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Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion today possesses the largest free-standing grandstand in Europe, while the stadium also boasts the highest average attendance in the world. Alex Grimm / Staff
The club was founded in 1909 when Franz Jacobi and 17 others gathered inside a pub called Borussia just off Dortmund's Borsigplatz with the aim of establishing their own football team. Marc Mauricius Quambusc
The 18 made the move in response to the Catholic Holy Trinity chaplain Hubert Dewald's refusal to allow his youth group members the chance to kick a ball around. Marc Mauricius Quambusch
Jacobi originally dragged his friends to Dortmund as he was in love with the pub owner's daughter, who he would later go on to marry. Marc Mauricius Quambusch
Heinrich Unger, Josef Jacobi, Robert Unger were among those 18, with Heinrich Unger being appointed the club's first president in 1909. Franz Jacobi succeeded him in 1910 and remained in the role until 1923. Marc Mauricius Quambusch
Jacobi died at the age of 90 in 1979, but only after seeing his club Dortmund win the 1966 European Cup Winners' Cup final against Liverpool in Glasgow aged 78. Marc Mauricius Quambusch
Jacobi's idea of the "Borussia Family" continues to resonate today, with the club's supporters and players enjoying a special relationship. "The core of the fans are very close still and the club as well is close to the fans," ESPN FC German correspondent Stephan Uersfeld says. ODD ANDERSEN / Staff
Despite Dortmund's troubles in the German Bundesliga this season, which had seen the club slip into the relegation zone, supporters have mostly continued to stay behind their team. Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images
Some 3,000 Dortmund fans have helped raise €250,000 ($265,000) to finance a new documentary based on Jacobi called "Am Borsigplatz geboren: Franz Jacobi und die Wiege des BVB" --"Born at the Borsigsquare: Franz Jacobi and the cradle of BVB." Alex Grimm / Staff
