the highest budget ever by supporting Jebens in the lower leagues, the athletic rise of the Hamburg team took place in the following years. The Crocodiles were able to climb up into the second-class first league north in three years thanks to the partly double-digit victories and the purchase of licenses from high-class clubs. There the team finished in tenth place in the 1997/98 season, and thus qualified for the newly founded Deutsche Eishockey Liga, which was played as a 2nd Bundesliga from the 1999/00 season. The spectators had steadily increased in the last few years due to their sporting success against the Düsseldorfer EG, which had previously withdrawn from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga due to financial problems, and other well-known teams of the new second class. The attendance at the hall raised to about 2,300 spectators. 2000–2001 In the summer of 2000, the Crocodiles, which had reached the play-off quarter-final of the 1999/00 season, tried to buy the DEL license of the expelled Starbulls Rosenheim and move into the highest Eishockeyliga. However, the approval of the sale was not approved by the DEL shareholders' meeting. After the citizens of Hamburg announced that they wanted a multi-functional arena for 12,300 spectators in addition to the Volksparkstadion at that time, the Limited Society of the Crocodiles was incorporated by Klaus-Peter Jebens, who, according to his own statement, donated five million german marks during his engagement. The Farmsener TV succeeded in continuing with a new Society in the Oberliga Nord for a season, which however after the season had to be finally discontinued. The players who were still under contract left the team during the current 2000/01 season, so the team was not able to compete any more. After the audience numbers had declined sharply, the association had to file for insolvency with liabilities of 500,000 german marks. After the season, the Crocodiles team was reintegrated into the "Stammersverein Farmsener TV" and continued to play under the name "Crocodiles Hamburg" in the Federation League, while the Society was dissolved. In spite of free entry, the number of spectators rarely rose above 100. 2001–2007 After three years in the Federation League, the club managed to qualify for the upper regional league season after a fifth place in the play-offs. The number of spectators increased slightly as a result, while the Crocodiles made the class salary in their first regional league season in the