Berliner Fußballclub 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-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Berlin. The team competes in the Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football.

BFC Dynamo was founded in East Germany in 1966 from the football department of sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. BFC Dynamo established itself as a top-team in the DDR-Oberliga in the mid-1970s. Supported by extensive youth work, BFC Dynamo eventually became one of the most successful clubs in East German football. BFC Dynamo is the record champion in East Germany, with ten consecutive league championships from 1979 through 1988, under coach Jürgen Bogs. In 1989, the team became the first and only winner of the DFV-Supercup.

BFC Dynamo renamed FC Berlin during ''Die Wende''. One of the largest hooligan scenes in Germany was formed around FC Berlin. Young FC Berlin-supporter Mike Polley was killed by German police during football riots in Leipzig in 1990. FC Berlin just narrowly failed to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga in 1991. The club lost the equivalent of two complete teams in players to other clubs in the first one or two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. FC Berlin struggled in re-unified Germany and never progressed beyond the third tier of German football. The club took back its old name Berliner FC Dynamo in 1999.

BFC Dynamo suffered a financial crisis in 2001 and eventually became insolvent. The club's supporters played an important part in saving the club from bankruptcy. The insolvency proceedings were brought to a positive conclustion in 2004 and the club consolidated in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. After an undefeated season in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord under coach Volkan Uluc, the team finally won promotion to Regionalliga Nordost in 2014.

BFC Dynamo has since established itself as a strong team in the Regionalliga Nordost and a major competitor in the Berlin Cup. In 2022, the team won its first Regionalliga title, under coach Christian Benbennek. BFC Dynamo saw the biggest increase in membership of any club in Berlin in 2021, apart from Hertha BSC and 1. FC Union Berlin. By 2023, the club had finally managed to win back the rights to its previously lost traditional crest. During the 2023-24 season, BFC Dynamo reported its highest attendance figures since 1990.

BFC Dynamo plays its home matches at the Stadion im Sportforum. The club enjoys a traditional cross-city rivalry with 1. FC Union Berlin. The rivalry with Union Berlin is part of the Berlin derby. BFC Dynamo has won recognition for its youth work. Since 2003, the club also operates an award-winning day care project for local children. The club is based in the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen. The sports complex is the location of the club offices, the clubhouse and the youth teams.

History

Background: SC Dynamo Berlin (1954–1966)

BFC Dynamo started as a football department of sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. SC Dynamo Berlin was founded on 1 October 1954 as one of the new elite sports clubs in East Germany. The sports club was affiliated to sports association SV Dynamo.

The new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin became a center of excellence () of sports association SV Dynamo. In order to establish a competitive side in Berlin, the team of SG Dynamo Dresden and its place in the DDR-Oberliga was transferred to the new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. The relocation was designed to give the capital a team that could rival teams from West Berlin, such as Hertha BSC, which were still popular in East Berlin. Among the players delegated from SG Dynamo Dresden were Johannes Matzen, Herbert Schoen and Günter Schröter. The team played its first match as SC Dynamo Berlin on 21 November 1954 against BSG Rotation Babelsberg in the 1954-55 DDR-Oberliga. Most players of the former SG Dynamo Dresden team had aged by the late 1950s. The team was now instead shaped by a new generation of players, including Martin Skaba, Werner Heine, Waldemar Mühlbächer, Hermann Bley and Konrad Dorner. SC Dynamo Berlin won its first trophy in the 1959 FDGB-Pokal. However, the team was not allowed to participate in the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup. The East German Football Association () (DFV) decided that local rival and league runner-up ASK Vorwärts Berlin was a better representative.

SC Dynamo Berlin had some success in the first two seasons of the 1960s. The team finished runners-up in the 1960 DDR-Oberliga and reached the final of the 1961-62 FDGB-Pokal. However, SC Dynamo Berlin found itself overshadowed in the capital by the army-sponsored ASK Vorwärts Berlin. The team of SC Dynamo Berlin during the 1960s would eventually prove relatively weak. By the end of the 1962–63 DDR-Oberliga, SC Dynamo Berlin had become a lower-table side.

Founding and rise (1966–1978)

East German football was reorganized in 1965–1966 when the football departments of ten sports clubs (SC) were made into ten designated football clubs (FC). As part of this reorganization, the football department of SC Dynamo Berlin became football club Berliner FC Dynamo. BFC Dynamo was founded on 15 January 1966. Manfred Kirste was elected club president and the SV Dynamo President Erich Mielke was made honorary president.

The new designated football clubs were formed as centers of excellence in East German football, with the right to draw on talents within designated geographical and administrative areas. BFC Dynamo was initially assigned Bezirk Cottbus and one third of East Berlin as catchment area. BFC Dynamo was officially a club of the Ministry of the Interior and the club's official sponsor was the Volkspolizei. However, Honorary President Mielke was the head of the Stasi and BFC Dynamo would eventually come to receive personal, organizational and financial support from the Stasi.

BFC Dynamo was relegated to the second-tier DDR-Liga in 1967 and subsequently began a rejuvenation of the team. The team eventually dominated the 1967-68 DDR-Liga Nord and immediately won promotion back to the DDR-Oberliga. Among the talented players from the youth department who were integrated into the first team in the late 1960s and early 1970s were Harald Schütze, Norbert Johannsen, Peter Rohde, Frank Terletzki, and Bernd Brillat. BFC Dynamo reached the final of the 1970-71 FDGB-Pokal. The team lost the final 1–2 in overtime to SG Dynamo Dresden, but qualified for the 1971-72 European Cup Winners' Cup as runner-up.

The Ministry of Defense decided to relocate FC Vortwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder ahead of the 1971–72 season. BFC Dynamo and 1. FC Union Berlin were from now on the only major football clubs in East Berlin. BFC Dynamo was allowed to take over the catchment area in East Berlin that had previously belonged to FC Vorwärts Berlin. The team would also get the opportunity to play more matches at the larger and more centrally located Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Prenzlauer Berg, which led to increased interest in the club and growing attendance numbers.

BFC Dynamo stood out among other teams within SV Dynamo. The team was located at the frontline of the Cold War. It was also a representative of the East German capital. This meant that the club had to be well equipped. BFC Dynamo would get access to a nationwide scouting network, which included numerous training centers () (TZ) of SV Dynamo across East Germany. BFC Dynamo would eventually be able to recruit young talented players from 38 training centers (TZ) across East Germany for its youth department. By comparison, 1. FC Union Berlin only had access to 6 training centers (TZ) in the Berlin area.

The team was joined by forward Wolf-Rüdiger Netz from SG Dynamo Schwerin in 1971. BFC Dynamo made its first appearance in an UEFA Competition in the 1971-72 European Cup Winners' Cup. The team reached all the way to the semi-finals. BFC Dynamo thus became the first team from Berlin to reach the semi-finals in one of the two most prestigious UEFA club competitions (the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup). BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated by Dynamo Moscow in the semi-finals, after a penalty shoot-out in the return leg.

Harry Nippert became the new coach in 1973. BFC Dynamo also recruited midfielder and national team player Reinhard Lauck from relegated 1. FC Union Berlin the same year. BFC Dynamo had the youngest team in the league in the 1975-76 DDR-Oberliga, with an average age of 22.5 years. Talented players from the youth department were continuously integrated into the first team in the 1970s, such as Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Lutz Eigendorf, Norbert Trieloff and Bodo Rudwaleit. BFC Dynamo established itself as a top team in the DDR-Oberliga in the mid-1970s. 30-year-old Jürgen Bogs became the new coach in 1977.

Golden era (1978–1989)

BFC Dynamo had developed a very successful youth academy. Numerous players from the youth department were integrated into the first team during the 1970s. The average age in the team was only 22.7 years at the start of the 1978–79 season. BFC Dynamo under Jürgen Bogs played an aggressive football that focused on attacking.

BFC Dynamo had a very successful start in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga and became '' Herbstmeister''. The team reached the 1979 FDGB-Pokal final, but was defeated by 1. FC Magdeburg. Midfielder Lutz Eigendorf defected to West Germany on 20 March 1979 in connection with a friendly match in Kaiserslautern. His defection was considered a slap in the face of the East German regime; Eigendorf had been one of the most promising players in East Germany. BFC Dynamo eventually won its first DDR-Oberliga title in 1979. The team broke several league records during the 1978–79 season, such as: most number of matches won since the start of a season (10), most number of unbeaten matches since the start of a season (22), most goals scored in one season under the current format (75) and the biggest win in the DDR-Oberliga in the last 30 years (10–0 against BSG Sachsenring Zwickau on the 17th matchday). Hans-Jürgen Riediger became second best goalscorer in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga with 20 goals.

BFC Dynamo made its debut in the European Cup in 1979. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 1979–80 European Cup, where it faced Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough. The team won the first leg 0–1 away, after a goal by Riediger. BFC Dynamo thus became the first German team to defeat an English team in England in the European Cup. The team won its second consecutive DDR-Oberliga title in 1980, after defeating first-placed SG Dynamo Dresden 1–0 on the final matchday in front of 30,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The East Germany national football team won silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. BFC Dynamo was represented by five players in the squad: Bodo Rudwaleit, Artur Ullrich, Norbert Trieloff, Frank Terletzki and Wolf-Rüdiger Netz. All five played in the final against Czechoslovakia.

More talented players from the youth department were integrated into the first team at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s, such as Rainer Ernst, Bernd Schulz, Frank Rohde, Falko Götz and Christian Backs. BFC Dynamo won the league again in 1981, after defeating second-placed FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2–1 in a deciding match on the final matchday. BFC Dynamo reached the 1982 FDGB-Pokal final, but lost to SG Dynamo Dresen in a penalty shoot-out. The team won its fourth consecutive league title in 1982, after defeating 1. FC Magdeburg 4–0 on the 23rd matchday. Supporters of BFC Dynamo invaded the pitch of the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in celebration of the league title. It was the first pitch invasion by the supporters of BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga.

BFC Dynamo was drawn against West German champion Hamburger SV in the first round of the 1982-83 European Cup. The first leg was played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The Stasi feared riots, political demonstrations and supporters who might express sympathy for West German stars. Only 2,000 tickets were allowed for ordinary fans. The rest was instead allocated to a politically hand-picked audience. BFC Dynamo defender Norbert Trieloff later said: "When we came out for that game, we realized something was wrong." The match ended 1–1, with a goal by Riediger. BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated after a 2–0 defeat at the Volksparkstadion in the return leg.

Key players on the team in the 1982–83 season were Bodo Rudwaleit, Christian Backs, Rainer Troppa, Frank Rohde, Frank Terletzki, Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Norbert Trieloff, Artur Ullrich, Wolf-Rüdiger Netz, Michael Noack, Ralf Sträßer and Rainer Ernst. BFC Dynamo had come to dominate the DDR-Oberliga by 1982. The team went through the entire 1982-83 DDR-Oberliga undefeated. BFC Dynamo was defeated 1–2 by FC Karl-Marx-Stadt on the seventh matchday of the 1983-84 DDR-Oberliga. It was the first loss since the 22nd matchday of the 1981-82 DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo had then been undefeated in 36 matches, which set a new record in the DDR-Oberliga for the longest unbeaten run.

BFC Dynamo was drawn against FK Partizan Belgrade in the second round of the 1983-84 European Cup. Players Falko Götz and Dirk Schlegel defected to West Germany during a shopping tour in Belgrade the day before the second leg. The talented 18-year old forward Andreas Thom from the youth department was given the chance to make his international debut in the match as a replacement for Götz. BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated by AS Roma in the quarter finals of 1983-84 European Cup. It was the fourth time in five seasons that BFC Dynamo had been eliminated in the European Cup by an eventual finalist; three times had BFC Dynamo been eliminated by the champion: Nottingham Forrest in 1979, Aston Villa in 1981 and Hamburger SV in 1982. BFC Dynamo captured its sixth consecutive league in 1984. Rainer Ernst became the best goal scorer in the 1983-84 DDR-Oberliga with 20 goals. BFC Dynamo reached the 1984 FDGB-Pokal final, but lost to SG Dynamo Dresden.

BFC Dynamo recruited Frank Pastor from relegated HFC Chemie in 1984. The team was drawn against Aberdeen FC under Alex Ferguson in the first round of the 1984–85 European Cup. BFC Dynamo eventually won the round after dramatic penalty shoot-out at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in the return leg. Goalkeeper Bodo Rudwaleit saved the last two penalty kicks for Aberdeen FC. BFC Dynamo finished the 1984-85 DDR-Oberliga in first place, six points ahead of SG Dynamo Dresden. The team had scored a total of 90 goals in 1984-85 DDR-Oberliga, which set a new record. No team would ever score more goals in one season in the DDR-Oberliga. With 24 goals, Rainer Ernst was once again the best goal scorer in the league. Frank Pastor was the second best goal scorer in the league with 22 goals. BFC Dynamo reached the 1985 FDGB-Pokal final, but was again defeated by SC Dynamo Dresden in the final.

BFC Dynamo was in first place in the league before the winter break 1985–1986. The team faced 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig on the 18th matchday of the 1985-86 DDR-Oberliga. 1. FC Lokomotiv Leipzig led the match 1–0 in overtime. BFC Dynamo was then awarded a penalty in the 95th minute by referee Bernd Stumpf. Frank Pastor converted the penalty and the match ended in a 1–1 draw. The penalty was highly controversial and would later become known as the " Shame penalty of Leipzig". BFC Dynamo won the 1985-86 DDR-Oberliga. The team finished just two points ahead of runner-up 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

BFC Dynamo had the best material conditions in the league and the best team by far. But controversial refereeing decisions in favor of BFC Dynamo gave rise to speculation that the dominance of BFC Dynamo was not solely due to athletic performance, but also due to help from referees. BFC Dynamo was a representative of both the Stasi and the capital. The team was therefore viewed with more suspicion than affection. The overbearing success of BFC Dynamo in the 1980s made fans of opposing teams easily aroused as to what they saw as manipulation by bent referees. The team was met with aggression and shouts such as "Bent champions!" () and "Jews Berlin!" () at away matches.

Complaints of alleged referee bias accumulated into the hundreds in the mid-1980s. The East German Football Association (DFV) eventually conducted an internal analysis of the 1984–85 season. Among other things, the analysis found that BFC Dynamo had incurred only one third of the yellow cards incurred by rival SG Dynamo Dresden. A review was also made of the final of the 1985 FDGB-Pokal final between BFC Dynamo and SG Dynamo Dresden. This analysis concluded that 30 percent of the referee decisions were wrong, and found that 80 percent of those had been of disadvantage to SG Dynamo Dresden. A number of referees were sanctioned for their performances in matches involving BFC Dynamo in the following months, including the referees involved in the 1985 cup final.

A particularly controversial episode was the penalty awarded to BFC Dynamo by referee Bernd Stumpf in extra time in the match between 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and BFC Dynamo in March 1986. The penalty caused a wave of protests. SED General Secretary Erich Honecker and the Secretary for Security, Youth and Sport of the SED Central Committee Egon Krenz were fed up with the "football question" and the "BFC-discussion". Honecker wanted quiet. An example was consequently made out of referee Stumpf. He was permanently banned from refereeing by the DFV. The sanctions against Stumpf were approved by Honecker and Krenz in the SED Central Committee. However, a previously unknown video recording of the match was published by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) in 2000. The video recording showed that the penalty was correctly awarded and that the sanctions against Stumpf were unjustified. In an interview in 2000, Stumpf said: "The people have never understood, how this Leipzig game was used by the highest officials in the party and government."

The benefit of controlling important matches in Western Europe might have put indirect pressure on the referees to take preventive measures, in so-called preventive obedience. In order pursue an international career, a referee would need a travel permit, confirmed by the Stasi. It became known after the German reunification that several referees had also been Unofficial collaborators (IM) of the Stasi. However, there is no evidence to show that referees were under direct instructions from the Stasi and no document has ever been found in the archives that gave the Stasi a mandate to bribe referees.

The picture that the success of BFC Dynamo relied upon referee bias is dismissed by former BFC Dynamo players and coaches. Some of them admit that there might have been cases of referee bias, but they all insist that it was the thoroughness of their youth work and the quality of their play that earned them their titles. Former coach Jürgen Bogs has said: "You cannot postpone 26 matches in one season in the DDR-Oberliga. At that time we had the best football team". German author Steffen Karas claims that BFC Dynamo only scored nine match-deciding goals in the 86th minute or later, in the 218 matches it won or drew during its ten championship years. Only one of those goals came from a penalty.

Supported by numerous training centers (TZ) of the SV Dynamo sports association, BFC Dynamo was able to filter the best talents through nationwide screening and train them in its youth academy. The youth academy had full-time trainers employed for every age group. As the coach of the DDR-Oberliga team, Bogs worked with modern training methods, such as video evalutations, which was not yet common in East Germany. The club also applied heart rate and lactate measurements during training, which only came to the Bundesliga many years later. Former referee Bernd Heynemann has concluded: "The BFC is not ten times champions because the referees only whistled for Dynamo. They were already strong as a bear."

BFC Dynamo recruited 20-year-old Thomas Doll from relegated F.C. Hansa Rostock in 1986. Doll and Andreas Thom would form one of the most effective attacking duos in East German football in the late 1980s. The 1986–87 and 1987-88 seasons saw renewed competition in the DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo eventually won its tenth consecutive league title in 1988. The 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga was won on goal difference in the final matchday. Andreas Thom became the best goalscorer in 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga with 20 goals. The team then defeated FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1988 FDGB-Pokal final and finally completed the Double.
Thom was voted the 1988 East German footballer of the year.

BFC Dynamo was drawn against West German champion SV Werder Bremen in the first round of the 1988-89 European Cup. BFC Dynamo sensationally won the first leg 3–0 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. However, the team lost the return leg at the Weser-Stadion with 0–5. The return leg would become known as the second "Miracle on the Weser". BFC Dynamo defeated FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the 1989 FDGB-Pokal final and won its second consecutive cup title. SG Dynamo Dresden eventually broke the dominance of BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga in the 1988-89 season. BFC Dynamo finished the 1988-89 DDR-Oberliga as runner-up, and SG Dynamo Dresden became the new champion. Coach Bogs was replaced by Helmut Jäschke after the 1988–89 season. As the cup winner, BFC Dynamo was set to play the new league champion SG Dynamo Dresden in the first edition of the DFV-Supercup. BFC Dynamo won the match 4-1 and became the first and, eventually, only winner of the DFV-Supercup in the history of East German football.

FC Berlin, decline and insolvency (1989–2004)

The 1989–90 season was marked by the political change in East Germany. The Berlin Wall was opened on 9 November 1989 and people in East Berlin could now travel freely to West Berlin. Andreas Thom was signed to Bayer Leverkusen. He left the team during the winter break 1989–1990 and became the first player in the DDR-Oberliga to be transferred to the West German Bundesliga after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Stasi was definitively dissolved on 13 January 1990 and thus BFC Dynamo lost a major sponsor. The East German Ministry of the Interior announced that it was only prepared to support the club until the end of the 1989–90 season and the fate of the club was uncertain. BFC Dynamo was eventually rebranded as FC Berlin on 19 February 1990. The team finished the 1989-90 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place and failed for the first time in a long time to qualify for an UEFA competition. Thomas Doll and Frank Rohde left for Hamburger SV and Rainer Ernst for 1. FC Kaiserslautern after the season.

Jürgen Bogs returned as coach in 1990. FC Berlin finished the 1990-91 NOFV-Oberliga in 11th place, but qualified for the play-off for the 2. Bundesliga. The team just narrowly failed to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga. More players left the team after 1990–91 season, including Heiko Bonan for VfL Bochum, Burkhard Reich for Karlsruher SC and Hendrik Herzog for FC Schalke 04. The 1991–92 season was the first season when teams from East Germany and teams from West Germany played in the same league system. The NOFV-Oberliga was now at third tier in the German football league system. Sweeper Heiko Brestrich returned the team in 1991. The team was also joined by defender Jens Reckmann from the youth department the same year. Brestrich and Reckmann would be two of the most capped players of FC Berlin in the 1990s. FC Berlin dominated the 1991-92 NOFV-Oberliga, but failed for the second season in a row to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga. FC Berlin lost 11 players after the 1991–92 season. In total, the club lost two complete teams in the first year or two after the fall of the Berlin Wall: 22 players had left for the Bundesliga and 13 players for the 2. Bundesliga.

After failing to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga in 1991 and 1992, FC Berlin had to continue at amateur level. The club now had to rely heavily on its youth department to supply the team with new players. Coach Bogs resigned in September 1993 and was replaced by Helmut Koch. FC Berlin managed to qualify for the new Regionalliga Nordost in 1994. The reinstated Regionalliga formed the new third tier. The 1994-95 Regionalliga Nordost involved new derbies against 1. FC Union Berlin and new matches against several other well-known opponents. FC Berlin struggled in the 1994-95 Regionalliga Nordost but managed to retain its place in the league. The highlight of the 1995-96 Regionaliga Nordost were then new duels with 1. FC Dynamo Dresden. The two teams had not met since 1991.

Due to a threat of relegation, coach Koch was dismissed in October 1995. He was succeeded by former player and youth coach Werner Voigt. Defender Mario Maek also returned to the team at the same time. FC Berlin organized one of the biggest youth football tournaments so far in the eastern part of the country in April 1996. As many as 30 youth teams from clubs such as Chelsea F.C., Feyenoord, SK Rapid Wien, FC Spartak Moscow, FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund participated.
FC Berlin finished the 1995-96 Regionaliga Nordost in 13th place. Club President Volkmar Wanski announced in November 1996 that the financial reserves had been used up; the millions of Deutsche Mark that the club had made from player transfers in the early 1990s were now gone.

Defender Jörn Lenz returned to the team during the winter break 1997–1998. Lenz would be a key player for several seasons to come. The successes in the Regionalliga did not materialize; FC Berlin remained a lower-table side. Coach Voigt eventually left for 1. FC Dynamo Dresden in March 1998. Henry Häusler became new coach in 1998. Among the key players on the team in the 1998–99 season were Heiko Brestrich, Jörn Lenz, Mario Kallnik and Mario Maek. Coach Häusler was already dismissed in April 1999, due to repeated public criticism of the team. The club took back its old name of BFC Dynamo on 8 May 1999. BFC Dynamo defeated Berlin Turkspor 1965 4–1 in the final of the 1998-99 Berlin Cup and finally won its first Berlin Cup title. Brestrich scored two goals, Ayhan Gezen one goal and Maek one goal for BFC Dynamo in the final. Former FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt-player and coach Klaus Goldbach became new coach at the end of the season.

BFC Dynamo recruited goalkeeper Nico Thomaschewski from 1. FC Union Berlin in 1999. BFC Dynamo suffered a period of crisis during the autumn of 1999; the club had run into financial difficulties, and the team had plummeted down the league after several matches without a single win. Heiko Brestrich was sacked after a protest against coach Goldbach. Brestrich had played 282 matches for the team between 1991 and 1999. Eventually, Jürgen Bogs returned for his third stint as coach in December 1999. Hans Reker became the new sporting director in January 2000. Through Reker, BFC Dynamo finally got a promising main sponsor in the form of the software company Lipro AG. However, the struggle in the league continued and BFC Dynamo finished the 1999-2000 Regionalliga in 17th place. The team was thus relegated to NOFV-Oberliga Nord; for the first time, BFC Dynamo was a fourth-tier team. After six years in office, Club President Wanski resigned in June 2000, in protest against Lipro AG's demand for influence.

About a dozen new players were signed in the summer of 2000, including five Romanian players, four of whom were former national team players. Social democratic SPD-politician Karin Halsch became the new club president in September 2000. BFC Dynamo finished the 2000–01 NOFV-Oberliga Nord in first place. BFC Dynamo striker Denis Kozlov became the top scorer in the league with 29 goals. The team faced 1. FC Magdeburg in the play-off for the Regionalliga Nord. However, two weeks before the first leg, it had become clear that the club was in major financial trouble. Players had not received their salaries for months and the club was behind on insurance payments. BFC Dynamo lost the play-off after a 5–2 defeat away in the second leg. Several players left the team immediately after the season.

The insurance company AOK eventually filed for insolvency against BFC Dynamo in June 2001. Shortly afterwards, Halsch resigned as club president and Reker took over as acting president. The club's total debts were now estimated at 5.5 millions Deutsche Mark. BFC Dynamo tried to initiate a partnership with FC Dynamo Moscow, but the plans led nowhere. BFC Dynamo needed 30,000 Deutsche Mark by 31 October 2001 to open insolvency proceedings, but the club did not have the money. If insolvency proceedings could not be opened, the club would go bankcrupt. Supporters of BFC Dynamo staged a demonstration march from Sportforum Hohenschönhausen to Rotes Rathaus to save the club. Also former players such as Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Rainer Troppa, Waldemar Ksienzyk and Heiko Brestrich, planned to participate. A sponsor group around former club president Wanski eventually came forward at the last second and offered the money.

BFC Dynamo, and then FC Berlin, was said to have made millions from player sales after ''Die Wende''. The club was for a time considered the richest amateur club in Germany. But not all the money had gone to the club. Some had also gone to SV Dynamo, the East German Football Association (DFV) and agents. The club's reputation as a former Stasi club made it difficult to win new sponsors. The club was also plagued by hooliganism which repeatedly made negative headlines. FC Berlin failed to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga and never progressed beyond third tier. Average attendance was only a couple of hundreds in the early 1990s. FC Berlin ran a large youth department which at one point cost 400,000 Deutsche Marks a year. At the end of 1996, the club had no money left in its bank accounts and Club President Volkmar Wanski would need to support the club with annual personal financial contributions. In 2000, the club finally got a promising main sponsor in the form of Lipro AG and made a bid to reach the third tier. However, the millions from Lipro AG later turned out to be loans.

Insolvency proceedings were opened on 1 November 2001. BFC Dynamo was automatically relegated to the Verbandsliga Berlin and had to continue under amateur conditions. Only three players from the former squad remained for the first mandatory friendly match, including new team captain Piotr Rowicki. Jörn Lenz left for VfB Leipzig