Benrath

Each meeting with Fortuna Düsseldorf carries a weight no league table explains: the two share a city, not a division, and the fixture survives only as a friendly — a yearly reminder of how far Benrath's district side sits from the professional club across town.

The club grew out of the Benrath district itself, taking shape in 1906 as Verein für Leibesübungen Benrath. Its strongest years came before the Second World War: the Western German Cup went to Benrath in 1932 and 1933, the Gauliga Niederrhein title followed in 1934 and 1935, and in those same seasons the side reached the final rounds of the German professional championship. The last major honour arrived in 1957, when Benrath beat BFC Alemannia 90 4:2 to become German amateur champions.

The nickname Schlossstädter ties the club to Benrath Palace, the baroque residence that gives the district its name, and the club plays in black and white. Home games are held at Stadion Benrath, which holds 7,000, with 1,200 of those seats under cover.

None of that changes what the Fortuna Düsseldorf fixture means locally: the one game each year Benrath gets to measure itself against the far bigger club a few kilometres up the road.