1900 - 1945

Success from the Outset

The story begins in February 1900 with Franz John, a Berliner, and the 18 names on the club's corporate charter, the first of many Bayern players to come. The team's rise began in 1907, when the Bayern Reds moved to their new home, the Bayern Ground on Munich's Leopoldstrasse. Local opposition team, FC Wacker, found out which way things were heading with an 8-1 defeat in the opening match.

Bayern's first success was a top place in Munich football, an achievement spectators at the Bayern Ground watched in relative comfort from a proper stand. Their first real peak came in 1910, when the team became Eastern Region Champions.

The following year Bayern defended their title undefeated, despite raising more than a few smiles in short trousers. By then they had a national player in the squad. Max 'Gaberl' Gablonsky first put on the German strip for Germany's 3-0 defeat by Belgium on 16th May 1910. After that, things moved quickly. By 1920, Bayern had 700 members and had become what it is today: Munich's biggest football club.

In 1926, the team won the South German championship and in 1932 achieved its first national title, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0. The goal-scorers were Rohr and Krumm, the stars were Heidkampf and Breindl, and coach, masseur, organiser and manager all rolled into one was Richard 'Little' Dombi.

Bayern became a household name in Germany, but after Simetsreiter, Goldbrunner and Moll had boosted the 1936 Olympic team in Berlin, the football spirit died. TheSecond World War broke out and was to still the pulse of sport in Germany for many years.

1946 to 1967

A Period of Reconstruction

After this catastrophic period in history, German football needed its own period of recovery. It would be nine years before real euphoria broke out again, when the German national team returned triumphant from the World Cup in Switzerland.

Sepp Herberger's team had won Germany's first World Cup title, but the 3-2 victory over Hungary was a bitter experience for Jakob Streitle, the Bayern captain. The international who had made 15 appearances for his country had to sit out the final and watch Fritz Walter and the German team win without him.

But it would be a while before a German team without Bayern players became a rare sight, even though the Reds won the 1957 DFB (German Football Federation) Cup. In a sell-out match in front of 42,000 spectators at Augsburg's Rosenau Stadium, Bayern captain, Jobst led the team to a 1-0 victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf. But this was followed by a short period without victories. Managed from 1962 by construction magnate, Wilhelm Neudecker, Bayern faced disappointment in 1963, when they were not allowed to play in the newly established Bundesliga.

But two years later FC Bayern stormed the so-called upper house of German football, coached by Tschik Cajkovski, who died in 1998. The club then entered an extraordinary period of development, which saw the emergence of Franz Beckenbauer and other great names in Bayern's history.

Beckenbauer had joined the Reds instead of the Blues (Munich 1860) after an argument, and Cajkovski now played him in the promotion play-offs. Behind him, in goal, stood a certain Sepp Maier. In front of him, on the opposite side of the pitch, a stocky young man called Gerd Müller (whom Cajkovski would later affectionately dub 'the little fat müller') played the ball with consummate reliability.

It was this axis that first brought Bayern world fame. They finished third in their first Bundesliga year in 1965/6. Beckenbauer and Maier were rewarded with a place in the national squad that flew to Britain, where Germany's World Cup efforts only ended when they lost to the hosts, England, in the final. But Bayern's football year didn't go by without a title. They had won their second Cup victory, a 4-2 win over Meidericher SV, before the World Cup tournament. In front of60,000 spectators in Frankfurt, Ohlhauser, Beckenbauer and Brenninger (2) scored the goals.

1967 saw the Bavarians conquer their first European summit. Immediately after winning the Cup 4-0 over Hamburg SV, Beckenbauer's team achieved a kind of double. Franz 'Bull' Roth, the player who regularly scored the vital goals and earned the name 'Mr. European Cup', scored in the 109th minute to bring Bayern a 1-0 victory against Glasgow Rangers. The European Cup Winners' Cup belonged to the Bavarians. The dream had come true in Nuremberg.

1968 to 1976

The Golden Years

 1968 was a year of upheaval. Branco Zebec took over from Cajkovski and went as far as banning all beer consumption. Yet despite the experts' gloomy predictions, the fans were not denied victory. This time it was a real double: the Championship with an eight-point lead over Alemannia Aachen, and a national Cup victory over Schalke. But meanwhile, a team was emerging that would keep Bayern busy for years to come: Borussia Munchengladbach. The Gladbach Colts took the national title in 1970 and 1971, both times defeating Bayern.

When the Munich team regained the crown in 1972, this time in the new Olympic Stadium and coached by Udo Lattek, there was more than one cause for celebration. Gerd Müller now topped the statistics table with 40 goals in one season and the team had collected 55:13 points - another Bundesliga record. So it was almost inevitable that Lattek's team would bring home the DFB Cup, winning 2-1 in extra time against Cologne.

Two further championships followed under Lattek. Then came Bayern's first complete football triumph: the 1974 European Champions' Cup. Schwarzenbeck (The Cat) pulled Bayern level at 1-1 against Athletico Madrid in the last minute of extra time in Brussels, forcing a replay, which Beckenbauer's men won 4-0(Uli Hoeness and Gerd Muller each scoring twice).

In the same year, Germany won the World Cup, defeating Holland in the final in Munich. Six Bayern players were on the pitch for the 2-1 victory: Maier, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Hoeness and Müller. Two of them scored the goals: Breitner's penalty kick, and Müller's unforgettable shot on the turn.

Though Bayern took time out of the Bundesliga until 1980, internationally they achieved a European treble. The Bavarians won the European Champions' Cup in 1975 with a 2-0 victory over Leeds in Paris (Roth and Müller) and again in 1976 with a 1-0 win over St. Etienne in Glasgow (Roth), both times coached by Dettmar Cramer. Completing the treble, the European club won the 1976 World Club Championship (0-0 and 2-0 against Belo Horizonte). But these were to be Bayern's last major titles of the century...

1977 to 1990

Changes and a New Beginning

 1977 was a year of change and a year without titles. Franz Beckenbauer said a temporary farewell to the club and headed for Cosmos New York and the US League. A year later, Gerd Müller would follow him across the Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale.

In 1979, at just 27 years old, Uli Hoeness became manager, replacing Beckenbauer advisor, Robert Schwan. Pal Cernai succeeded Guyla Lorant as coach, and club president, Neudecker, left when the team rejected former Lion, Max Merkel, as coach. The new boss of Bayern was Willi O. Hoffman.

But better times lay ahead. In 1980, Paul Breitner and the young Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the pair dubbed 'FC Breitnigge', led Bayern to its first championship title for six years. In 1981 the trophy returned to Munich again, and in both years HSV, Stuttgart and Lautern took second, third and fourth places.

1982 witnessed the legendary cup victory over Nuremberg, which Bayern won 4-2 after trailing 0-2. Dieter Hoeness, his head bleeding and bandaged, played on tothe end of the match and contributed one of the goals. But in the same year there was defeat in the Champions' Cup, where Bayern lost 1-0 to Aston Villa.

And there was defeat for Germany in the World Cup final against Italy, though Breitner entered the history books as the only German to have scored a goal in two World Cup Finals. Still, Bayern's achievements did not go unrecognised. Eleven times between 1965 and 1981, Bayern produced Germany's footballer of the year: Beckenbauer (4), Maier (3), Muller (2), Rummenigge and Breitner.

In 1983, Lattek returned. A year later, Bayern beat Gladbach in a penalty shootout in the 1984 Cup final. In that match, Lothar Matthäus gave away his last penalty for the Colts, before transferring to the Bavarian club. Meanwhile, Kalle Rummenigge, now so famous that an English pop group had immortalised his 'sexy knees' in song, moved to Inter Milan for a record transfer fee of 11 million marks.

A year later, with new players Sören Lerby and the youngWiggerl Kögl, Bayern took the German championship. Dr. Fritz Scherer took over as manager and 1987 brought another championship victory. But a bitter 2-1 defeat by FC Porto in the Champions' Cup final in Vienna destroyed the team morale.

In 1988,Jupp Heynckes arrived to take on the task of building a new team, following the departures of Matthäus, Brehme, Eder, Hughes, Michael Rummenigge and Pfaff. But though Heynckes brought home the 1989 and 1990 Champions' titles, the European Cup continued to elude the Munich club. Nevertheless, when Germany became world champions again in 1990, the team included six Bayern players: Augenthaler, Reuter, Thon, Kohler, Pflügler and Aumann. 

1991 to 1999

Forward Into the Next Millennium

 Heynckes left in the 91/92 season and was replaced by Sören Lerby. But Bayern didn't recover, and with relegation now threatening, Erich Ribbeck took over. Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who had both offered their help if needed, now becamevice presidents of Bayern Munich. In the 93/94 season, the 'Kaiser' stepped in for the luckless Ribbeck and Bayern took the championship.

Next came the Trap era. But though Giovanni Trapattoni was popular with the players and the media, he didn'tbring Bayern the success it craved. Instead the team had to swallow sixth place in the 94/95 season and defeat by Ajax Amsterdam in the semi-final of the European Cup. So Otto Rehhagel arrived, and with him stars like Klinsmann, Herzog and Sforza.

But Rehhagel also had to go in the second half of the season, even though Bayern reached the final of the UEFA Cup with two unforgettable semi-final games against Barcelona. After a 2-2 draw at Munich's Olympic Stadium, it looked as if it was over. But the return match at Barcelona's Estadio Camp Nou turned into a victory parade. Babbel and Witeczek scored the goals in that 2-1 victory on 16th April 1996, which the fans still talk about to this day.

Franz Beckenbauer, President of Bayern Munich since 1994, was amongst those standing on the sidelines during the final matches. That year, the 2-0 and 3-1 against Orondins Bordeaux gave Bayern its first title win in this competition, but it was Dortmund who became national champions.

Trapattoni returned to the club. Two more years as Bayern coach brought two further titles: Champions in 1997, Cup winners in 1998. When the Maestro left, a whole city bowed its heads in respect. He had sealed his place in the hearts of the fans with a passionatespeech that attained cult status for phrases like 'The bottle's empty. We're all smashed'.

Ottmar Hitzfeld succeeded Trap and achieved a near perfect first year with a 15th Championship victory, and appearances in the DFB Cup final and Champions League final. But that 2-1 defeat by Manchester United in Barcelona, when European Cup victory disappeared in a matter of a few seconds, was a bitter pill to swallow. Can Hitzfeld, Effenberg and the rest of the team recapture what was lost last year in the coming season, which includes FC Bayern's 100th birthday on 27th February? The timing would be perfect. 

2000-2003

Emotion, drama and glory

 Bayern opened the new millennium in spectacular fashion, claiming the Champions League, the domestic championship, the World Club Cup and the German Cup in quick succession.

Bayern ended the old millennium on a low note with the devastating defeat to Manchester United in the 1999 Champions League final, but the team built around Oliver Kahn, Stefan Effenberg and Giovane Elber swiftly set about making amends in the new century.

Long-standing rivals Real Madrid felt the effects of Bayern's determination early in the year 2000 as the Reds put no less than eight goals past the Spanish giants in the space of eight days, winning 4-2 at the Bernabeu and 4-1 at home. The sides met again in the semi-finals, but this time Real took revenge, winning the tie with a 2-0 success at home and a crucial away goal in Munich's 2-1 win at the Olympic Stadium.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's men still collected silverware that season, entering the last week of the Bundesliga campaign neck-and-neck with Bayer Leverkusen. The Rhineland outfit fell to a shock defeat against relegated Unterhaching, allowing Bayern to pip them to the title. A week later, the Reds took revenge for the previous year's German Cup final defeat to Werder Bremen with a 3-0 win against the same opponents in the Berlin showpiece, sealing the third league and cup double in the club's history. Oliver Kahn was named German Player of the Year 1999-2000.

There was even better to come in 2000-2001. The omens were not good after an early German Cup exit to unfancied Magdeburg, but after 34 Bundesliga matches, Bayern again finished top of the standings. And again the glory was earned in dramatic fashion as Patrik Andersson blasted a stoppage-time equaliser in Hamburg with almost the last kick of the last match, snatching the title from rivals Schalke 04, whose game had already finished. The Schalke fans had celebrated - for just four minutes.

Brimming with confidence after the knife-edge finale, the Reds travelled to Milan on 23 May 2001 for the Champions League final against Valencia. Bayern had been on a European revenge mission all season, knocking out Manchester United in the quarter-finals and then seeing off Madrid with a 1-0 away win and a 2-1 success at home. Olli Kahn was the hero of that unforgettable night in Milan, saving three penalties in the shoot-out after the match had finished 1-1 after extra time to seal Munich's fourth European Champions Cup title, a quarter of a century after a the previous success.

2001-2 was always likely to be a let-down, although Bayern still ended the campaign with a trophy. Dortmund and Leverkusen finished above the Reds in the league and Schalke registered a 2-0 success over Munich in the German Cup semi-final, but a Sammy Kuffour goal sealed a 1-0 victory against Boca Juniors in November 2001 and the Reds brought home the World Club Cup for the second time in their history. The Champions League campaign ran until the quarter-finals, where Real put an end to Bavarian hopes.

Germany's most successful club bounced back in the Bundesliga the following year, winning the 2002-3 title with a massive 16 point advantage over surprise runners-up Stuttgart after totally dominating the domestic season. The Reds kept their focus for the German Cup final and cruised to a 3-1 victory over Kaiserslautern including a Michael Ballack brace. The playmaker successfully stepped into Stefan Effenberg's shoes and claimed the Player of the Year accolade as Bayern sealed their fourth double.

The one cloud was a first round Champions League exit, although even that had a silver lining. A certain Roy Makaay of Deportivo La Coruna single-handedly knocked out the Reds with a stunning display in front of goal - but this same Makaay set off in pursuit of glory for Bayern the following year.

2004 - present

Magath and the move to the Allianz Arena

 The summer of 2004 saw a change in the managerial hot seat at Bayern. Felix Magath replaced the eminently successful Ottmar Hitzfeld – and immediately supervised a clean sweep of the domestic honours in his first season in charge. Bayern took the league title by 14 points over their nearest rivals and lifted the DFB Cup with a 2-1 win against Schalke 04 in Berlin. Magath thus lived up to the club’s high expectations almost straight away.

However, the initial period of transition to the new boss was far from easy. Magath, a keen proponent of the values of discipline, order and fitness - he often had his players work out with medicine balls and lead-weighted jackets - and his players took a few weeks to get used to each other. After surviving those early teething troubles, Magath and Co ran away with the Bundesliga title in the second half of the season.

On the European stage, Magath was less successful in his first season as Bayern went out to Chelsea at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, although many people thought Bayern were unlucky to lose out to the millionaires from London.

May 2005 saw the curtain finally fall on the Olympic Stadium era. After 33 extremely successful seasons Bayern moved to the Allianz Arena. The Arena is only used for football and has a capacity of 69,000. Within a very short space, of time fans and players alike enthusiastically settled in to their new home. 

1900-2000

A century of succsess

The first 100 years of Bayern Munich's history - and its success story - begin and end with the name Franz. Is it just a coincidence that the leader of the eleven spirited rebels who met to form FC Bayern in the Gisela Restaurant in Munich on the night of 27th February 1900, was a certain Franz John? Or that it was a Franz who masterminded the split from MTV 1879, the original club, which had suppressed every attempt by the footballers at independence? Is it only chance that exactly a century later, another Franz, this time Beckenbauer, would lead Bayern Munich, now an experienced and visionary club with countless titles to its name, into the new millennium as its president?

Much time and many other differences separate now from then. Franz John co-founded and built Bayern up from nothing and was delighted with relatively modest results, like Bayern's 7-1 victory in their first match against their former team, MTV 1879. But John also gave this 'cavalier' club its first individual touch.

In the early days, people recognised Bayern, then known as Schwabinger Bayern, by the players' straw hats. In his turn, Franz Beckenbauer would help make Bayern Munich what it is today: an international club with millions of fans, an institution reaching way beyond German football.

Not in his wildest dreams could Franz John have imagined that future, or that his team would one day be German champions, European Cup Champions and even World Club Championship winners. Nor could he have imagined that nearly a century later, on a mild spring day in 1999, Beckenbauer would meet the world's leading heads of state, and no less than the British prime minister, Tony Blair, would whisper to him that he was the most famous person there.

Clearly something incredible happened in the 100 years between Franz and Franz.