Borussia Dortmund

BV Borussia Dortmund is a German football first division club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia.

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History

BVB's Early Years

The club was founded on December 19, 1909 by a group of young men unhappy with church-sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the stern and unsympathetic eye of the local parish priest. Father Dewald was blocked at the door when he tried to break up the organizing meeting being held in a room of the local pub, Zum Wildschütz. The name Borussia is Latin for Prussia and was taken from the nearby Borussia brewery. The team began play in blue and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and yellow uniforms so familiar today.

Over the next decades the club enjoyed only modest success playing in local leagues. They had a brush with bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the club's fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and left the team deep in debt. They survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the team's shortfall out of his own pocket.

World War II and the Postwar

The 30's saw the rise of the Third Reich which restructured sports and football organizations throughout the nation to suit the regime's goals. Borussia's president was replaced when he refused to join the Nazi party, and a couple of members who surreptitiously used the club's offices to produce anti-Nazi pamphlets were executed in the last days of the war. The club did have greater success in the newly established Gauliga, but would have to wait until after World War II to make a breakthrough. It was during this time that Borussia developed its intense rivalry with FC Schalke 04, the most successful side of the era. Like every other organization in Germany, Borussia was dissolved by the Allied occupation authorities after the war in an attempt to distance the country's institutions from the so-recent Nazi past. There was a short-lived attempt to merge the club with two others - Werksportgemeinschaft Hoesch and Freien Sportverein 98 – as Sportgemeinschaft Borussia von 1898, but it was as Ballspiel-Verein Borussia (BVB) that they made their first appearance in the national final in 1949 where they lost (2:3) to VfR Mannheim.

The Oberliga West, which included Borussia, dominated German football through the late 50's. The club claimed its first national title in 1956, followed up with another win the next season, and then made a losing appearance in the 1961 final.

Entry to the Bundesliga

In 1962, the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) met in Dortmund and voted to finally establish a professional football league in Germany to begin play in August of 1963 as the Bundesliga. Borussia earned its place among the first sixteen sides to play in the new league by winning the last pre-Bundesliga championship. Losing club 1. FC Köln also earned an automatic berth. It was Dortmund's Timo Konietzka who scored the first-ever Bundesliga goal barely a minute into a match which they would eventually lose (2:3) to Werder Bremen.

In 1965, Dortmund captured its first German Cup. They had a mixed result the next year when they won the European Cup, but surrendered a commanding position atop the Bundesliga by losing four of their last five league games and finishing second, three points back of champions Munich 1860. Ironically, much of 1860's success came on the strength of the play of Konietzka, recently transferred there from Dortmund.

The club would not enjoy any significant success again until a German Cup win in 1989. Fortune would smile on them in 1993 with their run to the UEFA Cup final, which they lost (1:6) on aggregate to Juventus. In spite of the result, Borussia walked away with 25 million DM under the prize money pool system in place at the time for German sides participating in the Cup. Flush with cash, they were able to go out and sign the players that would bring them a string of honours through the balance of the decade. They won the Bundesliga championship in 1995 and 1996 – with Matthias Sammer from the '96 championship club being named European Footballer of the Year – and took both the European Championship and Intercontinental Cup in 1997.

Borussia "Goes Public"

At the turn of the millennium, Borussia Dortmund became the first – and so far the only – publicly traded club on the German stock market. Two years later they won their third Bundesliga title and lost the final of the 2002 UEFA Cup to Dutch side Feyenoord. Poor financial management led to a heavy debt load and the sale of their stadium, Westfalenstadion. The situation was compounded by failure to advance in the 2003 Champions League, and the club has been driven to the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, the orignal €11 value of its shares having plummeted by over 80% on the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). The response to the current crisis has included a 20% pay cut to all players.

The team still plays through a lease arrangement at Westfalenstadion, named after their home state of Westphalia. However in 2006 the stadium was renamed The Signal Iduna Park, this all relates back to financial troubles of the team. The facility is currently the largest football stadium in Germany with a capacity of 81,264 spectators, and has recently hosted several matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a semi-final. Borussia Dortmund enjoys the highest average attendance of any football club in Europe, at more than 80,000 per match in 2004.

Current notables on the team roster include Jan Koller, Christoph Metzelder, and Roman Weidenfeller. However, Koller has announced that he is going to leave Dortmund after the current season, and budget restrictions will make it difficult for the club to keep other key players. The team suffered a miserable start to the 2005/06 season, but rallied to finish 7th. The club failed to gain a berth into the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play draw and thus will not play in any European competitions in 2006/07.

Honours

Borussia Dortmund's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine". Under the current award system their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion.

German Champions: 1956, 1957, 1963
German Champions (Bundesliga): 1995, 1996, 2002
German Cup: 1965, 1989
Champions League: 1997
Cup Winners' Cup: 1966
Intercontinental Cup: 1997

Team Trivia

Borussia Dortmund's name is attached to a number of Bundesliga records:

Dortmund was on the receiving end of the worst beating ever delivered in a Bundesliga match when they lost (12:0) away to Borussia Mönchengladbach on April 29, 1978. They may take some small consolation in that M'gladbach laid an (11:0) and a pair of (10:0) drubbings on three other sides.

The club was involved in four of the five Bundesliga matches in which a record 12 goals were scored. They earned an even split at two wins and two losses in those matches.

Dortmund can also play a rough and tumble game. Between them BVB and Bayern Munich were carded a record 15 times in a game played April 7, 2001. And on September 1, 1993 BVB and Dynamo Dresden earned a total of 5 red cards between them.

The most penalty shots in a match is 5 in a game played between M'gladbach and Dortmund on November 9, 1965.

The first goal ever scored in Bundesliga play was by Dortmund's Timo Konietzka in a match ultimately won by Werder Bremen by a score of 3:2.

2006/07 Squad

As of July 16, 2006

Squad change during 06/07 season

In:

Nelson Valdez Signed From Werder Bremen
Steven Pienaar Signed From Ajax Amsterdam
Martin Amedick Signed From Eintracht Braunschweig
Alexander Frei Signed From Rennes

Out:

Jan Koller Transferred To AS Monaco FC
Tomáš Rosický Transferred To Arsenal FC
Salvatore Gambino Transferred To 1.FC Köln
Dennis Gentenaar Transferred To Ajax Amsterdam
Cedric van der Gun Transferred To F.C. Utrecht
Nizamettin Caliskan Transferred To Manisaspor

Famous players

External links

Official team site (in German, English and Chinese)
The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
Borussia Dortmund statistics
Borussia Dortmund Fanzine
Dortmund Gallery Site
Borussia Dortmund Forum (in German)
Forza Borussia Fansite (in German)

German football clubs | G-14 clubs | Dortmund

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