Lionel Messi has his detractors. Everyone loves to hate Cristiano Ronaldo. The same holds true for Manchester United, AC Milan, and countless other powerhouse European clubs.

Who hates Borussia Dortmund?

(Well…outside of supporters of any other German club…)

I’ve been active on Twitter for about three years. While it’s not exactly a “scientific” indicator, I have never seen anyone on Twitter speaking out passionately against the black and yellow club. But that’s only half the battle. It’s not enough to have a minimal number of naysayers; you have to have positive attributes as well.

Here’s a rundown of why I believe Borussia Dortmund to be the most “likeable” club in all of Europe.

Supporters

Their passion is unrivaled.

Show me another club whose fans are capable of this…

 

 

And just to show you how they do away from home…

 

No Oil Money Necessary

In a time when clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, and most recently Paris-Saint Germain rise to prominence because a wealthy oil baron(s) fell into their lap, Borussia Dortmund’s success has been the result of good old fashion “buy young, sell high”.

Perhaps their best player, Mario Götze, is only 20 years old and comes straight from Dortmund’s youth ranks. The same can be said for fullbacks Marcel Schmelzer (age 25) and Marc Hornschuh (age 22). They’ve also brought in talented youngsters Marco Reus (Borussia Monchengladbach) and talented center back duo Neven Subotic (Mainz) and Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich) from outside their ranks without drastically overpaying.

It’s very refreshing to watch a championship caliber team be built with smart purchases and an outstanding youth system.

Jürgen Klopp

Sometimes all it takes is an unlikeable manager to make or break a club’s reputation. Fortunately for Dortmund, Klopp is very candid in interviews (he’s done some time as a TV analyst) and at the (somewhat) young age of 45 he doesn’t take himself too seriously in general. He also has a son who plays for Borussia Dortmund’s b-team and lives in the same neighborhood as many of his players.

Talk about devotion to the club!

Style

There’s no distinct about the way they play; they are simply fun to watch. Marco Reus is one of the finest dribblers in the world, Götze can pass as well as anyone, and guys like Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski work tirelessly without any semblance of selfish or indignant behavior. Fullbacks Lukasz Pizczek and Marcel Schmelzer love to go forward as much as anyone.

There are no “superstars” or “divas” on this team and that is also very refreshing in the current times in which we live.

Colors

Okay, so I’m partial to this last one as a Columbus Crew supporter.

But I did take a graphic design class once in college and I learned that yellow and black is the single most effective color combination to use when you want people to retain your “message”.

 

Many of the world’s finest clubs have at least one glaring attribute that causes a certain segment of the neutral fan population to hate them. But I’m not sure you can find such a flaw with Borussia Dortmund. There’s too much energy, too many positive vibes surrounding this team.

Will it last forever? Who knows. But I’ll always be a fan until they give me a reason to feel otherwise…