He’s ushered in a new era for BVB! Dortmund’s new boss is saying things we haven’t heard for far too long

Recent months in Westphalia have been turbulent. A former high-ranking official was ensnared in an abuse scandal, while the presidential contest between incumbent Dr Reinhold Lunow and challenger Hans-Joachim Watzke descended into ugly mudslinging. On the pitch, the club had just endured a largely disastrous season. Cramer has never sugar-coated these issues, consistently stating that BVB had not presented itself well.

Cramer made these remarks around two weeks ago, shortly before Borussia Dortmund introduced their new sporting director, Ole Book. The swift appointment of an outsider from second-tier SV Elversberg took many by surprise.

Book’s first appearance lasted just under 40 minutes. Cramer spoke twice during the event—and delivered remarks that had not been heard with such clarity for far too long. Taken together, they amounted to a telling statement about the ambition with which Cramer intends to approach his new role, and with which he has been working ever since he joined BVB in 2010.

“Over the past few weeks and months, we have shown that we are willing to muster a great deal of courage and are keen to make Borussia Dortmund even better,” Cramer said. He then added that he was “not a big fan of always looking to the past, because looking back too much eventually leads to a stiff neck”.

Whether intended or not, the remark could be seen as a gentle dig at the often backward-looking Watzke, who has frequently cited the club’s decade-old successes instead of crafting a fresh, forward-looking narrative.

Following the departure of Sebastian Kehl, Cramer explained that the club aims “not just to press the reset button, but to launch a major update”. The father of four views this bold move as proof “that we at Borussia Dortmund have big plans”. He adds: “I get the impression that, in Ole, we’ve brought in someone who embodies the new BVB. He’s the missing piece—and he fits perfectly.”

This is the gist of Cramer’s remarks. Almost halfway through a season in which Borussia are racking up points in the Bundesliga as they haven’t done for many years, and unlike in the two previous seasons are on the verge of comfortably qualifying for the Champions League, the club’s director is calling for a new BVB. This is certainly remarkable, and given recent developments, urgently necessary.

Cramer has clearly heard the familiar criticism that the club too often cooks its own broth, lacks creative squad building, and has seen its once-proud identity fade. Now, with the boss pulling the strings, changes are coming thick and fast.

The move feels both invigorating and logical: Cramer has always been a man of action. His unconventional career path shows he is unyielding, relishes a challenge and thinks progressively.

He began by selling table-tennis equipment in a sports shop, later moonlighted as a stadium announcer for Preußen Münster and Hamburger SV, and then studied law before embracing a passion for marketing and sales. That eclectic journey propelled him into professional football, where he has climbed the career ladder with purpose.

Cramer is a persuasive salesman: not only is he gifted with words, he also shows genuine empathy and, unlike Watzke at times, never comes across as aloof. Since he arrived in Dortmund, the club has attracted an ever-growing list of sponsors willing to dig deep into their pockets. Dortmund’s annual turnover now comfortably exceeds half a billion euros, with a significant share coming from Cramer’s commercial divisions.

That growing clout has now propelled him into Watzke’s old chair. Since taking the helm, Cramer—who stood his ground amid fan criticism over a couple of unconventional shirt designs—has gotten to work with the same inventiveness he has always shown.

Cramer had barely settled into his role when long-serving director of communications Sascha Fligge was shown the door. In his pet project of women’s football, he underlined BVB’s ambitions by appointing the highly decorated Ralf Kellermann as sporting director and signing top scorer Alexandra Popp. He then replaced Sebastian Kehl with Lars Ricken as sporting director. Infrastructure is also being upgraded: the first-team training centre is being expanded, and the women’s section will soon occupy a purpose-built site with its own pitches adjacent to the senior men’s facility.

Cramer, who sees himself as a “catalyst”, aims to rekindle the Jürgen Klopp-era spirit while finally breaking free from it. To do so, he is backing innovative, bold and, at times, unconventional strategies.

Ultimately, of course, the success rate on the pitch will be decisive. But there is no doubt: the environment is ready for a new BVB; in some quarters, it is even craving it. This is also evident from statements such as the one Cramer made to the Westfälische Nachrichten: “Our ambition is, of course, not to be number two permanently. To achieve that, we must have this hunger, this obsession with winning matches. That applies to the whole club, every single department. You can’t even lose a legends’ game in the black-and-yellow jersey.”

Cramer now has two opportunities before him. At the helm of a major club, he can become the figure who gradually implements long-overdue reforms and re-establishes a clear, overarching vision at Borussia.

Last May, the large fan alliance “Südtribüne Dortmund” published an open letter criticising the club for lacking strategy and repeating the same old mistakes.

Ultimately, Cramer will be judged on BVB’s results on the pitch and on how sporting director Book—whom he helped recruit—reshapes the squad. On a personal level, Cramer, who has so far been unpopular with many fans, can also rebuild his reputation.

He is well aware of this and made that clear at Book’s presentation: “We must embrace change and take unconventional measures, which may well involve bringing in new faces. That starts with me.”

Cramer’s start has been promising, and the coming months are already highly anticipated. His actions and words have injected a breath of fresh air into the club. Much has been set in motion, and to build on the existing foundations, the pace must be maintained.

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