The rise of Die Schwarzgelben

Take a look around in your social spheres and pop the FAQ: “Hey buddy, which football club you support?” You’re usually greeted by “I am a Red Devil, mate!”, “Gunner all the way!”, “Who else? Real Madrid of course!”, and so on. You’re probably a proud supporter of a successful top flight club. But small budgeted and underrated clubs hardly have any support beyond their domains.

It was a similar story with me. When a small group of friends and I pledged support to the black-yellows, we were greeted by taunts of supporting a mediocre and below average poor club, especially by Bayern Munich lovers. But now that Die Borussen have taken the Bundesliga by storm, it’s time to let the BVB flag fly high, for this is a side which has set examples for the best of the best clubs in the world.

Moving up the timeline: A Brief History

Even though the success of the club has been recent, leaving out a surprise 1996-97 Champions League victory, there is some significant history at the club. To begin with, it’s a 102 year-old-club. Borussia means Prussia in Latin and has been taken from a brewery with the same name in Dortmund. As followers of the Bundesliga would be aware, the Dortmund-Schalke rivalry is as intense as Real Madrid-Barcelona or Man United-Liverpool. This dates back to World War II when Dortmund rose to the ranks of title contenders, challenging leaders Schalke’04. The first National title was won by them in 1955-56 and since then, they have come a long way. From being coached by greats like Ottmar Hitzfeld, Bert van Marwijk, Thomas Doll and now the young Jurgen Klopp, the club has had greats like Michael Zorc who had 550 glorious appearances, Manfred Burgsmüller – the all time top scorer for Dortmund – Lars Ricken, Andreas Möller, Thomas Rosicky and Nuri Sahin being the former greats, and Blaszczykowski, Hummels, Subotic and Lewandowski being the current stars of this side.

Come the moment, come the man

2006-2007-2008: The worst seasons for Borussia Dortmund, a season we all would love to forget. Three manager changes, Metzelder leaves on a free transfer, the Club finish a point above relegation. Thomas Doll’s side get mauled by the most insignificant clubs in the league.

19^th May 2008: Doll resigns. Enter Jurgen Klopp. He has the mammoth task of taking the club forwards and upwards. He had scant funds and fan pressure to greet him. All he had at hand were some talented but very young blood at hand. That was enough to take the club to finish 6^th. He had great foresight, investing in young, unproven players like Kevin Grosskreutz, Sven Bender, Mats Hummels and Shinji Kagawa besides having wonderkid Nuri Sahin at hand, enjoying a free role in an attacking football side, creating a revolution at the club. He won the double last season and finished with 81 points: the highest ever in the Bundesliga.

Present and future

Dortmund are not a feeder club. But young and successful players do attract prying eyes. Shinji Kagawa has joined Manchester United and is Piszczek strongly linked with a move to Madrid. But that shall never shake the club’s focus and Klopp has once again added to his young armory by adding Marco Reus, Julien Schieber and Leonardo Bittencourt to the roster. A determined young enthusiastic squad, coupled with Klopp’s magic is actually giving the top teams of Bundesliga a run for their money. The present belongs to Dortmund and their golden years are here.