Borussia Mönchengladbach

Football club infobox
clubname = Borussia Mönchengladbach


fullname = Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V.
nickname = Die Fohlen ("the Foals")
founded = 1 August, 1900
ground = Borussia-Park,
Mönchengladbach
capacity = 54,067
chairman = Rolf Königs
manager = flagicon|Germany Christian Ziege (Interim)
league = Bundesliga
season = 2007-08
position = 2. Bundesliga, 1st
(promoted)
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pattern_la2=_blackshoulders|pattern_b2=_thinblacksides|pattern_ra2=_blackshoulders
leftarm2=006000|body2=006000|rightarm2=006000|shorts2=006000|socks2=006000
pattern_la3=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b3=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra3=_whiteshoulders|pattern_sh3=_white stripes
leftarm3=7EC9E4|body3=7EC9E4|rightarm3=7EC9E4|shorts3=7EC9E4|socks3=7EC9E4|

Borussia Mönchengladbach, is a German football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the first division 1. Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, best-supported, and successful teamsFact|date=September 2008. "Borussia Mönchengladbach" has almost 40,000 members and is the fourth largest club in GermanyFact|date=September 2008. The official mascot of the club is the foal "Jünter". "Borussia" is a Latinized form of Prussia, a popular term in naming German clubs located within the former Kingdom of Prussia. They were the first German club to have an official mascotFact|date=September 2008, the mascot is called Bach the Bumble Bee and has been the mascot for 54 years.

History

Early history

The club's forerunner was a loose association of young men known as "Fussball Club Germania München-Gladbach" from the city's Eicken district organized in late 1899. "FC Borussia M.Gladbach" was formally established on August 1, 1900 and took up play in the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband.

The new club made steady progress, moving upward through the different levels of league play and in 1912 appeared in the final of the Westdeutsche Verbandsliga, losing 2:4 to "Kölner BC". In 1919, they joined "Turnverein Germania 1889" to form "Verein für Turn- und Rasensport 1889 München-Gladbach". The next year "VfTuR" 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 to form "Borussia VfL München-Gladbach".

In 1933 the club formed a short-lived union with "SC München-Gladbach" to play as "SC Borussia München-Gladbach" until August 1934. "SC Borussia" qualified to play in the Gauliga Niederrhein, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established in 1933 in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. They played two more season at that level as "VfL" before being relegated to lower tier competition until moving up to the Oberliga West in 1952.

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 and the following year took on the now familiar name " Borussia VfL Mönchengladbach". 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, alongside future powerhouse "Bayern Munich". These two clubs would go on to a fierce struggle as they challenged each other for league supremacy throughout the 1970s. "Bayern" counted first, winning the Bundesliga championship in 1969. "M'gladbach" struck back immediately in the next season with a championship of their own and followed up with another one in 1971, becoming the first Bundesliga club ever to successfully defend their title.

Borussia'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.

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. The club's return performance in the Bundesliga was uninspired as they 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 legendary Mönchengladbach 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 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 2006/2007 season Borussia Mönchengladbach were relegated from the Bundesliga after Arminia Bielefeld upset Werder Bremen 3-2 while Borussia lost 1-0 at home to VfB Stuttgart.

They were promoted back to the Bundesliga on the 32nd matchday of the 2007/2008 season after winning the match vs. SV Wehen 3-0.

Players

Current squad

"For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008."

Famous players

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

Among the notable players are:
*Oliver Bierhoff, scored both of Germany's goals in the final of UEFA Euro 96
*Igor Belanov, 1986 European Footballer of the Year
*Rainer Bonhof, part of the 1974 FIFA World Cup winning squad
*Albert Brülls, Borussia's first post-war international in 1959, 25 caps and two World Cup tournaments
*Stefan Effenberg
*Jupp Heynckes, the club's most prolific goal scorer with 195 goals, Bundesliga all time 3rd
*Marcell Jansen
*Henning Jensen
*Lothar Matthäus, captain of the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning squad
*Günter Netzer, part of the 1972 UEFA European Football Championship winning squad
*Toni Polster
*Uwe Rahn
*Allan Simonsen, 1977 European Footballer of the Year
*Uli Stielike
*Berti Vogts, 96 caps, part of the 1974 FIFA World Cup winning squad
*Herbert Wimmer, part of the squad winning the 1972 UEFA European Football Championship and the 1974 FIFA World Cup
*Martin Dahlin

Honorable mentions are also deserved by:

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

(see also: List of Borussia Mönchengladbach players)

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
*2. Bundesliga: 2008
*German Cup: 1960, 1973, 1995
*UEFA Cup: 1975, 1979
*Kirin Cup: *1978

*"Kirin Cup was shared with SE Palmeiras"

Records

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.

* In 1961, "Borussia" became the first German side in the Cup Winners' Cup. However, they were defeated by Rangers FC of Glasgow in the quarterfinals with losses of 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.

Players' Honours

Players of the club achieved the following honours:

Player of the Year - Europe

* 1977 Allan 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))

Goal of the Year

* 1971: Ulrik Le Fevre
* 1972: Günter Netzer
* 1973: Günter Netzer
* 1978: Rainer Bonhof
* 1979: Harald Nickel
* 2005: Kasper Bögelund
* 2006: Oliver Neuville

Recent League Finishes

References

External links

* [http://www.borussia.de Official team site] in German and English
* [http://www.seitenwahl.de Seitenwahl.de Supporter Magazine] in German
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/gladbach.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.stadion-im-borussia-park.de Borussia-Park] the team's new stadium
* [http://www.football-lineups.com/games/?campaign=15.77 Tactics and LineUps]
* [http://www.resultsfromfootball.com/bundesliga-team/borussiamonchengladbach.html Monchengladbach statistics]
* [http://www.borussia-world24.de/index.htm Borussia World]
* [http://www.fohlenkommando.de/ FohlenKommando]