title: Saraswati

text: A legend in the Bhagavata Purana describes Saraswati as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu, along with Lakshmi and Ganga. In the midst of a conversation, Saraswati observed that Ganga playfully kept glancing at Vishnu, behind Lakshmi and her back. Frustrated, Saraswati launched a furious tirade against Ganga, accusing her of stealing Vishnu's love away from her. When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he opted to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally. When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Saraswati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her. She cursed Lakshmi to be born as the Tulasi plant upon the earth. Ganga, now enraged that Lakshmi had been cursed because she had defended her, cursed Saraswati that she would be incarnated as a river on earth. Saraswati issued the same curse against Ganga, informing her that sinful men would cleanse themselves of their sins with her water. As a result, Vishnu proclaimed that one part of Saraswati would remain with him, that another would exist as a river on earth, and that another would later became the spouse of Brahma.


title: Saraswati

text: The Matsya Purana describes the story of Saraswati becoming the consort of Brahma. It states that the creator deity had fallen in love with the woman who had emerged from his own mind. Noticing his amorous glances, she turned to the right side of the deity. The deity produced a new face towards his right. When she appeared on his other two sides, two new faces emerged on these directions. In a last resort, she leapt into the sky. A fifth face emerged from Brahma, looking upwards. Conceding her defeat, she consented to become the deity's consort.


title: Saraswati

text: When Ravana, along with his brothers, Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna, performed a penance in order to propitiate Brahma, the creator deity offered each a boon. The devas pleaded with Brahma to not grant Kumbhakarna his boon. Brahma called upon his consort Saraswati, and instructed her to utter that which the devas desired. She acquiesced, and when the rakshasa spoke to invoke his boon, she entered his mouth, causing him to say, "To sleep for innumerable years, O Lord of Lords, this is my desire!". She then left his form, causing him to reflect upon his misfortune.


title: Saraswati

text: In Hindu tradition, Saraswati has retained her significance as a goddess from the Vedic age up to the present day. In the Shanti Parva of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Saraswati is called the mother of the Vedas, and later as the celestial creative symphony who appeared when Brahma created the universe. In Book 2 of Taittiriya Brahmana, she is called “"the mother of eloquent speech and melodious music"”. Saraswati is the active energy and power of Brahma. She is also mentioned in many minor Sanskrit publications such as Sarada Tilaka of 8th century CE as follows,


title: Saraswati

text: radiance on the implements of writing, and books produced by her favour. – On Saraswati, Sarada Tilaka


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati became a prominent deity in Buddhist iconography – the consort of Manjushri in 1st millennium CE. In some instances such as in the "Sadhanamala" of Buddhist pantheon, she has been symbolically represented similar to regional Hindu iconography, but unlike the more well-known depictions of Saraswati.


title: Saraswati

text: The goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white, often seated on a white lotus, which symbolizes light, knowledge and truth. She not only embodies knowledge but also the experience of the highest reality. Her iconography is typically in white themes from dress to flowers to swan – the colour symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity, discrimination for true knowledge, insight and wisdom.


title: Saraswati

text: Her dhyana mantra describes her to be as white as the moon, clad in a white dress, bedecked in white ornaments, radiating with beauty, holding a book and a pen in her hands (the book represents knowledge).


title: Saraswati

text: She is generally shown to have four arms, but sometimes just two. When shown with four hands, those hands symbolically mirror her husband Brahma's four heads, representing "manas" (mind, sense), "buddhi" (intellect, reasoning), "citta" (imagination, creativity), and "ahamkāra" (self consciousness, ego). Brahma represents the abstract, while she represents action and reality.


title: Saraswati

text: The four hands hold items with symbolic meaning – a "pustaka" (book or script), a "mālā" (rosary, garland), a water pot and a musical instrument (vīnā). The book she holds symbolizes the Vedas representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as all forms of learning. A mālā of crystals, representing the power of meditation, inner reflection, and spirituality. A pot of water represents the purifying power to separate right from wrong, the clean from the unclean, and essence from the inessential. In some texts, the pot of water is symbolism for soma – the drink that liberates and leads to knowledge. The most famous feature on Saraswati is a musical instrument called a veena, represents all creative arts and sciences, and her holding it symbolizes expressing knowledge that creates harmony. Saraswati is also associated with "anurāga", the love for and rhythm of music, which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music.


title: Saraswati

text: A hamsa – either a swan or a goose – is often shown near her feet. In Hindu mythology, the hamsa is a sacred bird, which if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. It thus symbolizes the ability to discriminate between good and evil, essence from the outward show, and the eternal from the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Saraswati is also referred to as "Hamsavāhini", which means “"she who has a hamsa as her vehicle"”. The swan is also a symbolism for spiritual perfection, transcendence and moksha.


title: Saraswati

text: Sometimes a "citramekhala" (also called "mayura", peacock) is shown beside the goddess. The peacock symbolizes colorful splendor, the celebration of dance, and – as the devourer of snakes – the alchemical ability to transmute the serpent poison of self into the radiant plumage of enlightenment.


title: Saraswati

text: In early texts like the Rigveda, Saraswati was a river goddess and the personification of the Sarasvati river. As a river goddess, she represented fertility and purity. There are three hymns in the Rigveda which are dedicated to the Sarasvati River. A Rigvedic prayer also describes her as 'the best of mothers, of rivers and of goddesses'.


title: Saraswati

text: The story of Saraswati becoming a river is mentioned in the Srishti Khanda of Padma Purana as well as in Skanda Purana. In the Skanda Purana, after the events of the Tarakamaya War, the devas deposited their arsenal of weapons at the hermitage of Dadhichi. When they sought the return of these weapons, the sage informed them that he had imbibed all of their power with his penance, and offered his own bones instead, which could serve as the source of new weapons. Despite the objections of the deities, the sage sacrificed himself, and his bones were employed in the manufacture of new arms by Vishvakarma. The sage's son, Pippalada, upon hearing these events, sought to wreak his vengeance on the devas by performing a penance. A mare emerged from his right thigh, which in turn gave birth to a fiery man, Vadava, who threatened to be the doom of all of creation.


title: Saraswati

text: Vishnu convinced Vadava that his best course of action would be to swallow the devas one by one, and that he should begin by consuming the primordial water of creation, which was the foremost of both the devas and the asuras. Vadava wished to be accompanied to the source of these waters by a virgin, and so Saraswati was dispatched for his purpose, despite her reluctance. She took him to Varuna, the god of the ocean, who then consumed the being. For good measure, Saraswati transformed into a divine river, flowing with five channels into the sea, making the waters sacred.


title: Saraswati

text: In the Padma Purana, it is stated that there was a terrible battle between the Bhargavas (a group of Brahmanas) and the Hehayas (a group of Kshatriyas). From this, an all-consuming fire called Vadavagni was born, which threatened to destroy the whole world. In some versions, a sage named Auva created it. Indra, Vishnu, and the devas visited Saraswati, requesting her to deposit the fire in the western ocean, in order to protect the universe.


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati told Vishnu that she would only agree to assist them if her consort, Brahma, told her to do so. Brahma ordered her to deposit the Vadavagni in the western ocean. Saraswati agreed, and accompanied by Ganga, she left Brahmaloka, and arrived at Sage Uttanka's ashrama. There, she met Shiva, who had decided to carry Ganga. He gave the Vadavagni in a pot to Saraswati, and told her to originate from the plaksha tree. Saraswati merged with the tree, and transformed into a river. From there, she flowed towards Pushkara. Saraswati continued her journey towards the ocean, and stopped once at Pushkarini, where she redeemed humans from their sins. At last, she reached the end of her journey, and immersed the fire into the ocean.


title: Saraswati

text: She is venerated as Mahasaraswati in the Kashmir Shakti Peetha, as Vidhya Saraswati in Basara and Vargal, and as Sharadamba in Sringeri. In some regions, she is known by her twin identities, Savitri and Gayatri.


title: Saraswati

text: In Shaktism, she takes her Matrika (mother goddess) avatar as Brahmani. Saraswati is not just the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, but also the Brahmavidya herself, the goddess of the wisdom of ultimate truth. Her Mahavidya forms are Matangi and Tara. As Mahavidya, she manifests as:


title: Saraswati

text: In some regions of India, such as Vindhya, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam, as well as east Nepal, Saraswati is part of the Devi Mahatmya mythology, in the "Tridevi" of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. This is one of many different Hindu legends that attempt to explain how the Hindu trimurti of gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and goddesses (Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati) came into being. Various Purana texts offer alternate legends for Maha Saraswati.


title: Saraswati

text: Maha Saraswati is depicted as eight-armed and is often portrayed holding a Veena whilst sitting on a white lotus flower.


title: Saraswati

text: Wielding in her lotus-hands the bell, trident, ploughshare, conch, pestle, discus, bow, and arrow, her lustre is like that of a moon shining in the autumn sky. She is born from the body of Gauri and is the sustaining base of the three worlds. That Mahasaraswati I worship here who destroyed Sumbha and other asuras.


title: Saraswati

text: Mahasaraswati is also part of another legend, the "Navshaktis" (not to be confused with "Navdurgas"), or nine forms of Shakti, namely Brahmi, Vaishnavi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Varahi, Narsimhi, Aindri, Shivdooti, and Chamunda, revered as powerful and dangerous goddesses in eastern India. They have special significance on "Navaratri" in these regions. All of these are seen ultimately as aspects of a single great Hindu goddess, with Maha Saraswati as one of those nine.


title: Saraswati

text: In Tibet and parts of India, Nilasaraswati is sometimes considered as a form of Mahavidya Tara. Nila Saraswati is not much a different deity from traditional Saraswati, who subsumes her knowledge and creative energy in tantric literature. Though the traditional form of Saraswati is of calm, compassionate, and peaceful one: Nila Saraswati is the "ugra" (angry, violent, destructive) manifestation in one school of Hinduism, while the more common Saraswati is the "saumya" (calm, compassionate, productive) manifestation found in most others. In tantric literature of the former, Nilasaraswati has 100 names. There are separate dhyana shlokas and mantras for her worship in Tantrasara.


title: Saraswati

text: She is worshipped in parts of India as an incarnate or incarnation of Goddess Tara but mostly outside India. She is not only worshipped but also been manifested as a form of Goddess Saraswati.


title: Saraswati

text: The earliest known shrine dedicated to goddess worship in Kashmir is Sharada Peeth (6th–12th centuries CE), dedicated to the goddess Sharada. It is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in present-day Azad Kashmir. The goddess Sharada worshipped in Sharada Peeth is a tripartite embodiment of the goddess Shakti: Sharada (goddess of learning), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), and Vagdevi (goddess of speech, which articulates power). Kashmiri Pandits believe the shrine to be the abode of the goddess. In line with the Kashmiri Pandit belief that springs which are the abode of goddesses should not be looked at directly, the shrine contains a stone slab concealing the spring underneath, which they believe to be the spring in which the goddess Sharada revealed herself to the "rishi" Shandilya. It advanced the importance of knowledge and education in Kashmiri Pandit culture, which persisted well after Kashmiri Pandits became a minority group in Kashmir.


title: Saraswati

text: As one of the "Maha Shakti Peethas", Hindus believe that it represents the spiritual location of the goddess Sati's fallen right hand. Sharada Peeth is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple.


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati is also revered in Jainism as the goddess of knowledge and is regarded as the source of all learning. She is known as Srutadevata, Sarada, and Vagisvari. Saraswati is depicted in a standing posture with four arms, one holding a text, another holding a rosary and the remaining two holding the Veena. Saraswati is seated on a lotus with the peacock as her vehicle. Saraswati is also regarded as responsible for dissemination of tirthankars sermon. The earliest sculpture of Saraswati in any religious tradition is the Mathura Jain Saraswati from Kankali Tila dating 132 CE.


title: Saraswati

text: Ancient Sharada Peeth in Pakistani-administered Kashmir is one of the oldest surviving temples of Saraswati.


title: Saraswati

text: There are many temples dedicated to Saraswati around the world. Some notable temples include the Gnana Saraswati Temple in Basar on the banks of the River Godavari, the Wargal Saraswati and Shri Saraswati Kshetramu temples in Medak, Telangana. In Karnataka, one of many Saraswati/Sharada pilgrimage spots is Shringeri Sharadamba Temple. In Ernakulam district of Kerala, there is a famous Saraswati temple in North Paravur, namely, Dakshina Mookambika Temple North Paravur. In Tamil Nadu, Koothanur hosts a Saraswati temple at Koothanur in Tamil Nadu about 25 kilometres from Tiruvarur. In her identity as Brahmani, additional Saraswati temples can be found throughout Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Jnaneshwari Peeth in Karki village of coastal Karnataka also houses a temple dedicated to Saraswati, where she is known as "Jnaneshwari".


title: Saraswati

text: One of the most famous festivals associated with Goddess Saraswati is the Hindu festival of Vasant Panchami. Celebrated on the 5th day in the Hindu calendar month of Magha (month), it is also known as Saraswati Puja and Saraswati Jayanti in India.


title: Saraswati

text: In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the last three days of the Navaratri festival, i.e., Ashtami, Navami, and Dashami, are celebrated as Saraswati Puja. The celebrations start with the "Puja Vypu" (Placing for Worship). It consists of placing the books for puja on the Ashtami day. It may be in one's own house, in the local nursery school run by traditional teachers, or in the local temple. The books are taken out for reading, after worship, only on the morning of the third day (Vijaya Dashami). It is called "Puja Eduppu" (Taking [from] Puja). On the Vijaya Dashami day, Kerala and Tamil Nadu celebrate the "Eḻuthiniruthu" or "Initiation of writing" for children, before they are admitted to nursery schools. This is also called "Vidyarambham". The child is often ritually taught to write for the first time on rice spread in a plate with their index finger, guided by an elder of the family, or by a teacher.


title: Saraswati

text: During the Navaratri festivities, on the seventh day, which coincides with the Moola nakshatra (which is considered to be the goddess' birth star), the goddesses of various temples are decorated and worshipped in the form of Mahasaraswati, in honour of the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, arts, and learning. Students throng these temples in large numbers and receive books, pencils, pens, and other learning equipments as "Devi prasadam". "Aksharabhyasa", the ceremony of initiating a child into the process of learning, is held on a large scale across these temples.


title: Saraswati

text: In Assam, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped on Vasant Panchami, a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 5th day in the Hindu calendar month of Magha (about February). Hindus celebrate this festival in temples, homes and educational institutes alike.


title: Saraswati

text: In Bihar and Jharkhand, Vasant Panchami is commonly known as Saraswati Puja. On this day, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in schools, colleges, educational institutes as well as in institutes associated with music and dance. Cultural programmes are also organised in schools and institutes on this day. People especially students worship Goddess Saraswati also in pandals (a tent made up of colourful clothes, decorated with lights and other decorative items). In these states, on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in the form of idol, made up of soil. On Saraswati Puja, the idol is worshipped by people and prasad is distributed among the devotees after puja. Prasad mainly consists of boondi ("motichoor"), pieces of carrot, peas and Indian plum (ber). On the next day or any day depending on religious condition, the idol is immersed in a pond (known as Murti Visarjan or Pratima Visarjan) after performing a Havana (immolation), with full joy and fun, playing with abir and gulal. After Pratima Visarjan, members involved in the organisation of puja ceremony eat khichdi together.


title: Saraswati

text: In Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Saraswati Puja starts with Saraswati Avahan on Maha Saptami and ends on Vijayadashami with Saraswati Udasan or Visarjan.


title: Saraswati

text: In 2018, the Haryana government launched and sponsored the annual National Saraswati Mahotsav in its state named after Saraswati.


title: Saraswati

text: Watugunung, the last day of the pawukon calendar, is devoted to Saraswati, goddess of learning. Although it is devoted to books, reading is not allowed. The fourth day of the year is called Pagerwesi, meaning "iron fence". It commemorates a battle between good and evil.


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati is an important goddess in Balinese Hinduism. She shares the same attributes and iconography as Saraswati in Hindu literature of India – in both places, she is the goddess of knowledge, creative arts, wisdom, language, learning and purity. In Bali, she is celebrated on Saraswati day, one of the main festivals for Hindus in Indonesia. The day marks the close of 210 day year in the Pawukon calendar.


title: Saraswati

text: On Saraswati day, people make offerings in the form of flowers in temples and to sacred texts. The day after Saraswati day, is "Banyu Pinaruh", a day of cleansing. On this day, Hindus of Bali go to the sea, sacred waterfalls or river spots, offer prayers to Saraswati, and then rinse themselves in that water in the morning. Then they prepare a feast, such as the traditional "bebek betutu" and "nasi kuning", that they share.


title: Saraswati

text: The Saraswati Day festival has a long history in Bali. It has become more widespread in Hindu community of Indonesia in recent decades, and it is celebrated with theatre and dance performance.


title: Saraswati

text: Veneration of Saraswati migrated from the Indian subcontinent to China with the spread of Buddhism, where she in known as Biàncáitiān (辯才天), meaning "Eloquent Devī", as well as Miàoyīntiān (妙音天), meaning "Devī of Wonderful Sounds". She is commonly enshrined in Chinese Buddhist monasteries as one of the Twenty-Four Devas, a group of protective deities who are regarded as protectors of the Buddhist dharma. Her Chinese iconography is based on her description in the Golden Light Sutra, where she is portrayed as having eight arms, one holding a bow, one holding arrows, one holding a knife, one holding a lance, one holding an axe, one holding a pestle, one holding an iron wheel, and one holding ropes. In another popular Buddhist iconographic form, she is portrayed as sitting down and playing a pipa, a Chinese lute-like instrument.


title: Saraswati

text: The concept of Saraswati migrated from India, through China to Japan, where she appears as Benzaiten (弁財天). Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries. She is often depicted holding a "biwa", a traditional Japanese lute musical instrument. She is enshrined on numerous locations throughout Japan such as the Kamakura's Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine or Nagoya's Kawahara Shrine; the three biggest shrines in Japan in her honour are at the Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay, the Chikubu Island in Lake Biwa, and the Itsukushima Island in Seto Inland Sea.


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati was honoured with invocations among Hindus of Angkorian Cambodia, suggests a tenth-century and another eleventh-century inscription. She and Brahma are referred to in Cambodian epigraphy from the 7th century onwards, and she is praised by Khmer poets for being the goddess of eloquence, writing, and music. More offerings were made to her than to her husband Brahma. She is also referred to as "Vagisvari" and "Bharati" in Yasovarman era Khmer literature.


title: Saraswati

text: In ancient Thai literature, Saraswati (; ) is the goddess of speech and learning, and consort of Brahma. Over time, Hindu and Buddhist concepts on deities merged in Thailand. Icons of Saraswati with other deities of India are found in old Thai "wats". Amulets with Saraswati and a peacock are also found in Thailand.


title: Saraswati

text: In Burma, the Shwezigon Mon Inscription dated to be of 1084 CE, near Bagan, recites the name Saraswati as follows,


title: Saraswati

text: In Buddhist arts of Myanmar, she is called "Thurathadi" (or Thayéthadi). Students in Myanmar pray for her blessings before their exams. She is also believed to be, in Mahayana pantheon of Myanmar, the protector of Buddhist scriptures.


title: Saraswati

text: In Tibet, she is known as the Goddess of Music (), or the Tara of Music (), considered the consort of Mañjuśri, Buddha of Wisdom, she is one of the 21 Taras.


title: Saraswati

text: Saraswati is the Divine Embodiment & bestower of Enlightened Eloquence & Inspiration, patroness of the arts, sciences, music, language, literature, history, poetry & philosophy, all those engaged in creative endeavours in Tibetan Buddhism. She is considered the peaceful manifestation of Palden Lhamo (Glorious Goddess). In the Gelugpa tradition, Palden Lhamo is known as Magzor Gyalmo (the Queen who Repels Armies) and is a wrathful emanation of Saraswati while being a protector. Saraswati was the yidam (principal personal meditational deity) of 14th century Tibetan monk Je Tsongkhapa. He composed a devotional poem to her. She is believed in the Tibetan tradition to have accompanied him on his travels, as well as regularly engaging in conversations with him.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that plays in the Bundesliga, the top flight of German football. The club has won five League titles, three DFB-Pokals, and two UEFA Europa League titles.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Borussia Mönchengladbach were founded in 1900, with its name derived from a Latinized form of Prussia, which was a popular name for German clubs in the former Kingdom of Prussia. The team joined the Bundesliga in 1965, and saw the majority of its success in the 1970s, where, under the guidance of Hennes Weisweiler and then Udo Lattek, they captured five league championships with "Die Fohlen" (The foals) team; a term coined as the squad were young with a fast, aggressive playing style. Mönchengladbach also won two UEFA Cup titles during this period and reached a European Cup final in 1977.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Since 2004, Borussia Mönchengladbach have played at Borussia-Park, having previously played at the Bökelbergstadion since 1919. Based on membership, Borussia Mönchengladbach is the fifth largest club in Germany with over 75,000 members in 2016, and 93,000 members as of 2021. The club's main rivals are 1. FC Köln, against whom they contest the Rheinland Derby. Their secondary rivals include Borussia Dortmund, Fortuna Düsseldorf, and Bayer Leverkusen.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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 focussed 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.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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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" []. 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. The new grounds was known as "Stadion am Rosengarten".


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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).


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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 German national team player, Heinz Ditgens.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

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


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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". 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. 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. 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). The achievement of the first place made promotion to the Bundesliga safe. Together with Borussia Bayern Munich rose by winning Group 2.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. 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".


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

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


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Under coach Hennes Weisweiler, the young side displayed an offensive-minded philosophy and powerful play that attracted fans from all over Germany.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

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


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. coaching legend Matt Busby described the game of the colts :


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: "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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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 ).


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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. 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: 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.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 1980s, Borussia could no longer build on the titles of the past decade and fell behind of the former rival from Munich. Due to the lack of ticket revenue from the small Bökelbergstadion the club had to sell top performers again and again. Nevertheless, it was possible to settle frequently in the upper third of the Bundesliga and play in the championship fight. In the 1980–81 season many longtime players and performers left the club, including Karl Del'Haye who is considered the first player who was signed by FC Bayern Munich in hostile intent. Borussia committed with Wolfram Wuttke only to striking players. They replaced Wolfgang Kleff in goal to Uli Sude. The team reached this season's sixth place in the table. The sporting record did not improve in the following two seasons. With a seventh place in 1982 Borussia missed the participation in the international competitions. The following year, Uwe Kamps guarded the goal for the first time, and remained long-time goalkeeper for many years.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 1983–84 season Borussia played for the title. With Bernd Krauss, Michael Frontzeck and Uli Borowka Borussia committed players who played for a long time successfully for the club. At the end they landed tied behind VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV in third place. It was the first time in the history of the Bundesliga that three clubs tied the table on the last matchday. In the same season, Mönchengladbach also lost the DFB-Pokal final to Bayern Munich on penalties, Lothar Matthäus and Norbert Ringels both missing from the spot after the game originally ended all square at 1–1. Matthäus subsequently joined Bayern Munich for a then-record fee of 2.25 million DM, leading some fans to question whether he had deliberately missed his penalty.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 1984–85 season Borussia won 10–0 on Matchday 8 against Eintracht Braunschweig which is so far the last two-digit victory in Bundesliga history. In the semi-finals of the German Cup VfL met again at Bayern Munich. After no goals had been scored in the regular season in Munich's Olympiastadion, Søren Lerby converted a penalty kick against Borussia goalkeeper Ulrich Sude in the 101st minute. This remained the only goal of the evening, so that Borussia missed the entry into the final.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The season 1985–86 brought no sporting highlights in the Bundesliga with the club finishing fourth. Borussia Mönchengladbach gave away a 5–1 win over Real Madrid on 27 November 1985 in Düsseldorf (11 December 1985) when the club lost 4–0 in Madrid and dropped out of the UEFA Cup.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 1986–87 season was again a coach change. Jupp Heynckes announced his move to Bayern Munich. The club nominated Wolf Werner as the new coach. At the end of the season Borussia stood with the third place in the table for the last time in this decade at a UEFA Cup place. The Association of German Sports Journalists voted Uwe Rahn "Player of the Year". Again Borussia reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. But also this time Borussia lost against the later DFB Cup winner Hamburger SV. On 22 April 1987, Borussia lost against the Scottish representative Dundee United after defeat at home in Bökelberg in the UEFA Cup semi-final. It was also the first defeat in a European Cup game on the Bökelberg. After the departure of Jupp Heynckes, the era of long-standing engagements of head coaches ended. In the first 23 years from 1964 to 1987 Borussia only had three instructors; Since the departure of Heynckes, Borussia had committed 16 new coaches until 2008, with the exception of interim solutions. It was Werner's release on 21 November 1989 that saw first premature dismissal of a coach at Borussia at all. Only three later coaches managed to succeed in Mönchengladbach for more than three years, Bernd Krauss (1992–1996), Hans Meyer (1999–2003) and Lucien Favre (2011–2015).


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the next season Borussia signed Stefan Effenberg, a player who worked long and successfully for the club. Borussia finished the season in seventh place and thus missed the participation in international competitions. The early 1990s followed a significant downward trend. As a result of the sporting decline, the number of spectators at the Bökelberg was declining for the first time. Already in the season 1989–90 the club played against relegation. In the following years Borussia placed in the midfield of the league. In the 1991–92 season Borussia played again a good cup season. In the Cup semi-final goalkeeper Uwe Kamps held on penalties all four penalties of the players of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Borussia reached the final. The final on 23 May 1992 saw the Mönchengladbachers lose against the club from second division Hannover 96 3:4 on penalties.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In 1993, the club signed the players Heiko Herrlich and Patrik Andersson, and in 1994, Stefan Effenberg came back, who played for Borussia Mönchengladbach from 1987 to 1990. Under coach Bernd Krauss, they managed a renewed connection to the Bundesliga top end. In the 1994–95 season came the first trophy for Borussia since 1979, where they won the DFB-Pokal with a 3–0 victory over VfL Wolfsburg. Borussia would also win the Supercup against the German champions Borussia Dortmund a few months later.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The team's performance slipped significantly in the 1990s and "Die Fohlen" soon found themselves struggling in the lower half of the Bundesliga table.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: After the first round of the 1996–97 season, Borussia finished 17th place in the table. The club dismissed coach Krauss due to the sporting failure. At the end of the season, the Mönchengladbacher were in 11th place. None of the other four coaches to Krauss remained in office for more than a year. Under Friedel Rausch could Borussia only hold the bundesliga position after a dramatic season finale in 1998. Before the last matchday, the Borussia were three points behind a relegation zone. On the final day of the season succeeded a 2–0 away win at VfL Wolfsburg; Karlsruher SC lost to Hansa Rostock and went down due to the worse goal difference.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the international arena, the season was disappointing despite two victories in the first round of the UEFA Cup against Arsenal. Borussia lost in the second round of the first leg 2–4 against AS Monaco, the most recent victory Borussia reached with a 1–0 in Monaco, but were eliminated from the competition. In the season 1998–99 Borussia won 3–0 against FC Schalke 04 on Matchday 1 and was at the top of the table for the first time in 13 years. As a result, the team lost six matches and drew two draws, so they stood on the ninth day at the bottom of the table. On the tenth and eleventh round followed by a 2:8 defeat against Bayer 04 Leverkusen and a 1:7 at Vfl Wolfsburg two high defeats in a row. The team remained until the end of the season in 18th place. After a total of 21 lost games, the consequence was the first descent from the Bundesliga. As a consequence of the descent, several top performers, including goalkeeper Robert Enke, defender Patrik Andersson and midfielder Karlheinz Pflipsen and Sebastian Deisler all left the club.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Finally, in 1999, Gladbach were relegated to 2. Bundesliga, where they would spend two seasons. Upon returning to the Bundesliga in 2001, Mönchengladbach remained uninspired as they continued to be mired in the bottom half of the league.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The first season in the 2nd Bundesliga started the same way as the previous one ended. In the DFB Cup, the team were knocked out early after a lost penalty shootout against the regional league SC Verl. The second division season 1999–2000 ended the Borussia despite bad first round still on the fifth place in the table. Four points were missing for direct promotion.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: On 1 August 2000, Borussia Mönchengladbach celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the club. As part of the celebrations, next to coach Hennes Weisweiler the following players were elected by Borussia supporters in the so-called century Elf: As goalkeeper Wolfgang Kleff, in defence Berti Vogts, Hans-Günter Bruns, Wilfried Hannes and Patrik Andersson, in midfield Rainer Bonhof, Stefan Effenberg, Herbert Wimmer and Günter Netzer and in attack Jupp Heynckes and Allan Simonsen. Later, large-format posters with images of the players on the north and east sides were attached to the steel exterior of the stadium in Borussia Park.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 2000–01 season, the team was able to celebrate as a runner-up in the Bundesliga 2 re-emergence in the Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, but were knocked out as in the previous year against a Regionalligisten ( 1 FC Union Berlin ) on penalties. Borussia won first place in the national fair play ranking in 2002 in the draw for a place in the UEFA Cup, but the lot was not drawn. Also in the season 2003–04 Borussia missed participation in the UEFA Cup. On 17 March 2004, the Borussia were eliminated by a 0–1 defeat against the then second division Alemannia Aachen in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. A victory against the Alemannia would have been enough, because the final opponent Werder Bremen was already qualified for the UEFA Champions League due to the table position. The season was under the motto "Bye Bye Bökelberg", because on 22 May 2004, the last Bundesliga match took place in Bökelbergstadion. The Borussia defeated TSV 1860 Munich 3:1; the last goal on Bökelberg was headed by Arie van Lent. Uwe Kamps came on in the 82nd minute and came to his 457th match in the Bundesliga.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In 2004, Mönchengladbach appointed Dick Advocaat, who had guided the Netherlands national team to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2004 and was a successful manager at Rangers, as their new coach. However, Advocaat was unable to turn the team's fortunes and resigned in April of the following year. Former Mönchengladbach player and German international Horst Köppel was appointed caretaker for the remaining five fixtures of the season. Köppel had managed the club's reserves since leaving Borussia Dortmund in June 2004. For the 2006–07 season, legendary Mönchengladbach player and coach Jupp Heynckes was appointed as team coach.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Borussia had taken steps to improve their financial situation with the construction of a new state-of-the-art stadium called Borussia-Park with a permitted capacity of 59,771 spectators (limited to 54,067 for Bundesliga games and to 46,249 for international games). The club had long been hindered by playing in a much smaller and older facility (Bökelberg, capacity 34,500) and with the opening of the new stadium in 2004 can look forward to increased revenues through higher ticket sales and the ability to host lucrative international matches.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: On the 31st matchday of the 2006–07 season, Borussia Mönchengladbach were relegated from the Bundesliga after fellow relegation fighters Arminia Bielefeld upset Werder Bremen 3–2 while Mönchengladbach lost 1–0 at home to VfB Stuttgart. They were promoted back to the Bundesliga on the 32nd match-day of the 2007–08 season after winning the match against SV Wehen 3–0.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: For the 110th anniversary of the club, the club brought out a DVD on which the club's story is told in a 110-minute film. On 28 July 2010 it was premiered in a cinema in Mönchengladbach.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the DFB Cup 2010–11 for the first time after five years the round of 16 was reached. In the Bundesliga they succeeded after 16 years in getting the first victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, but at the end of the preliminary round, the club were in last place.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Due to the seasonally poor athletic performance, a merger of leaders from the local economy founded the "initiative Borussia", which accused the club management of mismanagement. According to the initiative, the old, encrusted structures should be dissolved in order to give Borussia a future. So the money should be invested in the sport rather than in the planned museum complex with attached hotel. At the 2011 Annual General Meeting, only 335 of the 4769 members present voted in favour of the initiative's goals.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: At the Bundesliga home game against 1. FSV Mainz 05, Marco Reus scored the 2500th Bundesliga goal in the 1445th game. Other Jubiläumstorschützen were Jupp Heynckes (500), Carsten Nielsen (1000), Uwe Rahn (1500) and Martin Dahlin (2000).


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The first newcomer in the winter break was the free transfer of striker Mike Hanke of Hannover 96. The defence was reinforced with Håvard Nordtveit and Martin Stranzl. On 13 February 2011 Michael Frontzeck was dismissed due to continued failure as a coach. Decisive were defeats against the direct relegation competitors VfB Stuttgart and FC St. Pauli. Lucien Favre was hired as the new head coach. After the team had been in the last place in the table until the 30th match day, they achieved three wins in a row and reached after a 1–1 draw at the last game day 16th place, which allowed one last chance to remain in the league. Borussia competed in two relegation matches against the second league team VfL Bochum and were able to prevent relegation with a 1–0 at home and a 1–1 draw in Bochum.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Under Favre, who took over in January 2011, Borussia Mönchengladbach has in recent years shown ambitions to re-establish themselves in the top regions of the Bundesliga. In the 2010–11 season, after a disastrous first half of the season, Borussia Mönchengladbach managed to narrowly avoid relegation through the post-season relegation play-offs.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The following season, 2011–12, followed this up with a strong season in which they were for much of the year in contention for the championship and eventually finished in fourth place. They missed out on qualification to the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League after losing 4–3 on aggregate to Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv in the playoff round. During the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, after losing some key players, notably Marco Reus who was voted player of the year in the Bundesliga in the previous season, Borussia Mönchengladbach still contended for the international places until the last match day, eventually finishing in eighth place.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 2013–14 Bundesliga season, they had another very successful year, achieving an excellent third-place after the first half of the season and finishing the season in sixth place, entering them into the 2014–15 Europa League competition at the play-off stage. They finished the 2014–15 Bundesliga season in third place, saving the club a place for direct qualification to the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage. The club found itself in a tough group together with Juventus, Manchester City and Sevilla and although they finished bottom of the group, they claimed a respectable points tally of five, claiming draws home and away against Juventus and defeating eventual Europa League winners Sevilla 4–2 at home.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: After a poor start to the 2015–16 Bundesliga season, including five defeats, Favre resigned and was replaced with André Schubert as interim coach. The club's fortunes immediately changed, as it won six-straight Bundesliga matches and eventually finishing the season in fourth position, earning qualification to the Champions League for a second successive season.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 2016–17 season, Borussia drew a difficult group in the Champions League, but managed to finish in third place above Celtic and qualify for the UEFA Europa League knockout phase. However, after a promising start in the Bundesliga, the club experienced a poor run of form exacerbated by injuries, and had dropped to the 14th position by the winter break. As a result, André Schubert resigned and was replaced by ex-VfL Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking. Hecking began with three wins in four Bundesliga matches as Borussia rose to ninth place and also earned a place in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: A new record transfer was made by the club for the season. For the German international and world champion Matthias Ginter, the club transferred 17 million euros plus bonus payments to Borussia Dortmund.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the ninth edition of the Telekom Cup, Borussia had as early as January of the same year again to be content with the fourth and last place after a defeat on penalties against Werder Bremen and against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The first round of the DFB Cup 2017–18 was able to make Borussia victorious. The VfL won the West duel against Rot-Weiss Essen 2–1. In the league prelude, the "Fohlenelf" kept by a goal of Nico Elvedi 1–0 in the Rheinland derby against 1. FC Köln the upper hand and "overwintered" after a final 3–1 home win against Hamburger SV to half-time as sixth with 28 points from eight wins, four draws and five defeats. In the DFB Cup Borussia were eliminated on 20 December 2017 in the last competitive game of the year after a 0–1 defeat in the second round against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Borussia-Park at home, after the "Werkself" had already on the 9th matchday of the Bundesliga at the same place won 5–1. The second round match failed; the decisive goal to 1–2 defeat at 1. FC Köln fell in the fifth minute of stoppage time. By contrast, the financial data in the 2017 financial year was more positive. Despite a lack of participation in international competitions, the association posted the second-best result in its history with a turnover of 179.3 million euros and a profit after tax of 6.56 million euros after the record year 2016. The 2017–18 season ended for Borussia after a 1–2 defeat at Hamburger SV left them in ninth place and thus missed, as in the previous year, the qualification for the European competitions. The game was also the last for Hamburg in the highest German league after 55 years of uninterrupted affiliation.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In July 2018, the French striker Alassane Pléa from OGC Nice arrived for the record sum of 23 million euros. In the first round of the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal Mönchengladbach defeated BSC Hastedt 11–1. Thus, Borussia surpassed the previous record, which had been set by the club in an 8–0 victory in the away game at 1. FC Viersen in the first round of the 1977–78 DFB-Pokal.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In the 2019–20 Bundesliga, Mönchengladbach started the season well, and was on top of the league in December 2019, after defeating Bayern Munich 2–1. However, a shaky run of results in the second half of the season meant they ultimately finished in fourth place, 17 points behind champions Bayern. Monchengladbach thus qualified for the UEFA Champions League and were drawn against Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Borussia achieved their largest win in the Champions League with a 6–0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, with Alassane Pléa scoring a hat-trick. They advanced to the knockout stage after finishing second place in Group B, but were ultimately knocked out in the round of 16 by Manchester City.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: And LEYU became Official Regional Partner of Borussia Mönchengladbach, which made meaningful progress in Asian market.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: In addition to celebrity fans like Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Thierse, Sven Ottke, Kai Ebel, Mickie Krause, Matthias Opdenhövel, Peer Steinbrück and Hannelore Kraft, there are fan clubs in many countries, as far as California, South Africa and New Zealand. A known fan group of the club were "Steinwegs Mamm", who provided the drum in the 1960s for the team, and Ethem Özenrenler, known by his nickname "Manolo" who beat the drum in the northern curve of the Bökelberg Stadium for over 25 years since 1977.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: After the DFB Cup match against the 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 25 October 1994, a 6–4 win for Mönchengladbach, a fan friendship developed between Mainz and Borussia, which is now maintained by only a few supporters.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: On the other hand, there is a long friendship with Liverpool, which comes from the time both teams regularly met in international games. Fans of Borussia travel to Liverpool at regular intervals to watch local Reds games. Conversely, followers from Liverpool still use a visit to Mönchengladbach to symbolise the mutual fan friendship of both clubs. The fans of Mönchengladbach collected 21,000 DM for the families of the 96 dead in the stadium disaster in Sheffield (1989) and presented it to Liverpool FC in 1991 in Mönchengladbach. For the 110th anniversary of the club on 1 August 2010, Liverpool FC were the opponents in a friendly match. The match in front of 51,515 spectators in the Borussia Park Mönchengladbach was won 1–0.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: By contrast, there is a strong sporting rivalry between Mönchengladbach and the regional rival 1. FC Köln. Widely considered the most severe of Mönchengladbach's rivalries, the animosities between Mönchengladbach and Cologne had their spark in 1964, when Cologne manager Hennes Weisweiler switched allegiance in favour of Mönchengladbach. Weisweiler is a central figure in both clubs' mythologies; the mascot of Cologne is named "Hennes" in his honour, whereas Mönchengladbach venerates Weisweiler as the coach of its "team of the century". Mönchengladbach's stadium, Borussia-Park, is furthermore located at a road named "Hennes-Weisweiler-Allee" in Weisweiler's memory.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: This initial outrage on behalf of FC Köln supporters was soon met with a serious sporting rivalry: Although Cologne initially had had the athletic edge as a founding member of the Bundesliga and the league's first champion, Mönchengladbach quickly closed the gap. Between the seasons 1969–70 and 1977–78, Mönchengladbach won five championships, Cologne won one, and FC Bayern Munich secured the remaining three. The 77–78 season has become remembered in both club's collective memories: Although Mönchengladbach defeated Borussia Dortmund in the highest victory in Bundesliga history with a crushing 12–0, Cologne carried the championship with a 5–0 win over FC St. Pauli due to their slightly better goal difference (+45 versus +42 in Cologne's favour). To add insult to injury, Cologne was back under the leadership of Hennes Weisweiler, the personified point of contention between both clubs.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Although neither club has been able to win a Bundesliga title since the 1977–78 season, the rivalry remains, with several incidents of violence between supporters of both clubs. Overall, Mönchengladbach has been more successful in matches between the two, winning 54 out of 105 duels, drawing 20 and losing 31. Notably, Mönchengladbach is more likely to win than FC Köln even in away matches (24–10–17 in Mönchengladbach's favour). The very first iteration of Borussia vs FC Köln was played on 1 January 1961 in front of a crowd of 11,000 in Oberliga West (1947–63). Cologne defeated Mönchengladbach 4–1.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The official club anthem is the song "The Eleven of the Lower Rhine", which is sung before every home game. The song was recorded by the group BO, the band of the fan project. Next to them are the songs "We are Borussia" and "The soul burns" a permanent place in the fan scene. The anthem by Gerry & the Pacemakers, "You'll Never Walk Alone", which is sung by numerous clubs around Europe is frequently heard.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: The goal song (), which is heard after every home game, is the refrain of Scooter's "Maria (I Like It Loud)". It is accompanied by the sonorous announcement "Tor für die Borussia", by Rolf Göttel, who worked as honorary announcer of Borussia in Bökelbergstadion for decades.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: A first mascot was created by manager Helmut Grasshoff and was called "Bumsi". The head was a Telstar- style ball with eyes and black, curly hair. The official mascot of the club since the season opener in 1998, is the foal "Jünter", whose name refers to the Mönchengladbach native and longtime Borussia player Günter Netzer.


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: Borussia Mönchengladbach's five Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display two gold stars of the "Verdiente Meistervereine".


title: Borussia Mönchengladbach

text: For a list of every Borussia Mönchengladbach player with 100 or more appearances, see "List of Borussia Mönchengladbach players"


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer, soldier, and politician. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston from 1940 to 1945.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: The only son of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill, he wrote the first two volumes of the official life of his father, complemented by an extensive archive of materials. His first wife (1939–46) was Pamela Digby; their son, Winston, followed his father into Parliament.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph Churchill was born at his parents' house at Eccleston Square, London, on 28 May 1911. His parents nicknamed him "the Chumbolly" before he was born.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: His father Winston Churchill was already a leading Liberal Cabinet Minister, and Randolph was christened in the House of Commons crypt on 26 October 1911, with Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and Conservative politician F. E. Smith among his godparents. Randolph and his older sister Diana had for a time to be escorted by plain clothes detectives on their walks in the park, because of threats by suffragettes to kidnap them. He was a page at the marriage of the Prime Minister's daughter Violet Asquith to Maurice Bonham Carter on 1 December 1915.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: He recalled the Zeppelin raids of 1917 as "a great treat", as the children were taken from their beds in the middle of the night, wrapped in blankets, and "allowed" to join the grown-ups in the cellar; he also recalled the Armistice celebrations at Blenheim Palace.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: He went to Sandroyd School in Wiltshire, and later admitted that he had had a problem with authority and discipline. His headmaster reported to his father that he was "very combative". Winston, who had been neglected by his parents as a small boy, visited his son at prep school as often as possible. Randolph was very good-looking as a child and into his twenties. In his autobiography "Twenty-One Years" (pp. 24–25) he recorded that at the age of ten he had been "interfered with" by a junior prep school master, who made Randolph touch him sexually, only to leap embarrassed to his feet when a matron came in. At home, a maid overheard Randolph confiding in his sister Diana. He later wrote that he had never seen his father so angry, and that he had made a hundred-mile trip to demand that the teacher be dismissed, only to learn that the teacher had already been sacked.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: He remembered that he and Diana returned from ice-skating in Holland Park on 22 June 1922 to find the house guarded and being searched by "tough-looking men" following the assassination of Field Marshal Henry Wilson.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Winston gave his son a choice of Eton College or Harrow School, and he chose the former. Randolph later wrote "I was lazy and unsuccessful both at work and at games … and was an unpopular boy". He was once said to have been given "six up" (i.e. a beating) by his house's Captain of Games (a senior boy) for being "bloody awful all round". Michael Foot later wrote that this was "the kind of comprehensive verdict which others who had dealings with him were always searching for." He once wrote apologising to his father for "having done so badly and disappointed you so much". During the General Strike he fixed up a secret radio set as his housemaster would not allow him to have one. In November 1926 his headmaster wrote to his father to inform him that he had caned Randolph, then aged 15, after all five of the masters then teaching him had independently reported him for "either being idle or being a bore with his chatter".


title: Randolph Churchill

text: As a teenager Randolph fell in love with Diana Mitford, sister of his friend Tom Mitford. Tom Mitford was regarded as having a calming influence on him, although his housemaster Colonel Sheepshanks wrongly suspected Randolph and Tom of being lovers; Randolph replied, "I happen to be in love with his sister".


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph was "a loquacious and precocious boy". From his teenage years he was encouraged to attend his father's dinner parties with leading politicians of the day, drink and have his say, and he later recorded that he would simply have laughed at anyone who had suggested that he would "not" go straight into politics and perhaps even become Prime Minister by his mid-twenties like William Pitt the Younger. His sister later wrote that he "manifestly needed a father's hand" but his father "spoiled and indulged him", and did not take seriously the complaints of his schoolmasters. He was influenced by his godfather Lord Birkenhead (F. E. Smith), an opinionated and heavy-drinking man. Winston Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequer from late 1924 until 1929. Busy in that office, he neglected his daughters in favour of Randolph, who was his only son. On a visit to Italy in 1927 Winston and Randolph were received by Pope Pius XI. In later life "relations between Winston and Randolph were always uneasy, the father alternately spoiling and being infuriated by the son."


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In April 1928 Winston forwarded a satisfactory school report to Clementine, who was in Florence, commenting that Randolph was "developing fast" and would be fit for politics, the bar or journalism and was "far more advanced than I was at his age". His mother replied that "He is certainly going to be an interest, an anxiety & an excitement in our lives". He had cool relations with his mother from an early age, in part because she felt him to be spoiled and arrogant as a result of his father's overindulgence. Clementine's biographer writes that "Randolph was for decades a recurrent embarrassment to both his parents".


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In what would turn out to be his final report on leaving Eton, Robert Birley, one of his history teachers, wrote of his native intelligence and writing ability, but added that he found it too easy to get by on little work or with a journalist's knack of spinning a single idea into an essay.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph went up to Christ Church, Oxford, in January 1929, partway through the academic year and not yet eighteen, after his father's friend Professor Lindemann had advised that a place had fallen vacant.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In May he spoke for his father at the May 1929 general election. Between August and October 1929 Randolph and his uncle accompanied his father (now out of office) on his lecture tour of the US and Canada. His diary of the trip was later included in "Twenty-One Years". On one occasion he impressed his father by delivering an impromptu five-minute reply to a tedious speech by a local cleric. At San Simeon (the mansion of press baron Randolph Hearst) he lost his virginity to the Austrian-born actress Tilly Losch an erstwhile lover of his close friend Tom Mitford.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph was already drinking double brandies at the age of nineteen, to his parents' consternation. He did little work or sport at Oxford and spent most of his time at lengthy lunch and dinner parties with other well-connected undergraduates and with dons who enjoyed being entertained by them. Randolph later claimed that he had benefited from the experience, but at the time his lifestyle earned him a magisterial letter of rebuke from his father (29 December 1929), warning him that he was "not acquiring any habits of industry or concentration" and that he would withdraw him from Oxford if he did not knuckle down to study. Winston Churchill had also received a similar and oft-quoted letter of rebuke from his own father, Lord Randolph Churchill, at almost exactly the same age.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph dropped out of Oxford in October 1930 to conduct a lecture tour of the US. He was already in debt; his mother guessed correctly that he would never finish his degree. Contrary to his later claims, his father attempted to dissuade him at the time.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Unlike his father, who had become a powerful orator through much practice, and whose speeches always required extensive preparation, public speaking came easily to Randolph. His son later recorded that this was a mixed blessing: "because of the very facility with which he could speak extemporaneously [he] failed to make the effort required to bring him more success".


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph very nearly married Kay Halle of Cleveland, Ohio, seven years his senior. His father wrote begging him not to be so foolish as to marry before he had established a career. Clementine visited him in December, using money Winston had given her to buy a small car. Contrary to newspaper reports that she had crossed the Atlantic to put a stop to the wedding, she only learned of the engagement when she arrived. She found Randolph, to her horror, living in an extravagant suite of hotel rooms, but was able to write to Miss Halle's father, who agreed that it would be unwise for their children to marry.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Clementine wrote to her husband of one of Randolph's lectures "Frankly, it was not at "all" good" and commented that he should have had it well-practised by now, although she was impressed by his delivery. She went home in April 1931, having enjoyed Randolph's company in New York. She would later look back on the trip with nostalgia.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph's lecture tour earned him $12,000 (£2,500 at the then rate of exchange, roughly £150,000 at 2020 prices). By the time of his mother's arrival he had already spent £1,000 in three months, despite being on a £400 annual parental allowance. He left the US owing $2,000 to his father's friend, the financier Bernard Baruch; a debt which he did not repay for thirty years.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In October 1931 Randolph began a lecture tour of the UK. He lost £600 by betting wrongly on the results of the General Election; his father paid his debts on condition he gave up his chauffeur-driven Bentley, a more extravagant car than his father drove. In 1931 he shared Edward James's house in London with John Betjeman. By the early 1930s Randolph was working as a journalist for the Rothermere press. He wrote in an article in 1932 that he planned to "make an immense fortune and become Prime Minister" He warned that the Nazis meant war as early as March 1932 in his "Daily Graphic" column; his son Winston later claimed that he was the first British journalist to warn about Hitler.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In 1932 Winston Churchill had Philip Laszlo paint an idealised portrait of his son for his 21st birthday. Winston Churchill organised a "Fathers and Sons" dinner at Claridge's for his birthday on 16 June 1932, with Lord Hailsham and his son Quintin Hogg, Lord Cranborne and Freddie Birkenhead, the son of Winston's late friend FE Smith. Also present were Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty and his son, and Oswald Mosley (then still seen as a coming man). That year Randolph flew into a rage with Lord Beaverbrook, when his "Daily Express" singled him out in a story on the sons of great men, which sneered that "major fathers as a rule breed minor sons, so our little London peacocks had better tone down their fine feathers." "The function of the gossip writer", said Randolph, "is not among those which commend themselves mostly highly to my generation" (in middle age Randolph would himself become a highly paid London gossip columnist).


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph reported from the German elections in July 1932. Randolph encouraged his father to try to meet Adolf Hitler in summer 1932 whilst he was retracing the Duke of Marlborough's march to Blenheim (Winston was writing the Duke's life at the time); the meeting fell through at the last minute as Hitler excused himself. Randolph had an affair with Doris Castlerosse in 1932, causing a near fight with her husband. She later claimed to have had an affair with his father Winston in the mid 1930s, although Winston's biographer Andrew Roberts believes the latter claim unlikely to be true.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph, then aged just 21, was sent to Paraguay in August 1932 by Beaverbrook's "Daily Express". Just after his arrival in Asunción, he conducted an interview with Major Arturo Bray Riquelme, Director of the Military School and Commander of the R.I. 6 "Boquerón", formed from the officers and cadets of the Paraguayan Military School; this report was published in the "Daily Express" on Thursday, August 11, 1932, when the R.I. 6 was in full preparation to depart or at the war front in the Chaco. Arturo Bray was highly requested by the British Press, as the English knew that Bray was a British officer, hero of World War I, awarded with the highest medals of bravery bestowed by Britain and France.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: At Lady Diana Cooper's fortieth birthday party in Venice that year a woman was deliberately burned on her hand with a cigarette by a thwarted lover, and Randolph sprang to her defence.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph also became embroiled in the controversy of the February 1933 King and Country debate at the Oxford Union Society. Three weeks after the Union had passed a pacifist motion, Randolph and his friend Lord Stanley proposed a resolution to delete the previous motion from the Union's records. After a poor speech from Stanley, the president, Frank Hardie, temporarily handed over the chair to the librarian and opposed the motion on behalf of the Union, a very unusual move. The minutes record that he received "a very remarkable ovation". Randolph was then met by a barrage of hisses and stink bombs. His speech, facing what the minutes describe as a "very antipathetic and even angry house" was "unfortunate in his manner and phrasing" and was met with "delighted jeers". He then attempted to withdraw the motion. Hardie was willing to permit this, but an ex-president pointed out from the floor that a vote of the whole house was required to allow a motion to be withdrawn. The request to withdraw was defeated by acclamation and the motion was then defeated by 750 votes to 138 (a far better attendance than the original debate had attained). Randolph had persuaded a number of other former students, life members of the Union, to attend in the hope of carrying his motion. A bodyguard of Oxford Conservatives and police escorted Churchill back to his hotel after the debate. Sir Edward Heath recorded in his memoirs that after the debate some of the undergraduates had been intent on debagging him. Winston Churchill wrote praising his son's courage in addressing a large, hostile audience, adding that "he was by no means cowed".


title: Randolph Churchill

text: Randolph's good looks and self-confidence soon brought him some success as a womaniser, but his attempt to seduce one young woman at Blenheim failed after she spent the night in bed for protection with his cousin Anita Leslie, while Randolph sat on the side of the bed talking at length of "when I am prime minister". Randolph, who had been lucky not to be named in court as one of her lovers, also comforted a tearful Tilly Losch in public at Quaglino's after her divorce in 1934, to the amusement of the other diners and the waiters.


title: Randolph Churchill

text: In the 1930s, Winston's overindulgence of his son was one of several causes of coolness between him and Clementine. Clementine several times threw him out of Chartwell after arguments; at one time Clementine told Randolph she hated him and never wanted to see him again.