As a Schalke 04 Supporter it is of course hard for me to write about Borussia Dortmund without using the word „scum“, but here are some information about the club, which might be interesting:
Club:
Full name is BV Borussia 09 Dortmund. „Borussia“ is the word „Prussia“ transformed into the latin language. But the Club founders were not that patriotic, it was obviously the beer of the nearby „Borussia“ brewery which was on their mind.
They are known just as „BVB“ or „Borussen“ (which they had to share with the lads from Gladbach) or „Schwarzgelbe“ (Blackyellows). Schalker just call them „Zecken“ (tics) or „Lüdenscheider“ ( referring to a tiny town named „Lüdenscheid“ in the Sauerland forest region, where a lot of their fans come from).
History:
The club was founded in 1909 by members of a catholic church community, mainly steel workers or coal miners. They were soon afterwards expelled from the community, because the priest hated football. (at that time conservative authorities in germany still called football the english disease). The club was crap before WWII.
In the Third Reich the political neutral president of the club, that was founded in a social democratic stronghold in the north of Dortmund, was replaced by a Nazi friendly president , who used his contacts to save a lot of players from a service in the army. On the other hand the former greenkeeper of the club and the president of the handball division were killed on the Dortmund Good Friday massacre by the Gestapo. Both had used the printing machines of the club to print anti-Nazi flyers.
After the war the club soon became a national top club, winning the german championship in 1956, 1957 and 1963, the last before the introduction of the Bundesliga. Of course, they had been one of the 16 starting members of the Bundesliga. They played 43 of the 47 Bundesliga seasons and are 5th in the all time ranking and they are the first german club that has won an european cup (cup winner´s cup vs. Liverpool in 1966)
The 70ties and 80ties were crap, but with the genius of Ottmar Hitzfeld, they reached the UEFA Cup final in 1993 (losing to Juve). That brought them loads of money and so they built up a team, that won the Bundesliga in 1995 and 1996 and the Champions League in 1997 (vs Juve).
BVB is the only german club at the stock market. With the CL-win and all the money from the stock market their managent went completely mad, buying overrated players and pay them unbelievable wages. A last Bundesliga title in 2002 (under coach Matthias Sammer) and a lost UEFA Cup final (to Feyenoord in 2002) was the last breath before financial collapse. They were extremly lucky not going into administration and needed until last year to financially recover and qualify for the Europa League again.
Team:
Noting to watch out for. Best part are the two CB Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels. Subotic had a poor season, but is a great talent. Hummels is their best and should have been at the world cup. It was the advantage of a CL-season, that brought Bayern defender Holger Badstuber into the geman team instead. Another talent is 21-year-old midfielder Nuri Sahin, who gave his debut at the age of 16 (youngest ever in Bunesliga). Top striker is Lucas Barrios, scoring 19 goals last season. The star is the coach, Jürgen „Kloppo“ Klopp, a sort of „Harry Potter on speed“
