There were tears once again in Mainz on 23 May 2004, but this time not due to sadness, frustration or disappointment. This time they were tears of unbridled delight in a city that’s famous for knowing how to celebrate. After three agonising failed attempts to climb out of the second division, this team had finally managed to bring Bundesliga football to the Carnival stronghold just across the river from Frankfurt.
But it had been another experience that left nerves completely frayed among 05ers supporters. Klopp’s team weren’t in control of their own fate going into the 34th and final matchday. They needed results elsewhere to go their way on that Sunday 20 years ago.
And it did indeed all go their way. Alemannia Aachen were two points ahead before kick-off on the final day, occupying the third and final promotion place, but they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Karlsruhe. That opened the door for Mainz, who claimed a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Eintracht Trier and snatched third place.
Their haul of 54 points was the lowest of any team to achieve promotion at the time, and they hadn't even occupied a spot in the top three during the season, but Klopp and his team didn’t care. They’d finally managed to do what no Mainz team had done before and reach the top tier of the footballing pyramid. “I am the normal one,” was how Klopp introduced himself to the media when unveiled as new Liverpool manager in October 2015.
His open and humourful demeanour saw him win over fans in England just as quickly as he’d done previously at Dortmund and Mainz. But on-field wins are something he’s had to work a lot harder for. “I was an average player, and at Mainz I started out as an average coach,” Klopp said about himself.
But it’s probably that career progression that holds the secret of the man who left Bundesliga 2 to win some of the biggest titles in European club football. It’s somehow typical of Klopp's career that the door to professional football opened after a defeat. In 1990, the Stuttgart native was playing for Rot-Weiss Frankfurt and reached the play-offs for promotion to Bundesliga 2, but they lost all six games in their group that consisted of Schweinfurt, Reutlingen and Mainz.
Summary from source