Borussia Mönchengladbach

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Borussia Mönchengladbach

Full name

Borussia VfL 1900
e. V. Mönchengladbach

Nickname(s)

Die Fohlen (the Foals)

Founded

1 August 1900

Ground

Borussia-Park,
Mönchengladbach

Capacity

54,019

Chairman

Rolf Königs

Manager

Jos Luhukay

League

Bundesliga

2005-06

Bundesliga, 10th





Home colours





Away colours

Borussia Mönchengladbach, often shortened to Gladbach, is a German football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the first division Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, best-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has more than 30,000 members and is the fourth biggest club in Germany. The official mascot of the club is the foal "Jünter".

1 History
2 Players
- 2.1 2006/07 Squad
- 2.2 Famous players
3 Honours
- 3.1 Players' Honours
4 Recent League Finishes
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The club's forerunner was a loose association of young men from the city's Eicken district organized in late 1899. They formally established their club on August 1, 1900 and took up play in the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband.

The new club made steady progress upward through the different levels of league play and in 1912 appeared in the final of the Westdeutscher Verbandsliga, losing 2:4 to Kölner BC. In 1919, they joined Turnverein Germania 1889 to form VfTuR 1889 M.Gladbach and the next year made a second appearance in the final against Kölner BC, this time coming away with a 3:2 overtime victory. The next month they played their first game in a national championship playoffs, but did poorly, losing 0:7 to SpVgg Fürth in the opening round. In 1921, the footballers decided to leave Germania's gymnasts behind and Borussia VfL 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach was born.

Borussia did not qualify to play in the upper level Gauliga established in 1933 under the Third Reich, and also failed to earn a place in the post-war Oberliga, playing instead in the Zweite Liga West. The team made its first ascent into the Oberliga West in 1950, but then spent the rest of the decade bouncing up and down between the first and second tiers.

[edit] Ascent to the Bundesliga

In 1960 the club won its first major honours when they beat Karlsruher SC 3:2 in the final of the German Cup. Further honours would be another decade in coming. 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 Regionalliga West.

Mönchengladbach played their way into the Bundesliga in the 1965-66 season – as did future powerhouse Bayern Munich – and the two clubs would go on to a fierce struggle as they challenged each other for league supremacy throughout the 70's. Bayern counted first, winning the Bundesliga championship in 1969. M'gladbach struck back immediately the next season with a championship of their own and followed up in 1971 with another, becoming the first Bundesliga club ever to successfully defend their title.

[edit] M'gladbach's Golden Decade

Bayern 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 German Cup. 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. M'gladbach 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 titles to their credit. And although they would continue to be competitive for many years, success would be much harder to come by.

[edit] 1980 and Beyond

Mönchengladbach's golden era ended in the 80's 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 stay on top. Even so, they managed to finish most seasons in the upper half of the league table and, in 1984, they were part of a four way race to the Bundesliga championship, finishing one point ahead of Bayern, and tied on points with Hamburg and champions Stuttgart, but behind on goal differential. That same season M'gladbach lost the German Cup final to Bayern on penalties.

The team's performance slipped significantly in the 90's and they found themselves struggling in the lower half of the Bundesliga table. They lost another German Cup on penalties – this time to Hanover – before winning their last honours to date with a 3:0 Cup win over Wolfsburg in 1995. Finally, in 1999, they were relegated to 2.Bundesliga where they would spend two seasons. So far the club's return performance in the Bundesliga has been uninspired as they have remained mired in the bottom half of the league.

In 2004, M'Gladbach hired Dick Advocaat, who had guided the Dutch national team to the semi-finals of the Euro 2004 tournament and was a successful manager at Rangers, as their new coach. He was unable to turn the team's fortunes and resigned in April the next 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 2006/2007 season Mönchengladbach legendary player and coach Jupp Heynckes was appointed as team coach.

Borussia has 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 60,350 spectators (limited to 54.019 for Bundesliga games and to 45.500 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.

[edit] Players

[edit] 2006/07 Squad

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Kasey Keller (captain)
2	DF	Bo Svensson
3	DF	Filip Daems
5	DF	Marcell Jansen
6	MF	Eugen Polanski
7	MF	Mikkel Thygesen
8	MF	Sebastian Svärd
9	FW	Wesley Sonck
10	MF	Federico Insúa
13	DF	Zé António
14	MF	Hassan El Fakiri
15	FW	Kahê
16	MF	Bernd Thijs
17	MF	David Degen
18	DF	Tim Rubink

No.	Position	Player
19	GK	Christofer Heimeroth
20	DF	Kasper Bøgelund
21	MF	Johannes van den Bergh
22	MF	Oliver Kirch
23	FW	Nando Rafael
24	MF	Peer Kluge
25	FW	Moses Lamidi
26	MF	Michael Delura
27	FW	Oliver Neuville
28	DF	Steve Gohouri
29	MF	Alexander Baumjohann
31	GK	Michael Melka
33	DF	Marvin Compper
36	MF	Robert Fleßers
37	DF	Tobias Levels
30	MF	Marko Marin
40	GK	Stefan Richter

[edit] Famous players

Heinz Ditgens became in 1936 the club's first international. Since then Borussia Mönchengladbach has sent over 30 players to the national team. Many of these from their outstanding sides of the 1970's. The 1974 World Cup winning side included five "Foals" players.

In descending order, these are the club's foremost heroes:

Günter Netzer, the glamour footballer of the early 1970s, Euro 72 winner, later Real Madrid.
Jupp Heynckes, the club's most prolific goalscorer with 195 goals, Bundesliga all time 3rd
Berti Vogts, 96 caps, sturdy defender World Cup winner 1974
Allan Simonsen, "Danish Dynamite", 1977 European Footballer of the Year
Rainer Bonhof, versatile midfielder, World Cup winner 1974
Herbert Wimmer, infatiguable midfiled workhorse, winner Euro 72
Albert Brülls, 1959 Borussia's first post-war international, 25 caps and two WC tournaments
Uli Stielike, classy midfielder, later Real Madrid.
Henning Jensen, another Danish explosive, later Real Madrid
Lothar Matthäus, started his Bundesliga career with Borussia, World Cup winner 1990
Stefan Effenberg, later Bayern Munich's Champions league winning captain.
Oliver Bierhoff,†
Anton Polster, Austrian striker
Uwe Rahn

Honorable mentions are also deserved by:

Dietmar Danner, Ludwig Müller, Dane Ulrik LeFevre, Damian Mori, Peter Dietrich, Michael Frontzeck, the one eyed Wilfried Hannes, Wolfgang Kleff, Horst Köppel, Herbert Laumen, Frank Mill, Oliver Neuville, Klaus Sieloff, Hartwig Bleidick, Kasey Keller.

[edit] Honours

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

German Champions: 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977
German Cup: 1960, 1973, 1995
UEFA Cup: 1975, 1979

[edit] Players' Honours

Players of the club achieved the following honours:

Player of the Year - Europe

1977 Alan Simonsen

Player of the Year - Germany

1987 Uwe Rahn
1979 Berti Vogts
1973 Günter Netzer
1972 Günter Netzer
1971 Berti Vogts

Bundesliga Top-Scorers

1995 - 20 Goals - Heiko Herrlich (jointly with Mario Basler (Werder Bremen))
1987 - 24 Goals - Uwe Rahn
1975 - 29 Goals - Jupp Heynckes
1974 - 30 Goals - Jupp Heynckes (jointly with Gerd Müller (FC Bayern München))

[edit] Recent League Finishes

1984/85: 4th
1985/86: 4th
1986/87: 3rd
1987/88: 7th
1988/89: 6th
1989/90: 15th
1990/91: 9th
1991/92: 13th
1992/93: 9th
1993/94: 10th
1994/95: 5th (Qualified for Cup Winners' Cup)
1995/96: 4th (Qualified for UEFA Cup)
1996/97: 11th
1997/98: 15th
1998/99: 18th (Relegated to 2. Bundesliga)
1999/00: 5th in 2. Bundesliga
2000/01: 2nd in 2. Bundesliga (Promoted to 1. Bundesliga)
2001/02: 12th
2002/03: 12th
2003/04: 11th
2004/05: 15th
2005/06: 10th

[edit] Trivia

Borussia Mönchengladbach's name is attached to a number of Bundesliga records:

Mönchengladbach has a fearsome record when it comes to laying a drubbing on other teams. On April 29, 1978 they beat Borussia Dortmund (12:0), the biggest winning margin ever in league history, as well as the most goals scored by a single side in a match. The Dortmund coach, Otto Rehhagel, was not only immediately fired after the game, he got also the nickname "Torhagel" ("Goal hail"). They also hold second place in the category for beating Schalke 04 (11:0) on January 7, 1967, and third place for a pair of (10:0) victories over Eintracht Braunschweig on November 11, 1984 and Borussia Neunkirchen on November 4, 1967.

The most penalties in a match is 5 in a game played between M'gladbach and Dortmund on November 9, 1965.

Mönchengladbach became the first team to successfully defend its Bundesliga title winning in 1970 and 71.

In 1961, Borussia became the first German side in the Cup Winners' Cup. However, they got a proper hiding by Rangers FC of Glasgow in the quarterfinals with 0-3 and 0-8. The quarterfinals were the first round then.

On 20th October 1971 Borussia Mönchengladbach won 7:1 vs Inter Milan. Fortunately for Inter, an empty Coca-Cola tin can was thrown at Inter striker Roberto Boninsegna, who collapsed to the ground, supposedly hit by that tin (“Büchsenwurf vom Bökelberg”). Inter launched a protest against the result and the UEFA granted a re-match to be staged in Germany with Berlin's Olympiastadion chosen, which ended in a goalless draw.

Lothar Matthäus (surname derived from Greek “Matthew”) got the nickname “Judas” from the Borussia fans not only because of the biblical origin of his last name, but foremost because they consider him a traitor. He did not only leave for the arch rival Bayern München, but in his last game for Gladbach, which was the German Cup Final, he missed a penalty in the decisive shoot-out - against Bayern!

In 1997, Borussia Mönchengladbach played the first and only Reebok Cup ever held, being runner-ups and losing the final to champions Atletico Junior from Barranquilla (Colombia).