Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Berlin. The team competes in the Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football.
BFC Dynamo was founded in East Germany in 1966 from the football department of sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. BFC Dynamo established itself as a top-team in the DDR-Oberliga in the mid-1970s. Supported by extensive youth work, BFC Dynamo became one of the most successful clubs in East German football. BFC Dynamo is the record champion of East Germany, with ten consecutive league championships from 1979 through 1988, under coach Jürgen Bogs. In 1989, the team became the first and only winner of the DFV-Supercup.
BFC Dynamo renamed itself to FC Berlin during Die Wende. One of the largest hooligan scenes in Germany was formed around FC Berlin. The team finished the last season of the top East German league in 11th place and just narrowly failed to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga. The club lost the equivalent of two complete teams in players to other clubs in the first one or two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. FC Berlin struggled in re-unified Germany and never progressed beyond the third tier of German football. The club took back its old name Berliner FC Dynamo in 1999.
BFC Dynamo suffered a financial crisis in 2001 and would become insolvent. The club's supporters played an important part in the club avoiding bankruptcy. The insolvency proceedings were brought to a positive conclustion in 2004 and the club consolidated in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. After an undefeated season in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord under coach Volkan Uluc, the team finally won promotion to Regionalliga Nordost in 2014.
BFC Dynamo has since established itself firmly in the Regionaliga Nordost. In 2022, the team won its first Regionalliga title, under coach Christian Benbennek. BFC Dynamo has become one of the most successful teams in the Berlin Cup in recent years. The team has won six Berlin Cup titles since 2013. BFC Dynamo saw the biggest increase in membership of any club in Berlin in 2021, apart from Hertha BSC and 1. FC Union Berlin. By 2023, the club had finally managed to win back the rights to its previously lost traditional crest. During the 2023-24 season, BFC Dynamo reported its highest attendance figures since 1990.
BFC Dynamo plays its home matches at the Stadion im Sportforum. The club enjoys a traditional cross-city rivalry with 1. FC Union Berlin. The rivalry with Union Berlin is part of the Berlin derby. BFC Dynamo has won recognition for its youth work. Since 2003, the club operates an award-winning day care project for local children. The club is based in the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen. The sports complex is the location of the club offices, the clubhouse and the youth teams.
History
Background: SC Dynamo Berlin (1954–1966)
BFC Dynamo started as a football department of sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. SC Dynamo Berlin was founded on 1 October 1954 as one of the new elite sports clubs in East Germany. The sports club was affiliated to sports association SV Dynamo.
The new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin became a center of excellence () of sports association SV Dynamo. In order to establish a competitive side in Berlin, the team of SG Dynamo Dresden and its place in the DDR-Oberliga was transferred to the new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. The relocation was designed to give the capital a team that could rival teams from West Berlin, such as Hertha BSC, which were still popular in East Berlin. Among the players delegated from SG Dynamo Dresden were Johannes Matzen, Herbert Schoen and Günter Schröter. The team played its first match as SC Dynamo Berlin on 21 November 1954 against BSG Rotation Babelsberg in the 1954-55 DDR-Oberliga. Most players of the former SG Dynamo Dresden team had aged by the late 1950s. The team was now instead shaped by a new generation of players, including Martin Skaba, Werner Heine, Waldemar Mühlbächer, Hermann Bley and Konrad Dorner. SC Dynamo Berlin won its first trophy in the 1959 FDGB-Pokal. However, the team was not allowed to participate in the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup. The East German Football Association () (DFV) decided that local rival and league runner-up ASK Vorwärts Berlin was a better representative.
SC Dynamo Berlin had some success in early 1960s; finished runners-up in the 1960 DDR-Oberliga and reached the final of the 1961-62 FDGB-Pokal. However, SC Dynamo Berlin found itself overshadowed in the capital by the army-sponsored ASK Vorwärts Berlin. By the end of the 1962–63 DDR-Oberliga, SC Dynamo Berlin had become a lower-table side.
Founding and rise (1966–1978)
East German football was reorganized in 1965–1966 when the football departments of ten sports clubs (SC) were made into ten designated football clubs (FC). As part of this reorganization, the football department of SC Dynamo Berlin became football club Berliner FC Dynamo. BFC Dynamo was founded on 15 January 1966. Manfred Kirste was elected club chairman and the SV Dynamo President Erich Mielke was made honorary chairman.
The new designated football clubs were formed as centers of excellence in East German football, with the right to draw on talents within designated geographical and administrative areas. BFC Dynamo was initially assigned Bezirk Cottbus and one third of East Berlin as catchment area. BFC Dynamo was officially a club of the Ministry of the Interior and the club's official sponsor was the Volkspolizei. However, Honorary Chairman Mielke was the head of the Stasi, and BFC Dynamo would eventually come to receive personal, organizational and financial support from the Stasi.
BFC Dynamo was relegated to the second-tier DDR-Liga in 1967 and subsequently began a rejuvenation of the team. The team eventually dominated the 1967-68 DDR-Liga Nord and immediately won promotion back to the DDR-Oberliga. Among the talented players from the youth department who were integrated into the first team in the late 1960s and early 1970s were Harald Schütze, Norbert Johannsen, Peter Rohde, Frank Terletzki, and Bernd Brillat. BFC Dynamo reached the final of the 1970-71 FDGB-Pokal. The team lost the final 1–2 in overtime to SG Dynamo Dresden, but qualified for the 1971-72 European Cup Winners' Cup as runner-up.
The Ministry of Defense decided to relocate FC Vortwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder ahead of the 1971–72 season. BFC Dynamo and 1. FC Union Berlin were from now on the only major football clubs in East Berlin. BFC Dynamo was allowed to take over the catchment area in East Berlin that had previously belonged to FC Vorwärts Berlin. The team would also get the opportunity to play more matches at the larger and more centrally located Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Prenzlauer Berg, which led to increased interest in the club and growing attendance numbers.
BFC Dynamo stood out among other teams within SV Dynamo. The team was located at the frontline of the Cold War. It was also a representative of the East German capital. This meant that the club had to be well equipped. BFC Dynamo would get access to a nationwide scouting network, which included numerous training centers () (TZ) of SV Dynamo across East Germany. BFC Dynamo would eventually be able to recruit young talented players from 38 training centers (TZ) across East Germany for its youth department. By comparison, 1. FC Union Berlin only had access to 6 training centers (TZ) in the Berlin area.
The team was joined by forward Wolf-Rüdiger Netz from SG Dynamo Schwerin in 1971. BFC Dynamo made its first appearance in an UEFA Competition in the 1971-72 European Cup Winners' Cup. The team reached all the way to the semi-finals. BFC Dynamo thus became the first team from Berlin to reach the semi-finals in one of the two most prestigious UEFA club competitions (the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup). BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated by Dynamo Moscow in the semi-finals, after a penalty shoot-out in the return leg.
Harry Nippert became the new coach in 1973. BFC Dynamo also recruited midfielder and national team player Reinhard Lauck from relegated 1. FC Union Berlin the same year. BFC Dynamo had the youngest team in the league in the 1975-76 DDR-Oberliga, with an average age of 22.5 years. Talented players from the youth department were continuously integrated into the first team in the 1970s, such as Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Lutz Eigendorf, Norbert Trieloff and Bodo Rudwaleit. BFC Dynamo established itself as a top team in the DDR-Oberliga in the mid-1970s. 30-year-old Jürgen Bogs became the new coach in 1977.
Golden era (1978–1989)
BFC Dynamo had developed a very successful youth academy. Numerous players from the youth department were integrated into the first team during the 1970s. The average age in the team was only 22.7 years at the start of the 1978–79 season. BFC Dynamo under Jürgen Bogs played an aggressive football that focused on attacking.
BFC Dynamo had a very successful start in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga and became Herbstmeister. The team reached the 1979 FDGB-Pokal final, but was defeated by 1. FC Magdeburg. Midfielder Lutz Eigendorf defected to West Germany on 20 March 1979 in connection with a friendly match in Kaiserslautern. His defection was considered a slap in the face of the East German regime; Eigendorf had been one of the most promising players in East Germany. BFC Dynamo eventually won its first DDR-Oberliga title in 1979. The team broke several league records during the 1978–79 season, such as: most number of matches won since the start of a season (10), most number of unbeaten matches since the start of a season (22), most goals scored in one season under the current format (75) and the biggest win in the DDR-Oberliga in the last 30 years (10–0 against BSG Sachsenring Zwickau on the 17th matchday). Hans-Jürgen Riediger became second best goalscorer in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga with 20 goals.
BFC Dynamo made its debut in the European Cup in 1979. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 1979–80 European Cup, where it faced Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough. The team won the first leg 0–1 away, after a goal by Riediger. BFC Dynamo thus became the first German team to defeat an English team in England in the European Cup. The team won its second consecutive DDR-Oberliga title in 1980, after defeating first-placed SG Dynamo Dresden 1–0 on the final matchday in front of 30,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The East Germany national football team won silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. BFC Dynamo was represented by five players in the squad: Bodo Rudwaleit, Artur Ullrich, Norbert Trieloff, Frank Terletzki and Wolf-Rüdiger Netz. All five played in the final against Czechoslovakia.
More talented players from the youth department were integrated into the first team at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s, such as Rainer Ernst, Bernd Schulz, Frank Rohde, Falko Götz and Christian Backs. BFC Dynamo won the league again in 1981, after defeating second-placed FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2–1 in a deciding match on the final matchday. BFC Dynamo reached the 1982 FDGB-Pokal final, but lost to SG Dynamo Dresen in a penalty shoot-out. The team won its fourth consecutive league title in 1982, after defeating 1. FC Magdeburg 4–0 on the 23rd matchday. Supporters of BFC Dynamo invaded the pitch of the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in celebration of the league title. It was the first pitch invasion by the supporters of BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga.