FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by
Franz John.
[5] Although Bayern won its first
national championship in
1932,
[6]the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at
its inception in 1963.
[7]The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the
captaincy of
Franz Beckenbauer, it won the
European Cup three times in a row (1974–1976). Overall, Bayern has reached ten
European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their
fifth title in
2013 as part of a continental
treble. Bayern has also won one
UEFA Cup, one
European Cup Winners' Cup, one
UEFA Super Cup, one
FIFA Club World Cup and two
Intercontinental Cups, making it
one of the most successful European clubs internationally. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles. They have
traditional local rivalries with
1860 Munich and
1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with
Borussia Dortmundsince the mid-1990s.
Since the beginning of the
2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the
Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munich's
Olympiastadion for 33 years. The team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue
flag of Bavaria.
[8]In terms of
revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany and the third biggest football club in the world, generating €488 million for the 2013–14 season.
[9] As of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members.
[10] There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members.
[11] The club has other departments for
chess,
handball, basketball, gymnastics,
bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members.
[12]
