV relegated from the Bundesliga for the third time. At the winter break, the Meiderich side were bottom of the table with just seven points, and even new coach Hans Bongartz (he replaced Ewald Lienen) was unable to prevent relegation.

For the next year, a renewed promotion was targeted. With a series of 16 games without defeat, MSV initially lived up to their role as favourites, but this was followed by a series of eight games without a win and the dream of promotion was in danger of being shattered. After the dismissal of Hannes Bongartz, Friedhelm Funkel managed to lead the team to promotion after a nail-biter, and more successful years in the top flight followed. The years from 1997 to 1999 were very successful for MSV Duisburg. Three years in a row the Zebras reached a single-digit position in the table (once ninth and twice eighth), in 1998 the club reached the cup final for the third time, and MSV was also represented internationally. However, they failed in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup against KRC Genk. The 1999/2000 season was anything but successful. Only on the 13th matchday MSV could win the first match, but the club could not be saved and was relegated with only 22 points to the bottom of the table.

MSV did not start successfully into the new season, but after ten games without defeat, the Zebras were suddenly on top and dreamed of promotion again, which failed due to a bad second half of the season as eleventh. In the 2001/02 season, with new coach Pierre Littbarski, the Zebras were to be promoted, but after a mixed season, they once again finished eleventh. In the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons, the Zebras also finished in mid-table, now under coach Norbert Meier. President Walter Hellmich, who at the same time had the MSV-Arena (since 2010: Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena) built up a competitive team for the 2004/05 season by poaching top players like Ivica Grlic (Alemannia Aachen) and Georg Koch (Energie Cottbus) from the competition. After initial difficulties, the Meiderich side started a run of twelve games without defeat, and a 1-0 win over 1. FC Köln on matchday 17 made MSV the autumn champions. Towards the end of the season, the Zebras seemed to weaken. But then MSV defeated Wacker Burghausen 4-3 on matchday 31 after trailing 3-1 at the break, and a week later celebrated promotion with a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt, with 10,000 fans celebrating their return to the top flight well into the night.

But the guest performance in the Bundesliga lasted only one year. MSV spent the entire season in the bottom of the table and was relegated with only 27 points. So the Zebras played in the 2nd Bundesliga again in 2006/07, where they aimed for promotion. On the last matchday, MSV secured third place and direct promotion. MSV started the 2007/08 season with an away win at Borussia Dortmund (1:3). However, the "Zebras" lost their first home match against VfL Wolfsburg (1:3). From the eighth matchday on, they were on a relegation spot, which they could not leave until the end of the season. On the 33rd matchday, the relegation was sealed again by a defeat against FC Bayern (2:3). For the fifth time in their seventh relegation, the club left the league at the bottom of the table.

In the following second division years, the team finished in the upper midfield and had little to do with promotion in the end. With the coaches Rudi Bommer and Peter Neururer, the first two years were aimed at promotion again, but with 6th place at the end of each season, this goal was missed by a long way. Before the 2010/11 season, there was a major upheaval at MSV. In addition to a major change in the squad, the budget had to be reduced. From a sporting and financial point of view, the club was not in a position to tackle the goal of promotion. Coach Milan Šašić, who had been brought in six months earlier, had to start the season with a squad of mainly talented players. A three-year plan by coach and sporting director Bruno Hübner was to secure MSV financially from the ground up and gradually build a competitive team with the goal of Bundesliga promotion in 2013. In the first year, however, the goal was first to stay in the league. This was achieved with the 8th place sovereign, besides the team offered the Duisburg audience attractive football. Šašić also led the Zebras to the DFB Cup final in Berlin after 13 years, where they lost 5-0 to FC Schalke 04. Shortly afterwards, sporting director Hübner announced his move to league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt.

In November 2012, the club's financial situation came to a dramatic head, with talk of insolvency and the "end of professional football in Duisburg". However, the insolvency could still be averted by contributions from the stadium shareholders.

Development since the forced relegation to the 3rd league (since 2013)

On 29 May 2013, the licensing committee of the league association refused to grant MSV a licence for the 2013/14 second division season because the club had not demonstrated its economic viability. On 13 June, the club parted company with its managing director Roland Kentsch, and changes to the supervisory board were also announced on the same day. In the afternoon, the team started training in front of 3000 spectators. On 19 June, the Permanent Court of Arbitration confirmed the withdrawal of the licence. The fan protests, which were directed against the licence withdrawal and the club's management, gave rise to the action alliance "Show Stripes". It organised demonstrations and initiated a five-kilometre-long human chain from Duisburg city centre to the stadium, the "Band of Solidarity", with several thousand participants. The fan camps of previously rival clubs joined together in solidarity actions under the motto "Separate in colours, united in cause". On 1 July, the media reported that the documents submitted to obtain a licence for the 3rd division were incomplete and incorrect. Coach Runjaic announced his resignation on the same day.

After the club was granted the right to play in the 3rd division, Karsten Baumann took over from Runjaic. With a newly assembled team, he established MSV in the upper region of the table. However, MSV was unable to compete for promotion back to the 2. Liga as hoped. In March 2014, MSV Duisburg's creditors waived 80 percent of their claims, totalling around €12 million, as part of a debt cut. At the end of the season, MSV finished seventh in the table. Karsten Baumann's contract, which expired at the end of the season, was not renewed and Gino Lettieri was hired as the new coach.

On the penultimate matchday of the 2014/15 season, MSV Duisburg secured promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga with a 3-1 home win over Holstein Kiel. When the team was in last place in the table with six points after matchday 13, Gino Lettieri was released and replaced by Ilija Gruew. In December 2015, Capelli Sport bought 5.1 percent of the shares in MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co KGaA. MSV managed to catch up in the second half of the season, leaving the direct relegation places for the first time on the penultimate matchday and jumping to 16th place in the table, which entitled them to participate in the relegation matches. On the last matchday, MSV Duisburg managed a 1:0 win against the Bundesliga promoted RB Leipzig, so that they could secure the relegation place. In the relegation, MSV faced Würzburger Kickers and were relegated to the 3. Liga after a 0:2 in the first leg and a 1:2 in the second leg on 24 May 2016.

In April 2017, Capelli Sport acquired a further 5 percent of the shares in MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co. KGaA and now holds 10.1 percent of the shares. On the penultimate matchday of the 2016/17 season, MSV Duisburg achieved immediate promotion back to the 2nd Bundesliga with a 3-0 away win at SC Fortuna Köln. On the final matchday, MSV Duisburg won its home match against FSV Zwickau 5:1 and finished the season in first place in the table.

The 2017/18 second division season got off to a mixed start for Duisburg, with Ilija Gruew's side finding themselves in 15th place in the table after a defeat to Fortuna Düsseldorf on matchday 9. However, with only one defeat from the following 13 games, MSV moved steadily up the table and even got involved in the fight for promotion. On the 25th matchday, Duisburg was still in 4th place, but with a series of only one point from six games, all hopes of promotion were squandered. Duisburg finished the season in 7th place. In the following season, Duisburg picked up only two points from the first eight games, which led to the dismissal of Ilija Gruew. Under the new coach, Torsten Lieberknecht, the team initially managed a surprise win at leaders 1. FC Köln. Through further positive results, MSV worked its way up from the relegation places to 15th place. However, this positive trend could not be maintained in the further course of the season, so that at the end of the season MSV was relegated to the 3rd league as the team at the bottom of the table.