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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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Alfons Sikora grew up supporting Borussia Dortmund (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
Alfons Sikora grew up supporting Borussia Dortmund (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /

“I played for the club I idolised in Borussia Dortmund”

BM And you were also in contrast hugely successful at 1FC Mühlheim’s, the club’s top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga-Nord with 11 goals in 1972/73?

AS Yes, a great feeling. In Mülheim we were playing in front of crowds of 10-15,000 spectators. Players like Holger Osieck, Herbert Stoffmehl and I were treated like local celebrities. The Ruhrstadion-atmosphere was electric especially at local derbies like those against RW Oberhausen or RW Essen. The club’s success was like a magnet to the local people, they came to our games in droves for such a small town, that was something very special. As the club’s top scorer, the city authorities even arranged for me to get my first personalised number plate: MH AK 1949: the city, my initials and my year of birth, something very seldom in the 70s. Somehow everything worked at 1FCM back then we just couldn’t stop winning. It was a shame the club got relegated in 1976 and by a whisker they were only 1 point away from the 16th place that would have kept them up. They never made it back and have been in the 8th tier for years.

Looking back despite only playing for five years, I consider myself very lucky to have been a professional footballer. I had a great career; I played for the club I idolised in Borussia Dortmund, I played in the best grounds and against some of the greatest players in German football history – imagine that, I even managed to qualify as an engineer whilst still playing professional football- unthinkable in the game as it is now.

BM I can see that as a fan it must have been special to play for your favourite team even in a time of crisis and your time with RW Essen and especially 1FC Mühlheim have left lasting impressions. Let me ask one last question about BVB in the 2. Bundesliga are there parallels between the situation of HSV now and BVB then? BVB were in the second tier for four seasons. HSV have been stuck in the 2. Bundesliga since getting relegated in 2017/18. Both massive clubs.  In 1982 HSV won the Champions League and are one of the most successful teams in German history with 6 titles. Are there parallels with the situation of BVB then in the 1970s it seems an obvious connection to make?

AS Today, soccer is a pure money business. HSV is a club that has been in crisis for far too long at least since 2012 the club, whilst in the 1. Bundesliga had been achieving mid table at best and they were on the brink of relegation in recent seasons until they finally dropped in 2018. As BVB learned in the 1970s, it takes something like relegation to realize the magnitude of the task of reforming the club, just think about how many coaches HSV have had, 18 in the last ten years, eighteen.

Next. The ten youngest players to ever play for Borussia Dortmund. dark

HSV will certainly soon be back in the Bundesliga, but for now they struggle in the second tier of German soccer as BVB did and it will take a complete renewal of the club to get back up as it did for Borussia Dortmund.