FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich
Full name	FC Bayern München AG
Nickname(s)	Der FCB (The FCB) Die Bayern (The Bavarians) Die Roten (The Reds) FC Hollywood
Founded	February 27, 1900
Ground	Allianz Arena (Capacity 69,901)
Chairman	Franz Beckenbauer
Head Coach	Jürgen Klinsmann
League	Bundesliga
2007–08	Bundesliga, 1st

1. FC Bayern Munchen
2. FC Bayern Munchen
3. The club and its vicinity
4. Organisation and finance
5. History
6. Stadium
7. Training facility
8. Honours
9. Other trophies
10. Club culture
11. Players
12. Players out on loan
13. Noted players
14. "Bayern's Greatest-Ever" squad
15. Notable past players
16. Coaches

FC Bayern Munchen

German: FC Bayern München is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. 

Bayern Munich is one of the most successful clubs in football history. With 2 Intercontinental Cups, 4 European Champions League titles, 1 UEFA Cup title, 1 Cup Winners' Cup title, 21 national championships, and 14 German Cups, Bayern Munich is Germany's foremost football club. 

FC Bayern Munich  is a membership based club and with more than 140,000 members, the third largest in the world after SL Benfica and FC Barcelona.

Bayern also has departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling and table tennis.

The club and its vicinity

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. They celebrated their biggest success in 1999 when they managed to gain promotion to the Bundesliga and stay in the top flight for a second season. Since then they have been playing in the second Bundesliga and the third division, the Regionalliga. At present they are struggling in the Regionalliga. Their loyal fans constitute a "cult" following.

FC Bayern Munich is considered the establishment club, which is reflected by their board being stacked with business leaders and the former Bavarian minister president. 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. Since Bayern has been the most successful club during the last decades, the team is either liked or disliked in Germany.

These days FC Bayern Munich 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 only with limited success. Amongst Bayern's chief European rivals are Real Madrid and AC Milan

Organisation and finance

Professional football at FC Bayern Munich is run by the spin-off organisation FC Bayern München AG. AG is short for Aktiengesellschaft, and FC Bayern Munich 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 Club") and 10% by sports goods marketers Adidas, which are also a major sponsor of the club. Adidas acquired its shares in 2002 for €77m.

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.

In 2007 the club reported record profits despite a poor year of on pitch performance, with an after tax profit of 18.9 million Euros.

History

Bayern 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 1955 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 for the German Cup win in 1982, two relatively unsuccessful 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.

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 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 in the Bundesliga, but they won the Intercontinental Cup for the second time. 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. In summer 2006 TSV 1860 Munich had to sell its shares of the Allianz Arena to Bayern Munich due to a financial crisis. Bayern Munich now is the single owner of the Arena but both clubs hope that TSV 1860 Munich will repurchase its parts as soon as possible.

The current Bayern trainer is Ottmar Hitzfeld, who returned to Munich in January 2007 after Felix Magath was sacked. In his first term at Bayern between 1998 and 2004 he won 4 Bundesliga titles, two DFB Pokals and the 2000-01 UEFA Champions League.

During the 2006-2007 season, Bayern only finished fourth in the league, failed to qualify for the Champions League, lost in the DFB Cup and the League Cup, finishing with no trophies. A number of injuries also hit them as their main players were both facing injuries and the World Cup hangover. They finished fourth with 65 points.

For the 2007-2008 season, Bayern Munich made drastic squad changes to help retool and rebuild. They signed a total of 8 new players (and also, sold/released or loaned out 9 players). Luca Toni from ACF Fiorentina, Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen and record signing Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille headlined the signings. The new additions paid off, as the Reds would go on to win the Bundesliga and the 2008 German Cup.

On January 11, 2008 it was announced that Jürgen Klinsmann would succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld as Manager on July 1, 2008. He signed on with a two year contract. 

Stadium

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 ("Sixties") 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 48,000 in 1948, or 52,000 in 1961 in matches against 1. FC Nuremberg. In the Bundesliga era the stadium had a maximum capacity of 44,000 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, e.g. 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 to terracing in a 2:1 ratio. 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.

Training facility

FC Bayern Munich training facilities, for both the professional and the Junior Team, are located at the Bayern Munich Headquarters.^[5] There are four grass pitches, one of which has undersoil heating, one artificial grass field and a multi-functional sports hall.

The players' quarters, which opened in 1990, offers a big dressing room, a massage room, a doctor's surgery room, a relaxation bath, a whirlpool, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre and a conference room with screening facilities for video analysis.

One visible component of this facility is the club's Youth House, which houses up to 13 rising young stars from outside the city, working on their development as footballers as part of Bayern's highly successful Junior Team. The value of this particular facility has been demonstrated by Bayern's capture of Germany's senior youth championship in 2001 and 2002, and the emergence of stars such as Paolo Guerrero and Owen Hargreaves, both former residents of the Youth House.

Honour

• German Champions: 21 (record)

  • 1931/32, 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, 2007/08

• German Cup: 14 (record)

  • 1957, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008

• League Cup: 6 (record)

  • 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007

• German Supercup: 3

  • 1982 (Unofficial), 1987, 1990

• Fuji-Cup: 2

  • 1994, 1995

• Intercontinental Cup: 2

  • 1976, 2001

• UEFA Champions League/European Cup: 4

  • 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001

• European Cup Winners Cup: 1

  • 1967

• UEFA Cup: 1

  • 1996

Other trophies

• Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu: 3

1979, 1980, 2002

• Trofeo Internacional Ciudad de Terrassa: 1

1972

• Trofeo Teresa Herrera: 1

1989

Club culture

• 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.

• Bayern's main local rivals are TSV 1860 Munich and further afield 1. FC Nuremberg. A former fan friendship with VfL Bochum has gradually fizzled out.

• Stern des Südens is the song which fans sing at FCB home games. In the 1990s they also used to sing 'FC Bayern, Forever Number One'.

Players

Current squad

As of 3 January 2008.

No. Position Player 1 GK Oliver Kahn 2 DF Willy Sagnol 3 DF Lúcio 5 DF Daniel Van Buyten 6 DF Martín Demichelis 7 MF Franck Ribéry 8 MF Hamit Altıntop 9 FW Luca Toni 11 FW Lukas Podolski 15 MF Zé Roberto 16 MF Andreas Ottl 17 MF Mark van Bommel 18 FW Miroslav Klose 20 MF José Ernesto Sosa

No. Position Player 21 DF Philipp Lahm 22 GK Michael Rensing 23 DF Marcell Jansen 27 FW Daniel Sikorski 28 DF Stefano Celozzi 30 DF Christian Lell 31 MF Bastian Schweinsteiger 33 GK Thomas Kraft 34 FW Sandro Wagner 35 DF Breno 36 MF Stephan Fürstner 37 DF Christian Saba 39 MF Toni Kroos

Players out on loan

No. Position Player -- DF Andreas Görlitz (on loan at Karlsruher SC) -- MF Julio dos Santos (on loan at Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense) -- DF Mats Hummels (on loan at Borussia Dortmund)

Noted players

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's Greatest-Ever" squad

On June 1, 2005, on the opening of the new Allianz Arena, FC Bayern Munich^[6] announced the results of its online poll for the "Bayern's Greatest Ever" squad. 66,000 fans voted for players from a shortlist presented to them.

Notable past players

FC Bayern Munich Coaches

Coaches of the FC Bayern Munich since 1965

	Name	from	until	days
	Jürgen Klinsmann	1. July 2008	30. June 20101)	7301)
	Ottmar Hitzfeld	1. February 2007	30. June 2008	516
	Felix Magath	1. July 2004	31. January 2007	945
	Ottmar Hitzfeld	1. July 1998	30. June 2004	2192
	Giovanni Trapattoni	1. July 1996	30. June 1998	730
	Franz Beckenbauer	29. April 1996	30. June 1996	63
	No coach	28. April 1996	28. April 1996	1
	Otto Rehhagel	1. July 1995	27. April 1996	302
	Giovanni Trapattoni	1. July 1994	30. June 1995	365
	Franz Beckenbauer	7. January 1994	30. June 1994	175
	No coach	28. December 1993	6. January 1994	10
	Erich Ribbeck	12. March 1992	27. December 1993	656
	Søren Lerby	9. October 1991	11. March 1992	155
	Jupp Heynckes	1. July 1987	8. October 1991	1561
	Udo Lattek	1. July 1983	30. June 1987	1461
	Reinhard Saftig	17. May 1983	30. June 1983	45
	Pál Csernai	1. March 1979	16. May 1983	1538
	Gyula Lóránt	2. December 1977	28. February 1979	454
	Dettmar Cramer	16. January 1975	1. December 1977	1051
	No coach	3. January 1975	15. January 1975	13
	Udo Lattek	14. March 1970	2. January 1975	1756
	Branko Zebec	1. July 1968	13. March 1970	621
	Zlatko Čajkovski	1. July 19652)	30. June 1968	1096

¹⁾ based on current contract
²⁾ actually since 1963 (Regionalliga, then second division)

Notable pre-1965 former coaches

• Richard Dombi (1931-1933)

• Billy Townley (1914, 1919-1921)