BVB09 - History - 21st Century and Borussia "goes Public"

21st Century and Borussia "goes Public"

At the turn of the millennium, Borussia Dortmund became the first—and so far the only—publicly traded club on the German stock market.

In 2002, Borussia Dortmund won their third Bundesliga title. Dortmund had a remarkable run at the end of the season to overtake Bayer Leverkusen, securing the title on the final day. Manager Matthias Sammer became the first person in Borussia Dortmund history to win the Bundesliga as a player and manager. In the same season, Borussia lost the final of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup to Dutch side Feyenoord.

Dortmund's fortunes then steadily declined for a number of years. Poor financial management led to a heavy debt load and the sale of their Westfalenstadion ground. The situation was compounded by failure to advance in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League when the team was eliminated on penalties in the qualifying rounds by Club Brugge. In 2003, Bayern Munich loaned €2 million to Dortmund for a couple of months to pay their payroll. Borussia was again driven to the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, the original €11 value of its shares having plummeted by over 80% on the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). The response to the crisis included a 20% pay cut to all players.

The team still plays at Westfalenstadion, named after its home region of Westphalia. To reduce debts, the stadium was renamed "Signal Iduna Park", after a local insurance company, in 2006 under a sponsorship agreement that runs until 2016. The stadium is currently the largest football stadium in Germany with a capacity of 80,720 spectators, and hosted several matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a semi-final. Borussia Dortmund enjoys the highest average attendance of any football club in Europe, at 80,478 per match (2010–11).

Dortmund suffered a miserable start to the 2005–06 season, but rallied to finish seventh. The club failed to gain a place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play draw. The club's management recently indicated that the club again showed a profit; this was largely related to the sale of David Odonkor to Real Betis and Tomáš Rosický to Arsenal.

In the 2006–07 season, Dortmund unexpectedly faced serious relegation trouble for the first time in years. Dortmund went through three coaches and appointed Thomas Doll on 13 March 2007 after dropping to just one point above the relegation zone. Christoph Metzelder also left Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer.

In the 2007–08 season, Dortmund lost to many of the smaller clubs in the Bundesliga. That season was one of the worst in 20 years. Nevertheless, Dortmund reached the DFB-Pokal Final against Bayern Munich, where they lost 2–1 in extra time. The final appearance qualified Dortmund for the UEFA Cup because Bayern already qualified for the Champions League. Thomas Doll resigned on 19 May 2008 and was replaced by Jürgen Klopp.