Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jaellee (talk | contribs) at 20:41, 9 October 2007 (→Team trivia: wikified dates). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

FC Bayern Munich

logo
Full name	FC Bayern München AG
Nickname(s)	Der FCB (The FCB) Die Bayern (The Bavarians) Die Roten (The Reds) FC Hollywood
Founded	27 February, 1900
Ground	Allianz Arena
Capacity	69,901
Chairman	Franz Beckenbauer
Head Coach	Ottmar Hitzfeld
League	Bundesliga
2006–07	Bundesliga, 4th
Home colours Away colours

FC Bayern Munich (German: FC Bayern München) is a German sports club based in Munich, the capital of 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, 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 132,000 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. Sensationally, they made it to the Bundesliga in 1999, and managed to stay in the top flight for a second season. Their last 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. Bayern has been always famous for their arrogance in their appearance and this has led to a situation where the club is either liked or disliked in Germany.

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 only with limited success. In the German Football Association Cup Tournament, or DFB Pokal Alemannia Aachen has become something of a thorn, but for the most part for Bayern, the real rivals these days are the great clubs of Europe.

Organization and Finance

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.

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.

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 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.

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 manager 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 have suffered a number of setbacks. Apart from only finishing fourth in the league, they have also failed to qualify for the Champions League, lost in the DFB Cup and the League Cup, garnering them with no titles whatsoever. A number of injuries also hit them as Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Valerien Ismael, Lucio, WIlly Sagnol, Mehmet Scholl and Ali Karimi were all not 100% during the year. They finished fourth with 65 points. In the recent UEFA Champions League, they fell at the hands of eventual cup winners AC Milan 2-4 on aggregate. The UEFA Cup will be their main European campaign next season.

Bayern Munich have been in a busy mood during the summer, as they seek to build a stronger team. Owen Hargreaves completed a transfer to Manchester United, Claudio Pizarro left on a free transfer to Chelsea, Ali Karimi is moved to Qatar while Hasan Salihamidzic has agreed to a contract with Juventus. Mehmet Scholl ended his career with the Bavarian side retiring having scored in the last game of the season.

Bayern Munich today have introduced a new home kit design featuring white hoops on a red background. Along with this new image, a new team has been in construction. With 6 confirmed total summer signings: Jan Schlaudraff from Alemannia Aachen, Hamit Altintop from Schalke 04, Jose Ernesto Sosa from Estudiantes de la Plata, Marcell Jansen from Borussia Monchengladbach, Luca Toni from ACF Fiorentina and Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille, the fallen Bundesliga giants are plotting to break ground once again next season. Ze Roberto of Santos FC is also set to rejoin the club. Finally, Miroslav Klose of Werder Bremen, joins Bayern this season, after a contract agreement. On what is reported to be a summer spending spree, Bayern have proven that they can compete financially with the wealthy European teams, with outstanding profit during a losing campaign and a completely different approach to transfer markets. All in all, their spending spree on all their winter and summer signings amount to an estimated $94 million.

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 ("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, 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 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.

Training facility

FC Bayern Munich training facilities, for both the professional and the Junior Team, are located at the Bayern Munich Headquarters. 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.

Honors

• German Champions: 20
  • 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

• German Cup: 13
  • 1957, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006

• League Cup: 6
  • 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007

• German Supercup: 3
  • 1982 (Unofficial), 1987, 1990

• 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

• Template:Sport honours

• Template:Sport honours

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.
• FCB has a traditional feud against local rivals TSV 1860 Munich and 1.FC Nürnberg, a former friendship with VfL Bochum has fizzled out.
• Stern des Südens is the chant which fans sing at FCB home games.

Players

see also: Bayern Munich II, Bayern Munich Junior Team

2007-08 squad

As of 8 September, 2007. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Oliver Kahn (captain) 2 DF  FRA Willy Sagnol 3 DF  BRA Lúcio 5 DF  BEL Daniel Van Buyten 6 DF  ARG Martín Demichelis 7 MF  FRA Franck Ribéry 8 MF  TUR Hamit Altıntop 9 FW  ITA Luca Toni 11 FW  GER Lukas Podolski 15 MF  BRA Zé Roberto 16 MF  GER Andreas Ottl 17 MF  NED Mark van Bommel 18 FW  GER Miroslav Klose 19 FW  GER Jan Schlaudraff 20 MF  ARG José Ernesto Sosa

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  GER Philipp Lahm 22 GK  GER Michael Rensing 23 DF  GER Marcell Jansen 25 DF  FRA Valérien Ismaël 27 FW  AUT Daniel Sikorski 28 DF  GER Stefano Celozzi 29 GK  GER Bernd Dreher 30 DF  GER Christian Lell 31 MF  GER Bastian Schweinsteiger 32 DF  GER Mats Hummels 33 GK  GER Thomas Kraft 34 FW  GER Sandro Wagner 36 MF  GER Stephan Fürstner 37 DF  GHA Christian Saba 39 MF  GER Toni Kroos

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player -- DF  GER Andreas Görlitz (on loan at Karlsruher SC) -- MF  PAR Julio dos Santos (on loan at UD Almeria)

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, Bayern Munich 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.

Famous past players

Selected former coaches

• Ottmar Hitzfeld (current manager)
• Felix Magath
• Giovanni Trapattoni
• Klaus Augenthaler
• Franz Beckenbauer
• Otto Rehhagel
• Erich Ribbeck
• Søren Lerby
• Jupp Heynckes
• Udo Lattek
• Reinhard Saftig
• Pal Csernai
• Gyula Lorant
• Dettmar Cramer
• Branko Zebec
• Zlatko Čajkovski

See also Category:Bayern Munich managers

Statistics

Team trivia

• Famous Bayern fans include tennis legend Boris Becker and former Bavaria Minister-President Edmund Stoiber. They both serve (Mr. Stoiber as co-Chairman) on the club's advisory board. The German NBA Player Dirk Nowitzki and Pope Benedict XVI are also fans of the club.
• On August 21 2006 Bayern Munich scored their 3,000th Bundesliga goal against Werder Bremen. The goalscorer was Roy Makaay.
• On March 7 2007, Bayern Munich made Champions League history by scoring the fastest ever goal (10 seconds from the opening whistle) against Real Madrid. The goalscorer was Roy Makaay off a cross by Hasan Salihamidzic.
• On September 19, 1999, Bayern won one of the strangest games in Bundesliga history. They trailed Eintracht Frankfurt in Frankfurt 0-1, then lost both goalies Oliver Kahn (55th minute) and Bernd Dreher (62nd minute) to injury, so that midfielder Michael Tarnat was substituted in as a makeshift goalkeeper. Despite this huge disadvantage, Bayern pulled off a 2-1 win.

Presidents

Captains

Bayern's captains since the Bundesliga era

References

1. Template:De icon "Miroslav Klose wechselt zum FC Bayern". FC Bayern Munich Official Website. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
2. "Soccer Power Rankings". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
3. "Säbener Strasse 51 - Bayern's training facility and head offices". FC Bayern Munich Official Website. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
4. Template:De icon "Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Bayern München 1:2 (1:0)". fussballdaten. 1999-09-18. Retrieved 2006-12-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official site in English (German, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese versions also available)

Template:Fb start

Template:UEFA Cup 2007-08 Template:Fb end

• Football (soccer) clubs established in 1900
• German football clubs
• FC Bayern Munich
• Sport in Munich
• G-14 clubs
• Multi-sport clubs