Borussia Dortmund: History, Squad, Rivalries, Honours & Future Plans

Borussia Dortmund is often known as BVB, and Dortmund by international fans, is a German professional football club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men’s football team, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Founded in 1909 by eleven football players from Dortmund, they are nicknamed Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellow) for the colors used in the club’s logo. Dortmund is the second-largest sports club by membership.

Dortmund is the second most decorated football club in German football. Domestically, they have won eight championships, five DFB Pokals, and six DFL-Supercups, including one UEFA Champions League in 1997. Under the dictatorship of Michael Zorc in 2010, Borussia Dortmund started developing its youth academy. As of 2025, Dortmund has generated the second most revenue by the youth academy across football clubs in Germany.

Borussia Dortmund: Key Facts

Borussia Dortmund is a professional football club based in Dortmund. The Club was founded 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 on 19 December 1909. The club is known as the Die Schwarzgelben, which is also their nickname.

History of Borussia Dortmund

The club was founded on 19 December 1909 by a group of young, unhappy football players, who were unhappy with the style of play by the Catholic Church sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the guidance of a local priest. The founders of the club 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 word Borussia is Latin for Prussia, but was taken from the Borussia beer from the nearby Borussia brewery in Dortmund. The team initially began to play with blue and white stripes with black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and blue stripes for the first time.

In the Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund’s history is one of the greatest among all other clubs. Over the next decade, the club played multiple local leagues, and they came close to bankruptcy in 1929 when they attempted to boost the club’s fortune by signing some professional football players, which left the club in a deep state of debt. In the 1930s, the club’s president was replaced because he refused to join the Nazi party. In 1962, DFB met in Dortmund and voted to establish a professional football league in Germany, to begin play in August 1963 as the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund secured their place among the first sixteen clubs to play in the league by winning the pre-season Bundesliga national championship. The club was in turmoil in that era, from winning multiple trophies to being relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga. In the Bundesliga, also in 1997, Die Borussen won their first European glory, as they won the UEFA Champions League, after a nail-biting match against Juventus, where the football world witnessed the magic of Zinedine Zidane. Despite Zidane’s unbelievable performance, Borussia Dortmund were crowned as champions in a 3-1 win over Juventus.

In the 21st century, Borussia Dortmund changed their club’s policy as they went on a mission to grow their youth academy. During the era of their most successful manager, Jurgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund won multiple domestic trophies and successfully produced many young talents. In April 2015, Borussia announced that Thomas Tuchel would replace Jurgen Klopp, as he would leave Dortmund at the end of the season.

Since 2013, BVB has produced great talents like Jude Bellingham, Mario Gotze, and Matt Hummels, and sold them to the big clubs, and made profits of a million dollars. Currently, Borussia Dortmund’s home ground is Signal Iduna Park with a massive 85k capacity. Post Jurgen Klopp era has been turmoil as per BVB fans as they focused on the consistency in their domestic competition, and secured the UEFA Champions League spot multiple times, but in the knockout stages, they faced difficulties to crown as the champions for the second time, in 2023-24 season, they secured their spot in the final of the UEFA Champions Leageue and faced Real Madrid, where they failed to conquer their second European glory. But in terms of consistency, they are more focused on producing young talents and selling them to the big clubs, so they can make huge amounts of profit.

Borussia Dortmund: Sponsors, Net Worth, and Value

Borussia Dortmund has a strong sponsorship portfolio, and the club is mainly focused on growing home talents and selling them to the big clubs, as the Borussia Dortmund’s net worth is approximately €1 billion. German clubs are mainly fan-owned, where their fans own 51% of the club’s ownership. Let’s take a look at their Sponsors, Net Worth, and Value.

Borussia Dortmund Rivalries

In the Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund’s rivalry is renowned as Der Klassiker, the match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich. The match is not just about three points; it's about prestige, history, and a fixture that has shaped the Bundesliga like few others from the past decades. The battle between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich is one of the biggest rivalries in the world.

Borussia Dortmund: Trophies and Achievements

Borussia Dortmund is the second-most decorated football club in Germany. The club has won multiple domestic and international championships over the past decades. Over the past few decades, the club has been in turmoil. In terms of their performance, the club has faced inconsistency. Let’s take a look at the trophies breakdown.

Future Goals:

Dortmund is currently focusing on growing its youth academy, as they are primarily focused on growing home talents and selling them to the big clubs. However, they are currently focused on the glories, as the club’s last piece of silverware was the DFB Pokal, which they clinched in the 2020-21 season. They want the piece of silverware domestically and want to win the UEFA Champions League once again. Since 1997, they have not won that trophy, despite securing a spot in the finals.