With the summer break over, the new season has begun: After the opening victory in the first round of the DFB Pokal, life also returned to the Strobelallee. At the BVB Family Celebration Day presented by schauinsland-reisen, Borussia Dortmund welcomed the new season with its fans.

The opening of the BVB season began in the morning on Hansaplatz in Dortmund's city centre with numerous activities for both young and old. At the Black & Yellow Fan Fest, legends looked back on the title wins in 1997, 2002 and 2012. In addition, various BVB departments and teams presented themselves. Among others, players from the women's handball and football teams, as well as table tennis players and integration athletes showed their skills on the Soccercourt. The football academy and the Nordstadtliga also made an appearance there. In various teams, children from the Nordstadtliga, a flagship project of the BVB Foundation "leuchte auf" (light up), played against each other in a tournament. On stage, "leuchte auf" and AWO presented a cheque for 20,000 euros, which will once again be used to support the Nordstadtliga. 

In addition, the BVB eFootball team entertained spectators with a show match and children and their parents could try out various games of skill at the mobile games station presented by schauinsland-reisen. 10,000 BVB fans were at Hansaplatz during the course of the morning.

In the afternoon, the action continued in SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, for which 65,000 tickets were registered. In the second part of the big season opening, the various departments of integration sports, table tennis, BVB women, handball and youth presented themselves in the stadium. In addition, players from the 2011 Bundesliga title winning team and the 2012 double winning season were presented, of whom Kevin Großkreutz, Lukasz Piszczek, Marcel Schmelzer, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Roman Weidenfeller, among others, came on to the pitch. The 2002 champions were led out by Dede, with other players such as Otto Addo, Guy Demel, Ewerthon, Jan Koller and Marcio Amoroso also welcomed. For the title winners of 1956 and 1957, an intro ran across the stadium screens. Wolfgang Paul, Siggi Held and Reinhold Wosab, who won a European trophy for the first time in 1966, then took to the pitch. The 1996 Bundesliga title winning team and the 1997 UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup winners were represented by Teddy de Beer, Julio Cesar, Günter Kutowski, Paul Lambert, Knut Reinhardt, Lars Ricken, Paulo Sousa, Ibrahim Tanko, Kalle Riedle and Michael Zorc, among others.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the presentation of the current first team squad, during which the goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders as well as the strikers and the coaching staff were called up one after the other. New signings Alexander Meyer, Marcel Lotka, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle, Salih Özcan and Karim Adeyemi, who entered SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in black and yellow colours for the first time, were especially welcomed. The ill Sebastien Haller sent a video message: "As you know, unfortunately I can't be with you today. But I really appreciate your support and I'm looking forward to playing in front of you and the Yellow Wall. I wish you a good start to the season. I will be following the games and wish you all the best!"

Before the closing Legends game, the stars of yesterday and today gathered for a group photo.

Christina Reinke

BVB-TV by 1&1: BVB Family Celebration Day Re-Live