The Unpromotables: Union Berlin and the promotion rounds to the second Bundesliga seemed an unsolvable riddle. From 1992 onward, Union kept missing out on promotion to German football’s lower professional house. In 1992 there were five defeats in six matches against Wolfsburg, FC Berlin and Zwickau, with a goal difference of minus 15. In 1993 the club was denied the licence.
The whole saga became especially dramatic in summer 2000, first in the penalty thriller of the return leg against Osnabrück, then in a three-team round with LR Ahlen and SC Pfullendorf. Again the dream of the second division remained unfulfilled.