The Rise, Fall, & Rebirth of Borussia Dortmund 

Shinji Kagawa didn't transfer for free; Dortmund paid a 350k compensation fee. That dude had played second tier Japanese football before and immediately became a force in the league. Still one of the wildest Dortmund transfers. Their scouting is just so good.

You finally did it shootout to the guy who kept asking for the video. Truly the people's channel

Ppl forget that unlike Arsenal losing the premier to City, Dortmund actually came back from 12 points behind Bayern last season

Thank you very much from a lifelong BVB supporter. Maybe now at least some people get it. We are always compared to Bayern, our signings are compared to Bayerns, our wages are compared to Bayerns. People desperately want competition in the league, I get that. But you just can't compare the possibilities of both clubs. Many people worldwide just don't want to see that and just call us "not ambitious", "not serious", "only about the money". That's so easy to do, but yeah, look what being "ambitious" did to our club. Oh, and thanks for also mentioning the myth that "Bayern saved Dortmund".

Borrusia Dortmund will always be remembered for their shock victory over Juventus in the 1997 CL final and that was really a massive shock because Juventus were absolutely world class during that period the strongest squad in Europe in fact

Hey Alfie, I would be absolutely delighted to see a video about my team Borussia Mönchengladbach! Rarely ever spoken about but once a european top club in the 70s, challenging a all-time great Bayern team around Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller for Bundesliga titles. "Die Fohlen" (the foals) as they were called, were a golden generation of mostly homegrown talent coached by later Barcelona Coach Hennes Weisweiler. Big german players who hugely contributed to Germanys 1974 world cup triumph like Günther Netzer, Jupp Heynckes and Rainer Bonhof, but are rarely ever spoken about, were part of the squad. Storys like Netzers self substitution in the DFB Pokal final to score the winning goal in overtime or the can throw against Inter Mailand would also be interesting to tackle!

As a Dortmund fan I am really scared. I am not sure if we are able to keep up but I am always sure that my clubs future is safe

It’s crazy how even when they were heading rapidly towards extinction- that Dortmund kept on producing great talents and doing savy deals. I hope we can see teams like 1860 Munich, Nuremberg, Kaiserslautern, Schalke, Hamburg, Hanover, and Cologne become financially stable and win trophies again soon. The Bundesliga needs to embrace competition and help fund teams that can then thrive and compete with Bayern Munich in the near and distant future

I am based with 1.FC Köln, but I will always have a special heart for Dortmund. No club in europe raised talent so well with so little money and it's just a delight to watch which young Dortmund players will become World Stars next year. They're like a box of chocolate. ;) Mislintat, Tuchel and Klopp definitely helped, though Watzke and Zorc really deserve a medal.

To understand the fan culture, it is helpful to know that Gelsenkirchen, home of their archrivals Schalke 04, used to be a traditional coal mining town while Dortmund used to be a steelworks town. The infamous manager's name is pronounced "kneebaum" though. Fun fact, Ibrox was actually modelled on the Westfalenstadion, which has no athletic track, so the fans are that much closer to the action than in arenas that do, which in turn contributes much to the great stadium atmosphere. Only in Glasgow, they built it with a brick facade which I find a lot prettier than the Dortmund concrete.

The Fifa 2005 Dortmund was one of my favorite teams to play as in that game.

Thank you for covering this club 💛🖤

00:00 Borussia Dortmund's success despite lower revenue 02:03 Dortmund's near-death experience and revival 12:40 Entertainment and club operations 13:19 Dortmund's spending spree 14:21 Transfer rights as collateral 15:03 Bayern loan to Dortmund 16:01 Terms of the loan 17:04 Bayern's intentions and Dortmund's debt 18:00 Dortmund fans' rally and discontent 19:02 True extent of Dortmund's debt 21:12 Dortmund's financial crisis and bankruptcy threat 25:03 Relegation and struggles of Dortmund, Portsmouth, and FC Nuremberg 27:40 The appointment of Jurgen Klopp and Dortmund's resurgence 28:00 Dortmund's change in transfer strategy and financial success 30:39 Lessons learned from Dortmund's past financial troubles

If only Dortmund had managed to keep all their star players imagine how much more they could have won

6:05 I vividly remember this season. It was the first one I can actually remember at all. On the last match day, 3 teams were tied on points at the top. Frankfurt had the best goal difference and everyone thought it would be a certain thing and yet they lost spectacularly against an already relegated team. They didn't get a goal awarded because of offside (which it wasn't!), hit the post, didn't get a penalty when they should have when it was still 1:1 and got scored against 2 minutes later. In the meantime Stuttgart also hit the post, lost a player for complaining (Matthias Sammer of course), but then still scored with 10 men. Until the 85th minute of that match day, Dortmund were champions. Absolute madness.

It's the German week at HITC. Thanks for another great video Alfie.

BvB will always be in my heart - esp their 1997 run in the Champions League - they beat Manchester United and Juventus, both with great players… 26 years on - still a fan

In honour of the England U21s winning the Euros, can you do a "Where are they now" video for the England starting XI at the 2009 Euro U21s final? There's a fascinating mix of future England superstars, players who never quite made the full England team, and players I've genuinely never heard of.

Hi, ok it's been 30 years now but I think you forgot one important point: Reaching the 1993 UEFA Cup final against Juve. Except for BVB, all German teams were eliminated quite early in all competitions + and because of the TV rules at the time, Dortmund got a huge chunk of money. The German national players could then be brought back from Italy. That was the basis for the championships 95 and 96 + CL 97

Love the recent focus on German football Alfie! There has been too little discourse on this region, especially in English. Informative as always and entertaining!

That absolute bottle job on the last day of the Bundesliga season would make even Spurs blush

Alfie, please make a video What the Earth is Going On of Everton, Parma or Hamburg. These team deserve that type of video.

Please make a video on the following topics: -The drama/scandal surrounding Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna’s parents during the 2022 FIFA World Cup -Ranking all of the goals that won the FIFA World Cup Goal of the Tournament Award -The Dortmund bus bombing in 2017 right before their Champions League Quarterfinal against Monaco -Breaking down the iconic "Battle of Nuremberg" Round of 16 Match between Portugal and the Netherlands in the 2006 FIFA World Cup where the referee issued a record breaking 4 red cards and 16 yellow cards (Battle of Nuremberg also set the record for most yellow cards in a FIFA World Cup Match and was broken in the 2022 FIFA World Cup when the referee handed out 18 yellow cards during that contentious quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands) -Breaking Down the Battle of Bridge game in 2016 between Tottenham and Chelsea that not only secured Leicester City the 2015-16 Premiere League title, but also set the record for the most yellow cards given to a single team (9 for Tottenham (and 3 for Chelsea)

This is a really well-researched, and well-pronounced video! Thank you for all of your hard work!

One of your best ever videos in my opinion Alfie! Thank you so much for such a detailed explanation.🙌

as always a well researched video for a special team. Thanks for not screwing this up! Heja BVB

Being a supporter of both Portsmouth (hometown) and Nürnberg (wife’s hometown) I felt done particularly dirty around the 26min mark 😂 Can’t argue though, assessment of both clubs was spot on!

Great content as always! Would love to see a video like this about Atalanta Bergamo. From Serie B, being involved in match-fixing and battling relegation from Serie A a little over 10 years ago, to being regulars in Champions and Europa League as well as being one of the only few Italian clubs that actually make a profit.

😢😢😢😢😢 thank you for putting this together

Now we need a video about the rise and fall and subsequent downfall of Schalke 04.

Impressive research. Fantastic delivery. High standards of journalism and historical record

One of my fav clubs in FIFA since 2010.. In manager mode 👍👍

Your recent videos on German football has made me think about if you could do a video on why the Bundesliga has only 18 clubs in their league, while England, Spain and Italy (and until last season, France) all have 20 clubs in their league. Given that Germany has the highest population and the most successful national team in Europe, but it's surprising that their league is smaller.

one of the most likeable Clubs in Europe!

Loved watching this video look into a clubs history

tthank you for making a video about my fav team(besides my home team of maribor).

I would love to see a Rise Fall and Rise of Plymouth Argyle. Such a rich history with strong support. Played in the Championship and nearly got relegated out of the football league while being in administration. To rising back up to the Championship 13 years later as the most financially stable club out of all 92 clubs.

Alfie is on fire these days , unloading good videos now and then.

Another quality vid from alfie👏

Often wondered why fans of the best supported club in Europe(based on matchgoing fans)were content to play for second place or why a club that had bigger attendances than Bayern were getting only half its revenue,but were still considered well run

Really eye opening video, particularly the subconscious aspects of "expert commentary". If you say Javier Mascherano ever provide a final ball your comments should be disregarded, but even still!

Great work 💯👏🏾

Very good video could have not said it better myself❤🔥

good video Boss, thanks

One has to have a certain glutton for punishment to support us. And yet I'm ready again for this upcoming campaign

Interesting video, I had no idea about any of this

great video!

The fact that sancho, Bellingham AND Haaland used to play at the same club will never stop amazing me

My Club my Religion ty for the video!

Well done 👍🏼

You nailed the pronunciation of Stuttgart, very good!👏

Great video. Only minor point: Saying that Nuremberg did not recover from their financial problems in 2003 is a bit of an overstatement. Yes, histoically they were very succesful. But in the 90 they had already been relegated a couple of times. After 2003 they returned to the Bundesliga several times and won the DFB Pokal in 2007. They just never managed to stay in the Bundesliga for long, but this didn't start in 2003.

Thank you for this video and Bayern is always a good club in many ways. Including how it helped gerd muller.

No more me asking “a documentary of Borussia Dortmund and how they were extremely close to bankruptcy in 2002 time and how Bayern had to save them. The extreme difficulties the club has had to manage within to get back to where they are #thepeopleschannel” #thepeopleschannel a video on the Bangladesh premier league and the rise of Bashundhara kings would be good A team who went into the top flight after promotion and won the last four league titles now! Are they the next Newcastle? Are they a team to keep a eye on next few years? Thanks Alfie 😊

Thank You Alfie. Can we have a video about Maltese football please?

I renew my petition for you to include international subtitles for your videos, so as to improve viewership and spread your more than valid and important points and messages to non-English speakers. I volunteer for Spanish, but just having the subtitles would be fantastic for me and my football loving, non-English speaking family.

Fortuna Köln in an HITC Sevens Video, now i can rest in peace😅

Day 4: 7 footballers who got rich from playing football but then went poor again (Financial difficulties, etc.)

15:57 "what's more" without Duncan Watmore, what the hell man

„if only they kept their star players“ is such a moronic argument. The purchases made from the money of these big sales are the backbone of the team, which is steadily improving. People focus on how Dortmund wasn’t able to keep haaland for example, which was totally unrealistic from the start, but no one talks about how they got the second best scorer of that CL season, in his absolute prime, from a direct CL competitor as a replacement.

would love a few more scottish videos. Bonus points for any mentions of St. Johnstone (won the double at 10000-1 in 2020/21)

hey, love your vids on that note, i would humbly suggest to look into the former powerhouse 1.fc nuremberg (the club wich dominated german football, and got relegated the season after winning their last title :D). 1.fc nuremberg has still more championships than bvb dortmund. but be warned, it's a rabbit hole and the story of the club will fell made up. thank you for your great content :* (take 2)

Never thought I’d see X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain on an HITC Sevens video lol

I'd like to request a video on each current premier league teams won't signing in the last 10 years and what made it so bad ie impact on finances or what it did to the team like disruption in the dressing room or general poor performance on the pitch

Aston Villa's former owner, Dr Tony Xia, wanted to build a theme park around Villa Park as well!

Nice video Alfie 😮 Leipzig could be the best chance of a new Bundesliga winner it seems 😅

Alfie, would you consider make two separate videos that go more in-depth about 1.Corrine Diacre’s controversial/toxic tenure as the manager of France’s Women’s National team which lead her to get sacked last month and 2.The alleged attack on Kheira Hamaroui by her own former PSG Teammate Aminata Diallo) into this video

81,000 capacity ground, always full. Sure, underdogs.

22:57 Gute alte Lohrheide! ❤

Now do one on how Rangers did die

Cracker of a video as always #thepeopleschannel

Rise, fall and rebirth of Jamaican football please. As they risen in the mid 90’s, fell off from after the 98 World Cup to the mid 2010’s and now on a renaissance.

Video about Barry Venison please

I think Osasuna's predicament with respect to getting into Europe would make a good video

6:50 Julius Caesar (Veni, vidi, vici) Nice one 👴👍

2:55 "Following a number of requests..." My favorite part of the video. You gotta love YT comment sections. Such a rich tapestry of characters on there.

I'm not giviing up (yet) The story of Farul Constanța romanian champions this season winning their first (or maybe second?) title. Club owned, run and managed by romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi, a native of the city of Constanța. Youngest champions in Europe this season (average players age), important contribution (some of the vital) from: 2 players born in 2005, one in 2006, 1 in 2003 and 3 in 2002 - all products of the club academy. Came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the decisive match against Gigi Becali's team FCSB(who has a claim to Steaua Bucharest history).

Lately these videos have been putting me to sleep

Man really changed the title in under two hours 😭😭😭😭

Can you cover the restructuring of Hertha? Former Bundesliga winners and just got relegated at 18th place

Who was here when the video was titled "How Borussia Dortmund Almost Died" xD

Pain

Supercup is not a real title in Germany… Love your stuff, cheers bro

I know that one commentator is pumped asf

do best position changes in football

Can you do a video on Gibraltar team Bruno's magpies?

At the end of the day all those crazy spendings brought in championships

I am once again asking for a video about Algeria's unofficial FLN national team (1958-1962)

Uli Hoeneß and FC Bayern did not save Dortmund, but they helped in a time, when the clubs already have been rivals. So it was a good move, and I actually believe him when he said that he did it, because he is a fan of tradition.

I think the best football player with each of the 25 most common male names seems fun. You can up the number, or lower the number.

There's one thing having great scouting then if you don't win anything how exquisite is that?

Hopefully Dortmund will be able to find enough young players to win the title soon

2009 I discovered enternal happiness

Want to be more challenging with dream transfers? Look at Hamburg and Schalke now

Also, the stock market is a reason why we cant or won't spend because they have to turn a profit to keep the stockholders happy

Why is Christian Wörns giving us the finger at 32:18?

Hey! Sankt Pauli name drop!

🖤💛

Can you do a video on Rangers?

Rank all wc winning managers