FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich (
German:
FC Bayern München) is a
German football club based in
Munich, the capital of the state of
Bavaria.
With 2
Intercontinental Cups, 4
European Champions League titles,1 UEFA Cup title, 1 Cup Winners' Cup title, 20
national championships, and 13
German Cups, Bayern Munich is Germany's foremost football club. Bayern is a membership based club and with more than 115,000 members, the second largest in the world after
FC Barcelona.
Bayern also maintains departments for
chess,
handball,
basketball,
gymnastics,
bowling and
table tennis.
Bayern is one of three professional football clubs in
Munich. Bayern's main local rival is
TSV 1860 Munich, who were the more successful club in the 1960s, winning a cup and a championship. 1860 have since moved between the first and second divisions. 1860 are often referred to by sections of the Bayern support as "gymnasts", insinuating a lack of footballing pedigree. The rivalry has, at least from a Bayern point of view, lost importance over the last decade, reflecting the lopsided state of the achievements of the two clubs and the absence of players for whom local grudges would still matter. 1860 is considered more working-class, and therefore suffers from a diminishing fan base in a city where the manufacturing sector is declining whilst
tertiary industries are booming.
The
SpVgg Unterhaching from the semi-rural southern outskirts of town is the third force. Sensationally, they made it to the Bundesliga in 1999, and managed to stay in the top flight for a second season. Their lasting claim to fame will remain their defeat of Bayer Leverkusen on the last day of the 1999-2000 season when the visitors only needed a draw to secure the
German championship - Bayern were the beneficiaries on this occasion. Since then their focus has been on fending off relegation from the second division rather than returning to the
Bundesliga. Their audience is more local with a spot of "cult" following.
Bayern is considered the establishment club, which is reflected by their board being stacked with business leaders and the Bavarian prime minister from the
Christian Social Union party, which has dominated Bavarian politics since
World War II. Their following is mainly recruited from the aspiring middle class and regional Bavaria. A large proportion of their supporters have to travel up to 200km (ca. 120 miles) regularly, to the club's home matches, thus matches on weekday evenings attract lower attendance.
These days Bayern considers itself a national club, which is reflected in polls determining them as both the most popular and most loathed club all over the country. Bayern's main rivals are always the clubs who put up the strongest fight against its national dominance. In the 1970s this was
Borussia Mönchengladbach, in later years this category has expanded to include
Hamburger SV and
Werder Bremen. In the last decade or so,
Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen have emerged as the most ardent opponents. Recently
Schalke 04, and again Bremen have been the main challengers, but with limited success. For Bayern, the real rivals these days are rather the great clubs of Europe.
Professional football at Bayern is run by the spin-off organization
FC Bayern München AG.
AG is short for
Aktiengesellschaft, and Bayern is run like a
joint stock company, a company whose stock are not listed on the public stock exchange, but is privately owned. 90% of
FC Bayern München AG is owned by the club, the
FC Bayern München e. V. (
e. V. is short for
Eingetragener Verein, which translates into "Registered Association") and 10% by sports goods marketers
Adidas, which are also a major sponsor of the club. Adidas acquired its shares in 2002 for €77m.
The basic financial data for 2005 is as follows: revenue: 190m, operating profit: 28m, profit after tax: 6.6m, equity quota: 76.6%, cash in hand: 78m (figures in €, rounded).
Among the main advertising partners of the club are
Deutsche Telekom (jersey rights),
Audi,
Siemens,
Lufthansa airlines and
Coca-Cola. In previous years the jersey rights were held by Adidas (1974-78), Magirus Deutz and
Iveco (trucks / 1978-84),
Commodore (computers / 1984-89) and
Opel (1989-2002)
The President of the club is
Franz Beckenbauer. He is also chairman of the supervisory board of the AG. The Chairman of the executive board of the AG is
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, also a former player of the club. However, most of the actual power is exercised by another former player,
Uli Hoeness, who is officially deputy chairman of the executive board of the AG; his position is best described as general manager. He has been in office since 1979.
Before 1925 Bayern had played at various premises, one of their earlier grounds sporting the town's first grandstand.
From 1925 they shared the
Grünwalder Stadion with 1860 Munich. Until World War II the stadium was owned by 1860 Munich, and is still colloquially known as
Sechzger ("Sixtier") Stadium nowadays. It was destroyed during the war, and efforts for refurbishment ended up as a patchwork. Conclusions about its state can be drawn from the fact that the stadium did not host a single German international match after WWI, despite Munich being Germany's third largest city. Bayern's record crowds according to conflicting sources, were either 48000 in 1948, or 52000 in 1961 in matches against
1. FC Nürnberg. In the Bundesliga era the stadium had a maximum capacity of 44000 which was reached on several occasions. As was the case at most of this period's stadia, the vast majority of the stadium was given over to terracing.
For the Olympic Games of 1972 the city of Munich built the
Olympic Stadium. The stadium, still highly impressive with its architectural lightness, was inaugurated in the last Bundesliga match of the 1971-72 season, drawing a capacity crowd of 79,000, which was reached on numerous occasions. The stadium was, in its early days, considered to be one of the foremost stadia in the world and played host to numerous major finals, such as that of
1974 FIFA World Cup. In the years to follow the stadium underwent several modifications, such as an increase in seating space from approximately 50% to ca. 66%. Eventually the stadium had a capacity of 63,000 for national matches, and 59,000 for international occasions, eg. European Cup competitions. Many people, however, began to feel that the stadium was too cold in winter, with half the audience exposed to the weather due to lack of cover. A further complaint was the distance between the spectators and the pitch, the stadium betraying its track and field heritage. Modification of the stadium proved impossible as it would have interfered with its heritage listed architecture.
In 2002 Bayern and
TSV 1860 jointly undertook the construction of a new stadium, designed purely for football resulting in the modern
Allianz Arena, located on the northern outskirts of Munich. It has been in use since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, while its initial capacity of 66,000 fully covered seats has since been increased for matches on national level to 69,900 by transforming 3,000 seats in a ratio 2:1 to standing places. The most interesting feature of the stadium is the translucent outer layer, which can be illuminated in different colours for impressive effects. The first player to score a goal in it was Owen Hargreaves against Borussia Mönchengladbach in their 3-0 win.
Main article:
History of Bayern MunichBayern Munich was founded in 1900 by members of a Munich gymnastics club. The club played its first games in the regional Bayern league. Bayern's first success came in 1926 in the form of the championship of southern Germany, an achievement repeated two years later. Their first national honour was gained in 1932, winning the
German championship by defeating
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the final. The advent of the
Hitler regime put an abrupt end to Bayern's development. The president and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country. Many others in the club also saw themselves purged. In the following years, Bayern, taunted as the "Jew's club", decayed into irrelevance.
After the war Bayern became a member of the southern conference of the German first division,which was split five ways at that time, the
Oberliga Süd. Bayern struggled, and in 1956 suffered the ignominy of relegation. The following season the club returned to the
Oberliga and even won the
German Cup for the first time, beating
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0 in the final. The club progressed to become one of the better sides of the league, but struggled financially, verging on bankruptcy at the end of the 1950s. Manufacturer Roland Endler provided the necessary funds and was rewarded with four years at the helm of the club. In 1963 the Oberligas in Germany were consolidated to one national league, the
Bundesliga. Bayern were denied membership, but gained promotion two years later, fielding a team with young talents like
Franz Beckenbauer,
Gerd Müller and
Sepp Maier - who would later be collectively referred to as
the axis.
In their first Bundesliga season Bayern finished third and also won the German Cup, qualifying for the
European Cup Winners Cup, which they won in the following year in a dramatic final against Scottish club
Rangers, when
Franz "the Bull" Roth scored the decider in a 1-0 extra time victory. In 1967 Bayern retained the German Cup, but slow overall progress saw a new coach,
Branko Zebec take over. He replaced Bayern's offensive style of play with a more disciplined approach, and in doing so achieved the first league and cup
double in Bundesliga history, using only 13 players throughout the season.
1970 saw a new coach,
Udo Lattek, taking charge. After winning the cup in his first season he led Bayern to their third German championship. The deciding match in the 1971-72 season against Schalke 04 was the first match in the brand new
Olympic Stadium, and was also the first live televised match in Bundesliga history. Bayern swept Schalke away 5-1 and thus claimed the title, also setting several records, including points gained and goals scored. Bayern also won the next 2 championships, but the zenith was the triumph in the 1974
European Champions Cup final against
Atlético Madrid, which Bayern won 4-0 after a replay. In the following season the team was unsuccessful domestically, but defended their European title by defeating
Leeds United in the final when "Bull" Roth and Müller secured victory with their late goals. A year later in
Glasgow,
AS Saint-Étienne were defeated by another Franz Roth goal and Bayern became the third club to win the trophy in 3 consecutive years. The final trophy won by Bayern in this era was the
Intercontinental Cup, in which Brazilian club
Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte were defeated over two legs.
The 1980s were a period of off-field turmoil for Bayern, with many changes in personnel and financial problems. On the field, the Bundesliga title was won in 1980 and 1981, but two trophyless seasons followed, after which former coach Udo Lattek returned. Bayern won the 1984 cup final, then went on to win 5 championships in 6 seasons, including a double in 1986. However, European success was elusive during the decade; Bayern only managed to claim the runners-up spot in the European Cup in 1982 and 1987. Bayern's form dipped after their 1990 championship win, the club finishing just five points above the relegation places in 1991/92. Success returned when Franz Beckenbauer took over for the 2nd half of the 1993-94 season, winning the Championship again after a 3 year gap. Beckenbauer was then appointed club president, but his successors as coach did not meet expectations. During this time Bayern's players frequently appeared in the gossip pages of the press rather than the sports pages, resulting in the nickname
FC Hollywood.
Franz Beckenbauer returned as coach, and led his team to victory in the 1996
UEFA Cup, beating
Bordeaux in the final.
|
Opened in 2005: the Allianz Arena, one of the world's most modern football stadiums. |
From 1998-2004 Bayern were coached by
Ottmar Hitzfeld, who became the most successful Bayern coach of all time. In Hitzfeld's first season, Bayern won the Bundesliga and came agonisingly close to winning the
Champions League, losing 2-1 to
Manchester United conceding two goals in injury time after leading for most of the match. The 1999-2000 season resulted in Bayern winning their third league and cup double. A third consecutive Bundesliga title followed in 2001, won in a dramatic finish on the final day of the league season. Days later, Bayern won the
Champions League for the fourth time after a 25 year gap, defeating
Valencia CF on penalties. The 2001-02 season finished trophyless for Bayern, but a season later Bayern won their fourth double, winning the league title by a record margin. Hitzfeld's reign ended in ignominious fashion in 2004, with Bayern underperforming, including a cup defeat by 2nd division Alemannia Aachen.
Prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, Bayern moved from the Olympic Stadium to the new Allianz Arena, which the club shares with TSV 1860.
The current Bayern manager is
Felix Magath, who got off to a successful start by winning Bayern's 5th double in 2005. The club were successful in defending the League and Cup double in the 2005-06 season.
| Title | Year/s | Runners-up |
|---|
| Intercontinental Cup | 1976, 2001 |
| European Cup / Champions League | 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001 | 1982, 1987, 1999 |
| European Cup Winners Cup | 1967 |
| UEFA Cup | 1996 |
| German Championship (20x) | 1932, 1968/69, 1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1993/94, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06 | 1969/70, 1970/71, 1987/88, 1990/91, 1992/93, 1995/96, 1997/98, 2003/04 |
| German Cup (13x) | 1957, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 | 1985, 1999 |
Honours and records
Three Bayern Munich players have been named
European Player of the Year;
Gerd Müller (1970),
Franz Beckenbauer (1972 and 1976) and
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980 and 1981). Several Bayern players have been named
German Footballer of the Year, giving a total of 16 titles, more than any other club. A Bayern player has been the season's top goalscorer in the Bundesliga on 12 occasions, with Gerd Müller winning the
Golden Boot for the top goalscorer in any European league twice.
*Bayern Munich is renowned for its well-organised
ultra scene. The most prominent groups are the *
Schickeria München, the
Red Munichs '89, the
Südkurve '73, the
Munichmaniacs 1996, the
Service Crew Munich, the
Red Angels, the
Tavernen Crew München and the
Red Sharks.
*FCB has a traditional feud against local rivals
TSV 1860 Munich and
1.FC Nürnberg, a former friendship with
VfL Bochum has fizzled out.
2006/2007 First Team Squad
Noted players
"Greatest Ever" squad
On
June 1 2005, on the opening of the new
Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich
announced the results of its online poll for the "Greatest Ever" squad. 66,000 fans voted for players from a shortlist presented to them .:
S. Maier:
K. Augenthaler -
G. Schwarzenbeck -
F. Beckenbauer -
P. Breitner:
M. Scholl -
S. Effenberg -
L. Matthäus:
K. Rummenigge -
G. Müller -
G. Elber :(coach:
O. Hitzfeld)
Other Noteworthy Players
*
1900s-10s: Max 'Gaberl' Gablonsky*
1920s-30s: Ludwig Goldbrunner,
Conrad Heidkamp,
Franz Krumm,
Oskar Rohr,
Wilhelm Simetsreiter,
Jakob Streitle*
1960s: Dieter Brenninger,
Franz Roth,
Werner Olk*
1970s: Björn Andersson,
Wolfgang Dremmler,
Uli Hoeness,
Dieter Hoeness,
Branko Oblak,
Rainer Zobel*
1980s: Jean-Marie Pfaff,
Andre Cattermol,
Raimond Aumann,
Andreas Brehme,
Norbert Eder,
Ludwig Kögl,
Hans Pflügler,
Stefan Reuter,
Olaf Thon,
Roland Wohlfarth*
1990s: Mario Basler,
Dietmar Hamann,
Thomas Helmer ,
Oliver Kahn,
Jürgen Klinsmann,
Bixente Lizarazu,
Mehmet Scholl,
Thomas Strunz*
2000s: Oliver Kahn,
Bernd Dreher,
Willy Sagnol,
Lúcio,
Valérien Ismaël,
Daniel Van Buyten,
Philipp Lahm,
Sebastian Deisler,
Hasan Salihamidžić,
Martin Demichelis,
Owen Hargreaves,
Bastian Schweinsteiger,
Mehmet Scholl,
Roy Makaay,
Lukas Podolski,
Claudio Pizarro,
Roque Santa Cruz,
Bixente Lizarazu,
Michael Ballack,
Zé Roberto*Famous
Bayern fans are tennis legend
Boris Becker and current
Bavaria Minister-President Edmund Stoiber. They both serve (Mr. Stoiber as co-Chairman) on the club's advisory board.
*Popular German punk group
Die Toten Hosen, who are diehard fans of
Fortuna Düsseldorf, once released a single
Bayern in which they denounced FCB as a
shit club and unloaded heaps of verbal abuse. The track was one of the most successful releases that year in Germany. They crux of the song was the chorus
"wir werden nie zum FC Bayern München gehen"—"we will never go over to FC Bayern Munich"—making the point that they will not support a team simply because it is successful.
Coaches since the inception of the national league (
Bundesliga) in 1963
1) current coach, through end of 2005-06 season
| Era | President |
|---|
| 07.10.1994 - * | Franz Beckenbauer |
| 09.10.1985 - 07.10.1994 | Prof. Dr. Fritz Scherer |
| 24.04.1979 - 09.10.1985 | Willi O. Hoffmann |
| 1962 - 19.03.1979 | Wilhelm Neudecker |
| 1958 - 1962 | Roland Endler |
| 1955 - 1958 | Alfred Reitlinger |
| 1953 - 1955 | Adolf Fischer
Karli Wild
Hugo Theisinger |
| 1951 - 1953 | Julius Scheuring |
| 1947 - 1951 | Kurt Landauer |
| 1945 - 1947 | Siegfried Hermann |
| 1945 | Josef Bayer |
| 1945 | Franz Xaver Heilmansseder |
| 1943 - 1945 | Sauter |
| 1938 - 1943 | Kellner |
| 1937 - 1938 | Franz Nußhardt |
| 1935 - 1937 | Dr. Richard Amesmeier |
| 1934 - 1935 | Dr. Karl-Heinz Oettinger |
| 1933 - 1934 | Siegfried Hermann |
| 1922 - 1933 | Kurt Landauer |
| 1921 - 1922 | Fred Dunn |
| 1919 - 1921 | Kurt Landauer |
| 1916 - 1919 | Fritz Meier |
| 1916 | Hans Bermühler |
| 1915 | Fritz Meier |
| 1915 | Hans Tusch |
| 1914 - 1915 | Fred Dunn |
| 1913 - 1914 | Kurt Landauer |
| 1907 - 1913 | Dr. Angelo Knorr |
| 1906 - 1907 | Kurt Müller |
| 1903 - 1906 | Dr. Willem Hesselink |
| 1900 - 1903 | Franz John |
Bayern's captains since the Bundesliga era
| Season | Average | Season | Average |
|---|
| 2005-06* | 66 000 | |
| 2004-05 | 53 294 | 1984-85 | 32 508 |
| 2003-04 | 55 471 | 1983-84 | 29 625 |
| 2002-03 | 52 574 | 1982-83 | 30 834 |
| 2001-02 | 53 176 | 1981-82 | 32 936 |
| 2000-01 | 52 538 | 1980-81 | 36 589 |
| 1999-00 | 52 588 | 1979-80 | 38 056 |
| 1998-99 | 56 235 | 1978-79 | 32 112 |
| 1997-98 | 54 529 | 1977-78 | 29 534 |
| 1996-97 | 58 058 | 1976-77 | 30 937 |
| 1995-96 | 59 353 | 1975-76 | 32 142 |
| 1994-95 | 54 176 | 1974-75 | 34 230 |
| 1993-94 | 48 588 | 1973-74 | 34 308 |
| 1992-93 | 46 058 | 1972-73 | 30 943 |
| 1991-92 | 32 526 | 1971-72 | 27 748 |
| 1990-91 | 35 117 | 1970-71 | 23 893 |
| 1989-90 | 34 656 | 1969-70 | 23 459 |
| 1988-89 | 28 833 | 1968-69 | 25 177 |
| 1987-88 | 27 556 | 1967-68 | 21 942 |
| 1986-87 | 36 934 | 1966-67 | 20 122 |
| 1985-86 | 26 562 | 1965-66 | 24 843 |
*
Bayern Munich youth system*
Bayern Munich womens' section*
Allianz Arena*
Olympic Stadium*
Official site in English (
German,
Japanese and
Chinese versions also available)
*
Bayern Munich Forum*
Bayern Munich MSN Group*
Bayern Munchen statistics*
Official FC Bayern Munich Fan Club*
FC Bayern Munich Fan Portal*
Bayern Munich Handball*
The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
