Frank Holzer: The pharmaceutical entrepreneur has been involved with SV Elversberg for well over three decades.Image: www.imago-images.de
Elversberg doesn’t even have a train station, but is still preparing to get promoted to the Bundesliga. A former Bundesliga player with his million-dollar empire is also a deciding factor.
May 18, 2026, 10:00 p.mMay 18, 2026, 10:05 p.m
Alexander Kohne / t-online
A week ago, SV Elversberg was still showing nerves, but yesterday, Sunday, they took the final step. The village club from Saarland has made it into the Bundesliga. Elversberg defeated bottom team Münster 3-0 and completed the surprise. Before the season, the Saarlanders were still seen as relegation candidates due to the prominent departures from the coaching bench (Horst Steffen) and from the squad. 34 match days later, Elversberg is a Bundesliga team.
The rapid rise of the club from the small town of Spiesen-Elversberg, which was still playing in the fourth division four years ago, is also linked to one man: Frank Holzer. While the public often focuses on the coach, individual players or the former manager Ole Book (now BVB) when looking for the main reason for success, the 72-year-old is pulling the strings in the background. And it has been for decades.
Bundesliga 1978/79: Frank Holzer (right, Braunschweig) against Norbert Eder (Nuremberg) in a 3-1 win by Eintracht Braunschweig on September 30, 1978.Image: imago
Holzer is currently chairman of the SVE supervisory board and the most important sponsor with his pharmaceutical company Ursapharm. He was born in nearby Neuenkirchen. In Elversberg, he kicked the ball in his youth – so successfully that Holzer later became a professional in the 1970s and made a name for himself in the region, especially as a striker for 1. FC Saarbrücken.
From footballer to pharmaceutical entrepreneur
However, the Saarlander became even better known there after his career ended. After this, he completed a pharmacy degree and took over Ursapharm, which his father Albrecht had founded in 1974 together with other pharmacists from the region. The former professional footballer consistently developed the company and became a multimillionaire. It is now active in 80 countries and has a turnover of around 350 million euros.
Similar to his company, he also developed the SVE. In 1989, Holzer became president of the then regional league team, which is said to have been saddled with debts of around 800,000 marks. The new boss restructured the club and took over the liabilities. He also stepped in as an interim coach several times. In 2011, he handed over the presidency to his son Dominik, with whom he now also runs Ursapharm.
Today, Holzer senior is the supervisory boss of the surprise club and, despite the sporting heights, he appears in public in a measured manner and in no way pushes himself there.
After the 2024/25 season, he described the success of the club, which finished the season in third place, as a “reward for quiet, continuous work”. Unlike many traditional clubs, there are hardly any changes in key positions. The successful duo of Horst Steffen and Nils-Ole Book worked together for years and were only poached by Bundesliga clubs because of their achievements. There are no scandals or public friction at the SVE.
Elversberg fans celebrate promotion to the 1st Bundesliga.Image: keystone
However, there is a lot of sponsorship money from Holzer’s company. Ursapharm is the namesake of the stadium and also a jersey sponsor with its own brand Hylo. Exact figures as to how much the Holzers’ involvement with SVE cost are not known.
Budget far away from the top of the second division
One thing is clear, however: Elversberg is a long way from having a dimension like Hoffenheim, where SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp lifted his hometown club from amateur football to the Bundesliga thanks to multimillion-dollar financial injections. The Elversbergers had one of the lower budgets in the 2nd Bundesliga.
However, the club is assured of support from the regional economy – especially from medium-sized businesses. The SVE has around 400 business partners and therefore almost the entire middle class in Saarland at its side. Holzer’s roots in the region – and his economic influence – are of course beneficial.
Basement of the car workshop as a changing room
And this also affects the infrastructure – although it is not (yet) suitable for the Bundesliga. Not long ago, the players changed clothes before a game in the basement of a neighboring car repair shop. That is now history, but the professionals continue to travel to nearby St. Ingbert for training.
The club is currently building a new training center there, which is symbolic of the fact that things are developing well in the area. While major investments in the team are the exception (in the last decade, the SVE did not even invest 1.5 million euros in new recruits), the situation is completely different when it comes to infrastructure.
The Elversberg stadium on the Kaiserlinde is currently being rebuilt.Image: imago
For example when it comes to the stadium. The aging arena on the Kaiserlinde is currently being rebuilt. A move to the Ludwigsparkstadion in Saarbrücken, about 20 kilometers away, which has recently been modernized, would probably have been significantly more cost-effective. But instead, over 30 million euros were invested in the renovation of their own stadium. The money for this comes from an unknown investor.
Everything should be finished in 2027 – and the capacity will be increased from around 10,000 to almost 16,000 places. Including combined standing VIP seating. The fact that the business audience is in a stadium would be a first in German professional football. Just like Elversberg in the Bundesliga.