Borussia Monchengladbach is a Bundesliga club based in the city of Monchengladbach, in the North-Rhine Westphalia state of Germany. Founded in 1900, the club has won five Bundesliga titles, three German cups, and two UEFA Cup/Europa League titles.
The majority of the club’s success came in the 1970s, when they won five Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Cups under manager Hans Weisweiler. The team’s nickname, Die Fohlen, dates back to this time, as it translates to ‘The Foals’ and was used to refer to Weisweiler’s team as they were a young, fast squad with a quick and aggressive playing style.
The likes of Gunter Netzer, Berti Vogts and Jupp Heynckes became club legends during this period of time, with Heynckes becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, and Netzer finishing in fourth place on that list. Netzer has been further immortalized, with the club’s mascot, a foal named Jünter, being named after him. Vogts and Netzer also have a statue dedicated to them, alongside fellow teammate Herbert Wimmer. In recent seasons, Monchengladbach have begun to compete again towards the top half of the table, managing to qualify for and compete in the UEFA Champions League as well.
Gladbach play at Borussia-Park, a 54,000 capacity football stadium in Monchengladbach. They have played here since 2004, before which they were at the Bökelbergstadion since 1919. The club colours are green and white, while the club crest is in black and white.
Gladbach have a fierce rivalry with FC Koln, which reached its ascendancy when Weisweiler switched to Monchengladbach from Koln in 1964. They also had a fierce sporting rivalry with Bayern Munich in the 1970s due to their success, but this has died down as Munich have pulled ahead. A similar low-key rivalry exists with Borussia Dortmund, but this has more to do with the similarity of both clubs’ names. Uniquely, the club has a long-standing friendship with Liverpool FC of England, with there being a lot of mutual respect between fans of the two clubs.
Liverpool played in a friendly game in 2010 to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Gladbach’s founding, while Gladbach fans raised funds for the families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died in 1989 in the Hillsborough stadium disaster.
The current manager of the first-team squad is Marco Rose. He was appointed at the start of this season, having previously managed Red Bull Salzburg. The current club captain is Germany international Lars Stindl. Stindl joined the club in 2015 from Hannover 96, and was made captain the following year.
Monchengladbach were in the title race for a long time this season, but had dropped off a little by the time the season was suspended. They have played 25 games, and are in 4th place, trailing RB Leipzig by a point and ahead of Bayer Leverkusen by two points, and six points off Bayern Munich at the summit of the table.
