Fortuna Düsseldorf

Heartbreak#7217.4

Düsseldorf, Rhine-Ruhr · Germany · Bundesliga

League titles
1
last 1933
Major cups
3
last 1980
Top-2 finishes
2
Top-4 finishes
5

Power-ranking history

Rank (1 = best)1359Score (per-season normalised)0.00.51.069/7074/7579/8084/8589/9094/9599/0004/0509/1014/1519/20

Against expectation

Every German top-flight match this club has played in the Bundesliga, scored against the odds an Elo rating gave it before kick-off. Over 25 seasons from 1966-67 to 2019-20 it has fallen short of them by −7.7 match points.

1966-67 to 2019-20one bar per season · height in match points

Best season against expectation
1972-73 +9.2 league pts
42 points on 32.8 expected as Fortuna Dusseldorf
Worst season against expectation
2012-13 −11.7 league pts
30 points on 41.7 expected as Fortuna Dusseldorf

Season points use that season’s own scoring, two for a win before 1995-96 and three from it; the bars use match points so the whole series is comparable.

1991-92 table not final: source truncated on 1992-04-25, last 4 matchdays absent, 340 of 380.

Rhine-Ruhr against expectation →How this is measured →

What the squad was worth

Total market value of the squad, EUR millions, by month; the player count beside it is the size of the priced squad.

How this is measured

Drawn as a step, not a curve: Transfermarkt reprices every squad in December and June (marked with a small tick on the axis) and revalues continuously between, so the line only moves when a real valuation changed, never by interpolation.

A month renders no value at all once the priced squad falls below 15 players, so a thin squad is never shown as a cheap one. The series is floored at July 2012 on purpose: earlier Transfermarkt totals reflect which players happened to be priced yet rather than the squad’s real worth, and are excluded rather than shown misleadingly low.

Upstream (dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets) has been paused since July 2026, so the series ends where the source ends rather than where the season does.

Player valuations from Transfermarkt via github.com/dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets (CC0).

What the squad was worth€32m
05010112-1314-1516-1718-1920-2122-2324-25

Peak
€93m in Jun 2019 · 32 players valued
Most recent
€32m in Dec 2024 · 24 players valued

Rhine-Ruhr on the rankings →

The money ledger

Fees paid and received each season, and what the squad was worth once the trading is netted out.

How this is measured

Spent is the fees paid for players arriving, received the fees for players leaving, both in EUR millions by the July-to-June season of the move. A move with no fee on record (a free, a loan, an undisclosed sum) is counted, never priced: the small figure beside each total is the moves with a fee, plus those without (so 4+3 is four priced arrivals and three unpriced), and a quiet window is not mistaken for a cheap one. Wages are not here: they are estimates nobody licenses, and fees are documented.

Appreciation is the season’s change in squad value with the net spend taken out: buy 100m of players and finish 100m higher is zero; finish 120m higher and the club made 20m of players better, or the market repriced them. It needs a priced squad at both ends of the season (the same 15-player floor as the value chart), so it is blank rather than guessed for a season that lacks one.

The source has been paused since 6 July 2026, so the final row holds only the opening days of its window.

Transfer fees and player valuations from Transfermarkt via github.com/dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets (CC0).

The money ledger+€29m
Spent
€31m
25 arrivals with a fee
Received
€60m
19 departures with a fee
Net
+€29m
116 moves with no fee
Appreciation
+€52m
12 seasons with a priced squad

Grown or bought: in 2026-27, trading +€1m and appreciation —. Over the last 5 seasons (2022-23–2026-27), trading +€22m and appreciation unpriced.

The director’s ledger: 34 arrivals graded since 2022-23, 94% EV-positive. €17m deployed for a 1.9× multiplier.

2026-27 spent — received €1mto 6 July 2026
out: Satoshi Tanaka €1m
—
unpriced
2025-26 spent €5m received €11m
in: Cedric Itten €2m
—
unpriced
2024-25 spent €7m received €19m
in: Christos Tzolis €4m
—
unpriced
2023-24 spent €4m received €5m
in: Yannik Engelhardt €4m
+€17m
squad gain
2022-23 spent €2m received €3m
in: Ao Tanaka €1m
+€5m
squad gain
2021-22 spent — received —
13 moves, no fee on record
−€10m
squad gain
2020-21 spent €1m received €3m
in: Jakub Piotrowski €1m
−€29m
squad gain
2019-20 spent €7m received €12m
in: Dawid Kownacki €7m
−€20m
squad gain

Money against football

Every priced club-season in the six leagues: points against expectation across, squad value gained beyond the net spend up. This club’s seasons are joined.

● the frontier: no other club-season beat it on both axes · ● this club, season by season, the largest dot the latest

Every club’s return on the transfer window →

Greatest games

Fortuna Düsseldorf's top matches by the club Game Score: closeness, stakes, quality and upset over one unified rating of league and European play. H, A and N mark home, away and a neutral venue; a ★ is a curated all-time classic (tap it for the model's own score).All-time board.

1
1980-06-04 · DFB-Pokal · Final
73.0
game score
2
1979-05-16 · Cup Winners' Cup · Final
71.8
game score
3
1979-06-23 · DFB-Pokal · Final
67.4
game score
4
1958-10-16 · DFB-Pokal · Final
61.1
game score
5
Győri ETO FC
1974-11-05 · UEFA Cup · Second Round · 2nd leg, agg 3-2
58.6
game score
6
1981-06-06 · Bundesliga
58.2
game score
7
1957-12-29 · DFB-Pokal · Final
58.1
game score
8
1962-08-29 · DFB-Pokal · Final
57.8
game score
9
FC Baník Ostrava
1979-04-25 · Cup Winners' Cup · Semifinals · 2nd leg, agg 4-3
57.6
game score
10
1985-05-25 · Bundesliga
55.9
game score

Footprint

Tiers played
L1
Top-flight (L1) seasons
25
Pre-Bundesliga national playoff appearances
9
First season
1927
Most recent season
2020

The Heartbreak Index17.4 · #72

The Tortured · Major trophy, 1980

17.4
Heartbreak
#72
of 1,138 clubs
#29
in Football
17.4
agony
The clocks
  • Major trophy since 198011.2
  • Major final appearance since 19805.6
  • League title since 19332.6
Priced pangs
  • The Bochum Collapse · 2024 · 0.90 pangs
    Won the promotion final first leg 3-0 away; lost 3-0 at home and the shootout
Heaviest wounds

relegated from the top flight, 2013 · relegated from the top flight, 2020 · relegated from the top flight, 1967 · relegated from the top flight, 1997

One formula, every club the site covers. See the whole board →

Season-by-season

Most recent season first. Covers Bundesliga only. Rows tagged "national playoff" are pre-modern formats where the workbook records only playoff participants, not round-robin standings.

2020
Bundesliga (1) · P17↓
34 P · 6-12-16 · 36:67 · -31
30
pts
2019
Bundesliga (1) · P10
34 P · 13-5-16 · 49:65 · -16
44
pts
2013
Bundesliga (1) · P17↓
34 P · 7-9-18 · 39:57 · -18
30
pts
1997
Bundesliga (1) · P16↓
34 P · 9-6-19 · 26:57 · -31
33
pts
1996
Bundesliga (1) · P13
34 P · 8-16-10 · 40:47 · -7
40
pts
1992
Bundesliga (1) · P20↓
38 P · 6-12-20 · 41:69 · -28
24
pts
1991
Bundesliga (1) · P12
34 P · 11-10-13 · 40:49 · -9
32
pts
1990
Bundesliga (1) · P9
34 P · 10-12-12 · 41:41 · 0
32
pts
1987
Bundesliga (1) · P17↓
34 P · 7-6-21 · 42:91 · -49
20
pts
1986
Bundesliga (1) · P14
34 P · 11-7-16 · 54:78 · -24
29
pts
1985
Bundesliga (1) · P15
34 P · 10-9-15 · 53:66 · -13
29
pts
1984
Bundesliga (1) · P14
34 P · 11-7-16 · 63:75 · -12
29
pts
Domestic Cup Finals

Most recent first. Every domestic cup final the club has played, including losses. Scheduled finals (date not yet passed) are flagged.

1980
DFB-Pokal
Won
1979
DFB-Pokal
Won
1978
DFB-Pokal
Runner-up
1962
DFB-Pokal
Runner-up
1958
DFB-Pokal
Runner-up
1957
DFB-Pokal
Runner-up
1938
DFB-Pokal
Runner-up
European competition appearances

Most recent first. One row per entry showing the deepest round reached. A Cup Winner badge marks tournaments the club won: gold for the European Cup / Champions League, silver for every other UEFA or Intercontinental trophy.

1980-81
Cup Winners Cup(CWC)
Quarter-final
1979-80
Cup Winners Cup(CWC)
Group stage
1978-79
Cup Winners Cup(CWC)
Final
1974-75
UEFA Cup(UC)
Round of 16
1973-74
UEFA Cup(UC)
Round of 16