A brief history...
The club was formed on 19 December 1909 by a predominantly youthful group of steelworkers and miners. The decision was a spur of the moment affair and the name an equally spontaneous choice. "Borussia" was appended to the front because it was the house beer served in the pub where the meeting took place, so the club is effectively named after the founding members' favoured beverage. Heinrich Unger was elected chairman. During the 1930s, Borussia Dortmund emerged as one of the best teams in the country, but in common with the vast majority of German clubs, had to be rebuilt practically from scratch after the Second World War.

As early as 1949, BVB made a debut appearance in the German championship final, only to fall 3-2 after extra-time to VfR Mannheim. The great moment arrived in 1956 as Dortmund beat Karlsruhe 4-2 in the final to claim their first national title. Borussia went on to retain the trophy the following season, fielding the same starting line-up in a 4-1 victory over Hamburg SV to seal a second crown. The third followed in the year before the creation of the Bundesliga. BVB defeated 1. FC Cologne 3-1 in 1963 in the last-ever old-format German championship final. Dortmund then finished fourth in the inaugural Bundesliga season.

The club secured the German Cup in 1965, winning on their second appearance in the final 2-0 against Alemannia Aachen. A major international success was to follow in 1966 with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Liverpool in the European Cup Winners Cup as Dortmund became the first German club side to claim international honours.

Borussia fell on hard times for a spell after this and suffered the ignominy of relegation from the Bundesliga in 1972. The first incarnation of the Westfalen stadium was constructed in anticipation of the 1974 FIFA World Cup finals, and the ground was steadily expanded through to the end of the 1990s. BVB returned to the top flight in 1976 and began attracting an average crowd of over 40,000, considerably more than any other Bundesliga rival at that time.

Despite this extraordinary level of support, the club ran into serious financial difficulties in the early 1980s and their fortunes on the field suffered accordingly. Borussia were forced into a relegation play-off against second division Fortuna Cologne in 1985-6 but clung onto their top-flight status. A revival followed at the end of the decade. Borussia made the 1989 DFB German Cup final, defeating Werder Bremen 4-1 for a first trophy in 23 years.

The 1990s proved the most successful decade in the history of the club. The management pulled off a masterstroke in 1991, hiring the unknown and relatively inexperienced Ottmar Hitzfeld as coach. In 1995, Hitzfeld led BVB to their first German championship in 32 years, a trophy they were to retain the following season. And Borussia suddenly emerged as a force on the international stage too, producing a stunning 3-1 victory against Turin giants Juventus to win the 1997 UEFA Champions League before battling past Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte 2-0 to claim the Toyota Cup.

However, in an eerie repeat of previous history, glorious success was followed by a rapid fall from grace. Coach Hitzfeld and a number of key players moved on, and a raft of costly, big-name replacements failed to match expectations. The nadir came in 1999-2000 as Borussia were left teetering on the brink of relegation.

On 30 October 2000, Dortmund became the first German club to seek a public listing. Most of the revenue from the flotation was spent on new players. The club duly sealed a sixth German championship in 2002 and made the Uefa Cup final, only to fall 3-2 against Feyenoord of Rotterdam. But the return to glory proved short-lived. Serious financial problems returned to plague the club as debts mounted to over €100 million. Officials were able to fend off the threat of a compulsory winding-up order, but until a new management team can stabilise the situation, Dortmund are not expected to feature prominently on the international stage.