Borussia Dortmund

Borsigplatz is part of the name

Young men from a Catholic parish group wanted to organise their football independently, according to Dortmund’s own account. On 19 December 1909, they founded Borussia Dortmund at the Zum Wildschütz inn in Borsigplatz. The name Ballspielverein Borussia is where the initials BVB come from. The shortened name refers to that same club.

Dortmund’s reach now extends well outside Germany, while Borsigplatz still means something to supporters as the club’s birthplace. The stadium is the other, much larger meeting place. Between the founding site and the ground, the local references remain part of the club, despite all the attention it attracts from further away.

The European summit in 1997

Juventus were beaten 3-1 by Dortmund in the Champions League final in Munich in 1997. Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice to put Dortmund in front; Lars Ricken added the third. Whatever later league seasons brought, the club had that European title as a landmark in its history.

Ricken’s finish often supplies the lasting image. It was a team victory, though, built on an advantage which existed before he came on. The whole match belongs in the memory of Dortmund’s greatest European night, even if one shot is the part most readily recalled.

The stadium makes the club visible

The large south terrace at the Westfalenstadion, now Signal Iduna Park, is known as the Yellow Wall. It is central to Dortmund’s matchday image at one of football’s most recognisable settings. This is the ground that opened in 1974, with the commercial name coming later in its history.

A ground’s atmosphere matters to supporters without telling us how well a particular side played. Our stadium guide considers the setting on those terms, separately from an assessment of the players.

For the goalkeeper’s experience of representing Dortmund, there is Gregor Kobel’s profile. Those individual careers sit alongside the crowd and the earlier European teams. The players change, but the connections between them give the club’s history its sense of continuity.