SAMSTAG 15:30

Founded: Feb 27, 1900
Club Members: 293,000
Nickname: Stern des Südens
Coach: Hans-Dieter Flick

German Champions / Bundesliga: 30
DFB-Pokal: 20
DFL-Ligapokal: 6
German Supercup Winner: 8
European Cup / Champions League: 6
European Cup Winners Cup: 1
UEFA Cup: 1
FIFA World Club Champions: 2
Intercontinental Cup Winner: 2
UEFA Supercup Winner: 2

Website: www.fcbayern.com

FC Bayern München were formed in 1900 by members of a gymnastics club (Münchner Turn Verein 1879) who met in the bohemian Munich suburb of Schwabing. Led by a Berlin photographer called Franz John, the group - which also included the German-born British artist Benno Elkan who designed the cockerel that stood atop Tottenham's old White Hart Lane ground - had grown frustrated by the lack of enthusiasm at the turn of the century towards the new sport of football and decided to strike out on their own.

Life for the not-yet-so-famous Rekordmeisters was in the beginning precarious, and to ease financial pressure they joined up with the well-heeled Münchner Sport Club in 1906 and although they were able to maintain their independence, as a concession they had to adopt MSC's red and white colours - which Bayern still turn out in to this day. After moving  into their new home on Leopoldstraße a year later, Bayern soon become the dominant local side - winning a number of local and regional championships including the Kreisliga in 1910 before football, and by proxy the club, was brought to a shuddering halt with the advent of World War 1 in 1914. Two thirds of Bayern's members and players went to fight with the German military and sadly many of them lost their lives on the battlefield. For those who were fortunate to survive the conflict, they returned home to find Bavaria had become a spectacularly volatile place as simmering social tensions were brought to a head and for a short time the region even fell under the hammer and sickle - becoming a short-lived Soviet Republic before a bloody overthrow in 1919.

On the pitch, Bayern were soon back on their feet and won several regional titles before beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to become German Champions for the first time in 1926 with some of their fans cycling the 100 miles to Nuremburg to cheer on their team in the final. Dark clouds were now gathering across Germany however and this turned out to be the final championship played before the rise to power a year later of the Nazi Party who, ironically, had their roots planted firmly in Bayern's own Bavarian backyard. Club President Kurt Landauer, coach Richard Kohn and other figures within the club - all of whom were Jewish - were arrested as anti-semitism became official policy in Germany. Despite the 'purges' though, Bayern were discredited as a 'Judenclub ' by the new regime. As the Nazis made life hard for Bayern, club membership and player availability fell away and not long after the 1932 title triumph, progress was stalled and the club were never in the running for major honours following the restructure of German football under the Third Reich.

Players and officials did resist the facists' cooptation however with a number of acts of personal courage throughout the decade. In 1934, Bayern players were involved in a brawl with Nazi 'Brownshirts' and two years later, winger Willy Simetsreiter made a point of having his picture taken with Jesse Owens, who enraged Hitler by winning four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics. The full-back Sigmund Haringer narrowly escaped prison for calling a Nazi flag parade a "kids' theatre", and the captain, Conny Heidkamp, and his wife crated up Bayern's silverware and hid it when other clubs heeded an appeal from Reichsmarschall  Herman Göring to donate metal for the war effort. The most symbolic act of defiance against the regime however came in 1943 when, during a friendly against a Swiss XI in Zurich, Bayern's players spotted Kurt Landauer (who'd emigrated to Switzerland following his release from the  Dachau concentration camp) in the stands and went to applaud him - much to the irritation of the Gestapo officers in attendance.

When football resumed after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd but, despite the return from exile of Landauer as club president, recovering from the effects of war and Nazi rule proved to be a significant challenge and progress in the post-war period was faltering. A total of 13 coaches were hired and fired between 1945 and 1963 as Bayern struggled on and off the pitch, and despite winning their first DFB-Pokal in 1957 the club were on the verge of bankruptcy towards the end of the decade. Financial stability arrived however with the election of local industrialist Roland Endler as club president in 1958 and his arrival coincided with an upturn in fortunes as Bayern enjoyed their best years in the Oberliga - although controversy was waiting for them just around the corner.

Throughout 1963, the German FA (DFB) had been busy deciding which sixteen clubs should form the new Bundesliga which would bring all the regional Oberligas into one professional league. The criteria for making the cut included form over the past decade, financial stability and crucially, for Bayern in this case, geography. The DFB only wanted one club per city in that inaugural season and, despite Bayern's recent form, it was cross city rivals TSV 1860 München who got the nod. Bayern considered the decision an outrageous injustice and embarked on a period of restructuring and professionalism that saw Robert Schwan appointed as the first full-time manager in German football before Bayern were ominously promoted to the Bundesliga just a couple of years later. Club president Willhelm Neudecker, a larger-than-life character and an uncompromising yet very successful businessman, had promised to walk around Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps if Bayern won promotion. He very much enjoyed the 13-mile hike.

Momentum was now building and with a side featuring "The Axis" of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Gerd Müller on a mission, they finished their debut Bundesliga campaign in 1966 in a respectable third place before winning the DFB-Pokal final that same year with a 4-2 victory against Meidericher SV (today's MSV Duisburg). The European Cup Winners Cup was lifted in 1967 when a young Franz Roth began to develop a habit for crucial, era defining goals and his strike midway through extra-time secured a 1-0 win over Glasgow Rangers and Bayern's first ever European title. Despite the additions to the trophy cabinet though, it wasn't until 1969 when they won their maiden Bundesliga title that Bayern finally stepped out of the shadow of city rivals TSV 1860 who took the shift in power badly - heading into a tailspin that has seen them endure financial struggles, relegations and lower league football ever since.

Bayern were now on the brink of becoming a major European power playing with a high intensity, counter-pressing style that would later become popularly known as 'gegenpressing'  - a tactic now talked about by everyone from confused TV pundits to bluffing pub bores but with a far longer history in German football than many people realise. Having added Paul Breitner and future Bayern club president Uli Hoeneß to their already outstanding crop of home-grown talent, their battle for supremacy with Borussia Mönchengladbach defined German football in the 1970s - a decade that seemed to belong to the city of Munich which hosted the 1972 Olympic Games, the 1974 World Cup Final and was home to Bayern who, in addition to lifting three Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal and the Intercontinental Cup, won a hat-trick of European Cups between 1974 to 1976.

As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, the 'Golden years' team had broken up. Beckenbauer and Müller had left for a final payday in the US. Maier had hung up his gloves and Hoeneß had done likewise with his boots when his playing days were cut short due to injury at the age of just 27. Instead of cutting his ties with Bayern however, Hoeneß moved upstairs as the club's general manager and began laying the foundations for Bayern to become one of football’s juggernauts both on and off the pitch. Meanwhile, a new generation of talent began their hunt for honours. Led by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and a revitalised Paul Breitner who returned to Bavaria after spells at Real Madrid and Eintracht Braunschweig, 'FC Breitnigge' (as the media dubbed them) enjoyed another period of domestic success with another six Bundesligas and three DFB-Pokals being added to the trophy cabinet. European trophies were harder to come by however as Bayern lost the European Cup finals in 1982 and 1987.

In 1990, the glow of reunification became even brighter when the imperious West German Mannschaft enjoyed a mighty last hurrah at Italia '90, and having ended the 1980s with back-to-back Bundesliga titles, Bayern also shared in the feelgood factor sweeping across the country and were confident of dominating the 20th Century's final decade. Times were changing though and rather than another period of dominance by the Bavarians, it became the age of 'FC Hollywood'  - an epithet that, even though if it chimed with the glitz, glamour and irrisitable draw of the nation's biggest football club, was spawned in reaction to the ego, infighting and soap-opera storylines that replaced on-field performances as the narrative of the club.

In response to a dressing room that was on the brink of civil war and a snake-bitten 1991-92 season which saw Bayern finish just five points clear of relegation, the noisier malcontents within the squad were moved on and a number of the league's finest young talents were snapped up including Mehmet Scholl, Markus Schupp and Thomas Helmer. Lothar Matthaus was brought back from Inter Milan and, after saying Auf Weidersehen  to Jupp Heynckes, Søren Lerby and Erich Ribbeck; Franz Beckenbauer returned temporarily to the technical area for the first time since winning the World Cup and led ‘FC Hollywood’ to their first Bundesliga title for five years in 1993-94. After Giovanni Trappattoni (twice) and Otto Rehhagel had failed to get a consistent tune out of an off-key Bayern, Ottmar Hitzfeld's appointment ahead of the1998-99 campaign saw the club return to dominance and the back pages of the newspapers. After winning just two league titles during the 1990's, 'Der General ' lifted the Bundesliga in both of his first two seasons at Bayern, before a third successive title in 2001 acted as  a backdrop for Champions League success in 2001 when Bayern overcame CF Valencia on penalties after a tense 1-1- draw in Milan. The era of FC Hollywood was finally over.
 

Hitzfeld left in 2004 after six trophy-laden years at the helm and after hiring some of the world's most high profile coaches including Louis Van Gaal, Pep Guadiola and Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern have continued to completely dominate German football -  winning 13 Bundesliga titles and 9 domestic doubles since moving into the Allianz Arena in 2005. In 2013 under Jupp Heynckes (again), they topped off another league and cup double with victory at Wembley, when in the first all-German Champions League final, they beat newly established Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Bayern also became only the second club to complete the continental treble twice last year when they beat PSG 1-0 to become Champions of Europe for a sixth time. 

It was business as usual for Bayern again this season - winning their ninth successive Bundesliga title - and the departures of David Alaba, Douglas Costa, Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez and head coach Hansi Flick this summer are likely to represent the end of an old era rather than the start of a new one. Either way, in transition, renewal or whatever you want to call it; with highly rated young coach Julian Nagelsmann inheriting a squad featuring the likes of Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Alfonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, it scarcely makes a difference as the Stern des Südens (Star of the South) look set to continue leaving the rest of the league in their wake for some time to come. 

 

Bayern are not only very astute commercially, they have also developed a strategy of buying players from chief rivals, using the club's reputation and wealth to entice them away. This not only strengthens Bayern's squad, it also weakens the opposition.

They have also hired some of the world's most coveted coaches, including Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Louis van Gaal. Everyone has some form of success at the club, but sometimes, success is not enough. Even Guardiola came in for criticism during three trophy-laden years at Bayern, largely because he failed to win the Champions League. They want to win and win big and their legendary indomitable spirit continues to frustrate so many of the club's opponents. "Mia san Mia!!!!!"

The Bundesliga's gift and curse  - club motto unshamedly 

 
The arrival of Ottmar Hitzfeld as coach in 1998 restored order on and off the pitch as Bayern won three titles in a row and a Champions League title in 2001. Once he left in 2004 inconsistency reigned again as Borussia Dortmund under Jürgen Klopp emerged as the greatest threat to their claims of domestic invincibility. The low point was a humiliating 5-2 defeat to BVB in the DFB-Pokal final in 2012 which saw Klopp’s team win the double.

 

Since then though it has been one long tale of domestic success, plus a further Champions League triumph in 2013. Under a succession of coaches, some more successful than others, the team from Bavaria have seen off all challengers - recording eight consecutive league titles and five DFB-Pokals. Bayern also became only the second club to complete the continental treble twice last season when they beat PSG 1-0 to become Champions of Europe for a sixth time. And with a team featuring experienced players such as Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, mixed with exciting young talent in the shape of Alfonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, it's hard to see anyone knocking Stern des Südens (Star of the South) off their top spot anytime soon.

​

 

The 1990s were a decade of constant turmoil. Numerous managerial changes caused considerable fluctuations in Bayern’s sporting fortunes. The new commercial media adopted a different, and not always sports-related angle, towards football and its stars. As a consequence, FC Bayern became known as the ‘dream team’ on the one hand, and as ‘FC Hollywood’ on the other.

The intense media interest did have at least one positive effect: Never before had so many fans streamed into the stadium and never before had so many replica shirts been sold. However, the vicissitude of this decade is reflected in eight changes of head coach.

Heynckes won the league in 1989 and 1990 but the main target of the European Cup remained elusive. On the plus side, Germany did win the World Cup again in 1990 (with Bayern players Augenthaler, Reuter, Thon, Kohler, Pflügler and Aumann in the squad).

Heynckes and FCB parted company in the 1991/92 season with former Bayern player Sören Lerby taking over as head coach. But his team failed to make their mark. With relegation threatening Erich Ribbeck replaced Lerby. Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stepped into the breach as emergency cover, becoming vice-presidents of FC Bayern. In 1993/94 the ‘Kaiser’ finally replaced Ribbeck and went on to lift the league title.

That was followed by the first ‘Trap’ era. Giovanni Trapattoni was adored by the players and the media but success at the first attempt proved elusive. The 1994/95 season ended with a sixth-place finish and a semi-final exit against Ajax Amsterdam in the European Cup.

In comparison, the early 90s were a time of turmoil at the club. After winning another title in 1990 and placing runners-up in the following season, Bayern ended the 1991/1992 season dangling dangerously close to the relegation zone. Losing to Norwich in the 1994 UEFA Cup was the final straw, and the club resorted to a change of personnel, appointing Beckenbauer as coach. Naturally, Der Kaiser proved himself a capable manager, and Bayern won its 13th title that same year, following it up with another one in 1997 and a DFB-Pokal in 1998.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's appointment as coach at the start of the 1998/1999 season signaled the club's big return to the European scene. During his six years with the club, Bayern won a Champions League and further asserted themselves as the top dog in German football, winning four Bundesligas and two DFB-Pokals.

In 2005 the team moved from Olympiastadion (built for the 1972 Olympic Games) to the new Alianz Arena. After the shift, Bayern Munich would continue share stadium with TSV 1860 Munich.

Even though Bayern won seven additional Bundesliga titles and six DFB-Pokals in the years that followed, international success was once again proving elusive. After not getting past the Champions League quarter-finals in the period from 2002 to 2010, Bayern finally managed to win another competition title by defeating long-time rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the 2013 finals

 

Despite the success however, they had to wait until 2001 before winning the UEFA CHampions LEague with a penalty shoot-out victory over Valancia and they won it again in 2013 when they beat Borussia Dortmund in an all-German encounter at Wembley in 2013.

Thge current era has seen Bayern completely dominate German football and have neutered the opposition and are unassailable. - winning 15 Bundesliga titles since 2000 and the omestic double on 12 occassions since the turn of the centruty. In fact, Since arriving in the Bundesliga in 1965, Bayern have never been relegateaged and have only finished outside the top-five places on half-a-dozen occassions - the last time they did was way back in 1995. Bundesliga Bayern also became only the second club to complete the continental treble twice this year when they beat PSG 1-0 to become Champions of Europe for a sixth time.

Bayern are not only very astute commercially, they have also developed a strategy of buying players from chief rivals, using the club's reputation and wealth to entice them away. This not only strengthens Bayern's squad, it also weakens the opposition.

They have also hired some of the world's most coveted coaches, including Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Louis van Gaal. Everyone has some form of success at the club, but sometimes, success is not enough. Even Guardiola came in for criticism during three trophy-laden years at Bayern, largely because he failed to win the Champions League. They want to win and win big and their legendary indomitable spirit continues to frustrate so many of the club's opponents.

And with a team featuring experienced players such as Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, mixed with exciting young talent in the shape of Alfonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, it's hard to see anyone knocking Stern des Südens (Star of the South) off their top spot anytime soon. The Bundesliga's gift and curse  - club motto unshamedly 

 


 

​

​

​

​

​

 








 
 

Formed in 1900 Bayern München, commonly known as FCB, played without any great success either side of World War 1. Their first breakthrough at national level was a surprising victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to win a national championship in 1932. The club was seen as a “Jewish Club” in the Nazi era so found itself less favoured locally than cross town rivals TSV 1860 München.

 

After World War 2 the club resumed competition in the Oberliga Sud but failed to make the cut of five teams from that division to enter the new Bundesliga in 1963. Much to their chagrin, 1860 were invited instead as champions of the Oberliga the year before.

 

With a young team featuring Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Gerd Müller, FCB achieved promotion in 1965 and went on to win the league and cup double (the first of many) in 1969. The 1970s were spent duelling with Borussia Mönchengladbach for domestic supremacy but the highlight came with three consecutive European Cup victories from 1974 to 1976.

 

The club won numerous titles over the remaining twenty years of the century, being challenged at various times by Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, 1.FC Kaiserslautern and Borussia Dortmund. Towards the late 1990s FCB became known as 'FC Hollywood' as the high profile players’ antics and disputes  began to make the front page news.

 

The arrival of Ottmar Hitzfeld as coach in 1998 restored order on and off the pitch as Bayern won three titles in a row and a Champions League title in 2001. Once he left in 2004 inconsistency reigned again as Borussia Dortmund under Jürgen Klopp emerged as the greatest threat to their claims of domestic invincibility. The low point was a humiliating 5-2 defeat to BVB in the DFB-Pokal final in 2012 which saw Klopp’s team win the double.

 

Since then though it has been one long tale of domestic success, plus a further Champions League triumph in 2013. Under a succession of coaches, some more successful than others, the team from Bavaria have seen off all challengers - recording eight consecutive league titles and five DFB-Pokals. Bayern also became only the second club to complete the continental treble twice this year when they beat PSG 1-0 to become Champions of Europe for a sixth time. And with a team featuring experienced players such as Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, mixed with exciting young talent in the shape of Alfonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, it's hard to see anyone knocking Stern des Südens (Star of the South) off their top spot anytime soon.