History
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Main article: History of Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Football pitch (training only)
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.
Opened in 2005: the Allianz Arena, one of the world's most modern football stadiums.
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 party 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.
In the current season, they are adrift off the top of the table. They have finished fourth with 60 points and are out of the running for a UEFA Champions League spot. The UEFA Cup will be their main European campaign next season. Ottmar Hitzfeld has had to endure mounting injury concerns. He has, however, stated that Bayern will be in a busy mood during the summer, as he seeks to rebuild a stronger team. With the signings of Marcell Jansen, Jan Schlaudraff, Hamit Altintop and Jose Ernesto Sosa, Bayern are looking for more players to bolster their squad. Owen Hargreaves looks on the verge of signing for Manchester United, Claudio Pizarro and Ali Karimi are set to leave while Hasan Salihamidzic has agreed to a contract with Juventus, and Mehmet Scholl is retiring having scored in the last game of the season.
In April Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport reported a transfer of Luca Toni. However both Toni's manager and the club declared there were still negotiations.
On May 3rd, sueddeutsche.de reported that Bayern along with President Beckenbauer have expressed interest in perhaps acquiring 19-year old Bosnian sensation Arminho from FK ´eljezničar.[citation needed]
