Three points for their birthday? BVB turn 116 today | OneFootball

On December 19, 1909, the 18 founders of Borussia Dortmund met to launch their new football club. What BVB has become in the 116 years since then can be observed tonight at Signal Iduna Park. The professionals will play in front of over 80,000 spectators and for over 230,000 members against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Will they manage a victory for the birthday?

It is not a round anniversary, yet it is certainly an occasion to celebrate. The Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, named after a beer brand that coincidentally bore the Latin name of Prussia, turns 116 years old. On that December 19, 1909, a Sunday, the inn "Zum Wildschütz" was chosen as the meeting place for the founding act.

The 18 young men were already connected through their membership in the youth sodality of the Catholic Trinity parish. Their pastor was anything but a supporter of his young parishioners' turn towards the "football loutishness," as the game was disdainfully called back then. However, the young men were not deterred by his resistance, and thus the Ballspielverein Borussia has existed in Dortmund for 116 years.

Photo: IMAGO

BVB founded 116 years ago near Borsigplatz

The fact that it took over a year after the founding date for the members of the new club to play their first match against another club is also mentioned by BVB itself in its announcement for its birthday. It wasn't until January 15, 1911, that they made their debut against VfB Dortmund.

Since then, the ball has been rolling in the ranks of BVB, with eight German championships, five cup victories, and two triumphs in the European Cup, as well as winning the Intercontinental Cup, achieving great success on both national and international levels. This has led 230,000 people to identify so strongly with the club that they became members of Borussia themselves. Most of them will likely follow live on-site or on TV to see if the BVB professional team can present their club with three points for its birthday – to avert a potentially looming crisis, but also to provide a fitting framework for BVB's anniversary celebration.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.