Schalke 04 has played 34 seasons in the divisions covered here since 1992/93: 30 in the Bundesliga and 4 in 2. Bundesliga. It has been in 2. Bundesliga since 2023/24 (3 seasons), after 1 season in the Bundesliga. It goes up to the Bundesliga for 2026/27. Its best finish was 2nd in the Bundesliga, in 2000/01. It has been promoted twice and relegated twice.
Schalke 04
2025/26: 1st in 2. Bundesliga, promoted · 2026/27: Bundesliga
How high can Schalke 04 realistically go?
Based on finishing 1st in 2. Bundesliga in 2025/26 and going up
About 3 in 10
Of the 41 times a club was promoted from 2. Bundesliga between 2004/05 and 2020/21, 14 stayed up for all of the next five seasons.
14 of 41 (34%); likely range 19%–50%, 28 different clubs.
| Reached the top six within ten seasons | about 5 in 10 14 of 30; range 27%–66% |
Schalke 04 itself: 6 of the last 10 seasons in the Bundesliga; 1 top-four finish.
How do we know?
We took every season since 2004/05 in which a club finished in the same part of the same league, and followed each club forward. The figure is the share that reached each goal. Ten-year goals use finishes from 2004/05 to 2015/16, five-year goals from 2004/05 to 2020/21, so every case has had the full time to play out; results run to the end of 2025/26.
It describes what happened to clubs in this position, not a forecast for one club. A club with much more money or history than is usual for its position has better chances than the figure suggests, which is why the club's own record is shown underneath.
The likely range is a 95% interval worked out by resampling clubs rather than seasons, because the same club often appears several times. It is wide where only a few clubs have been in a position, and two leagues whose ranges overlap may not really differ. Reserve teams such as Barcelona B or Real Madrid Castilla are left out of these counts, because they cannot be promoted into their first team's division.
Counts: stayed up for all of the next five seasons: 14 of 41; reached the top six within ten seasons: 14 of 30.
The story so far
Final position each seasonRinged dots are titles
How to read this chart
Every club in the divisions covered is placed on one ladder each season: the champions are 1st, and the top club of the second division comes straight after the bottom club of the first. Shaded bands are the divisions. Hover over or tap a dot for the season.
34seasons since 1992/93
30seasons in the Bundesliga
0league titles
11top-four finishes
2promotions
2relegations
Against the money
Not available for Germany: wage bills are not published club by club in one place there, so this is shown for England and France only.
Clubs with a similar path
Clubs whose finishing positions over the last 15 seasons were closest to Schalke 04's, with recent seasons counting more.
In Germany
Hertha BSCGermany · 7th in 2. Bundesliga, 2025/26Hamburger SVGermany · 13th in the Bundesliga, 2025/26FC AugsburgGermany · 9th in the Bundesliga, 2025/26Hannover 96Germany · 4th in 2. Bundesliga, 2025/26
Elsewhere in Europe
Girondins de BordeauxFrance · not in the divisions covered nowSouthamptonEngland · 4th in the Championship, 2025/26Saint-ÉtienneFrance · 3rd in Ligue 2, 2025/26
Compare Schalke 04 with another club
Sources
- Final tables to 2025/26. Positions are worked out from match results.
- Relegations include dropping out of the divisions covered.
- All figures can be downloaded on the data page. Spotted a mistake? Report it with a source.