Bundesliga
On 27 February 1900, Bayern Munich, now Germany’s most successful club with 32 Bundesliga titles, were founded in a café in Bavaria’s state capital. Since that fateful day, there have been many great moments, seasons and eras.
In celebration of Bayern's monumental milestone, we revisit some of the greatest periods in the club's history, from humble beginnings to domestic and world domination.
Founding fathers
After the German FA (DFB) was founded in January 1900, football clubs across the nation were invited to join Germany’s newly formed football federation – but not all of them accepted the offer. One Bavarian sports and gymnastics club, MTV 1879 Munich, rejected the chance to join the DFB following a vote by its members. Disgruntled, a group belonging to the club’s football team vowed to break away and form their own club. Meeting at local Café Gisela, 17 footballers, led by Berliner Franz John, signed a document establishing a new team, which they called Bayern Munich.
Due to financial troubles, and in need of a pitch, they joined forces with affluent outfit Münchner Sport-Club (MSC) in 1906, though they still retained their independence. The one concession made was that would wear the MSC club colours: red shorts, white shirts. It’s a combination still worn proudly by Bayern to this day.
While successful in local terms from the get-go, Bayern grew in dominance as the years went by. They were crowned Eastern District champions in 1910, before lifting the Southern German Championship in 1926. The biggest prize of all, Germany’s national championship, was finally theirs six years later. Fans traveled by whatever means they could – rail, bicycle, even on foot – to watch the Nuremberg-held final against Eintracht Frankfurt. It was worth the pilgrimage, too, with Bayern defeating the Eagles 2-0 to become champions of Germany for the first time.
Following World War II, football in West Germany was split up into five regional divisions – the highest of each known as the Oberliga. Bayern played in the Oberliga South, and added to their trophy haul in 1957 when lifting the DFB Cup for the first time in their history. With German football due a rebrand just a few years later, more silverware wasn’t far away.
In 1963, a new national league, called the Bundesliga, was formed, but the very first seasons didn’t feature the club that would on to dominate the competition in later years. Bayern actually missed out on a place in the new division after falling short in a ranking of the previous 12 campaigns, while they were also deemed ineligible after local rivals 1860 Munich won the last Oberliga South and earned automatic qualification. The DFB determined that it was not sensible for a city to have two clubs in the Bundesliga.
Cologne and Werder Bremen hoovered up the first two titles, as Bayern had to wait until the competition’s third season to join the fun. Zlatko Čajkovski, who had led the Billy Goats to championship glory in 1962, was brought in to help Bayern seal promotion. He managed it in 1965, with a young team including tyros Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Sepp Maier. Following promotion, Bayern’s debut campaign in the top flight saw them finish third, with cross-town rivals 1860 winning the Meisterschale. The power balance was set to change, however, and not merely in the city of Munich.
The youngsters that secured Bayern’s top-flight status would rapidly emerge into world beaters, powering the club to a maiden Bundesliga title in 1971/72 – the first of three consecutive wins. Those successes were immediately followed by a hat-trick of European Cup victories between 1974 and 1976. With Müller scoring goals at an unstoppable rate, and Maier and Beckenbauer ensuring regular clean sheets, Bayern emerged as a giant of European football during the 1970s and beyond.
During that decade, Müller and Beckenbauer would each win the Ballon d’Or (the defender twice), while all three, including Maier, would win a UEFA European Championship in 1972 and a FIFA World Cup in 1974 with West Germany. The trio all started in both of those finals. Bayern’s status as an elite club is a given today, but it was forged during that golden era, and in large part thanks to those legendary players.
Bayern had won the Meisterschale 22 times in dominant fashion by the start of the 2012/13 season, but that specific campaign heralded an unprecedented period of dominance for Germany’s most decorated club. Under the guidance of Jupp Heynckes, Bayern secured their first treble that term, winning the Mesiterschale, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League – defeating Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in the latter final. That Bundesliga win would mark the first of 11-straight league titles, running until the end of the 2022/23 season.
That decade also saw Bayern claim five DFB Cup crowns (taking their overall tally to a record 20) and another Champions League in 2019/20. The latter season marked their second treble, under coach Hansi Flick, as Bayern reasserted themselves as the biggest club in the world.
That unparalleled success coincided with Bayern becoming the biggest club in the world for a time in terms of membership. Their current 382,000 members still puts them in the highest bracket in terms of global support.