Borussia Mönchengladbach

Borussia Mönchengladbach is one of the most famous and most supported German soccer clubs. Founded in 1900, it took 20 years to the club's first title: the West German Championship. In 1960 the first national title was won: the DFB-Cup. After entering the Bundesliga in 1965, coach Hennes Weisweiler led a young team into the club's most successful period, winning the national championship five times (1970-71, 1975-77), the one time DFB-Cup, entering four times the UEFA Cup finals, winning the Cup two times (1975, 1979). In 1975 Borussia lost the final of the Champions League against FC Liverpool. Because of the very offensive philosophy and their powerful and successful play, the team won supporters all over Germany. Because of the small stadium and limited finances, they were perceived as the opposite to FC Bayern Munich, the other dominating club of this time.

The golden era ended with the beginning of the 1980s. The club had to sell the best players to be financially competitive, and without the extraordinary talent of coaches like Weisweiler and Udo Lattek it was not possible to stay this successful. Since these days, the only title, another DFB-Cup, was won in 1995. The club has performed poorly since the mid-1990s, and was forced to spend two years in the second league between 1999 and 2001 until returning to the Bundesliga. Starting with the 2004/2005 season, Borussia will play in an all-new state-of-the-art stadium, allowing for increased revenues through ticket sales and the hosting of international games.

Some of the famous players, who started their career in Mönchengladbach are: Günther Netzer, Jupp Heynckes, Berti Vogts, Allan Simonsen, Lothar Matthäus, Stefan Effenberg.