Borussia Dortmund

Foundation and early years

The club was founded on 19 December 1909 by a group of young men unhappy with the Catholic church-sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the guidance of the local parish priest. The priest, Father Dewald was blocked at the door when he tried to break up the organising meeting being held in a room of the local pub, Zum Wildschütz. The founders were Franz and Paul Braun, Henry Cleve, Hans Debest, Paul Dziendzielle, Franz, Julius and Wilhelm Jacobi, Hans Kahn, Gustav Müller, Franz Risse, Fritz Schulte, Hans Siebold, August Tönnesmann, Heinrich and Robert Unger, Fritz Weber and Franz Wendt. The name Borussia is Latin for Prussia but was taken from Borussia beer from the nearby Borussia brewery in Dortmund. The team began playing in blue and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and yellow stripes for the first time. Over the next decades the club had only modest success playing in local leagues. They came close to bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the club's fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and left the team deep in debt. They survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the team's shortfall out of his own pocket. The 1930s saw the rise of the Third Reich, which restructured sports and football organisations throughout the nation to suit the regime's goals. Borussia's president was replaced when he…

Regional

Oberliga West/West German Championship: Winners: 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57 (record) Runners-up: 1960–61, 1962–63 Westphalia Cup: Winners: 1947

Individual trophies

Ballon d'Or

1996: Matthias Sammer Golden Boy

2011: Mario Götze 2020: Erling Haaland 2023: Jude Bellingham