January: Seven new arrivals join for the second half the season

Another year is coming to an end: 365 days of both highs and lows, but above all a host of memorable moments for FC Augsburg. It’s time once more to reflect on the past twelve months. In part one of FCA’s review of the year, we look back on January.

Following an unusually long Christmas break due to the winter World Cup in Qatar, FC Augsburg kicked off the new year with a training camp in sunny Spain. The whole team travelled to Algorfa in Alicante at the beginning of January to lay the foundations for a successful start to the second half of the season. The club played three friendlies during this time, losing 1-0 and 4-1 to Union Berlin and then 2-0 to Ferencváros.

The club had already secured the signing of Arne Engels prior to heading to Spain. The Belgian was one of seven players FCA brought in during the January transfer window, along with Dion Beljo, David Čolina, Irvin Cardona, Kelvin Yeboah (loan), Nathanaël Mbuku and Renato Veiga (loan).

Academy product Raphael Framberger left the club on loan to join SV Sandhausen, while Florian Niederlechner joined Hertha BSC with immediate effect. Frederik Winther agreed to spend the rest of the season at Bröndby IF in Denmark, and Lukas Pektov signed a contract extension until 2026 before heading on loan to Fürth.

First half of the season ends with a win

After two friendlies on one day against VfL Wolfsburg (4-0 defeat, 1-0 win), Enrico Maaßen’s team began 2023 with a trip to Borussia Dortmund. Thanks to goals from Arne Maier, Ermedin Demirović and debutant David Čolina, his side equalised three times, but still lost 4-3 in a topsy-turvy game.

The last game in the first half of the season was played on a Wednesday night with Borussia Mönchengladbach in town. Mergim Berisha scored the only goal of the evening in the 82nd minute to secure a vital home win for the Fuggerstädter.

New plastic cups introduced

The first home game of the year saw the introduction of the new environmentally friendly plastic cups for cold beverages at the WWK-Arena. The FCA fans therefore now have the chance to donate the deposit money for their cups to three selected organisations in Augsburg.

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