The Westfalenstadion is the home ground of Borussia Dortmund since 1974.The south terrace which holds roughly 25k fans is the largest for standing spectators in European football. The intimidating nature of the fans makes it a nightmare for the opposition. They captured everyones attention last year when they chanted You will never walk alone in memory of the fan that tragically passed away during a game. The love is unconditional. For them, the club is more than a religion. This has been testified by their very own Roman Weidenfeller who enjoyed a fruitful 16 year long career.
" If you are the enemy, it crushes you but if you have her at your back as a goalkeeper, it's a fantastic feeling "- Weidenfeller
Borussia Dortmund were on the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s. This led them to think on a sustainable model in competing with the heavyweights on a minimal budget. That gave birth to their famous youth policy which produced gems like Marco reus, mario gotze and many others. Their incredible ability to produce quality footballers cant be ignored. Dortmund's track record of bringing through talented prospects is right up there with the best of them.Buying them young and putting faith in them is a rarity in modern day football. But Dortmund have been doing just that for the past decades. The future of the club is in safe hands of Pulisic, Jaden Sancho and Julian weigl. The likes of Bayern Munich and many others have tried and succeeded in luring some of their best prospects . But they failed to dampen dortmund's ability to produce young prodigies.
Another important factor for the worldwide appeal for the German football is it's cheap match day experience . In Germany, fan is the king. This is reflected in every aspect of the viewing. The cheapest season ticket of Borussia Dortmund is 303 £ whereas it is 500 £ for QPR , which competes in the second division English football. The cheapest match day ticket is 10.33£ in bundesliga as opposed to 24.7£ and 28.3 £ in la Liga and premier league respectively. According to a survey held recently, 800-1000 English fans travel regularly to be watch Dortmund play. This is something which has to be taken very seriously by the football federations worldwide. Football is nothing without the fans."Dortmund could make lots more money by raising ticket prices. But then you lose credibility and loyalty .Football is an irrational business and it comes from the heart."- Cramer ( Managing Director, Borussia Dortmund)
50+1 rule is the factor which drives the fan- centered bundesliga throughout the years .The "50+1 rule" requires the parent club to own at least 50% plus one additional share of the football company. This is done so as to ensure that the majority of the voting rights lies with the club and it's fans. Clubs are run as non-profit organizations which are unheard of in any other European leagues. This justifies the hate RB Leipzig received on their inception to the league. They were successful in tweaking the rule to the benefit of their sponsors but not without facing the wrath of the football lovers. Though many clubs are starting to revamp the business model of bundesliga, BVB is taking none of that. They are a club of strong philosophy who believes in minimal spending and functioning within its means.
Borussia Dortmund is currently going through a difficult phase after falling behind Bayern Munich in the league phase way before than expected. They were also hit hard by the way Ousmane Dembele parted ways with them which also infuriated the fans. Thomas Tuchel was not able to repeat Jurgen Klopp's legacy which was also one of the most successful phases of Dortmund's history. Apart from the 1997 Champions league triumph, the two successive league titles in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 still remains one of the high-points of the club. Borussia Dortmund have appointed Lucien Favre as the new head coach for the 2018-2019 season. They might not be able to challenge Bayern for yet another season, but the passion remains undeterred.Anyone visting Signal Iduna Park will still be assured of goosebumps.
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