Neukirchen-Vluyn is a village just across the Dutch/German border. Completely surrounded by German top teams, the village briefly had a say in the higher divisions. SV Neukirchen managed to play second division for a while, but smaller neighbour TuS Preussen Vluyn 09 had less successes.
In the meantime, both teams have become one. SV Neukirchen was the bigger and better of the two for a while (with even a short spell in second division in the 60s), but TuS Preussen Vluyn had to settle with less than that. That didn't make the rivalry between the two any less. Modern football however would catch up on them and force them to make a drastic decision.
TuS Preussen Vluyn 09 was giving the local community football joy and laughter since 1909 and their Jahnplatz was well equipped to play higher than what the team eventually managed to achieve. Completely surrounded by some beautiful terracing, it could host quite some fans. But that terracing most probably was only packed when they played their local derbies against the neighbours of SVN.
Just little under 110 years after the creation, both clubs decided to join forces and FC Neukirchen-Vluyn 09/21 was born. The merger would stay at the home ground of SVN and in the meantime a brand new stadium with artificial grass has been built. All of that happened between 2019 and now (2021).
Ever since the merger, the Jahnplatz is left behind with great sadness. After it had seen Kostas Mitroglou grow during the 90s (whom moved to the rivals of SV Neukirchen later on), it can now only take joy in listening to the happy kids' noises from the school right next door. Waiting for the final demolition...
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