More than 30 years with Borussia
Teams, coaches and players have changed. My life has changed too. Borussia stayed.
I don’t remember exactly when I started supporting Borussia Dortmund. I just know it was more than 30 years ago.
My earliest memory is a football sticker album. It had a blue cover with Stoichkov on it. Borussia was in the album, and even then I said I was backing BVB. I can’t remember the album’s title, only that cover.
In the summer of 1995 we went on holiday to visit my grandparents in Dortmund. We didn’t go to the stadium; I was a child and nobody wanted to take me. But my grandad bought two sets for my cousin and me in the park: a pennant, a plastic cup and a paper tray. I still have them all.
I got the number 9 Chapuisat shirt from my mum for Easter 1997, before the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, along with a scarf. The first BVB match I really remember was the second leg at Old Trafford. I only saw highlights of the first match. Wearing the shirt, shorts and scarf, I watched Köhler stop Cantona and then watched the final against Juventus. The shirt hangs on the railing beside my scarves now. I doubt I’ll find the shorts.
In 2013, the TV programme “To i Owo” and Eurosport ran a competition. The prize was tickets to three matches, including the Klassiker at Signal Iduna Park. The task was to write why people should watch the Bundesliga and what emotions it brings. I wrote three versions. Only the last one came from the heart: the emotions are enormous and impossible to put into words. I won two tickets and the official match ball.
Only when I got to the stadium did I realise the ticket got me into the VIP tent. It was so close to kick-off that the tent was almost empty: hostesses, waiters and bartenders. I sat behind the goal, opposite the Yellow Wall.
It was the Bayern match on 23 November 2013. Götze was playing against Borussia for the first time. Deafening whistles when he came on, and every time he touched the ball. The same for Neuer, a Schalke academy product. Huge applause when Piszczek ran onto the pitch. We lost 3–0, and Lewandowski missed several chances.
I don’t remember who scored. I’ve only just checked: Götze came off the bench and scored against us. I saw a lot of things differently back then.
After the match, once I was home, I posted a few photos from the stadium and the BVB museum on Facebook. No order, no captions. I didn’t think it would ever become a story. I was just happy.
There were worse nights too, like the 2–2 draw with Mainz on the final day of the 2022/23 season, after which the title stayed in Munich.
Teams, coaches and players changed. My life changed too.
Kuba already has a towel, two cloth nappies, a squeaky plush toy and another one with a light. All from the BVB shop. He’s grown out of the “50% Papa, 50% Mama, 100% BVB” bodysuit, but the education continues. 😄
Kevin Großkreutz once joked in an interview that if his son supported Schalke, he’d give him up for adoption. He said it before he had a child. I’m less radical. For now, I stick to the towel, nappies and plush toys.
Almost everything has changed in more than 30 years.
Borussia stayed. 🖤💛