MUNICH (AP) - Former Bundesliga champion 1860 Munich was relegated from Germany’s second division on Tuesday in a game that was held up for 15 minutes toward the end because of violence from its angry fans.
1860 lost the second leg of its relegation/promotion playoff 2-0 at home to Bavarian rival Jahn Regensburg, a team that finished third in the third division and secured second-tier football at the Munich-based club’s expense with a 3-1 win on aggregate.
Jahn gained promotion at the first attempt, one season after promotion from the fourth tier.
Kolja Pusch and Marc Lais scored the goals in the first half for Jahn, but the game was overshadowed by the scenes that unfolded 10 minutes before full-time, when 1860 fans began throwing objects including seats onto the pitch and riot police lined up to prevent the situation escalating.
“We’re fed up,” the home side’s fans shouted.
Play was suspended for some 15 minutes, though more objects were thrown onto the pitch after it resumed.
1860, which won the Bundesliga in 1966 and had played in the top flight as recently as 2004, returned to the third level for the first time in 24 years.
The club announced later that chief executive Ian Ayre, a former chief executive of Liverpool in the English Premier League who only took up the position in April, had tendered his resignation before the game. Club president Peter Cassalette resigned after the match.
1860 is backed by Jordanian investor Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, who hired former Porto coach Vitor Pereira last December and promised to lead the side to the top levels of European football.
Only Stuttgart and Hannover, which both secured their return to the Bundesliga, had squads that cost more than 1860’s in the second division.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to hit the targets. It pains me immensely that the project failed,” said Pereira, who thanked co-workers, the players and journalists at the post-game news conference. “My conscience is clear that I did all I could.”
1860’s under-21, under-19, under-17 and under-16 teams were also relegated this season.
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