Borussia Dortmund is a special club. I’ve seen it in person as the club toured America, drawing big crowds to stadiums all over the country. The fascination surrounding the success of Jürgen Klopp has made the club truly larger than life and changed the club and its players and coaches into global icons. But it hasn’t always been that way.
Building the Yellow Wall: The Incredible Rise and Cult Appeal of Borussia Dortmund by Uli Hesse takes you back to Borussia Dortmund’s humble roots and brings you all the way to the present day. Their history is quite fascinating, a roller coaster of epic proportions. You’ll see literally a bit of everything: rises and falls, big European wins and hardware, relegation, financial distress, record transfers, and a whole lot of hirings and firings. You’ll see the inner workings of the club’s business dealings, youth development, and transfer policy over the decades. Big names came and went over the years, but a tradition of excellence remained. And a strong supporter culture continued to set the tone (and the standard) for European football.
Hesse takes the reader every step of the way, highlighting the key moments and sharing great stories that show why the club is loved by so many. He is the perfect choice for authoring this book as one of the world’s top experts on the German game. No wonder he’s written a number of critically acclaimed books on the subject and his work has been featured by the likes of FourFourTwo, ESPN, and the Blizzard.
I really came to appreciate what Borussia Dortmund has been through since their formation. The journey wasn’t always easy, but they managed to survive, thrive, and grow into a sporting behemoth, a global brand that is known by many. We’re now talking about one of the richest and most followed clubs in the world, a club on par with Bayern Munich but also with Manchester United, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester City, and Liverpool. Borussia Dortmund has become the very best and this book is up to the task as one of the best books ever written about German football.
