Episode 52 ’ Es gibt nur eine Borussia” with Borussia Mönchengladbach assistant manager Christopher John

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

Our guest today is Borussia Mönchengladbach assistant manager and former SC Wiedenenbrück and Chemnitzer FC midfielder Christopher John. 

Born in Stollberg, Saxony John learnt his football in the academy of third tier Chemnitzer FC, who as FC Karl Marz Stadt won the 1967 championship and the East German Cup three times, in 1969, 1983 and 1989, who play their football at the 15,200 capacity 'Stadion an der Gellerstrasse'.  

As a player he joined the home club of BVB CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke RW Erlinghausen before joining Regionaliga, the fourth tier of German football, club SC Wiedenbrück with which he won the 'Westfalen Pokal'  before joining SV Lippstadt.   

After completing the UEFA A coaching licence now 34-year-old John joined 2. Bundesliga SC Paderborn, after two years he was recruited by then Championside side Norwich City. After 4 years with the East-Anglia club, the former defensive midfielder joined Russian Prermier League club FC Krasnodar. 

Due to the war in Ukraine, John and his head-coach at the club, former BVB II manager, Daniel Farke was recruited by Borussia Mönchengladbach.

In this English-language interview the coach speaks about his career, life in three of  Europe's leading football leagues. Working with Daniel Farke at Norwich City including two promotions and two Premier League campaigns. The experience of working in Russia during the conflict and life and prospects for 'the other Borussia' 'Gladbach.  

1. Academy life at Chemnitzer FC and first contract with Aki Watzke's home club RW Erlinghausen. 

2. Professional career with fourth-tier SC Wiedenbrück including winning the 'Westfalenpokal'.

2. Playing alongside Daniel Farke (between 2015-17 BVB II headcoach) at SV Lippstadt.  

3. Life with the Ost-Westfalen at SC Paderborn at the Hermann-Löns-Stadion.

4. 'A huge opportunity' joining 'The Canaries' at the Carrow road in 18/19. 

5. Farke leads 'City' to Premier League for the first since 2003/4.

6. 'Die Kanarienvögel', how a group of German players invigorated City. 

7. Krasnodar, life in the Russian Premier League and the impact of the Ukraine conflict at the time.  

8. 'The other Borussia' what makes the two-time UEFA Cup (Europa League) champions and 5-time champions 'Gladbach unique and the 22/23 season ahead at the Borussia Park.

09. Social media. 

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 51 2. Bundesliga 22/23 season preview with Sport 1 Germany TV presenter Ralf Bosse

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

The 22/23 2. Bundesliga season kicks off this coming Friday and to preview the season guest on the podcast is a familiar face for football fans in Germany, Sport 1 football presenter Ralf Bosse. 

Ralf Bosse who is also presenter on Sport Radio Deutschland the national sports radio station in Germany has been working as a Bundesliga football presenter for over 25-years and has covered all the major tournaments including Champions League, World Cup and European Championship.

He is a regular presenter for 1. and 2. Bundesliga maches and DFB Pokal and has interviewed many of the good and the great of German football.

Bosse's recent guests include German national team coaches Hansi Flick and Joachim Löw, Marco Rose and Adi Huetter, Borussia Moenchengladbach's Valentino Lazaro and Ghana national coach Otto Addo. 

On the podcast, we preview the 2. Bundesliga season ahead looking at which are the teams taking part, who are some of the key coaches and players, which teams are the favourites for promotion and which will be fighting for relegation in the coming season plus how do promotion and relegation work in Germany's second tier. 

1. Introducing the league and how it works for promotion and relegation and the Christmas break and what will be different in 22/23. 

2. The top half of the table the promotion candidates.

3. The bottom half of the table the relegation candidates. 

4. A highlight of the biggest teams in the league including Hamburger SV, Arminia Bielefeld, 1 FC Kaiserslautern, Fortuna Duesseldorf,FC St Pauli Hannover 96 and 1.FC Nuernberg.  

5. The teams from the Eastern side of Germany Hansa Rostock and 1 FC Magdeburg.  

6. Predictions for the season 22/23 who is going up and who is going down.

7. Key stadiums to visit including classic grounds like the Bielefelder Alm and Kaiserslautern's Betzenberg (Fritz Walter Stadion). 

8. Social media

Note: FC St Pauli beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the league in 2001/2.

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 50 London’s great football clubs introduced by Vinny Samways (Spurs, Everton, Sevilla) and Rimmel Daniel Grenada international now with Grays Athletic:

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

Our guests on the show are Vinny Samways and Rimmel Daniel. Vinny is a former midfielder well-known in England for winning the FA Cup with both Everton (1995) and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Vinny Samways (1991) played for Sevilla FC in season 02-03 and for Las Palmas between 1996-02 as well as playing with Wolves, Birmingham City and Algeciras of the Spanish third tier as well as winning five England caps at U21 level. 

Samways has been active in Spanish football for the last twenty years as a player agent and is also a football pundit on Spanish television and is based in Malaga. 

Rimmel Daniel is a defender who has played for Gillingham and is currently with Grays Athletic FC near London and has won 5 senior caps for Grenada which he played for from U17-U20 levels. 

Our show is an introduction to football in London, the good, the bad and the ugly. we introduce the biggest clubs and some smaller ones but with a big heart.

London is an amazing football city and there are few better guides than three Londoners who see the game from different sides:

Ben McFadyean is the host of the podcast, president and founder of the Borussia Dortmund Fan Club of London, the first to be founded in England and a journalist from Fulham, Vinny grew up in Mile End in the East End and Daniel is from Leyton.

Three different generations; the same passion for the beautiful game. For the teams, we talk about great players, great titles, fans and classic venues. 

1. Arsenal; Founded at the end of 1886 by workers from the Royal Arsenal, the royal arms factories in Woolwich.

2. Tottenham Hotspurs The biggest rival of Arsenal, 'spurs' saw the light of day on September 5, 1882. In recent years, the club have performed so well that they have been part of the top 6 in the Premier League for the last five years.

3. West Ham United was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks. In 1900 the name changed to West Ham United and in 1919 the club joined the Football League (the predecessor of the Premier League). 

4. Charlton Athletic plays its matches in the southeast of London. The Addicks play their matches in the iconic stadium The Valley.

5. Chelsea founded on March 10, 1905, is the only London club ever to win the Champions League. Since the first of July in 2003, Chelsea has been a permanent member of the top 6 of the Premier League.

6. Fulham founded in 1879, is the oldest London club to play in the Premier League. However, throughout history, interestingly Fulham has never managed to win a trophy.

7. Wimbledon now AFC Wimbledon has a fascinating history, having been bought and then rebadged and then refounded by the fans.  

8. QPR was founded in 1882. They achieved the most important result in club history in 1967, when QPR won the League Cup. 

09. Millwall from the south of London, was founded in 1885.

10. Crystal Palace is a South London football club from Selhurst in the borough of Croydon and was founded in 1905.

11. Social media and projects

Other clubs in the London area which are in the top three tiers are Watford (Championship) and Barnet (National League).

Newly promoted Brentford who are in the first tier will be covered in a separate show.   

Addendum: Vinny was the coach of UD San Pedro in the Spanish fifth tier. The quote if you are bored of London you are bored of life is of course by Samuel Johnson. 

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 49 ’Bundesliga vs Premier, raining on Klopp’s parade and life at the Ashton’ with Switzerland A international, Bristol City Centre-back Timm Klose

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

The 1.93m defender has notched up 350 matches at a professional level and scored 25 goals. The 34-year-old worked his way up through the BSC Old Boys youth system between 1993-2007.

He signed his first professional contract with Swiss top-tier club FC Thun in 2009.  In 2011 he signed a contract with then Bundesliga team 1. FC Nürnberg which he stayed with until 2013.  In 2013/14 he was signed by VFL Wolfsburg.

Klose was then hired by former BVB II coach Daniel Farke for Norwich City which he stayed with from 2016-2021. 

In 2020-21 Klose spent a season at FC Basel before being signed for EFL Championship side Bristol City who are known as 'The Robins' who have played their football at Ashdon Gate stadium since 1904. 

1.  Swiss football roots, was football always on the cards as a career? Youth career with Old Boys Basel. FC Basel under coach former Borussia Dortmund U23 and Germany player Thorsten Fink and first professional contract with FC Thun. 

2. Some great clubs and classic names for the clubs Old Boys, Grasshoppers, Young Boys, Xamax what makes the Swiss League unique? 

3. 'Der Club' 1. FC Nürnberg the 9-time Deutsche Meister with Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Schieber under coach Dieter Hecking an impressive 6th place finish in 2010-11 and a 5-1 Pokal win at the Alm. 

4.  Two seasons with VFL Wolfsburg and a second-place finish and that 2015 DFB Pokal win against BVB, the story of Klopp's last match at the Berlin Olympiastadion, playing alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Ivan Perisic. Who are Wolfsburg really and are fans too harsh on the club? 

5. Promotion and relegation at Norwich City's Carrow Road, a debut at Tottenham Hotspurs, first goal against Newcastle, that great black kit in 16/17,  the 6 'Kanarienvoegel' flatter in, that shocking purple away kit in 17/18 and something of a win over Reading. 

6. 2018/19 Campioni, the championship title and promotion to The Premier League, a 95th-minute winner at Ipswich, what was the special Farke factor? The 19-20 relegation battle and back to the promised land in 20-21. 

7. Ashdown Gate and Bristol City. Life with 'The Robins', former Watford and Leicester coach Nigel Pearson and what makes Bristol a top place to be. 

8. 'Die Nati' the U21 and Switzerland A team, the 2012 Olympics, 2014 qualifying matches against England at Wembley.

09. Social media and close. 

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

During the season you can also come to watch a game at our meet-up Stammtisch at the Naughty Bar, just off Oxford Street, in Cleveland street central London.
 
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2022.

Episode 48 A joint podcast with the ’Outside Write’ podcast: How can football be more sustainable and reduce it’s impact on the environment?

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

On today's show, a football and climate change special co-produced with Chris Lee of The Outside Write podcast our guests are Katie Cross of Pledgeball and Moritz Eckert of Guterfussball. 

Pledgeball works by encouraging fans to make pledges in support of their team and the environment every match day.

The way it works is whilst the teams compete on the pitch, fans compete virtually by choosing from a list of pledges ranging from using a reusable cup to installing solar panels.

The team of fans that pledges to save the most carbon emissions wins that fixture. Pledgeball is a fan-led initiative which encourages clubs and fans to cooperate to change the way they operate to help reduce the impact on the environment. 

Guter Fussball is a Germany-based initiative which encourages clubs to act in a more environmentally friendly way. 

The guys at Guter Fussball have created a football table with a difference in their table scientific studies are supplemented with quantitative, qualitative and anecdotal data to produce a table where clubs are measured not just by points on the playing field but sorted based on their values.

The values include fan participation, environmental sustainability, fair play, tolerance, credibility and gender equality of opportunity.

Outside Write is a podcast series looking at the football supporter's experience and world including history, politics and culture essentially everything except what goes on on the pitch. The podcast has had over 250,000 downloads so far. Here are the talking points:  

Some key discussion points on the show:

1. What football clubs, authorities and fans can be doing to make football more sustainable?

2. What clubs are leading by example and what are they doing?

3. What is football's carbon footprint and how can it be reduced?

4. Would it make sense to restructure football to reduce the impact on the environment?

5. What impact do football kits have on landfills and how can this be reduced? 

6. What can clubs do to raise funds to help environmental causes? 

7. What steps can fans actively take to reduce our impact on climate change? 

8. How does the approach of Bundesliga clubs like Dortmund differ from Premier League and other leagues in terms of environmental policy?

09. Social media and projects 

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 47 German language episode Es sollte anders kommen! Sebastian Tyrala Trainer TuS Bövinghausen, Polnischer A Nationalspieler, BVB Mittelfeldspieler 2006-8

Vielen Dank für Ihre Interesse am BVB London Fan-Community-Podcast. In jeder Episode geht es uns in der Sendung darum, eine Facette des Lebens von Borussia Dortmund im Gespräch mit Experten und ehemaligen Teilnehmern des Vereinslebens wie Spielern, Fans, Trainer oder auch Journalisten, die diesen Verein in seiner Entwicklung beeinflusst haben, in der Podcast zu entdecken.

Unser Gast ist heute Sebastian Tyrala, 'Basti' wie er von Fans und Freunde gerufen wurde spielte zwischen 2005-11 beim BVB, erst in der Jugend und dann machte er 8 Spiele in der ersten Mannschaft in der Saison 09-10.

Der in Raciborz, Polen geborene, und in Dortmund aufgewachsener Spieler, absolvierte einen Einsatz im Kader der A-Nationalmannschaft Polens. Er machte auch 37 Spiele in den Jugend Mannschaften der Deutschen Nationalmannschaft von der U15-U20 und 2 Spiele bei der U21 und 16 Spiele bei der U19 Polens.

Die aktiven Stationen  als Spieler waren zwischen 2010 und 2018 VFL Osnabrück , Greuther Fürth und Mainz 05. "Basti' erzielte 43 Tore in 351 Profi Spiele:

1. 'Ein Immigranten Story wie ein Polnischer Junge in den deutschen Fussball kam, Würzeln bei den 'BVB Jugend', Highlights und Namenhafte Mitspieler.

2. Saison 2005/6-06/07 Ein Traumstart mit beachtlichen 16 in die Profimannschaft und welche Rolle Jan Koller in seiner Karriere spielte. 

3. Saison 06/07-10/11 Erfahrungen bei der BVB U23, Meister der Regionaliga-West. 

4. Transfer an der 'Bremer Brücke', die Lilla-Weissen des VFL Osnabrück in der 2.Bundesliga in der Saison 11/12.   

5. Saison 14/15 Meister in der 2. Liga mit Greüther Fürth, Erfahrungen beim 2-Maligen deutschen Meister.  

6. 2018-20 Karriereausklang in der 3. Liga bei RW Erfürt und dann Wechsel zum Mainz 05 II.

7. Internationale Karriere mit Polen und Deutschland 'U17 DFB Jugendspieler des Jahres' 

8. Trainer beim TuS Bövinghausen, ein ambionierter Klub in Richtung Oberliga Westfalen mit David Odonkor und Kevin Grosskreutz. 

09. Soziale Medien und Abschied nehmen. 

Wir hoffen, dass Euch die Show gefällt. Schickt uns Eure Kommentare, teilt die Show mit Freunden und vergesst nicht zu liken. Wenn Ihr den Fanklub kontaktieren wollt, geht das über die Website borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk oder auch in der Online-Gruppe unter Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland .
 
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London 2022

Episode 46 with Stoke City midfielder, Bosnia-Herzegovina international Mario Vrančić (BVB II 11/12)

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

On today's show, our guest is Bosnia-Herzegovina international and Stoke City midfielder Mario Vrančić.

The 1.87m midfielder, who played 37 matches for BVB II scoring an impressive 16 goals between 2011-12, has notched up 27 matches scoring 3 goals for 'The Potters' this season.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina international who has gained 6 caps so far, previously played for Germany at U17-U20 levels.

The 32-year-old played for Norwich City between 2017-21 playing 123 matches and scoring 15 goals. 

Vrančić worked his way up in the Mainz 05 youth system before joining BVB II in 2011.  Paderborn 07 in 2012 playing three seasons with the East Westfalia team.

In 2015 the talented midfielder joined 2. Liga club (second tier) Darmstadt 98 where he notched up 45 matches scoring 6 goals for 'Die Lillien' who play their football at the 17,000 capacity 'Stadion am Böllenfalltor'.

Vrančić left Carrow road for Stoke City where he plays alongside players like former England international Phil Jagielka and Wales international Joe Allen and Scotland's Steve Fletcher. 

On today's show, we discuss life in the Bundesliga, the Championship and the Premier League over a career that has spanned 15 years so far. 

1. First steps in football growing up in Germany.

2. Academy life and playing with Mainz 05 alongside Neven Subotic, current BVB coach Marco Rose and current Mainz coach Bo Svensson and Andre Schuerrle. 

2. David Wagner and BVB come calling. A chance to join the U23 of a  champions league winner in the team with Ilkay Gundogan, Moritz Leitner Mitch Langerak, Marcel Halstenberg and winning the title in the Regionaliga-West. 

3. A break into the Bundesliga a two-year contract with newly promoted Paderborn 07, Bundesliga debut against Hertha Berlin, a brace against VFL Bochum and playing against BVB.

4. 'Die Lillien' transfer to Darmstadt 98 reunion with US international Terence Boyd how does the 2. Liga compare to the Championship? 

5. 'Die Kanarienvoegel' 4 years in East-Anglia with the yellows, debut against Fulham. Life in the Championship. First goal against Spurs. winning promotion to the Premier League twice. 

6. Daniel Farke's 'german gang' at Carrow road; Stiepemann, Hernandez, Leitner, Trybull, Klose and Franke, Heise and Passlack.

7. What makes the Premier League special? Encounters with legends and spectacular football grounds of the top English league. 

8. International career including winning the European U19 Championship with Germany and switch to Bosnia-Herzegovina, debut against the 'Red Devils' and Axel Witsel, just how good is Edin Hazard? 

9. Current season at Stoke City and future plans after the active career.

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 45 Bundesliga in Europe in 21/22 with guest Sky Sports TV Germany presenter Sascha Bacinski

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of football life with a focus on Borussia Dortmund by talking to experts, fans, and players and coaches. 

People, including journalists, who make up the football world including decision-makers and who know the football world and the world of BVB well.

The aim of the podcast is to make Bundesliga, BVB and international football more accessible.

On today's show, our guest is Sky Sports TV Germany presenter Sascha Bacinski. 

Born in Hagen near Dortmund Sascha Bacinski has for many years been a popular and well-known face of Bundesliga on German TV.

Educated in journalism at Bochum's Ruhr-Universität, the 35-year-old has been reporting live from football matches since 2007. 

Originally a sports radio reporter with Radio Hagen, Sascha joined the hugely successful Sat 1 Tv channel at the start of season 2007/8 where he covered pitchside interviews and pre and post-match interviews including for the leading football show 'Ran'.

In 2011, Sascha joined Sky Sports TV Germany where for the last 10 years he has presented sports programmes and features. 

Sascha is a passionate football fan and an ambassador for the children's charity 'Kinderherz'. 

In a win for the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig reached the semifinals of the Europa League where they will face West Ham United and Rangers respectively. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich were knocked out by Villareal. 

This season has seen 'Die Schwarz-Gelben' fail at the group stage in the Champions League and then be eliminated in the first round of the Europa League against a club, Glasgow Rangers, from a country, ranked 29 places beneath Germany in the FIFA world rankings.

VFL Wolfsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen were also eliminated in the second round of the Europa League with Union Berlin was knocked out in the first round of the UEFA Conference League. 

Meanwhile outgoing Bayern executive and former world-class striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has questioned in an interview this week whether the 50+1 rule, which limits corporate investors to a maximum of a 49% stake in German football clubs, has become too restrictive and is in need of reform. 

The rule is however highly popular with fans of clubs like the 160,000 BVB members who vote on important changes to the club's constitution and strategy like the introduction of a female football department in 2021. 

The English Premier league meanwhile has a more liberal investment regime and clubs often change hands between major corporate investors and sometimes as in the case of Wimbledon in 2003 even move cities. 

In light of the European Super League fiasco which, had it gone ahead would have seen a closed European league with no promotion or relegation being founded, a major challenge to national leagues and to the Champions League. 

The ESL brought fans out onto the streets to protest and, for now, has been defeated, English fans though have long complained of their loss of influence and identify the 50+1 model as one which could provide them again with the influence over their beloved clubs.   

But in European competition the Bundesliga is falling massively behind the Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Leicester City are still in the competition, this season is one of the best on record for the English league.

So is the 50+1 still working for the Bundesliga or is it time to reform? 

1. Life on the touchlines how Sascha became a TV presenter and what life is like in the 'fast lane' of football presenting. 

2. The 50+1 rule outlined what is it, and how does it work? What effect does it have? 

3. This season in Europe for the Bundesliga v Premier League is shaping up to be the worst since 2014-15.  

4.  The situation with the English Premier League and fans and the ESL why fans are so disaffected?

5. Germany's 'Traditionsmannschaften' and their decline Werder Bremen, 1860 Munich, Hamburger SV, MSV Duisburg and co. 

6. The corporate football clubs in the Bundesliga do they distort competition? 

7. Is the 50+1 still delivering the talent for 'Die Mannschaft' and the youth national teams? 

8.  The popularity of 50+1 is undeniable can it become a model for the English league and is overseas investment starting to alienate English fans? 

09. Social media and acknowledgements. 

Correction Leeds did of course reach the Champions League semifinal in 2000/01.

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 44: FIFA World Cup Draw special: Guests Deutsche Welle TV Africa correspondent Lolade Adewuyi and Sebastian Schächter, CEO Schächter Sports, former Germany U20 midfielder.

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of Borussia Dortmund's life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life.

People like players, fans, and journalists who have covered the club and decision-makers and experts who know the world of all our club well.

The aim of the podcast is to make this football club more accessible to non-German speakers.

Our topic for today's podcast is the FIFA World Cup draw which took place on Friday.

The 'Qatar 2022' tournament, which takes place the 21 November - 18 December, is a first for a middle-Eastern country.

The draw took place on Friday and there are some attractive pairings for both England and Germany in groups B and E.

The 'Three Lions' are paired with the USA, Iran and one of either Ukraine, Wales or Scotland dependent on which qualifies in the playoffs in June.

'Die Mannschaft' ,as the Germany team are known, meet Japan, Spain and one of either Costa Rica or New Zealand dependent on a playoff in June. 

A total of 32 teams play out the tournament, some big names will not be present including Italy, Sweden and Hungary and Colombia but the first tournament to take place in the winter months will feature many of the most successful footballing nations. 

To take a look at the groups drawn together guests on the show are DW TV (Deutsche Welle) Africa football correspondent Lolade Adewuyi a Nigerian native Adewuyi is a Berlin-based sportswriter who also writes for The Guardian newspaper and is a contributor to CNN.

Our second guest is Sebastian Schächter, the 40-year-old is a former midfielder with 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Germany U21 international, now CEO of Schächter Sports.

Schächter Sports is an agency that works with Bundesliga clubs including Mainz 05, VfB Stuttgart and VFL Bochum to provide football clinics across Africa, Asia and North America. 

1. England are drawn in Group B along with USA, Iran and either Ukraine, Wales or Scotland, how will the Three Lions fare? Can the USMNT including Geo Reyna be a stumbling block? How good are Iran? How good are the home nations Wales and Scotland and Ukraine?

2. Germany are drawn in Group E alongside Spain, Japan and either Costa Rica or New Zealand. How will 'Die Mannschaft' fare after the first round exit at Russia 2018? 

3. Review of the groups A, C, D, F, G, H who can win the groups? What will be the key matches to watch?

4. How good are the South Americans? Brazil are always one of the favourites but how good are the 'Cariocas'? What about Argentina? 

5. How far can the European teams go? Is 2018 champion France a title contender? Could The Netherlands improve on their two world cup finals of 74 and 78? 

6. A look at the African competitors Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and Cameroon. How far can the African teams go?

7. Best of the rest, who will be the surprise teams of the tournaments? 

8. Who will we be saying goodbye to at the world cup? 

9. Qatar the venues, the controversy and the expectations. 

We hope you enjoy the show, remember to send us your comments, share the show with friends and to apply for tickets contact the club via the website which is borussiadortmundlondon.co.uk or join the London BvB community at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland.

Episode 43 ’Wir sind alle am Borsigsplatz geboren’ English-language interview with recording artist and life-long BVB fan Andy Schade

Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of Borussia Dortmund's life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life.

People like players, fans, and journalists who have covered the club and decision-makers and experts who know the world of all our club well.

The aim of the podcast is to make this football club more accessible to non-German speakers.

Our next guest on the Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London podcast episode 43 is Andy Schade. Remember this song?