Borussia Dortmund

GERMAN CHAMPION 1956, 1957, 1963, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2011, 2012
GERMAN CUP 1965, 1989, 2012
EUROPEAN CHAMPION 1997
EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS 1966
INTERCONTINENTAL CUP 1997

Borussia is one of the legendary names of German soccer, but it really wasn't until the 1990s that they finally lived up to their potential. They are one of the richest and most modern thinking clubs, and should remain a major influence on the German scene for years to come.

Founded in 1909, they were basically a nothing until the late 1950s, when they won a pair on championships. Since the 1990s, they have developed into one of the powerhouses of both European and German soccer, and is perhaps the only club that can challenge the Bayern München hegemony. After winning titles in 1995 and 1996, they crowned everything by winning the Champions League, crunching Juventus 3-1, and then winning the Intercontinental Cup. The ringmaster of this success was coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who decided to move to the front office after winning everything. After one (non) successful season, Hitzfeld decided to go back to coaching, and to the dismay of the fans --- went to Bayern München!

Most of the Dortmund players have been more in the "workhorse" category than technically superb. There are of course many exceptions. Andreas Moeller is one of the more imaginative German midfielders in the 90s, and defender Matthias Sammer is probably the best player to ever come out of the former GDR. If it weren't for constant injury problems, he probably would be the heir to the Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer's crown. In all, through 2004, some 40 German internationals have played for Borussia.

Since winning the title in 1996, there were some uneven years. The 1998-99 campaign was somewhat of a disappointment, as Borussia failed to impress under new coach Michael Skibbe. Nevertheless, they managed to play well enough to qualify for the Champions League, and new signings have set the stage for a potential run next season. However, from the start things were lame, and then came disaster. Skibbe got his ass fired, and Bernd Krauss was brought in to turn things around. Instead Krauss will probably go down as the worst motivator in history, as they failed to win. With Borussia on the verge of relegation, Krauss was canned and old timer Udo Lattek was brough in to save the club. He wasn't able to do much, but they managed to squeeze through and get out of danger. The club then turned to veteran star Matthias Sammer, who would take over for the 2000/01 season. Sammer was "blessed" with the highest payroll in Germany, full of underperformers. But he obviously found ways to motivate, and Borussia was a solid title contender for most of the season. A solid placing and a return to Europe was the reward, followed by another title.

Nevertheless, not all things wre rosy in Dortmund. In 2003, the club choked in the Champions League qualifier (automatic qualification which they had crappily thrown away earlier). This cost millions of euros that the club financiers had already "budgeted". The immediate crisis? A 20% pay cut to all players, certainly a great motivator :). To top things off, reports surfaced that the club might have as much as 100 million euros debt in 2004. Poor performances on the field continued to drap the club down, until coach Jürgen Klopp was brought in to turn things around in 2008. After so-so start, Dortmund put together a nice run, and barely missed qualifying for Europe. The club also had the fewest losses of any team in the 2008-09 season, and gave rise to hope for the future. And that future wasn't that far from being fufilled: in 2010, the Neons were quick out of the blocks and continued to dominate the league all season. The result was a stunning Bundesliga title, completely built around a young squad. The next season they repeated as Champions, and topped off the season with a domestic double, defeating rivals Bayern München 5-2 in the Cup final. The following year they fell off domestically, but ended up in teh Champions League final against Bayern, a first for the Bundesliga.

Fullname Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund 1909 e.V.
City Dortmund (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 580,444 (2010)
Address Strobelallee, Postfach 10 05 09, 44005 Dortmund
Phone: (0231) 90200 Fax: (0231) 9020106

Colors Blazing neon yellow shirts with black trim, black shorts, zebra socks.

Stadium Westfalenstadion. Capacity: 82,932
The stadium has recently been renovated and is one of the nicest (and largest) in Germany. The standing room section in the Südtribune (over 25,000) is one of the largest of it's kind in Europe. The stadium was built in 1974 for the World Cup, and had a capacity of 54,000. It was expanded to 68,000 in 1996. From 1937-74, the club played in it's own Rote Erde (capacity 30,0000), one of the legendary German stadiums.

Tickets Hard to come by, as most of the matches are sold out.
Supporters Dortmund has a huge following, which has increased considerably given their success in the 1990s. They average around 80,000 for Bundesliga.

Friends SC Freiburg, and to a lesser extent, Hamburger SV.

Foes Schalke is the top foe, the Revier-Derby is one of the main German derbies. The rivalry with Bayern at the top has increased the tension.

Heroes Some 40 German internationals. Among the best were ex-GDR defender Matthias Sammer, midfielder Andreas Möller and defender Jürgen Kohler from the glory 1990s, among the best ever to play those positions for Germany. Keeper Hans Tilkowski was a fixture in the 1960s. Long serving defender Miroslav Votava was capped by Germany, but started a trend of outstanding Czech players, such as current stars Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller. The club's first international was Alfred Lenz (14 caps, 1935-38). Japanese import Shinji Kagawa was brought for a couple of soccer balls and goalie gloves from a 2nd division Japan club, and developed into a massive fan-favorite in the back to back titles 2011/2012.

Zeroes

Beer Dortmund is famous for it's beers. In fact Dortmunder is considered a style by itself. DAB, Union, Kronen, take your pick. Brinkhoffs. You might want to visit the Brauerrei-Museum, on Märkischestr. 81, at the Kronen brewery. The tour is free, but like everything else in Dortmund, you've got to fork over the marks for anything else. So who sponsors (2004)? Warsteiner, a non-Dortmund beer!
Pub and Grub Behind the Nordtribüne is a decent snackbar, which has the usual array of Bratwürste and beer on tap, usually DAB. The microwaved pizza has been described as horrible. The new stadium has all sorts of facilities, some huge, e.g. Der Stammtisch can accomodate 1,200...

The Net Official: www.borussia-dortmund.de
Very fancy, has English and Chinese versions. There are also zillions of fan sites. Among the best is www.schwatzgelb.com, both in German and English.

        Recent History

2013-14 (I)     Bundesliga              2nd
2012-13 (I)     Bundesliga              2nd
2011-12 (I)     Bundesliga		1st	CHAMPIONS
2010-11 (I)     Bundesliga		1st	CHAMPIONS
2009-10	(I)	Bundesliga		5th		
2008-09 (I)     Bundesliga		6th
2007-08 (I)     Bundesliga		13th
2006-07 (I) 	Bundesliga 		9th
2005-06 (I) 	Bundesliga 		7th
2004-05 (I) 	Bundesliga 		7th
2003-04 (I) 	Bundesliga 		6th
2002-03 (I) 	Bundesliga 		3rd
2001-02 (I) 	Bundesliga 		1st 	CHAMPIONS
2000-01	(I) 	Bundesliga 		3rd 

1999-00 (I) 	Bundesliga 		11th 
1998-99 (I) 	Bundesliga 		4th 
1997-98 (I) 	Bundesliga 		10th 	Champions League semi-finals 
1996-97 (I) 	Bundesliga 		3rd	Champions League Winner, Intercontinental Winner 
1995-96 (I) 	Bundesliga 		1st	CHAMPIONS 
1994-95 (I) 	Bundesliga 		1st	CHAMPIONS
1993-94 (I) 	Bundesliga 		4th 
1992-93 (I)	Bundesliga 		4th 
1991-92 (I)	Bundesliga 		2nd 
1990-91 (I)  	Bundesliga 		10th 

1989-90 (I)  	Bundesliga 		4th
1988-89 (I)  	Bundesliga 		7th 
1987-88 (I)  	Bundesliga 		13th 
1986-87 (I)  	Bundesliga 		4th 
1985-86 (I)  	Bundesliga 		16th 
1984-85 (I)  	Bundesliga 		14th
1983-84 (I)  	Bundesliga 		13th 
1982-83 (I)  	Bundesliga 		6th 
1981-82 (I)  	Bundesliga 		6th 
1980-81 (I)  	Bundesliga 		7th 

1979-80 (I)  	Bundesliga 		6th
1978-79 (I)  	Bundesliga 		12th 
1977-78 (I)  	Bundesliga 		11th 
1976-77 (I)  	Bundesliga 		8th 
1975-76 (II) 	2.Bundesliga Nord 	2nd 
1974-75 (II) 	2.Bundesliga Nord 	6th
1973-74 (II) 	Regionalliga West 	6th 
1972-73 (II) 	Regionalliga West	4th 
1971-72	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
1970-71	(I)	Bundesliga		13th

1969-70	(I)	Bundesliga		5th
1968-69	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
1967-68	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1966-67	(I)	Bundesliga		3rd
1965-66	(I)	Bundesliga		2nd
1964-65	(I)	Bundesliga		3rd
1963-64	(I)	Bundesliga		4th

(c)Abseits Guide to Germany

Fullname	Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund 1909 e.V.
City	Dortmund (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 580,444 (2010)
Address	Strobelallee, Postfach 10 05 09, 44005 Dortmund Phone: (0231) 90200 Fax: (0231) 9020106
Colors	Blazing neon yellow shirts with black trim, black shorts, zebra socks.
Stadium	Westfalenstadion. Capacity: 82,932 The stadium has recently been renovated and is one of the nicest (and largest) in Germany. The standing room section in the Südtribune (over 25,000) is one of the largest of it's kind in Europe. The stadium was built in 1974 for the World Cup, and had a capacity of 54,000. It was expanded to 68,000 in 1996. From 1937-74, the club played in it's own Rote Erde (capacity 30,0000), one of the legendary German stadiums.
Tickets	Hard to come by, as most of the matches are sold out.
Supporters	Dortmund has a huge following, which has increased considerably given their success in the 1990s. They average around 80,000 for Bundesliga.
Friends	SC Freiburg, and to a lesser extent, Hamburger SV.
Foes	Schalke is the top foe, the Revier-Derby is one of the main German derbies. The rivalry with Bayern at the top has increased the tension.
Heroes	Some 40 German internationals. Among the best were ex-GDR defender Matthias Sammer, midfielder Andreas Möller and defender Jürgen Kohler from the glory 1990s, among the best ever to play those positions for Germany. Keeper Hans Tilkowski was a fixture in the 1960s. Long serving defender Miroslav Votava was capped by Germany, but started a trend of outstanding Czech players, such as current stars Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller. The club's first international was Alfred Lenz (14 caps, 1935-38). Japanese import Shinji Kagawa was brought for a couple of soccer balls and goalie gloves from a 2nd division Japan club, and developed into a massive fan-favorite in the back to back titles 2011/2012.
Zeroes
Beer	Dortmund is famous for it's beers. In fact Dortmunder is considered a style by itself. DAB, Union, Kronen, take your pick. Brinkhoffs. You might want to visit the Brauerrei-Museum, on Märkischestr. 81, at the Kronen brewery. The tour is free, but like everything else in Dortmund, you've got to fork over the marks for anything else. So who sponsors (2004)? Warsteiner, a non-Dortmund beer!
Pub and Grub	Behind the Nordtribüne is a decent snackbar, which has the usual array of Bratwürste and beer on tap, usually DAB. The microwaved pizza has been described as horrible. The new stadium has all sorts of facilities, some huge, e.g. Der Stammtisch can accomodate 1,200...
The Net	Official: www.borussia-dortmund.de Very fancy, has English and Chinese versions. There are also zillions of fan sites. Among the best is www.schwatzgelb.com, both in German and English.