BVB – BVBLA

It All Comes Down To…

March Madness – Join The Party

Out of Champions League, disappointing result in the Derby. Keeping tabs on who’s injured and who’s not. After 10 straight victories, setting new records, it’s back down to earth again.

Long time fans will recognize this roller coaster of emotions as a typical Rückrunde, but here’s the difference: The team seems to have fixed a lot of its issues this year (defense, set pieces, mentality) and the Coach is not in danger of losing his job.

With that in mind, we are still looking at three meet-ups in a row. That too is probably a record. So after the Derby, two more big weekends.

Borussia Dortmund vs Köln – March 18 at 10:30am @ LA Draught

You may remember our sad showing in Köln last October. Alexander Meyer started, along with Anthony Modeste. Brandt scored our single goal. Tigges put the game away for Köln. This time may be very different. Haller is up front, and Kobel should be back. Reus should also be back.

Köln is sitting at 12th in the table coming off a 2-0 defeat to Bochum. They are not having a good year. Will this match put us back on winning ways?

Bayern München vs Borussia Dortmund – April 1 at 9:30am @ LA Draught

I can’t say I like the Der Klassiker title added to this match, but if it generates more interest in the Bundesliga… If you remember back to the Hinrunde, we played them to a 2-2 draw with Anthony Modeste supplying a miracle header for the tie.

I won’t make any predictions this time around, but I will say that if Adeyemi, Brandt, Kobel and Reus are all healthy, we can go toe to toe with the current Bayern team.

LA Draught

3021 Lincoln Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Phone: 310-919-1221

March 2023 – Is This Finally Our Year?

Nine games in a row. A new record! Games won in league, a game won in the Pokal and a first leg match won in UCL. All good in January and February. The future looks bright!

The downside is, we had an easy schedule in February with Bochum, Hertha and Hoffenheim. March is more daunting.

Mar 03, 11:30am, Fri: Borussia Dortmund vs RasenBall (BUN22)
Mar 07, 12pm, Tue: Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund (UCL)
Mar 11, 9:30am, Sat: Sch*lke vs Borussia Dortmund (BUN23)
Mar 18, 10:30am, Sat: Borussia Dortmund vs Köln (BUN24)

When Karim Adeyemi went down for a minimum two weeks, there was a lot of gloom. He was the star against Chelsea for one shining moment. We heard “Here it comes again! Injuries!”

But really, our injury list is tiny compared to previous years and even the first half of the season. Our defense has solidified, our pressing is organized. Forward play looks pretty again, with smooth and delicious movement into the box. Since Can has come back to the midfield together with Özcan, we have a steel curtain look.

None of this is by accident. This is the team that Edin has been working for, but never had the healthy players to implement. This team has turned a corner.

In March we will have the rare opportunity to meet up three times in a row. (OK, that includes April 1 versus Bayern). March 11 is our second leg Derby against the Baby Blues. March 18 versus Köln is at a reasonable 10:30am.

The Bayern Match is still TBA, but it’s hard to believe that it won’t be the feature match of the day. Stay tuned.

2023 – Back To The Future

It’s been a disappointing first half, starting with Sebastian Haller’s diagnosis, continuing through more injuries (Reus, Dahoud, Reyna, Bynoe-Gittens). Some players have still not lived up to their promise, most notably Malen and Adeyemi.

The result is we are sitting at 6th in the table, 4 points off Frankfurt at 4th, 9 points off Bayern at 1st.

Long time fans will recognize this as not so bad. They will look back to 2015 (aka Klopp’s last season) when we fought to get to 7th; or maybe 2018 when Peter Bosz took us to the bottom of the league, and Peter Stöger brought us back to 4th.

In other competitions, we are well in the running with winnable draws. On February 8 we play VfL Bochum in the Pokal Round of 16. On February 15 we play Chelsea at home in the UCL Round of 16.

The Good New

We now head into the Rückrunde (plus a few) well rested, with injured players coming back into the mix, and a favorable schedule. Outside of the fact that Haller will probably not see action for a while, it appears that all players are back for Marbella.

Bayern is scrambling to shore up their defense with Lucas Hernández and Manuel Neuer out. Chelsea is in the middle of an historic losing streak and a massive injury crisis (Mount, Sterling, Fofana, James…).

No obvious meetup dates through January and February. Maybe we can sort something out for Chelsea on February 15. I have a feeling that will be a fun match.

When is A Fan Not A Fan?

Had to stop following the Borussia Dortmund Fans Worldwide Facebook group last week. Too many negative posts. The group was invaded by “fans” who really seemed to have no love for the team at all and very little grasp of the English language. Here’s where I draw the line:

“Burki out!” – this has been ongoing for quite a while, but after Köln it exploded in that group. It was posted no less than 20 times, some demanding that Hitz take over, some demanding that we buy a “better” Goalkeeper. Hey people! He is the Goalkeeper for Borussia Dortmund! He is very good. We are not buying anyone else and he’s been starting ahead of Hitz for Dortmund and Switzerland for years.

“Favre out!” – This was the call after the Union match. I’ll admit that I’ve posted the same thing jokingly, but these idiots are serious.

“Good Riddance!” – I read this sentiment tossed at Abdou Diallo, Omer Toprak, Andre Schürrle and Maxi Phillip. That’s when I knew that these were not Dortmund fans. We support any player that puts on the uniform, and when they leave we wish them well. That’s it. That’s all.*

*OK, this may not apply to Dembélé, but you all know why.

OK…sorry to rant, but needed to speak out. If you are looking for a team that tosses out €100M on a backup striker, Dortmund is not for you. If you are looking for a club that gives up easily on players and coaches, Dortmund is not for you.

There is a reason why Sancho, Witsel, Brandt and others come to Dortmund. It’s because Echte Liebe is not just a marketing slogan. It is the foundation of everything.

All About Notre Dame

South Bend

Thursday, 18.07.2019

Public Training @ Notre Dame Stadium. 6:30pm. Free of charge. All are welcome.

Friday, 19.07.2019

Tailgate – 2:00pm – Let’s make the area black & yellow together!

We are aiming to have a great Tailgating before the match and will come over with our Legends Weidenfeller & Owomoyela!

Therefore, pick up all your tailgating stuff and join us @South Bend!

Preferred parking-slot area is Stadium/Joyce (S/J)

Parking-tickets can be purchased online: Notre Dame Parking

Parking-Slot will be open at 2:00pm on matchday.

Match against Liverpool FC @ Notre Dame Stadium – Kick-off: 8:00pm

Tickets: Ticketmaster

You can filter for the BVB Supporter Section!

Saturday, 20.07.2019

12:00 – 2:00pm @ Puma Store // Meet BVB players // Exact address will be provided soon.

All About Seattle

Monday, 15.07.2019

Arrival at 11:55am (LH 490 flight)

Looking for a warm welcome at the airport. Emma will be there as well!

Tuesday, 16.07.2019

Public Training @ Seattle University. Free of charge. All are welcome.

Time slot between 5:00 – 8:00pm. Kick-off will be provided soon.

Fan training session @ Seattle University.

Want to train like a BVB player? Here’s your chance:

Directly after the A-Team training we are offering our fans a “Train like BVB” – session for our fans as we have two coaches from our BVB Football Academy with us.

We are envisioning two groups. One for ages 7-13 and an adult group. Free of charge. Max attendees 40 in total.

You want to take part? Application at email hidden; JavaScript is required and I put you on the list. First come – first serve. Please bring football equipment with you.

Wednesday, 17.07.2019

Legend-Touchpoint & Raffle: Start around 3:00pm.

Meeting point for all BVB fans around the stadium. Venue will be provided soon.

Match against Seattle Sounders @ Century Link Field – Kick-off: 7:30pm

Tickets: SeatGeek

You can filter for the BVB Supporter Section!

Dortmund at Bayern! Match of The Year!

This is it. It’s all come down to this. The incredible start, the nine point lead, the injuries and disappointments. We were knocked out of Pokal, finally pushed out of the Champion’s League, but here we are, still standing and ready to prove it.

Join us at the Red Lion Tavern on Saturday, April 6 at 9:30am.

The Red Lion Tavern
2366 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-662-5337

Get there early to get a Raffle ticket. Grand Prize was signed by every member of the USA Touring Team of 2018.

We Did It! Thanks Everyone!

We did it! First contacted in January and hosting Borussia Dortmund in May. Thanks again to Sebastian Schneider, Carsten Cramer, Annika Gollub, Benedict, Rich Orosco, Patrick Aviles, and everyone in BVBLA. We turned out quite a crowd.

Three Years

It was the Winter of 2014 and two of us got together to watch a match. The team was headed for the Relegation Zone and Klopp would soon announce his leaving. Nobody could accuse us of being bandwagon fans.

We’ve met at Wirtshaus, The Cock ‘n’ Bull, The Scarlet Lady and Ye King’s Head; but we’ve always considered Wirtshaus to be our home.

We’ve sent our Roster to Dortmund with all of our club information for three years. We never heard back from them…until this year. This will be the year that Borussia Dortmund breaks into the USA.

Borussia Dortmund and LAFC

Carsten Cramer with BVBLA — Carsten, Deike, Steven, Marion, Liam, Dmytro, Joseph, Julia

We were contacted in January by the BVB Fan Department. They were planning an event with LAFC to announce a partnership. Could we get our Club to turn out? Of course we could. So we all went downtown and got some wonderful news.

Three Days

From there we waited. We would get our own section, but when? We would get a chance to meet the players, but what would that be? Most importantly: when will the match be scheduled? At first we were expecting July, during a break in the ICC schedule. Then we were told late May, but the Pokal Finale date had to be reserved.

When the date was finally settled we had three weeks to plan, with dates and times not yet settled for flights, parties, training or ticket sales.

Meet The Flight

We had to meet the flight. We were prepared for 3pm on a Sunday. Then the flight was delayed for four hours. Could we still get out a crowd?

Of course we could. Banners, singing and pestering Mario for autographs.

Monday

Monday started at 11 with a Public Training at UCLA. Every player was there and we turned out 400 or so fans. The players were open to autographs and took the time to meet everyone.

Next was Niky’s in Santa Monica. Originally planned for 40 people, everyone got in eventually and (I think) dropped some cash on some BVB gear while watching a Q&A with Lars Ricken, Roman Weidenfeller, Marcel Schmelzer and Mario Götze.

Monday night was the Fan Party hosted by LAFC and Dortmund. At least 100 of us made it to watch Alicia play Foosball with Schmelle. They didn’t win, but it was OK. We all had a few beers and got to chat with Schmelle, Roman and Patrick Owomoyela.

The Match

Finally, the day of the Match. No events, players all surfing or wandering around in Venice. Before the match the 125 and 126 sections were full. Steven Boll had prepared the megaphone and the chanting began. At 6:51pm it was “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and at 7pm it was game time. How was the match? Best game ever!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen!

This Is It: Borussia Dortmund @ LAFC

Sing-a-long Lunch was great. Thanks to everyone who attended. Besides “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Heja BVB!” and “Olé, Jetzt Kommt der BVB,” we have nine simple chants and songs for the match. Steven Boll will be leading from section 122, so join in! The full list will be posted on Facebook tonight.

All the Events

May 20, 3:05pm – Team Arrival at LAX

PLANE DELAYED! 7PM!

Meet at Arrivals, International Terminal by 7pm. Bring flags and scarves and anything you want a signature on. Be ready for “Olé, Jetzt Kommt der BVB” when they appear.

May 21, 11am – Dortmund open training at UCLA

This will be at the North Soccer Field, just north of the John Wooden Student Center. Park in Parking 4 underground (free event, paid parking). 70 minute training scheduled. Once again, bring the kids and anything you want signed.

May 21, 3pm – Meet The Team at Niky’s

Hosted by Puma. If you’re not on the list, you can show up anyway and eat at the BVB food truck. Photos, jerseys for sale and a player Q&A. This is the only place in LA with all the latest BVB gear.

May 21, 6:30pm – BVB – LAFC Fan Party – Boomtown Brewery

Tickets not necessary. Just be there early. Only room for 200 and expecting 300. Meet some of the players and watch Liam go all Fanboy over Emma. I swear: anytime I’m anywhere near Emma, somebody has to take my picture. That is an order.

May 22, 7pm – LAFC vs Borussia Dortmund – Banc of California Stadium

We have sections 125 and 126 in the South Corner. The visitors entrance is in the Southeast corner. Less than 20 tickets left. Buy tickets here. We get one Megaphone (Steven) one drum (John) and 15 flags. If you’re bringing a flag, it must be on a PVC pole no longer than 5 feet and you must enter in the visitors gate.

Food Truck

The PUMA – BVB Foodtruck is touring around LA:

May 19 – 5:00pm – 9:00pm – Fontana Concert in the Park
May 21 – 11:00am – 1:30pm – Ocean & 31st – 2929 31st St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
May 21 – 2:30pm – 4:00pm – Niky’s Santa Monica
May 22 – 11:00am – 2:00pm – Tri Centre Food Trucks – 650 E Hospitality Ln, San Bernardino
May 22 – 5:00pm– 10:00pm – Banc of California Stadium
May 23 – 11:00 – 2:00 pm – Heritage Corporate Center – 10350 Heritage Park Dr, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
May 23 – 4:00 – 10:00pm – Common Space LA – 3411 W. El segundo Blvd., Hawthorne CA 90250