Early years and first regional titles
From near-bankruptcy in 1929 to the Oberliga West record.
For its first decades Borussia Dortmund had little success in local leagues. In 1929 a bid to lift the club by signing paid professionals failed and left it deeply in debt; a local supporter paid the shortfall himself and kept it alive.
Quick Facts
- Near-bankruptcy
- 1929
- First full-time coach
- Fritz Thelen (1935)
- Oberliga west titles
- 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1952-53, 1955-56, 1956-57
Reader's Guide
In the 1930s the Nazi regime reorganised German football, and Dortmund did better in the new Gauliga Westfalen, where the rivalry with Schalke took shape from 1936; in July 1935 Fritz Thelen became the first full-time head coach. The breakthrough came only after the war: in the Oberliga West (1946-63) Dortmund were regional champions in 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1952-53, 1955-56 and 1956-57, a record, and won the national title in 1956 and 1957.
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