Personae Non Gratae — Gladbach

Peter Pander – The Peter Principle: In April

Peter Pander – The Peter Principle: In April 2005, Gladbach appointed Peter Pander as the successor to the resigned sporting director Christian Hochstätter.

2005, Gladbach appointed Peter Pander as the successor to the resigned sporting director Christian Hochstätter. Pander was responsible for the then-most expensive transfer in club history, bringing in Argentine flop Federico Insúa for an estimated 4.5 million euros. He had done business that way at Wolfsburg, and Borussia quickly turned from a club famed for developing talent into a footballing department store.

Despite expensive signings and multiple coaching changes, the success never came. By March 2007, Pander was gone — but by then it was too late. Borussia won only twice and drew four of the final 15 games of the 2006/07 campaign.

That was that: the club were financially spent and back in the second division for the second time.

Dick Advocaat – Unsuccessful, Yet He Refused Severance:

Dick Advocaat – Unsuccessful, Yet He Refused Severance: The Dutchman was in charge between November 2004 and April 2005.

The Dutchman was in charge between November 2004 and April 2005. As Holger Fach’s successor, Advocaat was meant to calm the club down, but the opposite happened. The so-called department store of the West spent 3.5 million euros on seven winter signings, yet Advocaat failed to extract the squad’s potential. In 18 matches he collected a meager 18 points.

At one point the gap to the relegation places shrank to a miserable single point. As fans began loudly calling for reserve coach Horst Köppel and even a bomb threat surfaced, Advocaat drew the line, resigned immediately, and — because of the poor record — even waived his severance package.

Roberto Boninsegna – The “Can Victim”: Roberto Boninsegna

Roberto Boninsegna – The “Can Victim”: Roberto Boninsegna sabotaged Borussia’s greatest European performance in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.

sabotaged Borussia’s greatest European performance in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. In the 29th minute against Inter Milan, Gladbach were 2:1 up. A can thrown from the stands struck the Italian actor-in-chief, who collapsed theatrically and was carried off.

Referee Dorpmans later said he had no proof, but in those days one could almost assume the Italians were acting. More on that game appears in the OMG section.

Leonardus van der Kroft – Scandal in Madrid:

Leonardus van der Kroft – Scandal in Madrid: “The referee robbed us of victory,” Jupp Heynckes said of the infamous evening.

“The referee robbed us of victory,” Jupp Heynckes said of the infamous evening. In the 1976 European Cup quarterfinal against Real Madrid, the Dutch referee and his all-Dutch officiating crew decisively influenced the tie by disallowing two legitimate Gladbach goals. Borussia were eliminated. The details are covered in the OMG section.

Heiko Herrlich – A Wanderer Between the Two

Heiko Herrlich – A Wanderer Between the Two Borussias: His move in the summer of 1995 to Borussia Dortmund turned the Bundesliga’s top scorer into public enemy number one at the Bökelberg.

Borussias: His move in the summer of 1995 to Borussia Dortmund turned the Bundesliga’s top scorer into public enemy number one at the Bökelberg. Shortly before leaving, he had sworn something like eternal loyalty to Gladbach, then effectively forced the move by threatening to strike, citing a release promise manager Rolf Rüssmann stubbornly claimed not to remember.

Lothar Matthäus – The Judas: No player’s move

Lothar Matthäus – The Judas: No player’s move to Bayern was taken more badly in Gladbach than Matthäus’s.

to Bayern was taken more badly in Gladbach than Matthäus’s. That he then missed a penalty against Bayern in his final match for the Foals, the lost 1984 cup final, added a special sting. The anger has softened somewhat over time.

The DFB: Gladbach and the German Football Association

The DFB: Gladbach and the German Football Association have not exactly been in a love affair.

have not exactly been in a love affair. That has been true at least since 1971, when the post-break match against Bremen was awarded 0:2. Nor did it stop there: fans regarded the city’s exclusion as a World Cup host in 1974 — while Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund were selected and all their local Bundesliga clubs received modern, high-capacity stadiums — as a major reason why Gladbach could no longer keep up financially with Germany’s true giants. When the city was also passed over for 2006 and not considered for Euro 2024, enough was enough.

National-team matches at Borussia-Park have carried a special edge ever since.