When Professor Ensgraber , his five sons and local students formed a sports club in Darmstadt during the May of 1898, FK Olympia 1898 Darmstadt was born.

The Lilies – so called due to the Lily on both their club badge, and the Darmstadt coat of arms - have resided at the Stadion am Böllenfalltor since 1921, a stadium that now holds 19,000 at capacity.

Being one of the oldest clubs in Germany, they progressed rapidly in the early 1900s, highlighted by their success in the West Circle Cup B-Class with a 14-1 victory over Völklingen 03 in 1908. Just two years later, they faced their first international fixture, where they triumphed 5-0 over French club Club Athlétique de Vitry.

By 1919 they had become a club of over 1,000 members, paving the way for the Stadion am Böllenfalltor to be built. In the 1920s and 30s, they played under the name of SV Darmstadt in the top tier of football in the Hessen region, though only finished in the top half once in eight seasons during that period, before the Third Reich re-organised the whole of German football in 1933.

They were unable to keep themselves in the top division throughout the next 10 years, and by the time the war had surfaced in 1945, they were a permanent fixture in the second tier.

Despite over three-quarters of the city being destroyed in the war, it took just six months for SV Darmstadt to be reformed, and within five years, had been promoted to the Oberliga Süd after a victory in front of 12,000 fans versus Viktoria Aschaffenburg.

That stay didn’t last long, relegation followed, and they would not return until 1965, where they managed one top-half finish in six years before again being relegated to the third tier.

1970/71 was a huge season for them though, Udo Klug took charge and promotion led to a 7th place finish the season after, before winning the Regionalliga Süd in 1972. This gave them the chance to play Bundesliga football for the first time, though they were trumped by Rot-Weiss Essen.

Top flight football beckoned though, and the fans wishes were granted in 1978, when their team topped the 2. Bundesliga by five points, hammering in 90 goals in 38 games. Sadly, their scoring heroics were not repeated on their debut season in the Bundesliga, despite an impressive draw against Bayern Munich, they were relegated with just 21 points. Though this was during a time where Darmstadt players were not even professional footballers – they had a full-time occupation and training in the evenings.

They were not deterred though, and promotion came again in 1981, as they again finished Champions. Peter Cestonaro scored 17 goals, meaning he had managed 42 in the two promotion seasons for the Lilies. Again, they were relegated at the first time of asking, with 21 points, and that would be the last of German’s Premier competition that they would see.

The fall from grace cost the team dearly, debts rose, and quality dwindled from the squad as they slipped to the third tier in 1993. It got worse in 1997, as they visited the fourth tier, at a time where the club was in huge danger of going out of business. Despite a swift return to the third tier after relegation in 1997 and 2003, their future was still in the balance, leading to them organising a benefit match with Bayern Munich, as well as receiving funding from former club persons to keep them from bankruptcy, rescuing them from debts of over 1m euros.

After finally returning to the third tier in 2011, they were granted a huge slice of luck during the 2012/13 season. Despite finishing 18th and facing relegation, the team that were due to take their place, Kickers Offenbach, were not granted a license to play in 3.Liga, so the Lilies stayed put. Fast forward one season, and SV Darmstadt were on the brink of promotion, finishing third place and earning a playoff with Bielefeld.

The dream looked to be over after losing 3-1 at home in the first leg, but after taking a 2-1 lead in the second leg, a 79th minute goal saw them make it 4-4 on aggregate, sending the contest to extra-time.

A 110th minute goal from Bielefeld looked to have taken the game in their favour, but a 122nd minute goal by Elton Da Costa ensured one of the fairytale stories of the domestic season as Darmstadt returned to the 2.Bundesliga after a 20 year hiatus.

A rich history in the local cup – The Hesse Cup – has been the highlight for the Lilies fans in recent years, only Kickers Offenbach have reached more finals and won more cups than them, though with seven wins from 10 finals, they have a record that lower league teams are envious of. Fans of the Kickers will no doubt remind them though that 2 of those 3 finals losses came against them, most recently last year.

Despite stints in the top flight of German football just a few decades ago, their fans are over the moon at being back in the second tier, after nearly having no club to support just a few years ago.

Only time will tell if they can keep themselves in the second tier, with it being an extremely competitive league, but with the likes of Dominik Stroh-Engel, 27 goals in 34 matches last season, and the impressive coup of Fabian Holland on loan from Hertha, they are sure to put up a fight next season.