New ground, new coach, new players for Dortmund
Many things have changed at Borussia Dortmund in the last months – they have a new coach, a new squad with many young newcomers, and this international competition is new ground for the handball section of the famous football club. In their debut season of the EHF European League, they are aiming high.
Main facts
- after two seasons in the EHF Champions League Women, reaching the play-offs both times, Dortmund are making their debut in the European League
- the squad has changed a lot – 11 new players arrived, 12 players left the club
- in October, Dortmund parted ways with coach Andre Fuhr. He was replaced by former Netherlands and Germany national team coach Henk Groener on 1 November
- last season, Dortmund finished second in the German Bundesliga, below unbeaten champions SG BBM Bietigheim after becoming German champions for the first and only time in 2021
- in the qualifiers for the European League group phase they beat Zeleznicar (SRB) by the biggest gap of all teams: 74:37 on aggregate
- their biggest international success was winning the EHF Challenge Cup in 2003 and being finalists in the EHF Cup in 1997
Most important question: What impact will the new coach have?
The domestic and international start for new Borussia coach Henk Groener was successful. In the German Bundesliga, the former Netherlands and Germany national team coach and Borussia have won all matches, including the two easy-going European League qualifiers against Serbian champions Zeleznicar.
Groener took over the club after Andre Fuhr left in a difficult situation, as also German internationals Amelie Berger and Mia Zschocke left the club in October. With his long-term experience in international women’s handball, Groener seems to be the right coach. Although, as for the whole club, the European League is a new experience for Groener, reaching the quarter-finals or further seems to be manageable.
How they rate themselves
Despite their strong Champions League season in 2021/22 with some top results but knowing that the squad changed a lot, Borussia Dortmund remain humble, but ambitious.
“We are happy to have reached the group stage and we are looking forward to the upcoming matches. The goal is to get to the EHF Finals,” says chairman Rupert Thiele. “After successfully competing in the Champions League last season, we are now looking forward to this competition.”
For team captain Alina Grijseels it is “always a pleasure to play against international teams and fight for every single win. We want to finish among the top two in the German league and grab our chances in the EHF European League.
“The most important thing this season is to challenge ourselves to the best performance. For us it was important to reach the group phase in the first step. Now we will see which teams will be in our group and then of course we try to win as many games as possible to reach maybe the quarter finals. We have a young team, so we try to focus game to game.”
Under the spotlight: Alina Grijseels
Until the final day of the EHF EURO 2022, Dortmund’s playmaker was on top of the scorer list with 44 goals, then got passed by three players, including the eventual top scorer Nora Mørk. The EHF EURO 2022 was another big stage for the versatile playmaker, who has incredible shooting abilities too. In Dortmund, the team captain is the clear leader – and as many changes in the squad occurred, she was always the one to lead the match-play, mainly in attack. The 26-year-old is the current German Handball Player of the year and is team captain of the national team alongside Emily Bölk.
What the numbers say
Borussia Dortmund count on players from seven countries (Germany, Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and Denmark), and traditionally on many Dutch players such as, in the past, Kelly Dulfer, Inger Smits, Laura van der Hejden or Merel Freriks. The new Dutch generation is represented by goalkeeper Yara ten Holte (who will move to Danish champions Odense after this season), Harma van Kreji, Zoe Sprengers, and now even coach Henk Groener.
Did you know?
Borussia Dortmund is the first ever female club team for coach Henk Groener. Before he became Dutch national team coach in 2009, he had only coached men’s teams in the Netherlands and Germany. From 2018 until April 2022, he was Germany’s national team coach.
Arrivals and departures:
Newcomers: Lisa Antl (Buxtehuder SV), Sara Garovic (ZRK Bukovicka Banja Arandjelovac), Lena Hausherr (BSV Sachsen Zwickau), Norah Kothen (TV Aldekerk), Maraike Kusian (VfL Wolfsburg), Sophie Moth (Holstebro Handbold), Emma Olsson (Fram Reykjavík), Meret Ossenkopp (Buxtehuder SV), Zoe Sprengers (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Zoe Stens (TVB Wuppertal), Harma van Kreij (Krim Ljubljana)
Left the club: Mie Sando (Toulon Métropole Var HB), Tessa van Zijl (CBM Elche), Jackie Moreno (Stella Saint-Maur), Fatos Kücükylidiz (Sport-Union Neckarsulm), Tina Abdula (Storhamar HE), Jennifer Gutierrez Bermejo (Rapid Bucuresti), Merel Freriks (Brest Bretagne HB), Laura van der Heijden (Chambray Tourraine), Viktoria Woth (TuS Metzingen), Paulina Uscinowicz (Frisch Auf Göppingen), Mia Zschocke (Storhamar), Amelie Berger (HSG Bensheim/Auerbach)
Past achievements
EHF European League Women
Participations (including 2022/23 season): 1
EHF Champions League Women
Play-offs (2): 2020/21, 2021/22
EHF Cup
Runners-up (1): 1996/97
1/2 finals (1): 1999/00
1/4 finals (1): 1998/99
Challenge Cup
Winners (1): 2002/03
1/4 final (1): 2003/04
Cup Winners’ Cup
1/2 finals (2): 1994/95, 1997/98
