Profile — Facts, Figures and Milestones
BVB: 8x German champions, first German European cup winner 1966, Signal Iduna Park (81,360), 238,100 members. Listed as KGaA.
The Club at a Glance
Borussia Dortmund at a Glance
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund is one of the most successful football clubs in Germany.
Through the end of 2019, the club won eight German championships (most recently 2012) and four DFB-Pokals. BVB became the first German European cup winner in 1966 and occupy second place in the Bundesliga all-time table by actual points won. Since the 1976/77 season, Borussia Dortmund have played uninterrupted in the Bundesliga and have reached four further European finals since 1993, most recently in 2013.
- German Champions
- 8x (most recently 2012)
- DFB-Pokal
- 4x (most recently 2017)
- European Cups
- CL winners 1997, CWC 1966
- Bundesliga since
- 1976/77 uninterrupted
Signal Iduna Park
The Signal Iduna Park (Westfalenstadion), with a capacity of 81,360, is Germany's largest football-only stadium.
The name Borussia derives from the old Latin word for Prussia. The Suedtribuene, accommodating 25,000 standing spectators, is Europe's largest terrace. For Champions League matches, the capacity is reduced to 66,000 (all-seater requirement).
- Capacity
- 81,360 (league) / 66,000 (CL)
- Suedtribuene
- 25,000 standing
Members and Fan Culture
Membership Explosion Since 2020
BVB's membership has grown from 155,244 in late 2018 to 238,100 (as of February 2026).
This makes Borussia Dortmund Germany's second-largest sports club behind FC Bayern (approx. 410,000) and among the global top 5. The growth is remarkable: as recently as 2010, membership stood at just 40,000. In 16 years, the BVB have increased their membership base sixfold.
Fan Friendships and Rivalries
BVB fans, organised in more than 850 official fan clubs, have maintained friendships since the 1970s with Rot-Weiss Essen, Celtic Glasgow and HSV.
Looser friendships have existed since the 1990s with SC Freiburg. The greatest fan rivalry exists with FC Schalke 04. This animosity reaches its linguistic peak in the substitution of the rival's name with Luedenscheid-Nord (for Dortmund) and Herne-West (for Schalke). Bayern and VfL Bochum are also traditionally despised, and more recently RB Leipzig.
You'll Never Walk Alone
The official stadium anthem is You'll Never Walk Alone — introduced to football by Liverpool FC.
When both sets of fans sang the anthem together before the clubs' first Europa League meeting in April 2016, it earned BVB fans the inaugural FIFA Fan Award. For the 100th anniversary on December 19, 2009, the Walk of Fame was unveiled — 100 stars distributed across the city, spanning from 1911 to the centenary.
Management 2026
New Leadership Since 2023/24
Lars Ricken leads as CEO Sport — the former Champions League hero of 1997.
Thomas Tress heads finance, Carsten Cramer manages marketing and digitalisation, Svenja Schlenker covers HR. Hans-Joachim Watzke stepped back from operations in 2023 and serves as president of the association. Sebastian Kehl is sporting director and Ricken's right hand. Head coach Niko Kovac succeeded Nuri Sahin in January 2025.