[Bayern]

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+CLUB HISTORY
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 recognized 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.

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 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. But these were to be Bayern's last major titles of the century.

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't bring 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.

Bayern Munich managed to win the Uefa Champions League in the 2000/2001 season and all the hopes were with the team as it made it their 4th European Title of their enormous history, Bayern were at the top of the world and all the fans were right behind them. 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. Since then Bayern have been very successful in their new home and with another trophy to add last season they will be looking for more for the next few years.
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