Borussia Mönchengladbach - Borussia Park -Capacity: 60,350 (43,148 seating)
The Stadium – Borussia Park Hennes Weisweiler Allee 1, Mönchengladbach 41179 (+49 2161 9293 1301) The stadium is an excellent example of one of the new breed of grounds that are being built throughout Europe. It is a completely enclosed stadium with three tiers offering excellent views of the action free from any obstructions. The new Borussia Park stadium was originally planned over six years, and was to be the jewel in the Rhine Ruhr Valley area for the forthcoming World Cup Finals. However, delays (primarily due to the insolvency of the Kirsch Media Group) meant that the stadium wasn’t started until 2002, by which time decisions had been made to award the honour of hosting matches in the World Cup to neighbouring Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen and Köln. The stadium eventually opened in July 2004 when Borussia hosted Bayern Munich and Ajax in a special champions pre-season friendly. The first league game played there was in August 2004 when Borussia Dortmund were the visitors. In June 2005 the national team played their first match at the new stadium when they drew 2-2 with Russia.
The new stadium replaced the historic Boekelberg Stadium which had been home to Borussia since 1919. Whilst the capacity is over 60,000 with 35,000 seats, for normal Bundesliga matches the South stand has to be used as a seating area only and so the capacity is reduced by 7,000. For International matches, the capacity will be reduced to 45,600. Further details of Borussia Park can be found at http://www.stadion-im-borussia-park.de/
Who Plays There? Mönchengladbach enter the 2005/06 season hoping to put all their on field troubles behind them. A near disastrous season in 2004/05 saw them hardly lift above 15th place from November onwards. Whilst 15th spot was enough to avoid relegation, by just 1 point, it is not what the fans of the famous greens would have expected. The club were also unique in managing to get through four managers last season – Fach, Köppel and Dick Advocaat all tried but failed to turn the team’s fortunes around before the club returned to Horst Köppel as their choice of coach.
The last decade can be classed as a disappointing time for the club, compared with their illustrious history. Since 1996 they have not finished higher in the Bundesliga than 11th, and even spent two seasons in the 2nd division after relegation in 1999. You have to go back to 1996 for the last respectable finish for the club when they finished 4th in the Bundesliga.
The club were formed in 1900, the club played in the regional leagues of the Oberliga West, competing against stronger teams such as Köln and Schalke 04. Their only honour before the Bundesliga was formed came in 1960 when they beat Karlsruhe in the German Cup final. A few years later one of the youngest teams in German football gained promotion to the Bundesliga. In that historic 1964/65 season, Mönchengladbach scored over 120 goals in just 40 games to win promotion for the first time in their history. This team, with an average age of under 22 would be the basis of the team that would dominate German football. Their popularity grew amongst the football watching public, and most people had a soft spot for the Greens.
In 1970 the team one their first Bundesliga title, and became the first team to successfully defend in a year later. In 1973 a fine season was capped off with a German Cup victory over Köln and a runners up place in the UEFA Cup final after losing 3-2 to Liverpool on aggregate. Two years later they overpowered the Dutch team Twente Enschede 5-1 to claim their first ever European title.
The club then became one of the forces of European football, winning the Bundesliga three times in a row from 1975, reaching the European Cup Final in 1977 (they lost 3-1 to Liverpool in Rome) and winning the UEFA Cup again in 1979 against Red Star Belgrade. In fact it was only another German team, Eintract Frankfurt that stopped Mönchengladbach from making European history when they beat the greens on away goals in the first ever all German UEFA Cup Final.
The end of the 1970’s really spelt the end of Mönchengladbach reign over both German and European football. A single German Cup victory over Wolfsburg in 1995 is all the fans have had to celebrate since those heady days and nights of the Seventies. It is even more galling for the fans to think that their traditional rivals Bayern Munich have gone on to achieve so much, despite overshadowing the Bavarians for so long in the 1970’s.
The hope now is that Borussia can start to put together the performances on the pitch to match the achievements of it. In 2005 the team have recruited a number of players familiar to the Premiership fan with Kasey Keller, Christian Ziege and Thomas Helveg due to make an impact for the team.
How to get a ticket for Borussia Park A number of high profile matches at Borussia Park sold out last season, including the games versus Dortmund, Kaiserslautern, Schalke and Bayern Munich. However, attendances were less than 45,000 for at least half a dozen games so it may be possible to get tickets as long as you book them in advance for most matches. Tickets can be purchased in person from the ground, or from the fanshop in Marienhof. Alternatively you can book them online at http://www.borussia.de/CDA/tickets,100776,0,,en.html.
How to get to Borussia Park The stadium is located in a new business park development to the north of the city centre. It has been built with access as a key feature both in terms of driving and public transport. The stadium is has been built with direct access to and from the A61 Autobahn. There are a number of official car parks around the ground, all of which are signposted from the Autobahn and the city centre.
The nearest station to the ground is Station Rheyt, where the special football trains terminal on track 4. From here, shuttle buses run every 5 minutes on a match day to the stadium taking approximately 15 minutes. From the main station you would need to take either line 7 or 17 for Rheyt.
For a more detailed view on who plays where in Germany, go to Footiemap.com.
Köln-Bonn airport is located to the south east of the city, around a 20 minute drive from the Dom. The airport is connected directly to the city centre by the S-Bahn line 6 or 13, which also links both Bonn and other destinations on the ICE network. From the UK, Germanwings fly fromLondon Stansted and Edinburgh, Easyjet fromLondon Gatwick, Liverpool and East Midlands and HLX from Birmingham and Manchester
Other airports within close reach include Düsseldorf, located 24 miles to the north of Köln, and linked directly to the main station by a regular S-Bahn line, as well as Frankfurt Main which is linked by the regular ICE service direct from the airport and takes just 57 minutes to complete the 110 mile journey.
The Stadium – Borussia Park 