Borussia Monchengladbach present record budget

The club announced in its annual member meeting that it is to start the 2005/06 Bundesliga season with a new record budget of €50.5m.

Despite a disappointing campaign where the club avoided relegation, the club made a pre-tax profit of €3.6m. After being plagued by debts of almost €15m only five years ago, club president Ralf König was pleased to report that debts had been cancelled out. "We have finally turned into a reliable tax-payer," said König.

The club’s average attendance rose from 32,000 to 49,000 with season-tickets up from 19,500 to 27,000 while the club also won 6,000 new members, bringing the total to 26,600. The move to the Borussia-Park also helped to increase sponsorship revenue from €9.3m to €17.6m.The positive financial situation allows the club to shoulder a €50.5 budget from next season – up from €40 million during the 2004/05 campaign – but financial director Stephan Schippers insisted that the club will not take any economic risk. "Our planning is very conservative and is based on the fact that we’ll finish the season on 15th, attract an average attendance of 45,000 and lose in the first round of the German Cup," he explained.