Borussia Mönchengladbach

Borussia Mönchengladbach
Full name Borussia VfL 1900
Mönchengladbach e.V.
Nickname(s) Die Fohlen (The Foals)
Die Borussen (The Borussians)
Founded 1 August 1900
Ground Stadion im Borussia-Park
Capacity 54,057
President Rolf Königs
Manager Lucien Favre
League Bundesliga
2013–14 6th
Website Club home page

Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V., commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (pronounced [boˈʁʊsi̯a mœnçənˈɡlatbax]),[1][2] Mönchengladbach or Gladbach, is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1900, Borussia Mönchengladbach play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, making their first appearance in the league during the 1965–66 season. Subsequently the club became one of Germany's best-known, best-supported, and most successful teams, winning the Bundesliga five times during the 1970s.[3]

Since 2004, Borussia Mönchengladbach have played at the 54,057 capacity Borussia-Park, having previously played at the smaller Bökelbergstadion since 1919. Borussia-Park is famous for its "Nordkurve" (or North stand), a single-tiered stand. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 60,000 members as of September 2013 and is the fifth largest club in Germany.[4] Their main rivals are 1. FC Köln.

"Borussia" is a Latinized form of Prussia, a popular term in naming German clubs located within the former Kingdom of Prussia. The club's nickname is Die Fohlen [diː ˈfoːlən] (The Foals), coined in the 1970s due to having a young team with a fast, aggressive playing style. The official mascot of the club is the foal Jünter.

History

Formation

Borussia Mönchengladbach were formed as FC Borussia in 1900 in the Eicken district of Mönchengladbach. Borussia derives from the Latinized form of Prussia, the Kingdom in which Mönchengladbach was situated from 1815. By 1912, Die Borussen found themselves in the Verbandsliga, at the time the highest division the club could play in.

In March 1914, the club purchased De Kull, the ground on which the Bökelbergstadion would be built. The First World War halted the progress of both the stadium and FC Borussia, but by late 1917 the team had begun to play games once more. In 1919, FC Borussia merged with another local club, Turnverein Germania 1889, becoming 1899 VfTuR M.Gladbach. The club tasted its first major success in 1920, beating Kölner BC 3–1, thus winning the Westdeutsche Meisterschaft final.

The union between Germania and Borussia only lasted a matter of two years; the club was thereafter known as Borussia VfL 1900 e.V. M.Gladbach.[5]

1933–1945: Football under the Third Reich

Following the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, the German league system was reformed to consist of 16 Gauligen – Gladbach found themselves playing first in the Gauliga Niederrhein, and later in various Bezirksklassen (District Leagues). Also whilst under the Third Reich, Mönchengladbach's first ever international player was capped; Heinz Ditgens playing in a 9–0 win over Luxembourg for Germany in the 1936 Olympic Games. After the outbreak of the Second World War, play continued as usual, other than for the 1944/1945 season.

Post War until 1959

Eventually Mönchengladbach resumed play in June 1946, gaining successive promotions to the Landesliga Niederrhein (the regional second tier) in 1949 and the top flight: the Oberliga West in 1950. Following many years of promotions and relegations, Borussia won their first Oberliga title in the 1958–59 season.

Ascent to the Bundesliga

Seasons 1959/60 – 1964/65
Season Position Goals For Goals Against Points Average Attendance
Oberliga West 1959/60 14 27 33 38 16,134
Oberliga West 1960/61 6 31 29 58 22,400
Oberliga West 1961/62 13 21 39 42 13,543
Oberliga West 1962/63 11 24 36 44 11,200
Regionalliga West 1963/64 8 41 35 71 12,000
Regionalliga West 1964/65 1 52 16 92 22,334
gold: promotion to the Bundesliga as Champions

In August 1960 Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated 1. FC Köln in the West German Cup. Weeks later, the club won the DFB-Pokal, clinching their first national honours, beating Karlsruher SC 3–2 in the final. The following year took on the now familiar name Borussia VfL Mönchengladbach after the city of München-Gladbach became Mönchengladbach. Further honours would have to wait a decade, however. Borussia's results in the ten years leading up to the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 were not good enough to earn them admission into the ranks of the nation's new top flight professional league and so they played in the second tier, the Regionalliga West.

Mönchengladbach enjoyed their first taste of the Bundesliga in the 1965–66 season, earning promotion alongside future powerhouse Bayern Munich. The two clubs would go on to a fierce struggle as they challenged each other for domestic supremacy throughout the 1970s. Bayern took first blood in the struggle for supremacy between the two: winning the Bundesliga championship in 1969. Mönchengladbach struck back immediately in the next season with a championship of their own and followed up with a second title in 1971, becoming the first Bundesliga club ever to successfully defend their title.

1970s: Borussia's Golden Decade

Seasons 1969/70 – 1979/80
Season Position Goals For Goals Against Points Average Attendance
1969/70 First 71 29 51 25,645
1970/71 First 77 35 50 21,706
1971/72 Third 82 40 43 16,294
1979/80 Seventh 61 60 36 17,655
in green: winning the Bundesliga

Bayern Munich then became the first club to win three consecutive titles, with Borussia finishing only a point behind the champions in 1974. Die Fohlen were able to take some consolation in a 2–1 victory over 1. FC Köln in 1973 to win their second DFB-Pokal. Under coach Hennes Weisweiler, the young side displayed an offensive-minded philosophy and powerful play that attracted fans from all over Germany. The team stayed on the attack and matched Bayern's achievement with three consecutive titles of their own from 1975 to 1977. Mönchengladbach lost the 1977 final of the European Cup to Liverpool, but also made four appearances in the UEFA Cup with wins in 1975 and 1979 against losses in 1973 and 1980. The club's spectacular run had come to an end with eight trophies to their credit, and although they would continue to be competitive for many years, success would be much harder to come by.[3]

1980 and beyond

Borussia Mönchengladbach against Borussia Dortmund in April 2012

Mönchengladbach's golden era ended in the 1980s as the club had to sell many of its best players to keep its finances in order, and without talented coaches like Hennes Weisweiler and Udo Lattek, it was not possible to compete with Bayern Munich. Even so, they managed to finish most seasons in the upper half of the league table, and in 1984, Die Fohlen were part of a four way race to the Meisterschale – the Bundesliga championship – finishing one point ahead of Bayern, and tied on points with Hamburger SV and champions VfB Stuttgart, but behind on goal difference. In the same season, Mönchengladbach also lost the DFB-Pokal final to Bayern Munich on penalties, Lothar Matthäus and Norbert Ringels both missing from the spot after the game originally ended all square at 1–1. Matthäus subsequently joined Bayern for a then-record fee of 2.25 million DM, leading some fans to question whether he had deliberately missed his penalty.[6]

The team's performance slipped significantly in the 1990s and Die Fohlen soon found themselves struggling in the lower half of the Bundesliga table. They lost another DFB-Pokal on penalties – this time to Hannover 96 — before winning their most recent trophy to date with a 3–0 DFB-Pokal win over VfL Wolfsburg in 1995. Finally, in 1999, Gladbach were relegated to 2. Bundesliga, where they would spend two seasons. Upon returning to the Bundesliga in 2001, Mönchengladbach remained uninspired as they continued to be mired in the bottom half of the league.

In 2004, Mönchengladbach appointed Dick Advocaat, who had guided the Netherlands national team to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament and was a successful manager at Rangers, as their new coach. The Dutchman, however, was unable to turn the team's fortunes and resigned in April of the following year. Former Mönchengladbach player and German international Horst Köppel was appointed caretaker for the remaining five fixtures of the season. Köppel had managed the club's reserves since leaving Borussia Dortmund in June 2004. For the 2006–07 season legendary Mönchengladbach player and coach Jupp Heynckes was appointed as team coach.

Borussia had taken steps to improve their financial situation with the construction of a new state-of-the-art stadium called Borussia-Park with a permitted capacity of 59,771 spectators (limited to 54,067 for Bundesliga games and to 46,249 for international games). The club had long been hindered by playing in a much smaller and older facility (Bökelberg, capacity 34,500) and with the opening of the new stadium in 2004 can look forward to increased revenues through higher ticket sales and the ability to host lucrative international matches.

On the 31st matchday of the 2006–07 season, Borussia Mönchengladbach were relegated from the Bundesliga after fellow relegation fighters Arminia Bielefeld upset Werder Bremen 3–2 while Mönchengladbach lost 1–0 at home to VfB Stuttgart. They were promoted back to the Bundesliga on the 32nd matchday of the 2007–08 season after winning the match against SV Wehen 3–0.

Manager Lucien Favre

Under coach Lucien Favre, who took over in January 2011, Borussia Mönchengladbach has in recent years shown ambitions to re-establish themselves in the top regions of the Bundesliga. In the 2010–11 season, after a disastrous first half of the season, Borussia Mönchengladbach managed to narrowly avoid relegation through the post-season relegation play-offs. The following season, 2011–12, followed this up with a strong season in which they were for much of the year in contention for the championship and eventually finished in fourth place. They missed out on qualification to the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League after losing 4–3 on aggregate to Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv in the playoff round. During the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, after losing some key players, notably Marco Reus who was voted player of the year in the Bundesliga in the previous season, Borussia Mönchengladbach still contended for the international places until the last match day, eventually finishing in 8th place.

In the 2013–14 Borussia Mönchengladbach had another very successful year, achieving an excellent third place after the first half of the season and finishing the season in 6th place, entering them into the 2014–15 Europa League competition at the play-off stage. .

Former head coaches

Borussia Mönchengladbach coaching history from 1946 to present
  • Germany Hans Krätschmer (1946–49)
  • Germany Werner Sottong (1949–50)
  • Germany Heinz Ditgens & Paul Pohl (1950–51)
  • Germany Fritz Pliska (1951–53)
  • Germany Fritz Silken (1953–55)
  • Germany Klaus Dondorf (1955–57)
  • Germany Fritz Pliska (1957–60)
  • Germany Bernd Oles (1960–62)
  • Germany Fritz Langner (1 July 1962 – 25 April 1964)
  • Germany Hennes Weisweiler (1 July 1964 – 30 June 1975)
  • Germany Udo Lattek (1 July 1975 – 30 June 1979)
  • Germany Jupp Heynckes (1 July 1979 – 30 June 1987)
  • Germany Wolf Werner (1 July 1987 – 21 Nov 1989)
  • Germany Gerd vom Bruch (22 Nov 1989 – 25 Sep 1991)
  • Austria Bernd Krauss (interim) (25 Sep 1991 – 7 Oct 1991)
  • Germany Jürgen Gelsdorf (3 Oct 1991 – 5 Nov 1992)
  • Austria Bernd Krauss (6 Nov 1991 – 7 Dec 1996)
  • Germany Hannes Bongartz (19 Dec 1996 – 29 Nov 1997)

Sponsors

Year Shirt Sponsor Branch
1976–1980 Erdgas Energy/Natural gas
1980–1983 Datsun Cars
1983–1990 Erdgas Energy/Natural gas
1990–1992 Tuborg Brewery
1992–1994 Trigema Sportswear
1994–1997 Diebels Brewery
1997–2002 Belinea Hardware
2002–2005 Jever Brewery
2005–2009 Kyocera Electronics and ceramics
2009 – Postbank Retail banking

Kit Manufacturers

Year Kit Manufacturer
1976–1992 Puma
1992–1995 Asics
1995–2003 Reebok
2003–2013 Lotto
2013– Kappa

Players

Monument to legendary trinity of Borussia — Herbert Wimmer, Berti Vogts and Günter Netzer (from left to right). Placed in the pedestrian zone of Mönchengladbach (Germany).

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2014 and List of German football transfers winter 2013–14.

Current squad

As of 6 July 2014[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Switzerland GK Yann Sommer
3 Belgium DF Filip Daems (captain)
4 Netherlands DF Roel Brouwers
6 Germany MF Mahmoud Dahoud
7 Germany MF Patrick Herrmann
8 Guinea MF Ibrahima Traoré
10 Germany FW Max Kruse
11 Brazil FW Raffael
14 Germany MF Thorben Marx
15 Spain DF Álvaro Domínguez
16 Norway MF Håvard Nordtveit
17 Sweden DF Oscar Wendt
18 Germany MF Marvin Schulz
19 United States DF Fabian Johnson
No. Position Player
20 Germany DF Nico Brandenburger
21 Germany GK Janis Blaswich
23 Germany MF Christoph Kramer (on loan from Leverkusen)
24 Germany DF Tony Jantschke
25 Germany MF Amin Younes
26 Belgium FW Thorgan Hazard (on loan from Chelsea)
27 Germany DF Julian Korb
28 Germany MF André Hahn
31 Sweden FW Branimir Hrgota
33 Germany GK Christofer Heimeroth
34 Switzerland MF Granit Xhaka
36 Germany FW Marlon Ritter
39 Austria DF Martin Stranzl (vice-captain)

Coaching and backroom staff

Role Name
Head Coach Switzerland Lucien Favre
Assistant Coach Germany Frank Geideck
Assistant Coach Germany Manfred Stefes
Goalkeeping Coach Germany Uwe Kamps
Team Doctor and Orthopedic Surgeon Germany Dr. Stefan Hertl
Team Doctor Germany Dr. Heribert Ditzel
Team Doctor and Orthopedic surgeon Germany Dr. Stefan Porten
Athletic Trainer Germany Christian Weigl
Physiotherapist Germany Andreas Bluhm
Physiotherapist Germany Dirk Müller
Physiotherapist Poland Adam Szordykowski

Reserve team

Borussia Mönchengladbach II play in the Regionalliga West and are coached by Sven Demandt.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
2 Finland DF Joel Mero
3 Germany DF Christopher Lenz
4 Germany DF Nico Brandenburger
5 Germany MF Benjamin Barg
6 Germany MF Maik Odenthal
7 Germany DF Sascha Tobor
8 Syria MF Necirwan Khalil Mohammad
9 United States FW Mario Rodriguez
11 Australia FW Kwame Yeboah
12 Germany FW Marlon Ritter
13 Germany DF Christoph Zimmermann
14 Germany FW Joy-Lance Mickels
No. Position Player
15 Germany MF Bilal Sezer
16 Germany DF Maurice Pluntke
17 Germany DF Lionel Kadiata
18 Italy FW Giuseppe Pisano
19 Germany MF Kevin Holzweiler
20 Germany FW Joy-Slayd Mickels
21 Germany MF Patrick Guier
22 Hungary FW Bence Szenes
23 Germany DF Oliver Stang
24 Germany MF Marcel Erwetz
29 Germany GK Niklas Bolten

UEFA club rankings

As of 27 February 2015[9]
Rank Team Coefficient
60Germany Stuttgart35.925
61Cyprus APOEL35.460
62Belgium Club Brugge35.200
63Belarus BATE Borisov35.150
64Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach33.430
65Spain Levante31.885
66Switzerland Young Boys31.375
67England Newcastle United30.935
68Russia Anzhi Makhachkala30.933
69Spain Real Betis30.885
70Czech Republic Sparta Praha30.825

Honours

Borussia Mönchengladbach's five Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display two gold stars of the "Verdiente Meistervereine".

Domestic

Bundesliga:

2-Bundesliga:

DFB-Pokal:

German Supercup:

DFB-Ligapokal:

European

European Cup:

UEFA Cup:

International

Intercontinental Cup:

Other Trophies

Kirin Cup:

Joan Gamper Trophy:

Orange Trophy:

Marbella Football Cup:

Youth

German Under 17 Champions:

Under 17 Bundesliga West

Records

i) In the early to late 1970s, Borussia Mönchengladbach's is 1st ranked European clubs in each 5-year period listed by UEFA coefficient.

ii) Borussia Mönchengladbach's is also attached to a number of Bundesliga records:

Players' honours

For a list of every Borussia Mönchengladbach player with 50 or more appearances, see List of Borussia Mönchengladbach players

Players of the club achieved the following honours:

Player of the Year – Europe

Player of the Year – Germany

Player of the Year – Australia

Player of the Year – Austria

  • 1986: Austria Anton Polster
  • 1997: Austria Anton Polster

Player of the Year – Belgium

Player of the Year – Denmark

Player of the Year – Sweden

Player of the Year – USA

Bundesliga Top-Scorers

Goal of the Year

Goal of the Season

References

  1. ↑ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 383 and 753. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  2. ↑ Mangold, Max (2005). Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Mannheim: Dudenverlag. pp. 212 and 560. ISBN 9783411040667.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 News – Bundesliga – official website. Bundesliga.de.
  4. ↑ Members Borussia Mönchengladbach (in German)
  5. ↑ Classic club. FIFA.com.
  6. ↑ Lothar Matthäus und der Fehlschuss: Gladbachs bitterster Pokal-Moment. Sport.t-online.de.
  7. ↑ "Borussias Trainer" (in German). borussia.de.
  8. ↑ Squad – Borussia Mönchengladbach. Borussia.de.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Stein, Thomas (28 April 2010). "Otto Torhagel und das dicke Dutzend". Der Westen (in German). Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  11. ↑ Bröker, Jürgen (28 April 2008). "Darf's ein Törchen mehr sein?". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  12. ↑ "Rekordsieg: Gladbach feiert 30-jähriges Jubiläum". 11 Freunde (in German). 24 April 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "Nostalgie: Als elf Fohlen gegen elf Schalker elf Mal trafen". WZ Newsline (in German). 27 November 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Bundesliga Rewind: Borussia Mönchengladbach v. Schalke 04 1971–72". Bundesliga Fanatic. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

Literature

  • Holger Jenrich (2007) (in German), Das Borussia Mönchengladbach Lexikon, Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, ISBN 3-89533-585-1
  • Holger Jenrich, Markus Aretz (2005) (in German), Die Elf vom Niederrhein. 40 Jahre Borussia Mönchengladbach in der Bundesliga, Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, ISBN 3-89533-503-7
  • Werner Jakobs, Rainer Kalb, Markus Aretz (1999) (in German), 100 Jahre Borussia Mönchengladbach – Die Borussen-Chronik, Düsseldorf: Verlag Rheinsport networking, ISBN 3-934702-00-7
  • Helmut Grashoff, Susanne Grashoff (2005) (in German), Meine launische Diva: 30 Jahre mit Borussia Mönchengladbach, Norderstedt: Radtke & Bahr GbR, ISBN 3-00-016918-0
  • Markus Aretz, Ingo Rütten (2008) (in German), Akte Aufstieg: Borussias Tagebuch der Saison 2007/08, Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, ISBN 3-89533-626-2

External links