History [ edit ]

1899–1905: Formation

In November 1899, a group of discontented members left their sports association, TC Germania Gladbach (referred to as "Teutonia Gladbach" in some sources). On 17 November 1899, thirteen of these young men formed a new club, this time specifically focused on association football, in the Zum Jägerhof  pub. They chose the word Borussia  (Latin : "Prussia ") as their association's new title, although this was not yet the club's official founding. Borussia  was chosen because Mönchengladbach was located in the western provinces awarded to the Kingdom of Prussia as part of the 1815 Congress of Vienna . Other notable football clubs in western Germany that chose the name of Prussia as their title include Borussia Dortmund  in 1909 and SC Preußen Münster  in 1906.[10]

Players of FC Borussia in 1900

Borussia's early years were faced with the problems typical for association football teams in the German Empire : the sport, only recently imported from the UK  in the 1880s, was not yet institutionally accepted, and as a result there were logistical shortages of football fields, goals, changing rooms, and player equipment. Borussia's players initially were stuck having to finance their own gear for what was at the time a considerable financial expenditure for working-class people.[10]

Borussia was the second dedicated football club in the city of Mönchengladbach. FC Mönchengladbach, founded six years earlier in 1894, quickly became Borussia's first rival. Whereas FC Mönchengladbach was decently established, young Borussia found it difficult to guarantee regular access to training grounds and equipment. As a result, the team joined the Marianische Jünglings-Kongregation Mönchengladbach Eicken  (German: "Marian Youth Congregation Mönchengladbach Eicken"), a fairly conservative Catholic sporting association. Within this larger organization, the footballers reformed into the Fussball Club Borussia 1900  on 1 August 1900, marking the club's official founding date.[10]

From within the congregation, Borussia was able to more effectively organize official games against various opposing teams. The team scored 2–1 victories over both Blitz Neuwerk and Germania Mönchengladbach and a 4–2 victory over Rheydt FC. As early as 1902, Borussia crossed international borders for the first time, losing 0–2 against Helmondia Helmond in the Netherlands  before playing the Dutch team to a 1–1 draw at home.[10]

The appeal of both association football in general and Borussia in particular proved too socially scandalous for the conservative federation leadership to tolerate. The practice of football players wearing shorts instead of long trousers and the reality of football practice on Sundays hindering Church attendance created tension between Borussia and the Youth Congregation Eicken, and Borussia ultimately left the congregation on 24 May 1903.[10]

To continue successful football competitions and to ease the organization of games, the club had applied to join the Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spielverband  (German: "Rhenish-Westphalian Sports Federation") on 16 February 1903, and was accepted on 23 February. Borussia continued playing local and regional opponents like Britannia Düsseldorf and BV Solingen. They also continued to travel to the nearby Netherlands, drawing Eindhoven VV 1–1. Still, the team at times struggled against mightier opponents. Borussia received a 0–11 thrashing at the hands of Borussia Cologne in October 1903 in the away fixture, before somewhat improving the performance by losing 1–4 at home in the return game.[10]

Coat of arms 1904–1919

In 1904, Borussia competed with several other local teams in the third class of the second district of the Rhenish-Westphalian Sports Federation. After Borussia's only competitor for the title, BV Solingen, skipped the 1905 fixture in Mönchengladbach, Borussia won the title without having to face their opponent. On 8 January 1905, Borussia additionally scored a respectable 1–0 win over its city rival FC Mönchengladbach, albeit only against the third team, confirming an earlier 6–1 win over FC Mönchengladbach on 26 December 1904. After having won the district cup, Borussia competed for the third class federation cup against, among others, teams from Essen and Cologne, ultimately losing the title to Kölner FC 99.[10]

1905–1914: Before World War I

After some decent athletic success in the year 1905 (18 games, 12 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses), Borussia nonetheless faced frustration, as the playing grounds were judged insufficient for competition play. The team was subsequently excluded from major competitions until a more appropriate locale could be found.[10]

Ultimately, Borussia acquired a patch of land on Reyerhütterstraße  in Mönchengladbach to enable organized play, at a time when the growing spread of football made it more and more of a hassle in terms of property damage and noise pollution. By achieving access to its own football grounds, Borussia thus evaded the growing number of police actions that were launched to call football enthusiasts to order. Regular play continued, after more than a year of absence, in the second class of the second district, against teams like FC Mönchengladbach II, FC Eintracht Mönchengladbach and various teams from Düsseldorf and Krefeld, among others. After a 2–0 against Rheydt and two victories over Düsseldorf teams (4–1 against Britannia Düsseldorf, 4–1 against Union Düsseldorf), the first home game was held in Reyerhütterstraße  against Preußen Krefeld. Borussia won the game with two goals difference.[11]

At the end of the competition, Borussia was crowned district champions with eight wins in eight games (although Borussia had lost a 0–2 game against FC Mönchengladbach II that was subsequently annulled when FC Mönchengladbach II was disqualified from the competition), with 25 goals scored and only 8 conceded. But Borussia was skipped for promotion regardless; the club was once again assigned to the second class (now called B-Klasse ) as result of a league reform.[11]

In 1907, Borussia left Reyerhütterstraße , where a new factory was under construction, and reached a deal with Gladbacher Turnverein 1848 to cooperatively run a ground near the Schweizerhaus , a famous gastronomy in the vicinity of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle  [de ]. Games at the new grounds go well, with a 5–1 win over Borussia Köln, which had inflicted a painful 0–11 loss on Borussia in 1903, as well as a 5–3 against Rheydt. The season as a whole was mediocre for Borussia, ending with five wins, four losses and a draw at 19 goals scored and 13 conceded in third place. Borussia was qualified for a promotion tournament to determine the team to be promoted to A class, but lost 0–6 to Viktoria Mönchengladbach.[11]

The 1908–09 season was better for Borussia. After a 0–2 loss at home against FC Eintracht Mönchengladbach, Borussia regained its footing, beating Viktoria Mönchengladbach 4–1 in an away game and drawing them 2–2 at home. On 13 January 1909, Borussia scored an overwhelming 13–1 victory over Spiel und Sport Essen. Losing no game but the opener against Eintracht, Gladbach easily came first in the league and was thus qualified from Group South to face the promotion candidates from Group North, FC Cleve 06 . After a resounding 5–1 win at home, the enthusiasm was dampened by a 3–4 setback in the away fixture. In the tiebreaker game, Borussia won 4–1, at last gaining promotion to the first division.[11]

Going into the 1909–10 season, Borussia exchanged its previous black and white color scheme with blue and yellow vertical stripes. Gladbach started into the higher league with significant issues, bringing Rheydt SpV only to a 2–2 at home before struggling with a crushing defeat in the 0–9 away fixture. The team ended the season with five wins, five losses and two draws in fourth place, dodging relegation. The club's tenth anniversary had seen a record 143 registered members, up from 32 in 1906 and 75 in 1908.[12]

In the 1910–11 season, the league grew from seven to ten teams, adding opponents like Germania Hilden, FC Krefeld and Eintracht Mönchengladbach, bringing the game plan for Borussia to 18 games, not counting numerous friendly matches that brought the total number of games played to over 30, placing a significant strain on the amateur players. Aside from a noteworthy 11–2 victory over rivals Rheydt SV, the season was another mediocre performance for Borussia. The season forced Borussia to once again move the playing ground, after the Schweizerhaus  grounds were deemed to dangerous in response to complaints by opposing teams. Borussia subsequently moved to grounds near the Catholic graveyard, and finished fourth in the league.[12]  The new grounds was known as Stadion am Rosengarten .[13]

The 1911–12 season was the first major success in the club's history. Borussia easily dominated the league with twelve wins, one draw and one loss, and thus earned qualification for promotion games towards Verbandsliga  as northern district champions as well as the West German championship. Borussia defeated VfJuB Düren, the southern district champions, in a 4–2 game, before achieving a 5–0 blowout against VfB 1900 Gießen , the Hessian  champions. Ultimately, Borussia lost the finals for the West German championship against Cologne BC 01, the precursor of Borussia's greatest all-time rival, 1. FC Köln , at a 2–4 scoreline.[12]

In a step down from the previous season's outstanding performance, Borussia proved to struggle in the 1912–13 season. While the team was not threatened by relegation at any point in the tournament, Borussia ended in the middle of the table without a serious claim towards the title, and was no serious threat in the West German championship either. Borussia ended the season in sixth place in the league, at eight wins, two draws and eight losses.[12]

In the last full season before World War I , the German footballing structure was again reformed in the 1913–14 season. The system of two federation leagues (German: Verbandsliga ) of twenty clubs each was replaced with a system of four district leagues (German: Kreisliga ) of ten clubs each. This left Borussia in the Rhenish Northern District (German: Rheinischer Nordkreis ) along with teams from Aachen and Düsseldorf, as well as other teams from Mönchengladbach. In the preparation for the season, Borussia performed miserably, losing 1–3 to Viktoria Duisburg and 1–6 to Duisburg SV. Borussia nonetheless entered the season with the clear goal to earn the district championship. The team fell well short of that target, coming third in the league at five wins, five draws and four losses. The highlight of the season is a friendly match against an English professional team. Dulwich Hamlet F.C. , which Borussia's amateur footballers lost 2–5 (initially having led 2–1 by the 80th minute before conceding four goals in the last ten minutes).[13]

1914–1918: World War I

In March 1914, the club purchased De Kull , a decommissioned gravel pit and the grounds on which the later Bökelbergstadion  would be built. The First World War  halted the progress of both the stadium and football in general, as many players volunteered or were drafted for military service. With rapidly changing player lineups, Borussia contested the war cup (German: Kriegspokal ), beating Düren 7–0. In total, Borussia played 18 games in the 1914–15 season, in spite of the logistical difficulties caused by the war.[13]

In time for the 1915–16 season, it had become clear that the war, initially anticipated by all sides to conclude quickly, would last longer than expected. Regardless, Borussia was able to assemble a functional team for the season (reinforced regularly by players on vacation from frontline duty), and played games against Union Krefeld, Viktoria Rheydt, Konstantia Kaldenkirchen, VfB Krefeld, FC Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Mönchengladbach. After a shaky start including a 1–4 friendly game loss to Borussia Düsseldorf, Borussia found its footing in the league, and briefly rivalled Krefeld for the first place in January 1916. Ultimately, Borussia finished second in the league. By mid-1916, Borussia was forced to cease regular play due to the lack of regularly available players. By 4 November 1916, even the provisional club leadership had to cease operations, as too many of its members were called up for military service.[13]

Borussia suffered several losses due to war casualties: The club's chairman since 1912, Heinz Körstgens, was killed in action in 1915, as was Stephan Ditgens, Borussia player and uncle of Borussia's first ever Germany national team player, Heinz Ditgens .[13]

1918–1933: During the Weimar Republic

In the immediate aftermath of the military armistice of 11 November 1918, football clubs all over Germany began to gradually resume operations. Members of Borussia had informal meetings about the resumption of play even during the last months of the war, as early as mid-1918. The first recorded game of this phase was a 5–0 over Rheydt SV on 15 August 1918, followed by the turnaround in the form of a 2–7 thrashing at the hands of Rheydt SV in the return fixture a week later. The aftermath of the war interrupted the blossoming football of 1918–19, as only seven of Borussia's 14 planned games were held due to the occupation of the region by the Belgian Armed Forces .[14]

The decades-long struggle to find a usable locale to play continued, as De Kull  was not yet ready to be used. By early 1919, the team returned to Schweizerhaus  as a temporary measure. On 15 March 1919, FC Borussia merged with another local club, Turnverein Germania 1889, becoming 1889 VfTuR M.Gladbach. The club achieved its first major success in 1920, defeating Kölner BC 3–1 to win the 1920–1921 West German championship final.[14]

The union between Germania and Borussia only lasted a matter of two years; the club was thereafter known as Borussia VfL 1900 e.V. M.Gladbach .[15]

1933–1945: Football under the Third Reich

Following the rise of the Nazi Party  to power in 1933, the German league system was reformed to consist of 16 Gauligen – Gladbach found themselves playing first in the Gauliga Niederrhein , and later in various Bezirksklassen  (district leagues). Also while under the Third Reich, Mönchengladbach's first ever international player was capped; Heinz Ditgens  playing in a 9–0 win over Luxembourg  for Germany  in the 1936 Olympic Games .

1945–1959: Rebuild after War [ edit ] Historical chart of Borussia Mönchengladbach league performance

Eventually, Mönchengladbach resumed play in June 1946, gaining successive promotions to the Landesliga Niederrhein (the regional second tier) in 1949 and the top flight, the Oberliga West, in 1950. Following many years of promotions and relegations, Borussia won their first Oberliga  title in the 1958–59 season.

1959–1965: Promotion to the Bundesliga

show Seasons 1959–60 – 1964–65

Promotion game at Holstein Kiel , 19 June 1965

In August 1960, Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated 1. FC Köln  in the West German Cup. Weeks later, the club won the DFB-Pokal , clinching their first national honours after defeating Karlsruher SC  3–2 in the final. Borussia therefore qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup  in 1960–61 , where they were defeated 11–0 on aggregate by the Scottish club, Rangers . Rangers won 3–0 in Germany and 8–0 in Glasgow.

The following year, the club took on the now-familiar name Borussia VfL Mönchengladbach  after the city of München-Gladbach became Mönchengladbach.

The 1961–62 season in the Oberliga ended again with Borussia in 13th place in the table. In 1962–63, the club hoped in vain to join the circle of DFB clubs which would start next year in the newly founded Bundesliga. Helmut Beyer , who remained in office for 30 years, took over the responsibility of president that season and Helmut Grashoff  took over as second chairman. In July 1962, Borussia signed Fritz Langner , who had won the West German championship in 1959 with Westfalia Herne , as their new coach. To Langner's chagrin, the new leadership sold Albert Brüllsfor  a record fee of 250,000 DM to FC Modena  in Italy in order to rehabilitate the club financially. Helmut Grashoff, who collected the fee in Italian lira in cash in a suitcase, later said he had feared, after the money transfer, "being thought a bank robber".[16]  The proceeds from the transfer enabled Langner to rebuild the squad with the signing of players like Heinz Lowin , Heinz Crawatzo  and Siegfried Burkhardt . That year, the A-Youth team won the West German championship with a squad that included future professional footballers, Jupp Heynckes  and Herbert Laumen .

Further honours would have to wait a decade. Borussia's results in the ten years leading up to the formation of the Bundesliga  in 1963  were not strong enough to earn them admission into the ranks of the nation's new top flight professional league, and so the club played in the second tier, the Regionalliga West .

In the next season, 1964–65, the club signed the youngsters, Jupp Heynckes and Bernd Rupp , and some of the youth team joined the professional squad. Their average age of 21.5 years was the lowest of all regional league teams.[17]  They earned the nickname "foals" due to their low average age as well as their carefree and successful play. Reporter Wilhelm August Hurtmanns coined the nickname in his articles in the Rheinische Post . He was taken with the style of Borussia and wrote that they would play like young foals.[17]  By April 1965, the team had won the Regionalliga West and thus secured the participation in the Bundesliga promotion round in Group 1. This saw the team play against the competitors of Wormatia Worms (Second in the Regionalliga Südwest), SSV Reutlingen (Second in the Regionalliga Süd) and Holstein Kiel (Champions in the Regionalliga Nord) in first and second matches. Of the six games Borussia won three (5–1 in Worms, 1–0 against Kiel and 7–0 against Reutlingen).[18]  The achievement of the first place made promotion to the Bundesliga safe. Together with Borussia Bayern Munich rose by winning Group 2.

Mönchengladbach enjoyed its first taste of the Bundesliga in the 1965–66 season , earning promotion alongside future powerhouse Bayern Munich . The two clubs would go on to engage in a fierce struggle as they challenged each other for domestic supremacy throughout the 1970s. Bayern took first blood in the struggle for supremacy between the two: winning the Bundesliga championship in 1969 . Mönchengladbach struck back immediately in the next season with a championship of their own and followed up with a second title in 1971 , becoming the first Bundesliga club ever to successfully defend their title.

1965–1969: Early years in Bundesliga and struggles Hennes Weisweiler, 1970

The commitment of Weisweiler as coach pointed the way for the sporting success of the club in the Bundesliga. The economic situation of the club did not allow to finance a team of stars. Weisweiler corresponded to the needs of the association with his attitude to promote the education and development of young talents.[19]  He pressed Players not in a fixed game system, but promoted individualism and gave them considerable freedom on the field. This resulted in a carefree and offensive style of playing, the hallmark of Fohlenelf .

The club signed with Berti Vogts  and Heinz Wittmann , both players whose names should be closely linked to the sporting successes of Borussia.

The first Bundesliga match in the 1965–66 season took place away against Borussia Neunkirchen  and ended 1–1, the first Bundesliga goal scorer was Gerhard Elfert . The first home game against SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin  Borussia won 5–0. Weisweiler knew how to give the team tactical freedom and to promote the individual enthusiasm of the players. These freedoms cost the still immature team in the first Bundesliga season with a number of sometimes high defeats. The Borussia finished the first season in the Bundesliga on the 13th place in the table.

In the following season 1966–67 showed the scoring power of the Mönchengladbacher team, which scored 70 goals. The striker Herbert Laumen  scored 18, Bernd Rupp  16 and Jupp Heynckes  scored 14 goals. Due to the good goal difference, the team was able to complete the season on the eighth place in the table. With an 11–0 home win over FC Schalke 04  on Matchday 18, the team celebrated the first highest ever victory in Bundesliga history.[20]

The successes had the side effect that the salaries of the players jumped up and thus good players were not easy to hold onto. Jupp Heynckes  moved for the former record transfer fee of 275,000 DM to Hannover 96 , Bernd Rupp  moved to SV Werder Bremen , and Eintracht Braunschweig  signed Gerhard Elfert . The club bought Peter Meyer  and Peter Dietrich  and thus compensated for the departure of seasoned players. With a 10–0 win on the twelfth match-day of the season 1967–68 over Borussia Neunkirchen , the team showed again their scoring power. The team reached in this and the next season third place in the table. The club signed in the season 1968–69 their future coach Horst Köppel , who had already had first experiences in the national team, and from hitherto unknown amateur VfL Schwerte  the then long-time goalkeeper Wolfgang Kleff  and Hartwig Bleidick , Gerd Zimmermann  and Winfried Schäfer , who played ten seasons at Borussia.

1970–1980: Golden decade: Dominance in the league and successes in Europe

show Seasons 1969–70 – 1979–80

The 1970s went down as the most successful in the club's history.

Club crest 1970–1999

Under coach Hennes Weisweiler , the young side displayed an offensive-minded philosophy and powerful play that attracted fans from all over Germany. Borussia won the championship five times, more than any other team in this time. At the same time a rivalry developed with FC Bayern Munich, with which Borussia together ascended in 1965 to the Bundesliga.

After the club had twice finished in previous years third place in the table, coached Hennes Weisweiler  in the 1969–70 season especially the defence. Deviating from the "foal" concept, Borussia bought for the first time experienced defensive players like Luggi Müller  and Klaus-Dieter Sieloff . With Ulrik le Fevre  the club signed their first Danish player, later followed by Henning Jensen  and Allan Simonsen . This season saw the first Bundesliga victory over Bayern. After a 5–1 win over Alemannia Aachen  on 31 October 1969, Borussia topped the Bundesliga for the first time. Today (as of December 2018) Borussia takes third place in the list of league leaders in the Bundesliga behind Bayern and Dortmund.

With a home win against Hamburger SV  on 30 April 1970, the 33rd Round of the season, Borussia were named as champions.

On 16 September 1970 Herbert Laumen scored in the 6–0 win against EPA Larnaka  the first goal for Borussia in a game of European club football.[21]  The first round of the following season 1970–71 saw the club having only one defeat. In the history of the Bundesliga unique is an incident in the home game of the 27th matchday against Werder Bremen , known as the post break from Bökelberg . In the game on 3 April 1971, after a penalty area scene in the 88th minute, the striker Herbert Laumen after a head clash together with the Bremen goalkeeper Günter Bernardinto  overturned the left goal post. After unsuccessful attempts at repair and no replacement goal could be set up, the referee stopped the game at the score of 1:1. The DFB sports court in Frankfurt rated the game as a 2–0 win for Bremen. As a consequence, the DFB obliged the clubs to provide a replacement for both goals. The championship was decided only on the last match day as a head-to-head race with Bayern Munich. Nine weeks after the post-break game, on 5 June 1971, Borussia were the first side in the history of the Bundesliga to defend their championship title, with a victory at Eintracht Frankfurt .

Berti Vogts with the UEFA Cup, 1975 Monument to the legendary trio of foals – Herbert Wimmer, Berti Vogts and Günter Netzer (from left to right), situated in the pedestrian area of Mönchengladbach-Eicken Game scene from the final of the UEFA Cup 1975, with FC Twente Berti Vogts  in running duel with Johan Cruyff  in the World Cup final in 1974

On 20 October 1971 in the European Cup , the champions took part in a can-throwing game  in football history match against Inter Milan  instead. Borussia won the match at Bökelbergstadion 7–1, but UEFA  cancelled the game, as the Italian striker Roberto Boninsegna  was hit by an empty coke can and received medical treatment.[22]  coaching legend Matt Busby  described the game of the colts :[23]

Nobody in the world would have won against this team today. That was football in the highest perfection.

After a 4–2 away defeat in Milan  and a goalless draw in the replay at the Berlin Olympic Stadium , Borussia were eliminated from the Cup of the national champions.

Die Fohlen  were able to take some consolation in a 2–1 victory over 1. FC Köln  in the Rheinland derby  by a goal by Günter Netzer  in 1973  to win their second DFB-Pokal . For Netzer this was the last game for Borussia: he left the club and moved to Real Madrid .[24]

In addition to the game-winning scene in the 93rd minute from Netzer there were numerous other highlights in the 30th cup final in history, that of the one best, playful highly interesting and exciting in the history of this competition in the annals entered and of which one could swarm only in highest tones  ( Kicker ).[25]

The first international final match took place on 9 May 1973. Liverpool  won the UEFA Cup  first-leg 3–0 on the second try after the game was cancelled the day before due to rain. On 23 May 1973 Borussia Mönchengladbach won the second-leg 2–0, but Liverpool won the cup by aggregate victory.[26]

The following seasons were marked by the departure of well-known players, although the main Mönchengladbach striker remained. In the 1973–74 season Jupp Heynckes' 30 goals made him the top-scorer in the Bundesliga, the first Borussia Monchengladbach player to be so. In that first season following the departure of Günter Netzer, Borussia finished as runner-up to champions Bayern Munich by one point. With a total of 93 goals scored Borussia set a new club record. Borussia graduated in the following years 1972 to 1974, the championship in third and fifth place and vice-champion.

In the 1974–75 season Borussia laid the foundation for a feat previously unheard of in the Bundesliga. On Matchday 17, the "foals" topped the league table and did not relinquish the league lead until winning the championship on 14 June 1975. The joy over the title was clouded by the departure of coach Hennes Weisweiler , who left the club after eleven years in the direction of FC Barcelona .[27]  The next international final with Mönchengladbach participation took place on 7 May 1975. The first leg of the UEFA Cup in Düsseldorf between Borussia and Twente Enschede  ended goalless. The second leg on 21 May 1975 was won by the VfL 5: 1. With the highest away win in a UEFA Cup final, Borussia won their first international title.[28]

Udo Lattek , who came from the rival Bayern Munich , although he had already signed with Rot-Weiss Essen , took over the club in the 1975–76 season. In contrast to the departed Weisweiler, Lattek represented a rather safety-first philosophy. The team topped the Championship on the twelfth round of the season, with a victory over Werder Bremen  and Eintracht Braunschweig , and retained that lead to the end of the season.

On 3 March 1976, on Ash Wednesday , was the next sensational international appearance of Borussia. In the European Champions Cup , Borussia Mönchengladbach played against Real Madrid , where now Günter Netzer  and Paul Breitner  were under contract, 2: 2. In the second leg (17 March 1976), which ended 1–1, the referee Leonardus van der Kroft  did not recognise two Mönchengladbach goals, in the 68th minute a goal by Henning Jensen  and in the 83rd minute by Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp . Once a foul must have preceded the goal, once the referee decided on offside, although it had been not indicated by the linesman. The draw was enough for the Madrilenians to progress.[29]

The team stayed on the attack, and matched Bayern's achievement, with three consecutive titles from 1975  to 1977 . On 12 June 1976 Mönchengladbach won a fourth league title.

In the 1976–77 season Lattek went with an almost unchanged team at the start. As Wolfgang Kleff  was injured, the club signed a new goalkeeper. In Wolfgang Kneib , who came from SV Wiesbaden , Lattek found a safe substitute. Borussia needed one point to defend the title on the final day. The match took place away against Bayern Munich, then sixth in the table, and ended 2:2 by an own goal in the 90th minute by Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp . Borussia made the hat-trick and won on 21 May 1977 for the third time in a row and for the fifth time overall the German championship title. The Dane Allan Simonsen  received after this season the award as Europe's Footballer of the Year with the Ballon d'Or .

The team narrowly missed a fourth championship title in a row in season 1977–78: Monchengladbach lost out to 1. FC Köln only by a worse goal difference. Borussia won against Borussia Dortmund 12–0 on the final day of the season , still the highest victory in the history of the Bundesliga. However, the Domstädter won their last game 5:0 at FC St. Pauli: they had a better goal difference by three goals and so won the championship. For the first time in the Bundesliga first and second were tied after the end of the season. Borussia would have been able to decide the championship in their favour had they won the match against 1. FC Cologne a few weeks earlier. However, the game ended in a draw, with Cologne player Heinz Flohe netting a vital 83rd-minute equaliser.

Although Mönchengladbach lost the 1977  final of the European Cup  to Liverpool  in Rome (25 May 1977), they also made four appearances in the UEFA Cup  with wins in 1975  and 1979  against losses in 1973  and 1980 . The club's spectacular run had come to an end with eight trophies to their credit, and although they would continue to be competitive for many years, success would be much harder to come by.[5]

In the following season 1978–79 Udo Lattek  managed Borussia for the last time. Many regulars left the club, such as the later vice-president Rainer Bonhof, or announced their career end, such as Jupp Heynckes  and Berti Vogts . Lattek did not succeed in offsetting these departures with appropriate new signings. On Matchday 30, the team was in 15th place with a goal-difference of 38:47 goals: three wins from the last four games improved the finish to tenth place. It was the first season in a long time in which the club finished with a negative goal-difference. Borussia signed Jupp Heynckes to be assistant coach to Lattek this season. The second international title started on 9 May 1979. The first leg in the UEFA Cup against Red Star Belgrade  ended in a draw. In the second leg on 23 May 1979 Borussia won 1–0 at home to win the UEFA Cup for the second time.

After the departure of Lattek in the 1979–80 season, the club appointed Jupp Heynckes  head coach. The season was marked by two new entries. The club signed Harald Nickel  of Eintracht Braunschweig . With a transfer fee of 1.15 million DM this was the hitherto most expensive new purchase. From Herzogenaurach came Lothar Matthäus . Borussia finished the season in seventh place. On 7 May 1980 Borussia Mönchengladbach was again in a final for the UEFA Cup. At home, the team won against Eintracht Frankfurt  3–2. In the second leg on 21 May 1980 Eintracht Frankfurt won 1–0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach and secured the trophy due to the larger number of away goals scored.

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