Club Profile : Borussia Dortmund
Club Detail
They called the 1990's their golden age, as they produced the best team in their clubs history. Back to back league titles and a surprise Champions league final victory in 1997 over one of Europe's biggest forces Juventus was enough to show the football world what a fantastic team they were.
This was a Juventus side that had the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero, Didier Deschamps and many more world class talents. Not only that, but on route to the final they beat one of the strongest ever Manchester United sides that dominated the Premier League during the 1990's and later won a Champions League title themselves in 1999.
Borussia Dortmund created one of the greatest German sides ever during the mid 1990's and at times they seemed unstoppable. It started in 1993, after a loss to Juventus in the UEFA Cup final, which finished 6-1 to the Italian giants on aggregate.
In spite of the poor result the German runners up walked away with o20 million, under the money prize pool system which was in place at the time for German sides participating in the cup.
The cash they earned was spent extremely well, as it helped the club win major honours in the 1990's. After winning the Bundesliga title back to back in 1995 and 1996, and their famous Champions League, Dortmund then went on to conquer the world by winning the Intercontinental Cup in 1997 with a two nil win over Brazilian side Cruzeiro.
Dortmund started making a big name for themselves, and were being compared to Europe's elite, including Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus. They also had recognizable players around the world in their team such as Matthias Sammer, Andreas Moller and Karl-Heinz Riedle.
However, unlike their other European rivals Dortmund were unable to consistently challenge for major honours and struggled to keep hold of many key players. They also found it difficult to consistently qualify for the Champions League as the 2000s proved to be an uphill battle.
Despite becoming Bundesliga champions again and losing in the UEFA Cup final to Feyenoord in 2002 the rest of the decade was not all smiles. Due to the poor financial control of the club, it led to heavy debt and the Westfalenstadion ground was later put up for sale. The situation did not help as Dortmund failed to qualify for the Champions League in 2003, which meant the club had a huge loss in money.
In 2005 they were then on the brink of bankruptcy resulting in the club making a 20% pay cut to all players leaving many unhappy and later sold. A year later the financial status improved after a company took over the stadium renaming it Signal Iduna Park in the process. Another reason why Dortmund recorded a large profit only a year later in 2006 was due to the sales of Tomas Rosicky to Arsenal and David Odonkor to Real Betis.
Due to the sale of many key players Borussia Dortmund struggled in the 2006-07 season as they were involved in their first relegation battle in many years. The club went through three coaches in one season but managed to recover their poor campaign and finish eleventh.
The situation worsened the following season as they saw the departure of key player Christoph Metzelder to Real Madrid in the summer. It was the most terrible season Dortmund had in 20 years finishing 13th and only nine points off the relegation zone.
Jurgen Klopp was appointed manager in the summer of 2008 and made an immediate impact. At present it looks like Borussia Dortmund are back to their best; they top Bundesliga by seven points with six games to go and have been leading since the start of the season.
Entering the 2010-11 season Dortmund had a mixture of experience and youngsters in their squad including Lucas Barrios, Roman Weidenfeller, Nuri Sahin and Mario Gotze.
Bad management in the board room has now been long forgotten as their fantastic management on the pitch looks to give them a fantastic chance of regaining the Bundesliga.
Not only that but with the clubs current financial status, it gives them the chance to keep hold of key players and upcoming youngsters. Particularly, 18-year-old Mario Gotze, who has been superb all season and a key player in Dortmund's quest for the title. The young German attacking midfielder has caught the eyes of clubs all around Europe including Barcelona and Manchester United.
With the club now being in a great financial position and with a squad young and experienced enough to comfortably win the Bundesliga, could we see them winning a second Champions League in the future? Maybe this could be the return of the new golden age.
Profile written by: Tom Lawler
Roll of Honour
| Honour | Number | Years |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Winners | 1 | 1996-97 |
| European Cup Winners' Cup | 1 | 1965-66 |
| UEFA Cup Runners-up | 2 | 1992-93, 2001-02 |
| Intercontinental Cup Winners | 1 | 1997 |
| Bundesliga Winners | 6 | 1955-56, 1956-57, 1962-63, 1994-95, 1995-96, 2001-02 |
| DFB Cup | 2 | 1964-65, 1988-89 |
| DFB Supercup | 4 | 1989, 1995, 1996, 2008 |
