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Borussia Dortmund in the 2. Bundesliga and more: Interview with former striker Alfons Sikora

By Benjamin McFadyean

DORTMUND, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 14: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Supporters of Broussia Dortmund doing a choreography during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park on February 14, 2020 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Ralf Treese/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 14: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Supporters of Broussia Dortmund doing a choreography during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park on February 14, 2020 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Ralf Treese/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) /
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Even COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Borussia Dortmund supporters from getting behind the club (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Even COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Borussia Dortmund supporters from getting behind the club (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images) /

“The strength of the BVB is that the whole region gets behind the club”

BM  Kliemt was head of the City council in Dortmund at the time and there were, as is known, also two major sums of money paid to the club by the City of Dortmund in season 1973/4; one of which was a loan of 300,000 DM ($100,000 at the time) followed by a gift of 600,000 DM from revenues of the advertising hoardings ($260,000 at the time) which helped to get the club back from the brink. In return the City of Dortmund was rewarded with one of the first ever shirt sponsorship deals a symbolic emblem of the City of Dortmund with the letters DO standing for Dortmund on the front and the word Dortmund over the number on the back – novelties that at the time had not been seen before at BVB. So you could say that in fact Kliemt’s ability to secure the funding was invaluable to BVB?

AS Yes and no. Dortmund is a former industrial city which does not have the economic power of a region like Munich which is the richest in Germany. The strength BVB do have however is that the whole region get behind the club. In the early seventies, big local employers like the steelworks Hoesch and other big companies all got behind BVB to get them out of the first big financial crisis in the 70s and support BVB to get out of the 2. Liga. That support is still Borussia’s strength, BVB currently have hundreds of sponsorships from large and medium sized companies from across the whole region. No doubt the city helped but remember at the time, Dortmund had just inaugurated the Westfalenstadion stadium for the World Cup of 1974, the city needed a first class team to play there. The financial support came after two years where BVB were stuck in the 2. Liga and the City of Dortmund’s support was an act of solidarity typical of the region and the people in the Dortmund area who have a great connection with BVB.

BM That feeling of uniting behind BVB in the city is everywhere on match days, all the shops put the yellow and black decking out and the bars are full with fans watching the games, I have been involved for 7 years as a fan club organiser in London and met many former players and you get that feeling that almost everyone is proud to be part of the BVB family. You mentioned you still go to BVB matches, have you managed to keep in touch with players like Siegfried Held who is a BVB club ambassador? Does BVB maintain good relations with former players?

AS I only played one season for Borussia in Dortmund which is not very long, but as I have always been a fan of the club. Although we don’t get tickets from the club, it’s still special to have played at Dortmund. I kept in touch with Dieter Kurrat he was one of a kind, few embodied BVB for me more than ‘Hoppy’ but the relationship with BVB has decreased over the years, I still follow every game on TV.

BM You mentioned RW Essen and playing with Lippens and Burgsmüller, how did you end playing for a club in the smallest city to have hosted a Bundesliga team Mühlheim?

AS What was so unique about Mühlheim was that prior to promotion to the second tier, they had always been a small club that had never played a major role in German football. Mühlheim has only 100,000 inhabitants. It was something very special in Mühlheim, suddenly I was directly in the first team for every game. We had a great team spirit and a great squad, everybody played for each other and the city was behind us in a way that BVB get the local support now. It was a sensational time as a footballer we reached 11th place in our first season an incredible achievement for such a small club. 1FCM are a club which I have kept in close touch with over the years, including with many of the former players but it’s easier than BVB, Mühlheim are a much smaller club.