Early years (1900s–1960s) in 1901 Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club (MTV 1879). When a congregation of members of MTV 1879 decided on 27 February 1900 that the footballers of the club would not be allowed to join the
German Football Association (DFB), eleven members of the football division left the congregation and on the same evening founded Fußball-Club Bayern München. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all local rivals, including a 15–0 win against Nordstern, and reached the semi-finals of the 1900–01
South German championship. By the end of its first decade of founding, Bayern had its first German national team player, Max Gablonsky. By 1920, it had over 700 members, making it the largest football club in Munich. Its first national title was gained in
1932, when coach
Richard "Little Dombi" Kohn led the team to the
German championship by defeating
Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final. Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again, which led to the move of gifted young centre-forward
Oskar Rohr to
Switzerland. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, achieving mid-table results in its regional league instead. After the end of the
Second World War in 1945, Bayern became a member of the
Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time. Bayern struggled, hiring and firing 13 coaches between 1945 and 1963. Landauer returned from exile in 1947, and was once again appointed club president, the tenure lasted until 1951. He remains as the club's president with the longest accumulated tenure. Landauer has been deemed the most important figure in Bayern's transition to a professional club. In 1955, the club was relegated but returned to the
Oberliga in the following season and won the
DFB-Pokal for the first time, beating
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1–0 in the
final. The club struggled financially, though, verging on bankruptcy at the end of the 1950s. President Reitlinger was ousted in the club's elections of 1958 by the industrialist Roland Endler, who provided financial stability for the club. Under his reign, Bayern had its best years in the Oberliga. Endler was no longer a candidate in 1962, when Wilhelm Neudecker, who became wealthy in the postwar construction boom, replaced him. In 1963, the Oberligas in Germany were consolidated into one national league, the
Bundesliga. Five teams from the Oberliga South were admitted. The key to qualifying for the Bundesliga was the accumulated record of the last twelve years, where Bayern was only the sixth-ranked club. To boot, local rivals
1860 Munich, ranked seventh, were champions of the last Oberliga-Süd season and were given preference on the basis of this achievement. After initial protests by Bayern for alleged mistreatment remained fruitless, president Neudecker rose to the challenge and hired
Zlatko Čajkovski, who in 1962 led
1. FC Köln to the national championship. Fielding a team with young players like
Franz Beckenbauer,
Gerd Müller and
Sepp Maier – who would later be collectively referred to as
the axis, they achieved promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965.
Udo Lattek took charge in 1970. After winning the
DFB-Pokal in
his first season, Lattek led Bayern to their
third German championship. The deciding match in the
1971–72 season against
Schalke 04 was the first match in the new
Olympiastadion, and was also the first live televised match in Bundesliga history. Bayern beat Schalke 5–1, so won the title, while also setting several records, including points gained and goals scored. Bayern also won the next two championships, but the zenith was their triumph in the
1974 European Cup Final against
Atlético Madrid, which Bayern won 4–0 after a replay. This title – after winning the Cup Winners' trophy 1967 and two semi-finals (
1968 and
1972) in that competition – marked the club's breakthrough as a force on the international stage. During the following years, the team was unsuccessful domestically, but defended their European title by defeating
Leeds United in the
1975 European Cup final, when Roth and Müller secured victory with late goals. "We came back into the game and scored two lucky goals, so in the end, we were the winners, but we were very, very lucky", stated Franz Beckenbauer.
Billy Bremner believed the French referee was "very suspicious". Leeds fans then rioted in
Paris and were banned from European football for three years. A year later in
the final in
Glasgow, another Roth goal helped defeat
Saint-Étienne, and Bayern became the third club to win the trophy in three consecutive years. The final trophy won by Bayern in this era was the
Intercontinental Cup, in which they defeated Brazilian club
Cruzeiro over two legs. The rest of the decade was a time of change and saw no further titles for Bayern. In 1977, Franz Beckenbauer left for
New York Cosmos and, in 1979, Sepp Maier and
Uli Hoeneß retired while Gerd Müller joined the
Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
Bayerndusel was coined during this period as an expression of either contempt or envy about the sometimes narrow and last-minute wins against other teams.
From FC Breitnigge to FC Hollywood (1970s–1990s) The 1980s were a period of off-field turmoil for Bayern, with many changes in personnel and financial problems. On the field,
Paul Breitner and
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, termed "FC Breitnigge", led the team to Bundesliga titles in
1980 and
1981. Apart from a DFB-Pokal win in
1982, two relatively unsuccessful seasons followed, after which Breitner retired, and former coach Udo Lattek returned. Bayern won the DFB-Pokal in
1984 and went on to win five Bundesliga championships in six seasons, including a
double in
1986. European success, however, was elusive during the decade; Bayern, though, finished as runner-up in the European Cups of
1982 and
1987. marked the beginning of the club's success on the European stage.
Jupp Heynckes was hired as coach in 1987, but after two consecutive championships in
1988–89 and
1989–90, Bayern's form dipped. After finishing second in
1990–91, the club finished just five points above the relegation places in
1991–92. In
1993–94, Bayern was eliminated in the
UEFA Cup second round to
Premier League side
Norwich City, who were the only English club to beat Bayern at the Olympiastadion during Bayern's time playing there. Franz Beckenbauer took over for the second half of the 1993–94 season, winning the
championship again after a four-year gap. Beckenbauer was then appointed club president. His successors as coach,
Giovanni Trapattoni and
Otto Rehhagel, both finished trophyless after a season, not meeting the club's high 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 briefly returned at the end of the
1995–96 season as caretaker coach and led his team to victory in the
UEFA Cup, beating
Bordeaux in the
final. For the
1996–97 season, Trapattoni returned to win
the championship. In the
following season, Bayern lost
the title to newly promoted
Kaiserslautern and Trapattoni had to take his leave for the second time.
Renewed international success (1990s–2000s) {{football squad on pitch|align=left|clear=none After his success at Borussia Dortmund, Bayern were coached by
Ottmar Hitzfeld from 1998 to 2004. In Hitzfeld's
first season, Bayern won the
Bundesliga and came close to winning the
Champions League, losing 2–1 to
Manchester United into injury time after leading for most of the
match. The following year, in
the club's centenary season, Bayern won the third
league and
cup double in its history. A third consecutive
Bundesliga title followed in
2001, won with a
stoppage time goal 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 on
penalties. The
2001–02 season began with a win in the
Intercontinental Cup, but ended trophyless otherwise. In
2002–03, Bayern won their fourth double, leading the
league by a record margin of 16 points. Hitzfeld's reign ended in 2004, with Bayern underperforming, including defeat by second division
Alemannia Aachen in the
DFB-Pokal.
Felix Magath took over and led Bayern to two consecutive doubles. Prior to the start of the
2005–06 season, Bayern moved from the Olympiastadion to the new
Allianz Arena, which the club shared with 1860 Munich. On the field, their performance in
2006–07 was erratic. Trailing in the league and having lost to Alemannia Aachen in the cup yet again, coach Magath was sacked shortly after the winter break. Hitzfeld returned as a trainer in January 2007, but Bayern finished the
2006–07 season in fourth position, meaning no
Champions League qualification for the first time in more than a decade. Additional losses in the
DFB-Pokal and the
DFB-Ligapokal left the club with no honours for the season.
Domestic dominance and continental treble (2000s–2010s) For the
2007–08 season, Bayern made drastic squad changes to help rebuild. Among new signings were
2006 World Cup players such as
Franck Ribéry,
Miroslav Klose and
Luca Toni. Bayern won the Bundesliga in convincing fashion, leading the standings on every single week of play, and the
DFB-Pokal against Borussia Dortmund. After the season, Bayern's long-term goalkeeper
Oliver Kahn retired, which left the club without a top-tier goalkeeper for several seasons. The club's coach
Ottmar Hitzfeld also retired and
Jürgen Klinsmann was chosen as his successor. However, Klinsmann was sacked before the end of his first season as Bayern trailed
Wolfsburg in the league, had lost the quarterfinal of the DFB-Pokal to
Bayer Leverkusen, and were defeated in the quarterfinal of the Champions League by
Barcelona, conceding four goals in the first half of the first leg.
Jupp Heynckes was named caretaker coach and led the club to a second-place finish in the league. in the
Bundesliga in September 2011 For the
2009–10 season, Bayern hired Dutch manager
Louis van Gaal, and Dutch forward
Arjen Robben joined Bayern. Robben, alongside Ribéry, would go on to shape Bayern's playstyle of attacking over the wings for the next ten years. The press quickly dubbed the duo "Robbery". In addition,
David Alaba and
Thomas Müller were promoted to the first team. Van Gaal stated: "With me, Müller always plays", which has become a much-referenced phrase over the years. On the pitch, Bayern had its most successful season since 2001, securing the domestic double and losing only in the
final of the Champions League to Inter Milan. Van Gaal was fired in April 2011 as Bayern was trailing in the league and eliminated in the first
knockout round of the Champions League, again by Inter. Heynckes returned for his second permanent spell in the
2011–12 season. Although the club had signed
Manuel Neuer, ending Bayern's quest for an adequate substitute for Kahn, and
Jérôme Boateng for the season, Bayern remained without a title for a second consecutive season, coming in second to Borussia Dortmund in the league and the cup. The
Champions League final was held at the
Allianz Arena and Bayern reached the final in their home stadium but lost to
Chelsea on penalties. Bayern Munich went on to win all titles in the
2012–13 season. They set various Bundesliga records along the way, becoming the first German team to win the
treble. Bayern finished top of the Bundesliga with a record 91 points, only eleven points shy of a perfect season. In what was Bayern's third
Champions League final appearance within four years, they beat Borussia Dortmund 2–1. A week later, they completed the treble by winning the
DFB-Pokal final against
Stuttgart. During the season, the club announced that they would hire
Pep Guardiola as coach for the
2013–14 season. Originally, the club presented this as Heynckes retiring on the expiration of his contract, but
Uli Hoeneß later admitted that it was not Heynckes's decision to leave Bayern at the end of the season. It was actually forced by the club's desire to appoint Guardiola. {{football squad on pitch|align=left|clear=none Guardiola's first season started off well, with Bayern extending a streak of undefeated league matches from the previous season to 53 matches. An eventual loss to
Augsburg came two match days after Bayern had won the league title. During the season, Bayern had also claimed two other titles, the
FIFA Club World Cup and the
UEFA Super Cup, the latter being the last major trophy the club had not yet won. Bayern also won the
cup to complete their tenth domestic double, but lost in the
semi-final of the Champions League to
Real Madrid. Off the pitch, Bayern's president Uli Hoeneß was convicted of tax evasion in March 2014, and sentenced to years in prison. Hoeneß resigned the next day, and vice-president
Karl Hopfner was elected president in May. Under Guardiola, Bayern also won the Bundesliga in
2014–15 and
2015–16, including another double in 2015–16, but did not advance past the semi-finals in the Champions League. Although the club's leadership tried to convince Guardiola to stay, the coach decided not to extend his three-year contract.
Carlo Ancelotti was hired as successor to Guardiola. Off the pitch, Uli Hoeneß had been released early from prison and reelected as president in November 2016. Under Ancelotti, Bayern won a fifth consecutive league title. In July 2017, Bayern announced that
1860 Munich would leave the Allianz Arena for good as the club had been relegated to the fourth-tier
Regionalliga due to financial problems. During the
2017–18 season, Bayern's performances were perceived to be increasingly lacklustre, and Ancelotti was sacked after a 3–0 loss to
Paris Saint-Germain in the
Champions League, early in his second season.
Willy Sagnol took over as interim manager for a week, before Jupp Heynckes was announced as coach for the rest of the season, in what was his fourth spell at the club. During the season, the club urged Heynckes—even publicly—to extend his contract, but Heynckes, aged 73, stayed firm that he would retire after the season. Heynckes led the club to another championship, but lost the cup final against
Eintracht Frankfurt. Eintracht's coach,
Niko Kovač, was named Heynckes' successor at Bayern. In Kovač's first season at Bayern, the club was eliminated by
Liverpool in the
round of 16 in the Champions League, the first time since 2011 that Bayern did not reach the quarter-final. Bayern won their seventh straight Bundesliga title, however, as they finished two points above Dortmund with 78 points. This Bundesliga title was Ribéry's ninth and Robben's eighth. A week later, Bayern defeated
RB Leipzig 3–0 in the
2019 DFB-Pokal final to win their 19th German Cup and to complete their 12th domestic double.
Return to German coaches (2019–2024) {{football squad on pitch|align=right|clear=none Kovač was sacked after a 5–1 league loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, with
Hansi Flick being promoted to interim manager in November 2019. After a satisfying spell as interim, Bayern announced a month later that Flick would remain in charge. Under Flick, the club won the
league, having played the most successful second half of a Bundesliga season in history, winning all but one match, which was drawn. The club also won the
cup, completing the club's 13th domestic double. In the
Champions League, Bayern reached their first final since 2013, having beaten Barcelona
8–2 in the quarter-finals. Bayern defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the
final, which was held in Lisbon
behind closed doors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Former PSG player
Kingsley Coman scored the only goal of the match. Bayern became the second European club after Barcelona to complete the
seasonal treble in two different seasons. Bayern started the
2020–21 season by winning the
UEFA Super Cup for the second time in their history. Bayern also won the
FIFA Club World Cup, defeating Mexican team
Tigres 1–0 in the final. Bayern became the second club to win the
sextuple, after Barcelona did so in 2009. The club also won its
ninth Bundesliga title in a row. During the season,
Robert Lewandowski broke
Gerd Müller's record for most goals scored in a Bundesliga season, having scored 41 times in 29 matches. Flick left at the end of the 2020–21 season to manage the Germany national team, and at Flick's request,
RB Leipzig manager
Julian Nagelsmann succeeded him. According to several news reports, Bayern paid Leipzig €25m as compensation for Nagelsmann's services, a world record for a manager. Under Nagelsmann, Bayern won its 10th consecutive Bundesliga title. In March 2023, Nagelsmann was released by Bayern and replaced with
Thomas Tuchel, who led the club to a record
eleventh consecutive title, after winning a close title race with
Borussia Dortmund. In August 2023, Bayern broke the
German transfer record again, signing
England captain and all-time leading goalscorer
Harry Kane from
Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of €110m. In February 2024, Bayern and Tuchel announced the end of their cooperation after the end of the season. Not only that the
2023–24 Bundesliga was the first season in a decade that Bayern Munich did not win, losing it out to
Bayer Leverkusen, but it was also the first time in twelve years that the club
went trophyless in a season.
Vincent Kompany era (2024–present) On 29 May 2024,
Vincent Kompany was confirmed as the new head coach of Bayern and received a three-year contract. Bayern started the
2024–25 Bundesliga with a 3–2 win at
VfL Wolfsburg. On 5 May 2025, they won their 33rd Bundesliga title (34th German title) after a 2–2 draw between
SC Freiburg and
Bayer Leverkusen, made them champions with two games to spare. The end of the
2024–25 season saw the departure of club legend
Thomas Müller. Having spent 25 years at the club including 17 full seasons with the first team, the club announced its decision not to offer Müller a contract extension. He left the club as the
all-time record appearance holder, having earned a record 756 caps across all competitions, winning a record 33 titles with Bayern, and setting
numerous records along the way. The club started the new season in strong fashion by winning the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, previously known as the DFL-Supercup. New signing
Luis Díaz scored the deciding goal in the
final. Bayern also came out flying in the
2025–26 Bundesliga season opener by convincingly defeating
RB Leipzig 6–0. The team turned the good start into a winning streak and the club managed to set a new record across Europe's top five leagues (a record previously held by AC Milan since 1992–93) with 16 wins in 16 games across all competitions. The winning streak came to an end on matchday 10 in the Bundesliga. Bayern were heading for a defeat against Union Berlin until a late Harry Kane equaliser secured the team a point. Their domestic unbeaten streak came to a conclusion on matchday 19 through a narrow 2–1 defeat to
FC Augsburg. Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich went 18 games unbeaten, but ran into their first defeat of the season against
Arsenal. However the team quickly bounced back with a new winning streak and advanced to the semi-finals of both the
2025–26 DFB-Pokal and the
2025–26 UEFA Champions League. Bayern recorded a 5–0 away victory against
St. Pauli on matchday 29, bringing their season tally to 105 goals and surpassing their previous record of 101 goals set in the
1971–72 season. Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich won the 2025–26 Bundesliga, achieving the club's
34th Bundesliga title (35th German title), earlier before the league's end with four matches left, during the matchday 30, winning 4–2 at home over
VfB Stuttgart. On 21 April 2026,
Michael Wiesinger was appointed as
head of sport and
youth development at the
FC Bayern Campus. ==Kits==