Borussia Mönchengladbach

Borussia Mönchengladbach, often shortened to Gladbach, is a German football club that plays in the Bundesliga, is based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia and is one of the country's most well-known, best-supported, and successful teams. The club's forerunner was a loose association of young men from the city's Eicken district organized in late 1899. They formally established their club on August 1, 1900 and took up play in the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband.

History

Early history

The new club made steady progress upward through the different levels of league play and in 1912 appeared in the final of the Westdeutscher Verbandsliga, losing 2:4 to Kölner BC. In 1919, they joined Turnverein Germania 1889 to form VfTuR 1889 M.Gladbach and the next year made a second appearance in the final against Kölner BC, this time coming away with a 3:2 overtime victory. The next month they played their first game in a national championship playoffs, but did poorly, losing 0:7 to Spielvereinigung Fürth in the opening round. In 1921, the footballers decided to leave Germania's gymnasts behind and Borussia VfL 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach was born.

Borussia did not qualify to play in the upper level Gauliga established under the Third Reich, and also failed to earn a place in the post-war Oberliga, playing instead in the Zweite Liga West. The team made its first ascent into the Oberliga West in 1950, but then spent the rest of the decade bouncing up and down between leagues.

Ascent to the Bundesliga

In 1960 the club won its first major honours when they beat Karlsruher SC 3:2 in the final of the German Cup. Further honours would be another decade in coming. Borussia's results in the ten years leading up to the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 were not good enough to earn them admission into the ranks of the nation's new top flight professional league and so they played in the second tier Regionalliga West.

Mönchengladbach played their way into the Bundesliga in the 1965-66 season – as did future powerhouse Bayern Munich – and the two clubs would go on to a fierce struggle as they challenged each other for league supremacy throughout the 70's. Bayern counted first, winning the Bundesliga championship in 1969. M'gladbach struck back immediately the next season with a championship of their own and followed up in 1971 with another, becoming the first Bundesliga club ever to successfully defend their title.

M'gladbach's Golden Decade

Bayern then became the first club to win three consecutive titles with Borussia finishing only a point behind the champions in 1974. Die Fohlen were able to take some consolation in a 2:1 victory over 1. FC Köln in 1973 to win their second German Cup. Under coach Hennes Weisweiler the young side displayed an offensive minded philosophy and powerful play that attracted fans from all over Germany. The team stayed on the attack and matched Bayern's achievement with three consecutive titles of their own from 1975 to 1977. M'gladbach lost the 1977 final of the European Cup to Liverpool, but also made four appearances in the UEFA Cup with wins in 1975 and 1979 against losses in 1973 and 1980. The club's spectacular run a had come to an end with eight titles to their credit. And although they would continue to be competitive for many years, success would be much harder to come by.

1980 and Beyond

Mönchengladbach's golden era ended in the 80's as the club had to sell many of its best players to keep its finances in order, and without talented coaches like Hennes Weisweiler and Udo Lattek it was not possible to stay on top. Even so, they managed to finish most seasons in the upper half of the league table and, in 1984, they were part of a four way race to the Bundesliga championship, finishing one point ahead of Bayern, and tied on points with Hamburg and champions Stuttgart, but behind on goal differential. That same season M'gladbach lost the German Cup final to Bayern on penalties.

The team's performance slipped significantly in the 90's and they found themselves struggling in the lower half of the Bundesliga table. They lost another German Cup on penalties – this time to Hanover – before winning their last honours to date with a 3:0 Cup win over Wolfsburg in 1995. Finally, in 1999, they were relegated to 2.Bundesliga where they would spend two seasons. So far the club's return performance in the Bundesliga has been uninspired as they have remained mired in the bottom half of the league.

In 2004, M'Gladbach hired Dick Advocaat, who had guided the Dutch national team to the semi-finals of the Euro 2004 tournament and was a successful manager at Rangers, as their new coach. He was unable to turn the team's fortunes and resigned in April the next year. Former Mönchengladbach player and German international Horst Köppel was appointed caretaker for the remaining five fixtures of the season. Köppel had managed the club's reserves since leaving Borussia Dortmund in June, 2004. For the 2006/2007 season Mönchengladbach legendary player and coach Jupp Heynckes was appointed as team coach.

Borussia has taken steps to improve their financial situation with the construction of a new state-of-the-art stadium called Borussia-Park with a permitted capacity of 60,350 spectators (limited to 54.019 for Bundesliga games and to 45.500 for international games). The club had long been hindered by playing in a much smaller and older facility (Bökelberg, capacity 34,500) and with the opening of the new stadium in 2004 can look foward to increased revenues through higher ticket sales and the ability to host lucrative international matches.

Famous players

Borussia Mönchengladbach has sent over 30 players to the national team, many of these from their outstanding sides of the 1970's. The 1974 World Cup winning side including five M'Gladbach players.

Günter Netzer
Jupp Heynckes, the club's most prolific goalscorer with 195
Berti Vogts, 96 caps
Allan Simonsen
Rainer Bonhof
Albert Brülls, 22 caps pre-70's
Uli Stielike
Lothar Matthäus
Stefan Effenberg
Oliver Bierhoff

2005/06 Squad

Honors

Borussia Mönchengladbach's five Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display two gold stars of the "Verdiente Meistervereine".

German Champions: 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977
German Cup: 1960, 1973, 1995
UEFA Cup: 1975, 1979

Trivia

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

Mönchengladbach has a fearsome record when it comes to laying a drubbing on other teams. On April 29, 1978 they beat Borussia Dortmund (12:0), the biggest winning margin ever in league history, as well as the most goals scored by a single side in a match. They also hold second place in the category for beating Schalke 04 (11:0) on January 7, 1967, and third place for a pair of (10:0) victories over Eintracht Braunschweig on November 11, 1984 and Borussia Neunkirchen on November 4, 1967.

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

Mönchengladbach became the first team to successfully defend its Bundesliga title with consecutive wins in 1970-71.

Recent League Finishes

1984/85: 4th
1985/86: 4th
1986/87: 3rd
1987/88: 7th
1988/89: 6th
1989/90: 15th
1990/91: 9th
1991/92: 13th
1992/93: 9th
1993/94: 10th
1994/95: 5th (Qualified for Cup Winners' Cup)
1995/96: 4th (Qualified for UEFA Cup)
1996/97: 11th
1997/98: 15th
1998/99: 18th (Relegated to 2. League)
1999/00: 5th in 2. League
2000/01: 2nd in 2. League (Promoted to 1. League)
2001/02: 12th
2002/03: 12th
2003/04: 11th
2004/05: 15th
2005/06: 10th

External links

Official team site in German and English
The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
Borussia-Park the team's new stadium
Fanclub from Emmerich new fanclub for young Borussia-Fans.
Monchengladbach statistics
Borussia World

1900 establishments | German football clubs

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Borussia Mönchengladbach