The third phase of the redevelopment is now complete. All four corners of the Westfalen stadium are now in full use. Dortmund now has the most beautiful and biggest footballing ’temple‘ in all of Germany. The game against Werder Bremen (2-1 win) was watched by 80,500 fans, the second biggest crowd in the history of the Bundesliga. On December 3 confirmation was finally received that the stadium would host four group matches, a quarter final and a semi-final of the 2006 World Cup. Dortmund president Dr Niebaum described this as a huge honour for the club. On January 30, 2004 the stadium was packed to its capacity for the first time when Schalke 04 came to town for a game witnessed by 83,000. But these stadium developments cannot be paid for by BVB. The ground is leased to a property developer but any hope of ever buying back ownership is simply going to be beyond the club’s funds. In the spring of 2005 Borussia Dortmund only just escape bankruptcy.

The fans experienced a roller coaster of success and failure in the years thereafter. With the cost of the squad necessarily halved, the team went through some dark times on the pitch too. At times relegation was a real possibility but generally the club ended up between 7th and 9th place.

2007/08 was the low point when the club finished in 13th spot. A significant reason for this poor showing was the considerable distraction of the German (DFB) Cup the final of which was reached for the first time since 1989.