BORUSSIA Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall is one of the iconic images in global football.

But the German football heavyweights aren’t just focused on pulling back Bayern Munich’s domination in the Bundesliga. They’re looking at spreading their appeal across the globe – and they’re looking directly at Australia.

With the likes of Mitch Langerak, Ned Zelic and Mustafa Amini having flown the Australian flag at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund have grown to learn about a potential new market.

Now, they’ll be running a series of coaching clinics in Sydney and Adelaide in a bid to test the waters in Australia.

Dortmund aren’t the first big European club to venture Down Under to run clinics – but the reasons for their enthusiasm is another fascinating reminder of the global nature and connectedness of the game.

Dortmund's scorer Marco Reus (C) celebartes with (l-r) Matthias Ginter, Nuri Sahin. Source: AFP

“The German market in some categories is saturated,” Dortmund’s Head of Business Development and International Relations, Benedikt Sholz, explained to foxsports.com.au.

“The stadium is always sold out, with around 70,000 waiting for season tickets.

“The pillar of season ticket revenues is saturated; merchandise, sponsorship is the same.”

The spin-off from signing Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa in 2010 shifted the club’s thinking at a time they were still re-building from financial problems that beset them around 2005. Kagawa’s on-field success spawned mass interest from fans in Japan, and although it wasn’t a time the club was strategizing to move into international markets, Kagawa “opened doors” to Japan.

Dortmund fans celebrate during a German first division Bundesliga win. Source: AP

“Getting international interest in Dortmund was great for us back then. Obviously in Japan we’ve experienced that in the long term and we can grow our fan base and make some revenue.

“That was our first market. In six years it’s taken us a while to build our market, our eco system, to reach out and get fans involved.”

The club has a travel agency that focuses on helping bring Japanese fans to Dortmund for matches, for example, and as they look to provide international fans with an “authentic” Dortmund experience, they’re also looking at new opportunities too. Two years ago, they opened an office in Singapore to improve connections in South East Asia.

Next, comes their move into Australia.

“We’ve spoken to other clubs about the high interest in football in Australia, we’ve looked at data and figures (like merchandise) and seen that there’s some interest in Dortmund,” he said.

“Summarising all these different facts, figures and some feelings – some inside from Australia and some from those who have visited from our club, has brought us to take the next step: let’s do something there.

Dortmund's Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa (R). Source: AFP

“We have a good reliable contact and partner there now and therefore we see a soccer school is the best thing you can bring over. It’s authentic Borussia Dortmund.”

And that’s where the mutual benefit opens up. Australia provides another window for Dortmund to market themselves, while our junior players who enjoy their camps will get access to a youth development policy that helped re-shape a club that was financially crippled and had to look within for players to re-build.

“We’ve focused on our youth development since 2005 because we weren’t in a position to acquire expensive players. We had to focus on our youth academy.

“This is a piece of our identity. Bringing this over is a logical, very authentic step for us.”

Realistically, this doesn’t mean Dortmund will uncover our next Zelic immediately. But while a connection to fans is so easily obtained in the modern game through the digital world, Scholz says nothing beats actually being in the country.

“The priority is to reach out to people who are interested in our club, history and identity.

“It’s not the target to grow our revenues by stepping into Australia in next six months, or to find the next superstar in next six months – but we want to give something. Four coaches will come from Dortmund, we don’t do franchising. Its coaches from Dortmund that know about your youth philosophy and style of training…

Felix Passlack (l) celebrates Christian Pulisic, Andre Schürrle and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Source: AFP

“As a side effect we hope we can grow our brand, reaching out to 320 kids who join our courses - they will do mouth to mouth recommendation. It’s small, but it’s a very important first step. We will summarise our experience and see what is the next step.”

What can Australian youngsters expect from such a connection?

“Dortmund is known for its stadium – its known for the intensity here, our fan base, it’s known for being an authentic club. That’s exactly what we want to bring over. It’s what we want people to feel.

“We’re a little different, based on our history and the expertise in our youth academy. It is nothing we can describe within one sentence – because it is rooted in our people who are training and playing.

Dortmund's players celebrate after the Champions League. Source: AP

“(For example), our Sporting director Michael Zorc has been at club for decades, he had most appearances for Dortmund in the Bundesliga, now he’s the longest practicing Sporting Director in the Bundesliga.”

And what does Dortmund expect when it lands in Australia?

“I know about the A-League, I know about Australian football – what we can probably say, it’s an interesting development in Australia, and in sport in general.

“We hear so many things about how competitive it is and … there is growth in this sector, and specifically football.

“To be honest, one of my very personal experiences with Mitch Langerak was he was such a nice, outgoing character. This is something that everybody here will always connect with Australia. We see Australia as an interesting market that we’re closely looking into because we want to experience and understand and see if it’s something we can build up, and at the same time, we want to support, as far as possible, because we can never give you advice but share experiences of how it worked for us, and hopefully it will support your development.”

Mitch Langerak in 2011. Source: AFP

There will be coaching clinics in Sydney in conjunction with the Southern Districts association, with former A-League players Nick Carle, Glen and Jason Trifiro as assistant coaches, at Ernie Smith Reserve, Moorebank, from 10-13 January. There will also be clinichs at Christian Brothers in Adelaide, 16-19 January.