For the Haters
"Europacup ist nicht so Mainz" ("European cup isn't so Mainz"): A 1-6 loss at RSC Anderlecht (2015) is Mainz's worst European defeat. Bitter: Mainz collected nine points in the group stage — enough for first place in any other group, but not in theirs. And when they crashed out of the Conference League in 2021/22 with a 2-4 aggregate against Armenian side FK Pyunik, it was another low point.
Mainz are one goal short! The 4-1 win at Eintracht Braunschweig on matchday 34 of the 2002/03 2. Bundesliga season is something no Mainz fan will ever forget. Mainz missed promotion by a single goal. Eintracht Frankfurt went up instead — with a goal difference just one better.
Champions — yet no promotion! The era of the "carnival club" in professional football nearly started much earlier. In the Amateur-Oberliga Südwest, introduced in 1978, Mainz 05 were crowned champions in the 1981/82 season. But promotion? Denied! They failed in the promotion playoffs, and it would take until 1988 before the 05ers finally reached the 2. Bundesliga.
Bayern record: Minus 53 — that is FSV Mainz 05's goal difference in matches against mighty FC Bayern München (through the end of the first half of the 2019/20 season). Against no other club has Mainz conceded more goals or lost more matches in the Bundesliga.
Heaviest away defeat in a derby: Mainz's worst derby defeat away from home came in the 2. Bundesliga in the 1988/89 season. On matchday 37, they lost 0-5 at Karlsruher SC.
Tough luck: On the final matchday of the 1996/97 season, Mainz travelled to VfL Wolfsburg. It was a winner-takes-all match for the third promotion spot. The problem: Wolfsburg had a point more, and Mainz needed to win. A 1-1 draw sealed it — Mainz stayed in the Regionalliga. The Wolfsburg goal? A disputed penalty. "We were robbed," was the prevailing sentiment among Mainz fans.
19th place: Mainz 05's worst season in professional football came in their debut 1988/89 campaign. Under coach Robert Jung, who promptly led them back to the 2. Liga ("The Jungle Book Season"), they finished rock bottom with just 25 points.
The chronicles of 2006/07: Anyone who dislikes Mainz will enjoy lingering in the 2006/07 season chronicles. The relegation season from the Bundesliga brought…
The worst points tally in the Bundesliga: 34 points meant 16th place, direct relegation and the weakest record for Mainz 05 in the top flight. Yet Mainz won five of their last seven matches — too little, too late.