B. Monchengladbach Women

Five wins in the Niederrhein Cup mark the surest trophy the women's side has known, the last of them coming in 2014/15, but nothing has tested Borussia Mönchengladbach's women more than the climb into the Frauen-Bundesliga and the two falls back down from it. The first promotion, in 2016/17, was built under coach Mike Schmalberg; the club could not hold its place and returned to the top flight in 2018/19, only to be relegated again. Three years later came a harder drop, into the Regionalliga. Getting back out took until 2023, when the team won the Regionalliga West and settled the promotion play-off under Jonas Spengler.

The side traces back to 1995, set up with backing from Rolf Rüssmann, then manager of the men's club, and started life in the Kreisliga before working through the regional tiers. It plays in the black, white and green of the parent club and carries the same crest, with no separate legal identity or budget of its own.

Home matches are played at the Grenzlandstadion, which holds 10,000. Games against 1. FC Köln are billed as the Rhenish derby, the closest thing the women's team has to a fixed rivalry. Chilean goalkeeper Tina Lingsch and German midfielder Laura Radke are among the names who have worn the shirt.

The club now sits back in the 2. Bundesliga, the division it has twice used as a springboard to the top flight and twice fallen back from — a place to hold, before any talk of trying that climb a third time.