FC Bayern e.V.

Lore & Background

The team is intended to be the final step between Bayern's youth setup and the first team, and is usually made up of promising youngsters between the age of 18 and 23, with a few veteran players drafted in to provide experience. Bayern II has made several appearances in the DFB-Pokal, even facing the senior Bayern side in a fourth round tie in 1977 losing 5–3. The team's first appearance in the top-league of Bavarian football, the southern group of the Amateurliga Bayern, came in 1956, when it won the tier-four 2nd Amateurliga Oberbayern A and advanced to the next level through the promotion round. After finishing its first season in this league in mid-table, it ended 1957–58 as runners-up, two points behind local rival Wacker München. It repeated this achievement in 1960–61, this time coming second to 1860 Munich II. Both reserve sides then descended in the league table and, in 1963, when the German football league system was severely altered, they both missed the cut-off for the new single-tier Amateurliga Bayern. Bayern Amateure had to finish seventh to qualify but came only 14th and found itself grouped in the new tier-four Landesliga Bayern-Süd. It took the team four seasons in this league to work its way back up, improving year by year and, in 1966–67, it finished first and earned promotion back to the Bayernliga. Bayern started well in the league, coming fourth in the first year, but then declined and was relegated again in 1971. It only took two seasons this time for the team to return to the third division and another league win in 1973 moved the team back up. For the next 21 seasons, the team was to be a member of the Bayernliga without interruption. However, in all the 21 seasons there, the team could never win the league either, being ineligible for promotion from there to professional football anyway. The team had few bad seasons in this time, coming relatively close to relegation only once, in 1982. It managed three runners-up finishes in the league, in 1983, 1984 and 1987 and generally existed as an upper-table side. In 1994, with the introduction of the new tier-three Regionalliga Süd, the team qualified comfortably. It was to be a long-term member of this league, too, belonging to it until 2008, when the 3. Liga was formed. After mostly finishing in mid-table in the league, Bayern earned its first league title in over 30 years when it won th

In Their Own Story

Rain slicked the cobblestones of old Schwabing, mirroring the determination of those eleven men who walked these streets in 1900 to break away from tradition. Today, inside the cavernous belly of the Allianz Arena, a different kind of storm brews—a roar that vibrates through steel and concrete, forged by generations of red-and-white scarves. A veteran supporter, his face etched with decades of joy and heartbreak, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with a wide-eyed youth as the players emerge from the tunnel. The air is thick with the scent of wet turf and electric anticipation. As 'Stern des Meeres' swells, the line between the corporate machinery and the club's soul dissolves completely. There is only FC Bayern: a singular, living force of history and hope, ready to ink another chapter in a saga that began over a century ago.

Reader's Guide

Bayern II play at the Grünwalder Stadion, which was the first team's venue until the opening of the Olympiastadion in 1972. During the 2012–13 season Bayern II moved to Sportpark Heimstetten, the home stadium of SV Heimstetten, caused by renovation of the Grünwalder Stadion.

Did You Know?

• Bayern II won the Regionalliga Süd title in 2004, their first league title in over 30 years.
• In 1977, Bayern II faced the senior Bayern side in the DFB-Pokal fourth round, losing 5–3.
• Bayern II won the 3. Liga in 2019–20 but could not be promoted due to being a reserve team.
• The team was renamed from FC Bayern Munich Amateure to FC Bayern Munich II in 2005.