I have a Gerd Müller - Film. There he says he could have played also for the 1860-Team but he prefered to play for Bayern because in the 1860-Team he wouldn't have got the chance to play in the first team. And today he is the best striker of the German history. I was lucky that my first friend of Munich was a Bayern-Fan, because there the most people is for 1860. In the peripherie there are the Bayern-Fans. And naturally in other parts of Germany in Austria, South-Tyrol and other countries.
I grew up in the States and watched "Soccer Made in Germany" every Saturday morning on Public Broadcasting. Naturally, this was only an edited 60 minute show, but often showed FC Bayern back in the mid to late seventies. The names and the storied history of FC Bayern grew on me and my support has never wavered. When I played in college, in 1983-85, "Soccer Made in Germany" was on its last leg, but it grew into a ritual for me and my roommate to polish our boots before our afternoon home matches watching the show.
"Soccer Made In Germany" played a big part for me as well. I wish they would replay some of them. ahhhhh...memories. It was on Sunday's for me, so god just could not compete.
Well, I grew up in Austria (outside Vienna) and they showed the German Bundesliga and the Austrian league every week on TV. Although I lived in Austria I didn't really like the Austrian league, I always found it a bit boring so I started liking German football a lot more. This was in the early to mid 90's. I watched all the hightlights and some games every week and Bayern was the team that impressed me the most, along with Stuttgart so I natrually took a liking to them. It then went on to the German national team which I supported in 94, 96 and so on.
I became a fan of Bayern München because they were the first German team that I have ever heard of. I began taking German classes in school last year and got fasinated with the people and the culture...obviously soccer would tie in greatly with that...So I began researching teams and they were the first one that came up so they were the first one that i checked out, and naturally, I became a fan. Now i am going to München this summer and i am really bummed that they are not playing when i will be there. Hopefully I can still check out the stadium!
Damn, that sounds exactly like me!! In the mid-80's it was impossible to find any soccer on TV, except on PBS. We used to memorise Toby's lines, and watched tapes of the games over and over. I have to admit that I have a hard time watching any soccer game that has American commentators; they just dont have it! I still had copies of the '82 France-Germany semifinal, 1980 Euro final, with Toby calling the games, until a few years ago when the tapes finally wore out. My wife was happy but I was devastated!! Anyway, I saw mostly Bundesliga games in my youth on PBS, and have followed Bayern since. I still would prefer to watch a Bundesliga game than anything else, but make do with EPL on FSW.
Yes, this is one of the most interesting threads I've come across! My story is perhaps less interesting! Firstly, I'm German. That's about as interesting as it'll get! But pray, read on.. When I was a toddler, my family moved to Taiwan and then to Australia because of my father's marriage and subsquently, business. He originally lived in Munich (as a bachelor) and was a FCB supporter. He is now just the average sportsfan dad who watches a bit of everything, such is the sports paradise that is Australia! Dad has a lot of friends here in Australia who've come from (or around) our hometown in Germany, (a small place just outside Cologne), and as time pass I've become good mates with their kids too, especially through playing and watching football with them. These friends-of-the-family all support FC Cologne, although I've since met another friend from Klobenz during high school who cheers for Dortmund. Anyway, since I was old enough to distinguish one jersey from another, I was told to follow Cologne. Dad went back to Germany every so often and he would bring back kits and other merchandise, not to mention videos! He would also bring back Bayern stuff, although I never felt as excited as I did when seeing the Cologne stuff. Supporting Cologne was tough, even now, to an extent. Since I have never been back to Germany, it was near impossible to catch their games. It's been rise and fall for Cologne for a while now, though I still support them with all my heart. My heart belongs to Cologne, and I still talk about them with my friends or other Germans in the community. Since I've started Uni, I have grown a liking to chatting to people around the world, and I think in terms of German soccer, Bayern is the most interesting to talk about! They are, in my opinion, bullies at home yet bullied in Europe! That image, I think, is what fascinates me. Bayern are so underrated and underrespected in so many ways. No one rates them highly in TV programs here in Oz. They are constantly written off as boring, lacking in skill, too methodical, etc. Even when they won the CL, one reporter said it was the boringest game he's seen. That's why my support for Bayern grows every year. And for the national team too. Anyway so that's how I support Bayern. They are my "socializing team", so to speak. I always get the most laughs and meaningful conversations out of talking about them. I'll never love them or be passionate about them enough though, like some of you guys! Cologne on the other hand, is like Coke. Just because I've discovered beer, doesn't mean Coke isn't still my favourite. kev
Hi BayernWake I think in a way Cologne was a part of me when growing up and it's kind of stuck. It's a club I care about. Passionate is a dangerous word to use, I think, because there will always be people claiming to be more passionate than I am! People who aren't open to ideas and who would bash me as pretentious. When I was in high school the other kids never followed the Bundesliga. Supporting Cologne, in a way, was a ticket to a more knowledgeable scope. It was my claim to be the only true "born and bred" football fan since I had deeper connections with the team I support. So much for a kid's mind! That has changed somewhat now, since I'm a strong believer in that we can be fans of whatever team we want, and we are all equally qualified as fans. But Cologne is something that stuck, you know? Something I'm attached to and care about. I can tell you, though, that if the internet ceases to exist and no one I know talks about Bayern anymore, I would get over it. As for Cologne, I'll always keep an eye out for them, simply because they have grown on me!
Well I started supporting them when I lived in Nürnberg. When I was little my dad took me to the dentist to get one of my teeth pulled and he said after I get it out he would buy me something as a present. Well in Nürnberg there was this store that only sold football stuff and thats where we went. So I picked out my present and it was the jersey with the red and blue stripes(I think they used it in 95), but before I got the jersey I watched alot of Bayern games on tv and just started following them closely. So every year I would buy a new Bayern jersey and I still have them today. Also since I lived in Nürnberg, I also had this thing for FCN since it was the hometown team and alot of my friends liked them as well. So just like Neuwidentronic has this thing for Köln, I also have it for Nürnberg.
Makes sense to me. I've only been a Bayern fan for about 3 years now, but I follow them as closely as I do the (non-soccer) teams that I've followed for 12+ years. I can imagine, however, switching loyalties if I moved to back to Germany and lived for an extended period of time in a city with a Bundesliga team. But I think there will always be a place in a my heart for Bayern no matter what.
I grew up in Germany, and started watching fussball when I was 8-9 in the mid sixties. My Dad, was a big 1860 fan, as he escaped from the czech republick and 1860 always had some slavic players tht he liked(radenkovic, perusic and others) I started rooting for Bayern when they were trying to gain promotion from the regionalliga and was crushed when they failed in their first attempt. The first team I really rooted for (every other week to the Gruenwalderstadion) included Maier, Mueller and Beckenbauer, but I always liked Olk, Nafziger and Brenniger alot. I think I went nuts when the won the Pokal, with Brenninger getting fouled outside the box and didn't stop rolling until he was in the 5 yard box to get the PK against the Zebras of MSV Duisburg. I was a huge fan until I left to the US in 1975, and watched what I could, which wasn't too much. Now its much better, and Bayern has been an incredible success story. I will always like Borrusia Gladbach (fohlen under Weissweiler), their 70 rivelary was one of the great times to be a fan.
I was first drawn to Bayern because of my dad. He worked for the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Germany's equivalent of the USA's CIA) through the US Army from 1969-72 in Munich after he was drafted -- he spoke perfect German (having gotten a bachelor's and master's degree in it at the University), and was able to convince a colonel to give him and his squad the available position in Munich. He developed a great love for soccer, going to both Bayern and 1860 games at the Gruenwalder Stadion, and developed a liking for Bayern. When he came back to the states, he loved watching "Soccer made in Germany" on Public Broadcasting (as others have written about), and continued his support for Bayern. I was first introduced to the club around 1992 or so, at the age of 6, when my dad gave me an old Bayern shirt he had bought back in the 80s on a trip to Munich which originally belonged to my much older brother (it obviously got too small for him). I gave it to my sister a few years ago when it got too small for me, though she doesn't follow Bayern. Anyway, I didn't really become addicted to Bayern until 2002 when we got Fox Sports World and I realized that football could also be followed through the internet. I really got into the club because I suddenly got obsessed with soccer, and just naturally started to fervently support the club I already knew and which my dad liked. My dad still supports the club after 36 years, but he remains basically an armchair Bayern fan. I, on the other hand, am perhaps the most devoted Bayern fan in all of the pacific-northwest, spending way too much time (according to my parents and friends -- what do they know?) following the club and spending hundreds on merchendise (I have every Bayern kit since 94-95 except for the grey CL one from 98-00).
just one player: Sören Lerby Today i like the team as an unit and often dislike the players which are overhyped by the press so as Effenberg in the past.
Personally I think Bayern has some of the most underated player in Europe. How long is it going to take journalists to realise that Zidane, Deco, and every Chelsea midfield player are not that great. One player that will most likely shine the Confederations cup and next season's CLS is Schweinsteiger. He will be one of Bayern's best but will get no recognition outside of Germany.
Exactly, even Ballack to an extent......Bayern's great defense with Ottmar was barely recognized either, now its all about the Chelsea defense. Frankly, ITS BULSCHEISSE!
SWEET! I love it when Chelsea gets ripped. I too believe that Bayern and many footballers are underrated because they are NOT European. Pizarro=Peru.....How many people rate Peru or non-Brazilian or Argentinian players? Anyway, everyday I grow more fond of Bayern and especially all of the wonderful and cool Bavarians on BigSoccer.