Borussia Dortmund is a Bundesliga side based in the city of Dortmund, in the North-Rhine Westphalia state of Germany. They are one of the most successful German football sides, having won eight league titles, four German cups, one European Cup/UEFA Champions League, one Intercontinental Cup, and one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
The club was founded in 1909, which is immortalized by the ‘09’ in the club’s badge. Dortmund, also known as Der BVB, Die Schwarzgelben, and Die Borussen, won their first league title in 1956, but their most sustained period of success has come since the mid-1990s, since when they have won five league titles, as well as five German Cups, and the UEFA Champions League in 1997.
In recent years, Dortmund have challenged Bayern Munich’s stranglehold on the Bundesliga, and they are the last team to have won the Bundesliga before Bayern’s run of consecutive victories began in 2013. They also won a domestic league and cup double in 2012, under current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Frustratingly for Dortmund fans, they lost in the final of the UEFA Champions League to Bayern Munich in 2013, and they also finished as runners-up behind Munich in the Bundesliga that year.
Dortmund have played at the iconic Westfalenstadion, officially known as the Signal-Iduna Park, since 1974. The stadium has a capacity of over 81,000, making it the largest football stadium in Germany and the seventh-largest in Europe. Due to this, Dortmund have the highest average attendance of any football club in the world.
The stadium is also renowned for its South Bank, or Südtribüne, a 24,454 capacity terrace, which is the largest terrace for standing fans in European football. Also known as ‘The Yellow Wall’, it usually houses the most vocal and intense supporters, making for an incredible atmosphere during Dortmund’s home games. The club are also famous for their standout colours of black and yellow, from which thnickname Die Schwarzgelben originates.
They have a longstanding rivalry with FC Schalke 04; matches between the sides are known as the Revierderby, and they also have a fierce rivalry with Bayern Munich. In terms of finances, Dortmund are the second-richest club in Germany, behind Munich, and the 12th-richest in the world.
At present, the first-team coach is Frenchman Lucien Favre. He has been at the club since 2018, and has prior experience of managing in the Bundesliga with the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha BSC. The club captain is Marco Reus, who came through the club’s academy before a spell away at Monchengladbach, incidentally under his current manager Favre. Reus returned to Dortmund in 2012.
This current season sees the club in second place in the Bundesliga, four points behind Bayern after 25 games when the current season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
