Borussia Mönchengladbach was founded in 1900, with its name derived from a Latinised form of Prussia, which was a popular name for German clubs in the former Kingdom of Prussia. The team joined the Bundesliga in 1965 and saw the majority of its success in the 1970s, where, under the guidance of Hennes Weisweiler and then Udo Lattek, a young squad with a fast, aggressive playing style was formed.
During this period, Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga five times, the UEFA Cup twice and reached a European Cup final in 1977.
Since 2004, Borussia Mönchengladbach have played at Borussia-Park, having previously played at the Bökelbergstadion since 1919. Based on membership, they are the fifth-largest club in Germany with over 75,000 members in 2016 and 93,000 as of 2021. The club's main rivals are 1. FC Köln, against whom they contest the Rhine derby. Their secondary rivals include Borussia Dortmund, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer Leverkusen.
History
1899–1905: Formation
In November 1899, a group of discontented members left their sports association, TC Germania Gladbach (referred to as "Teutonia Gladbach" in some sources). On 17 November 1899, thirteen of these young men formed a new club, this time specifically focused on association football, in the Zum Jägerhof pub. They chose the word Borussia (Latin: "Prussia") as their association's new title, although this was not yet the club's official founding. Borussia was chosen because Mönchengladbach was located in the western provinces awarded to the Kingdom of Prussia as part of the 1815 Congress of Vienna.
Other notable football clubs in western Germany that chose the name "Prussia" as their title include Borussia Dortmund in 1909 and SC Preußen Münster in 1906.
Borussia's early years were faced with the problems typical for association football teams in the German Empire: the sport, only recently imported from the UK in the 1880s, was not yet institutionally accepted, and as a result there were logistical shortages of football fields, goals, changing rooms, and player equipment. Borussia's players initially had to finance their own gear for what was at the time a considerable financial expenditure for working-class people.
Borussia was the second dedicated football club in the city of Mönchengladbach. FC Mönchengladbach, founded six years earlier in 1894, quickly became Borussia's first rival. Whereas FC Mönchengladbach was socially and financially established, young Borussia found it difficult to guarantee regular access to training grounds and equipment.
As a result, the team joined the Marianische Jünglings-Kongregation Mönchengladbach Eicken (German: "Marian Youth Congregation Mönchengladbach Eicken"), a conservative Catholic sporting association. Within this larger organization, the footballers reformed into the Fussball Club Borussia 1900 on 1 August 1900, marking the club's official founding date.
From within the congregation, Borussia was able to more effectively organize official games against various opposing teams. The team scored 2–1 victories over both Blitz Neuwerk and Germania Mönchengladbach, and a 4–2 victory over Rheydt FC. As early as 1902, Borussia crossed international borders for the first time, losing 0–2 against Helmondia Helmond in the Netherlands, before playing the Dutch team to a 1–1 draw at home.
The appeal of both association football in general and Borussia in particular caused tensions with the conservative ideology of the Youth Congregation; the practice of football players wearing shorts instead of long trousers and the reality of football practice on Sundays hindering Church attendance created tension between Borussia and the Youth Congregation Eicken, and Borussia ultimately left the congregation on 24 May 1903.
To continue successful football competitions and to ease the organization of games, the club had applied to join the Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spielverband (German: "Rhenish-Westphalian Sports Federation") on 16 February 1903, and was accepted on 23 February. Borussia continued playing local and regional opponents like Britannia Düsseldorf and BV Solingen.
They also continued to travel to the nearby Netherlands, drawing Eindhoven VV 1–1. Borussia received a 0–11 defeat against Borussia Cologne in October 1903 in the away fixture; the loss was repeated 1–4 at home in the return game.
In 1904, Borussia competed with several other local teams in the third class of the second district of the Rhenish-Westphalian Sports Federation. After Borussia's only competitor for the title, BV Solingen, skipped the 1905 fixture in Mönchengladbach, Borussia won the title without having to face their opponent. On 8 January 1905, Borussia additionally scored a respectable[according to whom?] 1–0 win over its city rival FC Mönchengladbach, albeit against the third team, confirming an earlier 6–1 win over FC Mönchengladbach on 26 December 1904.
After having won the district cup, Borussia competed for the third class federation cup against, among others, teams from Essen and Cologne, ultimately losing the title to Kölner FC 99.
1905–1914: Before the First World War
After some decent[vague] athletic success in the year 1905 (18 games, 12 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses), Borussia nonetheless faced frustration,[according to whom?] as the playing grounds were judged[by whom?] insufficient for competition play. The team was subsequently excluded from major competitions until a more appropriate[according to whom?] locale could be found.
Ultimately, Borussia acquired a patch of land on Reyerhütterstraße in Mönchengladbach to enable organized play, at a time when the growing spread of football made it more and more of a hassle[tone] in terms of property damage and noise pollution.[vague] By achieving access to its own football grounds, Borussia thus evaded the growing number of police actions that were launched to call football enthusiasts to order.
Regular play continued, after more than a year of absence, in the second class of the second district, against teams like FC Mönchengladbach II, FC Eintracht Mönchengladbach and various teams from Düsseldorf and Krefeld, among others. After a 2–0 against Rheydt and two victories over Düsseldorf teams (4–1 against Britannia Düsseldorf, 4–1 against Union Düsseldorf), the first home game was held in Reyerhütterstraße against Preußen Krefeld. Borussia won the game with two goals difference.
At the end of the competition, Borussia was district champion, with eight wins in eight games (although Borussia had lost a 0–2 game against FC Mönchengladbach II that was subsequently annulled when FC Mönchengladbach II was disqualified from the competition),[vague] with 25 goals scored and only 8 conceded. But Borussia was skipped[by whom?] for promotion regardless; the club was once again assigned to the second class (now called B-Klasse) as a result of a league reform.
In 1907, Borussia left Reyerhütterstraße, where a new factory was under construction, and reached a deal with Gladbacher Turnverein 1848 to cooperatively run a ground near the Schweizerhaus, a famous gastronomy in the vicinity of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle.
Games at the new grounds go well,[according to whom?] with a 5–1 win over Borussia Köln, which had inflicted[tone] a painful[tone] 0–11 loss on Borussia in 1903, as well as a 5–3 against Rheydt.
The season as a whole was mediocre for Borussia,[according to whom?] ending with five wins, four losses and a draw at 19 goals scored and 13 conceded in third place.[vague] Borussia qualified for a promotion tournament to determine the team to be promoted to A class, but lost 0–6 to Viktoria Mönchengladbach.
The 1908–09 season was better[according to whom?] for Borussia. After a 0–2 loss at home against FC Eintracht Mönchengladbach, Borussia regained its footing,[tone] beating Viktoria Mönchengladbach 4–1 in an away game and drawing them 2–2 at home.
On 13 January 1909, Borussia scored an overwhelming[tone] 13–1 victory over Spiel und Sport Essen. Losing no game but the opener against Eintracht, Gladbach easily[according to whom?] came first in the league, thus qualifying from Group South to face the promotion candidates from Group North, FC Cleve 06.
After a resounding[tone] 5–1 win at home, the enthusiasm was dampened[tone] by a 3–4 setback in the away fixture. In the tiebreaker game, Borussia won 4–1, at last gaining promotion to the first division.
Going into the 1909–10 season, Borussia exchanged its previous black and white colour scheme with blue and yellow vertical stripes. Gladbach started into the higher league with significant issues,[vague] bringing Rheydt SpV only to a 2–2 at home before struggling with a crushing[tone] defeat in the 0–9 away fixture.
The team ended the season with five wins, five losses and two draws in fourth place, avoiding relegation. The club's tenth anniversary had seen a record 143 registered members, up from 32 in 1906 and 75 in 1908.
In the 1910–11 season, the league grew from seven to ten teams, adding opponents like Germania Hilden, FC Krefeld and Eintracht Mönchengladbach, bringing the game plan for Borussia to 18 games, not counting numerous friendly matches that brought the total number of games played to over 30, placing a significant strain[according to whom?] on the amateur players.
Aside from a noteworthy[according to whom?] 11–2 victory over rivals Rheydt SV, the season was another mediocre performance for Borussia.[according to whom?] The season forced Borussia to once again move the playing ground, after the Schweizerhaus grounds were deemed[by whom?] to dangerous[vague] in response to complaints by opposing teams.
Borussia subsequently moved to grounds near the Catholic graveyard, and finished fourth in the league. The new grounds were known as Stadion am Rosengarten.
The 1911–12 season was the first major success[according to whom?] in the club's history. Borussia easily dominated[according to whom?] the league with twelve wins, one draw and one loss, and thus earned qualification for promotion games towards Verbandsliga as northern district champions as well as the West German championship.
Borussia defeated VfJuB Düren, the southern district champions, in a 4–2 game, before achieving a 5–0 blowout[vague] against VfB 1900 Gießen, the Hessian champions.
Ultimately, Borussia lost the finals for the West German championship against Cologne BC 01, the precursor of Borussia's greatest[according to whom?] all-time rival, 1. FC Köln, at a 2–4 scoreline.
In a step down from the previous season's outstanding[tone] performance,[according to whom?] Borussia proved to struggle in the 1912–13 season. While the team was not threatened by relegation at any point in the tournament, Borussia ended in the middle of the table without a serious claim towards the title,[according to whom?] and was no serious threat in the West German championship either.[according to whom?] Borussia ended the season in sixth place in the league, at eight wins, two draws and eight losses.
In the last full season before the First World War, the German footballing structure was again reformed in the 1913–14 season. The system of two federation leagues (German: Verbandsliga) of twenty clubs each was replaced with a system of four district leagues (German: Kreisliga) of ten clubs each. This left Borussia in the Rhenish Northern District (German: Rheinischer Nordkreis) along with teams from Aachen and Düsseldorf, as well as other teams from Mönchengladbach.
In the preparation for the season, Borussia performed miserably,[according to whom?] losing 1–3 to Viktoria Duisburg and 1–6 to Duisburg SV.
Borussia, nonetheless, entered the season with a clear goal to earn the district championship.[according to whom?] The team fell well short[tone] of that target, coming third in the league at five wins, five draws and four losses.
The highlight of the season[according to whom?] was a friendly match against an English professional team.
Dulwich Hamlet, which Borussia's amateur footballers lost 2–5 (initially having led 2–1 by the 80th minute before conceding four goals in the last ten minutes).
1914–1918: First World War
In March 1914, the club purchased De Kull, a decommissioned gravel pit and the grounds on which the later Bökelbergstadion would be built. The First World War halted the progress of both the stadium and football in general, as many players volunteered or were drafted for military service. With rapidly changing player lineups, Borussia contested the war cup (German: Kriegspokal), beating Düren 7–0.
In total, Borussia played 18 games in the 1914–15 season, in spite of the logistical difficulties caused by the war.
In time for the 1915–16 season, it had become clear[to whom?] that the war, initially anticipated by all sides to conclude quickly, would last longer than expected.
Regardless, Borussia was able to assemble a functional team for the season (reinforced regularly by players on vacation from frontline duty), and played games against Union Krefeld, Viktoria Rheydt, Konstantia Kaldenkirchen, VfB Krefeld, FC Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Mönchengladbach. After a shaky[tone] start, including a 1–4 friendly game loss to Borussia Düsseldorf, Borussia found its footing[tone] in the league, and briefly rivalled Krefeld for the first place in January 1916.
Ultimately, Borussia finished second in the league. By mid-1916, Borussia was forced to cease regular play due to the lack of regularly available players. By 4 November 1916, even the provisional club leadership had to cease operations, as too many of its members were called up for military service.
Borussia suffered several losses due to war casualties: The club's chairman since 1912, Heinz Körstgens, was killed in action in 1915, as was Stephan Ditgens, Borussia player and uncle of Borussia's first ever Germany national team player, Heinz Ditgens.
1918–1933: During the Weimar Republic
In the immediate aftermath of the military armistice of 11 November 1918, football clubs all over Germany began to gradually resume operations. Members of Borussia had informal meetings about the resumption of play even during the last months of the war, as early as mid-1918. The first recorded game of this phase was a 5–0 over Rheydt SV on 15 August 1918, followed by the turnaround in the form of a 2–7 thrashing[tone] at the hands of[tone] Rheydt SV in the return fixture a week later.
The aftermath of the war interrupted the blossoming[tone] football of 1918–19, as only seven of Borussia's 14 planned games were held due to the occupation of the region by the Belgian Armed Forces.
The decades-long struggle[tone] to find a usable locale to play continued, as De Kull was not yet ready to be used. By early 1919, the team returned to Schweizerhaus as a temporary measure. On 15 March 1919, FC Borussia merged with another local club, Turnverein Germania 1889, becoming 1889 VfTuR M.Gladbach. The club achieved its first major success in 1920, defeating Kölner BC 3–1 to win the 1920–1921 West German championship final.
The union between Germania and Borussia only lasted a matter of two years; the club was thereafter known as Borussia VfL 1900 e.V. M.Gladbach.
1933–1945: Football under the Third Reich
Following the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, the German league system was reformed to consist of 16 Gauligen – Gladbach found themselves playing first in the Gauliga Niederrhein, and later in various Bezirksklassen (district leagues). Also while under the Third Reich, Mönchengladbach's first ever international player was capped; Heinz Ditgens playing in a 9–0 win over Luxembourg for Germany in the 1936 Olympic Games.
1945–1959: Rebuild after War
Eventually, Mönchengladbach resumed play in June 1946, gaining successive promotions to the Landesliga Niederrhein (the regional second tier) in 1949 and the top flight, the Oberliga West, in 1950. Following many years of promotions and relegations, Borussia won their first Oberliga title, in the 1958–59 season.
