Berliner FC Dynamo

Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo or BFC, alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschonhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Berlin. BFC Dynamo was founded in 1966 from the football department of SC Dynamo Berlin and became one of the most successful clubs in East German football. The club is the record champion of East Germany with ten consecutive league championships from 1979 through 1988. BFC Dynamo competes in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost. The club enjoys a cross-city rivalry with 1. FC Union Berlin and a historical rivalry with SG Dynamo Dresden. The rivalry with Union Berlin is part of the Berlin derby.

History

Background

BFC Dynamo began as a football department of SC Dynamo Berlin. Dynamo Berlin was founded as a sports club in East Berlin on 1 October 1954. As all clubs bearing the name Dynamo, it was part of SV Dynamo, the sports association for the security agencies. The president of SV Dynamo was Erich Mielke, at the time Deputy State Secretary of the State Security Service, commonly known as the Stasi. Mielke was a football enthusiast, who saw football as a way of aggrandizing East Germany and socialism.

In order to establish a competitive side in Berlin, the first team of SG Dynamo Dresden, and its place in the DDR-Oberliga, was transferred to Dynamo Berlin. The team played its first match for Dynamo Berlin on 21 November 1954 against BSG Rotation Babelsberg. Political factors and pressure from Mielke were probably the main reasons behind the relocation. The relocation was designed to provide the capital with a team that could rival Hertha BSC, Blau-Weis 1890 Berlin and Tennis Borussia Berlin, which were still popular in East Berlin and drew football fans to West Berlin.

Among the players delegated from Dynamo Dresden were Johannes Matzen, Herbert Schoen and Gunter Schroter. The trio had only a few years earlier been delegated fro

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