

Welcome to the Dortmund London Fan Club community podcast, join us for a fan led journey to the heart of the ‘die Südtribüne‘, BVB‘s Yellow Wall, the South Terrace of 26,000 fans behind the goal, one of the world‘s biggest single stands and greatest football fan experiences. On each of the shows, we meet guests from BVB past and present, coaches, players, writers and fans, our aim is to bring the world of Borussia Dortmund to English-speaking audiences with insight, commitment and ’Echte Liebe’. Amongst our guests so far we have had TV Presenter Rapha Honigstein, former coach Bert van Marwijk, former players like Philipp Degen, Knut Reinhardt, Niclas Jensen, Bernd Klotz, Andre Bergdolmo, Sunday Oliseh, Christoph Zimmerman, Steffen Karl and Mayor of Dortmund Ulli Sierrau as well as England legend Tony Woodcock and Celtic supporters clubs president Joe O’Rourke. Please note we are not the official podcast of Borussia Dortmund, we are a podcast run by fans of the club and are not affiliated in any way to the football club in Dortmund. The official Borussia Dortmund podcast can be found at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/borussia-dortmund-podcast/id1503379263 If you would like more information on joining our 100% unofficial fan club of BVB in London, go to: Facebook.com/Borussiadortmundfanclubengland Thank you for checking out our show, please subscribe and share with your friends.
Episodes

Friday Oct 23, 2020
Episode 15 Fan Kultur - Premier League v Bundesliga fan culture
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Friday Oct 23, 2020
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 life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life, like players, fans, journalists who have covered the club and functionaries and experts and thus make this wonderful club more accessible to non-German speakers but the podcast is also of interest to German football fans who speak English.
1. Ticket pricing: Always a hot topic is the cost of actually going to watch your club. In England we are lead to believe that German football is a lot more affordable. With Arsenal charging over £2000 for a season ticket almost 8 times as much as a season ticket at Borussia Dortmund (€230) is English football pricing us out of the game?
2. TV games and fixture times: Pre COVID football across Europe has been moving games for TV with little regard for match going fans. There have been protests in Germany against Monday night matches but they persist in the second tier 2 Liga, is fixtures scheduling a problem fans in the Uk and Germany share? What can we do about it?
3. Matches during COVID-19: Its good to see fans back in German football albeit tiny numbers of locally based fans. Whilst in England you can only attend football in the 7th tier in crowds up to 600. Is this a sacrifice worth taking? How have the steps Germany has done to get fans back and how its been received? What about piped crowd sound is it a valued innovation or just another gimmick? Does football even matter when people are losing their lives?
4. Hardcore fans and ultras: In England we see Ultras not as a hooligan but as a group that take their support to the next level organising massive choreographies and displays in grounds, organised fans that have influence with the clubs to an enviable level but is it too much? Who are the Ultras really and what do they do? Is fan culture dead in the UK?
5. Safe standing: How is it seen in Germany? Is standing just a cheaper option or the option of choice? Does it improve the atmosphere? Should we bring this back in the UK?
6. Atmosphere in the grounds: Atmospheres at Premier league games are often dull for many reasons. Germany is seen a leading light in match day atmosphere, is the case and if so is working for German football and what are we getting wrong in England?
7. Safety at games for away fans: Away fans in England are often treated as second class citizens by match day stewards and police but it’s a lot safer now to attend games as an away fan in the UK than it was 20 years ago but German fans travel to domestic away games in greater numbers and the rail travel is free how does it work? With half of clubs being able to survive on media income alone do fans still count in the Premier League?

Friday Sep 18, 2020
Friday Sep 18, 2020

Thursday Aug 06, 2020
Thursday Aug 06, 2020
Thank you for your interest in the BvB London fan community podcast with the summer break in full force in the Bundesliga and BVB at their annual training camp at Bad Ragaz on today's show we head back to Scotland to get a preview of the 20-21 season that has just kicked off.
We share an hour with Duncan Fraser who for the past 18 years has been a director of Aberdeen FC, 9 of which were spent as CEO a position which he resigned from in June 2020. He is currently Scotland's FIFA Commissioner and a UEFA delegate. On the show, Duncan gives a rare insight into life at the top of a top tier football club and working Scotland's corner within the not always uncontroversial European governing bodies.
A chartered accountant by training, Duncan is a life-long Aberdeen fan and he has been involved with the club as club secretary, operations director, managing director and CEO. During the 17 years at the club, The 'Dons' as Aberdeen are known won the Scottish League Cup in 2014.
Aberdeen FC have never been relegated from the top tier of Scottish football and have won the title 4 times, the Scottish cup 7 times and the League cup 6 times. The crowning achievement for the club who play their football at Pittodrie stadium was the 1983/84 UEFA European Cup Winners cup and Super Cup under manager Sir Alec Ferguson.
Topics on the show:
1. Introduction to Duncan, how did he come to be in football, his life with Aberdeen FC and what he has learnt from managing a football club.
2. An introduction to Aberdeen FC and Pittodrie stadium, the great players and managers what makes this club unique? What about the fans of the 'Dons' what makes them special?
3. Preview of the 20-21 SPL season, will Celtic make it 10? Will Stevie Gerrard survive the season? Will it be a two-horse race again? Where will Aberdeen finish? Who will be this season dark-horse? Predictions for the season finishers?
4. The Scottish national team and the European qualifiers, who are the bright young players in Scottish Football to look out for? What have been the challenges of Scottish football since the glory days up until the 80s?
5. How is safe standing working in Scotland? Do you think it will be a success? Duncan shares his view on safe-standing and Bundesliga audiences as well as his experience of German football and Borussia Dortmund and the 50+1 form of ownership in Germany.
6. Being Scotland's FIFA commissioner and a UEFA delegate, what direction are the reforms of the governing bodies going? Are the UEFA Nations League and new third tier for clubs the conference 'viable' or is this more watering down of football?
7. Are we likely to see a new competition replacing the Champions League? A Euro 2020, now postponed across Europe, is UEFA out of touch with climate challenges? Should football be doing more in this respect?
The football plan that is mentioned in the podcast that influenced the developments at the DFB was a plan developed by former Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson initially for the FA in 2000 substantial parts of which were implemented according to Wilkinson by the DFB in an article in The Times in March 2012.

Thursday Jul 30, 2020
Thursday Jul 30, 2020
Welcome to the BvB London fan club podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of Borussia Dortmund life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life, like players, fans, journalists who have covered the club and functionaries and experts and thus make our BvB more accessible to non-German speakers in particular.On today's episode, fan club president Ben welcomes BVB fan Mark Sheppard and Tony Woodcock a former striker whose clubs include Arsenal, 1 FC Köln and Nottingham Forest. Tony also won 42 England caps scoring 16 goals for the England national team including at the FIFA World cup 1982 in Spain. Playing 432 games at elite level, Woodcock scored a total of a stunning 139 goals. Tony won the European cup, now UEFA Champions League in 1979 with Nottingham Forest having already won the 1978 English first division, now renamed Premier League, title with the same club. A recent poll of Arsenal fans ranked Woodcock 48th in the all-time list of Arsenal's best players. The prolific striker also played for during two stints with 1 FC Köln in the Bundesliga. Tony now runs his own financial business and is a father of four. Topics on the show:1 The beginnings in football and Nottingham Forest, how he came to be a pro footballer, his debut, working under Brian Clough, winning the European cup, the ascend from the second tier to champions, an unparalleled achievement in English football, players who made the biggest impression plus loan spells with Lincoln CIty under Graham Taylor and Doncaster Rovers.2 The move to the Bundesliga and a record signing for 1 FC Köln. A massive welcome by 10.000 supporters in Cologne. Why a club like Cologne? Former team mates Dieter Müller, Toni Schumacher and Pierre Littbarski and Bernd Schuster, the 79-80 DFB Pokal final. 81-82 just missed out on the title to then European Cup (now UEFA Champions league) winners HSV by 3 points, top scorer at 1 FC Köln with 15 goals.3 Arsenal transferWhat attracted him about Arsenal, scoring 5 in one game v Aston Villa, a goal tally of 56 goals a great achievement, that North London rivalry, the great characters that stood out Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Rocky Rocastle, George Graham unforgettable stories from Highbury.4 Back to 1 FC KölnFriends and teammates including soon to be BVB stars Thomas 'Icke' Haessler, Fleming Poulsen, Juergen Kohler all BVB stars later, Stefan Engels, the Allofs brothers, an injury and friendship with Bundesliga stars of the time like Marcel Raducanu plus why the connection with 1.FC Köln and the people of Cologne is so strong.5 A sensational England career Kevin Keegan, playing Germany at the FIFA World Cup, memories of Terry Butcher, Bryan Robson, Bobby Robson the team coach, highlights of an international career playing against some of the greatest stars of World football including Zico and Maradona.You can find the fan club at the usual social media tags. We hope you enjoyed 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 London.All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Saturday Jul 11, 2020
Saturday Jul 11, 2020
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Sunday Jun 28, 2020
Sunday Jun 28, 2020
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Welcome to the BvB London fan club podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of Borussia Dortmund life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life, like players, fans, journalists who have covered the club and functionaries and experts and thus make our BvB more accessible to non-German speakers in particular.
On today's episode, Ben is joined by Irish Fulham and BvB fan Colm McNabola and Radio Brandenburg-Berlin's (RBB) sports commentator Phillip Buechner to chat with one of the great footballers of South Africa, the former Borussia Dortmund winger Delron Buckley.
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Welcome to the BvB London fan club podcast as every week the focus of the show will be on exploring a facet of Borussia Dortmund life by talking to experts and former participants of the club's life, like players, fans, journalists who have covered the club and functionaries and experts and thus make our BvB more accessible to non-German speakers in particular.
On today's episode, Ben is joined by Mark Sheppard to explore the incredible story of 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth FC and the crisis that led to the 2013 fan takeover and find out why 50+1 the regulation in the Bundesliga that means German clubs remain majority-owned by their members could never, almost never, work in the UK and what it means for German football in light of clubs like RB Leipzig.
Special guests on the show are the former chairman of Portsmouth FC Iain McInnes, now the Chairman of Southern Football League team Gosport Borough FC (7th Tier Verbandsliga in Germany) the 2014 League trophy finalists that were founded in 1944, that play at the 4500 capacity Privett Park stadium. Iain runs a business in the electronics industry and himself played for Portsmouth U17 in his youth.
Also on the show is Colin Farmery a former board director of Portsmouth FC and a journalist who has written for Uk publications When Saturday Comes and The Guardian he is currently head of communications at Gosport Borough FC.
Both are long term Portsmouth fans since the 1960s and were instrumentally involved in the ownership of the club during the era of the ownership by the 'Pompey Supporters Trust' a takeover that saw thousands of fans come together to buy the club after a series of disastrous takeovers that pushed the club into administration twice.
We also contrast the financial crisis at Portsmouth FC with that at BvB of 2005 and find out what role the fans played in saving both clubs and laying the foundation for the future. They explain what happened, how it worked, why it was needed and what their roles in the takeover were.
As on every show the hosts and the guests also share stories of their visits to Westfalenstadion and what makes BvB, the club we love BVB.
We hope you enjoy the show, send us your comments, share the show with friends and remember for all the news and to apply for tickets to join the London BvB community at our Stammtisch at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland or come to watch a game at our meet-up Stammtisch at the Naughty Bar in Cleveland street during the season.
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Thursday May 28, 2020
Thursday May 28, 2020
Welcome to the Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London podcast the show that brings all things BVB to the UK with news, special guests, interviews and special features on this unique football club and the German league, the Bundesliga.
On today's show, Ben is joined by Mark Sheppard and Colm McNabola an Irish member of our club and a Fulham season ticket holder to chat with Niclas Jensen the former Denmark international and Borussia Dortmund Centreback who also played for PSV Eindhoven, Manchester City, Fulham and his home club FC Copenhagen now a FIFA talent agent.
Niclas won the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven and 2 titles with FC Copenhagen and earned 62 caps for Denmark playing at the 2002 World cup where he was tasked with marking David Beckham in the last 16 and 2004 European Championships in Portugal.
On the show, Niclas shares how he fulfilled his childhood dream to become a professional footballer and represent his country at a FIFA World cup. Reveals some great stories about his two seasons at Westfalenstadion in the Bundesliga and UEFA Cup at a challenging time under Matthias Sammer and then Bert Van Marwijk alongside legends like Tomas Rosicky, Sebastian Kehl, Roman Weidenfeller, Jan Koller and Christoph Metzelder like his rivalry with Dede and what makes Revierderby more important than relegation. What makes Dortmund a special city to live and play football in.
Plus we hear about his time with Manchester City under Kevin Keegan at Maine Road and Fulham in the Premier League including stories about playing alongside Erling Haaland's father Alf-Inge and why Peter Schmeichel is the still the best keeper and the miracle of how Coleman kept Fulham up in 2007.
As on every show we also catch up on the latest BVB results and gossip and the guests also share stories of their visits to Westfalenstadion and what makes BvB - BVB.
We hope you enjoy the show, send us your comments, share the show with friends and remember for all the news and to apply for tickets to join the London BvB community at our Stammtisch at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland or come to watch a game at our meet-up Stammtisch at the Naughty Bar in Cleveland street during the season.
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.

Friday May 22, 2020
Friday May 22, 2020
Welcome to the Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London podcast the show that brings all things BVB to the UK with news, special guests, interviews and special features on this unique football club and the German league, the Bundesliga.
On today's show, Ben is joined by Kieran Maguire a football finance expert at the University of Liverpool who regularly features on Sky and the BBC as well as his own weekly podcast The Price of Football.
My second guest is Stuart Rayner the chief football writer at the Yorkshire Post newspaper who has written a number of books including The War of the white roses and Five Trophies and a funeral.
On the show we talk BVB finances how the Borussia make money, why it's model is successful, how the Corona situation is likely to impact the transfer market and potential transfers including Jadon Sancho, what makes the 50+1 model unique and contrast with Premier League finances. We also hear some interesting insights in Brighton Hove and Albion and Leeds United clubs and their struggles to maintain their campaigns in the Premier League and Championship.
As on every show the guests also share stories of their visits to Westfalenstadion and what makes BvB.
The show kicks off with Stuart interviewing Kieran on how he became a football expert and what it's like running the Football MBA programme at the University of Liverpool and it was, of course, Felix Magath who took VFL Wolfsburg to the title find out more on the show..and enjoy the new title music!
We hope you enjoy the show, send us your comments, share the show with friends and remember for all the news and to apply for tickets to join the London BvB community at our Stammtisch at our online group at Facebook.com/borussiadortmundfanclubengland or come to watch a game at our meet-up Stammtisch at the Naughty Bar in Cleveland street during the season.
All rights reserved Borussia Dortmund London Ltd 2020.