User:Jared Preston/1997–98 Tennis Borussia Berlin season

The 1997–98 season was the fourth time Tennis Borussia Berlin played in the Regionalliga Nordost, the third highest tier of the German football league system at the time. Tennis Borussia went through the entire league season undefeated; after 34 league games, TeBe won their division with a 32-point lead over second-placed Dynamo Dresden. The club did not qualify for the DFB-Pokal, but won the Berliner Landespokal; beating VfB Lichterfelde 2–1 in the final at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. Ilija Aračić scored 16 of the club's 86 league goals.

Promotion playoffs
Winning the Regionalliga Nordost did not grant Tennis Borussia Berlin an automatic promotion to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, they had to enter a playoff against Regionalliga Nord champions Hannover 96 for the right to play in Germany's second tier.

After two legs, Tennis Borussia Berlin lost out to Hannover 96 3–1 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out, but had a second chance to earn promotion in a three-team playoff with the runners-up of the Regionalliga Süd and Regionalliga West/Südwest divisions as part of the 1998 German amateur football championship.

1998 German amateur football championship
After beating Kickers Offenbach and Sportfreunde Siegen, Tennis Borussia were crowned German amateur football champions (Deutsche Amateurmeister). Despite having lost to Hannover 96, TeBe were promoted. Incidentally, the two met in the first round of the following season's DFB-Pokal, where the Veilchen avenged their playoff defeat with a 1–0 win as well as four of the six league points.