History of Berliner FC Dynamo (2004–present)

Historical chart of BFC Dynamo league performance

Following its insolvency, BFC recovered to win the Verbandsliga Berlin (V) championship in 2004 and return to fourth division play in the Oberliga Nordost-Nord (IV, now V) where they settled in as upper-table side.

On 12 June 2013, BFC Dynamo won the Berlin Cup (Berlin Pokal) for a third time, beating SV Lichtenberg 47 1–0, thus qualifying for the national cup of the DFB, the DFB-Pokal.[1] The crowd of 6,381 set a new record for a Berlin Cup final. The subsequent DFB-Pokal match, against Stuttgart, took place on 4 August 2013 in front of 9,227 spectators. The stadium capacity of the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark had been limited and ticket prices had been increased due to requirements by the DFB. While Dynamo's Christoph Köhne came close after hitting the inner post in the 31st minute, Vedad Ibišević won the game for Stuttgart with goals in the 40th and 75th minutes (a penalty), resulting in a 0–2 defeat.

In the 2013–14 Oberliga season, BFC Dynamo won 15 out of the initial 16 games (while drawing against Lichtenberg). After 21 season matches, the streak was extended to 20 wins and one draw, effectively securing promotion to Regionalliga Nordost with a 25-point lead.[2] The club subsequently extended contracts with its key players and announced to move back to the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark for its Regionalliga matches starting with the 2014–15 season.[3]

Following promotion, BFC Dynamo finished the 2014–15 Regionalliga season in fifth place. During the season, coach Volkan Uluc was replaced by former Hamburger SV player and coach of SSV Jahn Regensburg, Thomas Stratos. Under Stratos, BFC Dynamo secured yet another Berlin Cup trophy, thus qualifying again for the DFB-Pokal. The crowd of 6,914 spectators during the 2015 cup final against Tasmania Berlin (1–0 victory) at the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark set another record for a Berlin Cup final.

The 2014–15 season marked the return of the club to live television (the DFB-Pokal cup matches against Kaiserslautern in 2011 and Stuttgart in 2013 were shown by German pay TV) with its Regionalliga matches against Carl Zeiss Jena and Magdeburg being broadcast by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk television. The 2015 DFB-Pokal match was lost 0:2 against 2. Bundesliga side FSV Frankfurt. Rockenbach da Silva missed a penalty for BFC.[4]

René Rydlewicz, a former Bundesliga player who had started his career at the club, took over as BFC coach in May 2016. The Regionalliga seasons 2015–16 and 2016–17 brought mixed results. However, BFC secured another Berlin Cup title in 2017, thus qualifying for DFB-Pokal season 2017–18. Schalke was drawn as first-round opponent for the match scheduled 14 August 2017, when 14,117 spectators watched a 0–2 loss.

The mascot of BFC Dynamo "Teddy" at the Olympiastadion during the match between BFC Dynamo and 1. FC Köln in the 2018-19 DFB-Pokal on 19 August 2018.

BFC Dynamo finished the Regionalliga season 2017–18 4th and once again qualified for the DFB-Pokal. The club was drawn to play 1. FC Köln in the first round. Owing to the loss of key players such as Kai Pröger, Denis Srbeny and Rufat Dadashov in 2017 and 2018 the BFC squad was significantly weakened and eventually lost 1–9. Matthias Maucksch replaced coach René Rydlewicz in January 2019, but stepped down after the end of the 2018–19 season. He was replaced by Christian Benbennek.

The 2020–21 Regionalliga Nordost season was interrupted in the twelfth round due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The team lost several players during the break. Center back Philipp Blume was released from his contract in December 2020, while in January 2021 midfielder Lucas Brumme was transferred to SV Wehen Wiesbaden, and forward Benjamin Förster was transferred to ZFC Meuselwitz .[5][6][7] BFC Dynamo announced on 21 March that the team was going to move back to the Sportforum for the next season. Head coach Christian Benbennek extended his contract with the club one year on 27 April.[8] The 2020–21 season was finally ended by the Northeastern German Football Association (NOFV) on 16 April.[9] The final league standing was decided by a quotidient and BFC Dynano finished the season on sixth place. The of the 2021-20 Berlin Cup had also been interrupted, but the Berlin Football Association (BFV) decided on 21 April that the cup was going to be played out among the remaining five Regionalliga teams.[10][11] BFC Dynamo surprisingly defeated FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin 3–0 in the semi finals.[12] The team then defeated Berliner AK 07 2–1 in the final at the Mommsenstadion on 29 May. BFC Dynamo thus captured its seventh Berlin Cup trophy and qualified for the 2021-22 DFB-Pokal.[13]

The Berlin Football Association (BFV) registered BFC Dynamo as the Berlin representative for the 2021–22 DFB-Pokal. However, another club from Berlin filed an appeal against the decision at the DFB Federal Court on 1 July 2021. The draw for the first round was thus carried out with a neutral ball for the Berlin representative.[14] The Berlin representative was drawn against Stuttgart.[15] The club that had filed the appeal was later revealed to be SpVg Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin. The appeal was turned down on 26 July, which allowed BFC Dynamo to participate in the DFB-Pokal.[16]

Midfielders Joey Breitfeld, Andreas Pollasch, and Marcel Stutter, defender Marvin Kleihs and forward Andor Bolyki, extended their contracts before the 2021–22 season.[17] The team was also joined by several new players, such as experienced center-forward Christian Beck from Magdeburg, midfielder Darryl Geurts from FSV Union Fürstenwalde, midfielder Justin Möbius from SC Preußen Münster, defender Felix Meyer from the RB Leipzig U19 team and defender Bastian Schrewe from the Dynamo Dresden U19 team.[18][19][20][21][22][23] BFC Dynamo also recruited goalkeeper Dmitri Stajila from KF Laçi. Stajila will become the new second goalkeeper behind Kevin Sommer.[24] He was dubbed "new Rudwaleit" by newsapaper Berliner Kurier due to his impressive height.[24] Stajila has experience from the Russian Premier League and UEFA Europa League.[24]

BFC Dynamo played a series of friendly matches during the summer of 2021. The team defeated Lichtenberg 3–1 in a friendly match at the Sportforum on 8 July.[25][26] The team wore a black ribbon during the match in memory or the recently deceased former BFC Dynamo player Waldemar Mühlbächer.[26] The team then defeated SV Sparta Lichtenberg from the sixth tier Berlin-Liga 14–2 in a friendly match at the Sportforum on 11 July.[27][28] BFC Dynamo opened the 2021–22 Regionalliga Nordost season with a 4–1 win away against Lokomotive Leipzig at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion on 24 July. Christian Beck scored the first goal of the season for BFC Dynamo.[29] BFC Dynamo then played its first home match of the 2021–22 season against Energie Cottbus on 28 July, a 2–1 after a late winning goal by Andor Bolyki.[30][31]

• History of Berliner FC Dynamo (1954–1989)
• History of Berliner FC Dynamo (1989–2004)