The 11 v 11 Football Channel - Football's Unlimited Home!

 Since its inception in 1963, the Bundesliga has developed into one of the best, most recognizable leagues in the world. This is its story so far... 

 Prior to the Bundesliga's inception, the German football pyramid was broken up into regional tiers that represented Berlin and the north, the south, southwest, and west of West Germany. The top two in each region would then advance to a second stage to determine that year's national champion. 

 With Germany split in two until reunification in 1990, the east of the country operated its own system from 1948 to 1991, with the DS-Oberliga (later renamed the Fußball Oberliga DFV in 1958) sitting at the top of three divisions that made up the Eastern league structure. 

 Everything was amateur or semi-professional in those days and the merging of West Germany's Oberligen marked a new era of professionalism for football in the country. 

The formation of the Bundesliga has not only been attributed to a desire to professionalize the sport in Germany, but also to stop the best players from heading abroad and to revive the fortunes of the national team following their 1962 FIFA World Cup exit at the hands of hosts Chile at the quarter-final stage.

 Eighteen days after that defeat, on 28 July 1962, 103 of the Deutscher Fußball-Bund's (German Football Association) 129 delegates voted in favor of a centralized league at a now historic meeting in Dortmund. Osnabrück lawyer Hermann Gösmann, who had long campaigned for greater professionalism within the game, was named the new DFB president and tasked with overseeing the execution of the new league. 

 Gösmann formed a six-man committee alongside Hamburg native Walter Baresel, solicitor Dr. Willi Hübner from Essen, Cologne president Franz Kremer, his Nuremberg counterpart Ludwig Franz, and journalist Hermann Neuberger. 

 They had to preside over numerous key decisions, with just 12 months before the Bundesliga would make its debut. After the wider DFB delegation voted in favor of a 16-team division to kickstart things in 1963/64, the first major job on their plate was to decide who made the cut from 46 applicants. 

 Eventually, a unanimous vote decided that five teams would join from the Oberliga West, five more from the South, three from the North, two from the Southwest and one from Berlin. The founding member teams were: 1860 Munich, Cologne, Borussia Dortmund. Eintracht Braunschweig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Preußen Munster, MSV Duisburg, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Schalke, VfB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen.

  The respective champions of each league in the season before were guaranteed a spot regardless of their position in the complex standings showing performances of the previous 10 years. There was also a rule stipulating that only one club per city would be permitted in the Bundesliga. This therefore meant that Bayern Munich automatically missed out on a place because 1860 won the title in 1962/63 despite being ahead in the 10-year standings. 

Although sides were left slighted at being overlooked for the top tier, and some would launch legal challenges, they would be given the chance at earning promotion from the various Regionalliga divisions that remained, now feeding into the new championship.

 The inaugural Bundesliga campaign got underway on 24 August 1963 and it took less than a minute for the first goal to be scored. Dortmund's Timo Konietzka was the man to etch his name into the history books, finding the back of the net after only 58 seconds against Werder. 

 Sixteen teams would become 18 from the 1965/66 campaign, while Bundesliga 2 launched in 1974 and the 1981/82 season saw promotion/relegation play-offs introduced for the first time. They briefly went away from 1991 to 2008, but have been a mainstay across the top three divisions ever since. 

 The 1991/92 season resulted in a 20-team top flight when Germany's reunification saw teams from the former east come into the fold. Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden were the first Eastern representatives to take part in the Bundesliga, but we are still waiting to see a team from the old east lift the Bundesliga title.

  Historically, German teams were not-for-profit organizations run by members’ associations. The introduction of the 50+1 rule in 1998 ensured that private ownership of any kind was prohibited. The rule means that clubs – and, by extension, the fans - hold a majority of their own voting rights. Under German Football League [DFL] rules, football clubs will not be allowed to play in the Bundesliga if commercial investors have more than a 49 percent stake, and is why debts and wages are under control in German football and why ticket prices are so low compared to other major leagues in Europe. 

 There have been 12 different German champions since the league's founding, with Bayern Munich (30) collecting the most titles. Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach (both five) are next on the list, while Werder (four), Hamburg, Stuttgart (both three), Cologne and Kaiserslautern (both two) are the other clubs with more than one Bundesliga trophy in their cabinets. 

 Bayern's current nine-year run as champions is the longest in history, while Nuremberg (nine) have been relegated from the Bundesliga more times than any other team. Bayern's 91-point haul in 2012/13 is the most of any club in a single season and Tasmania Berlin's eight-point return in 1965/66 being the lowest. There were two points for a win back then, something that was changed going into the 1995/96 campaign. All in all, 56 teams have competed in the Bundesliga, with Union Berlin the most recent debutant in 2019/20. 

 Udo Lattek is the coach with most championships (eight), Charly Korbel has made the most appearances (602), Gerd Muller holds the record for most goals (365), and Manuel Neuer tops the list when it comes to clean sheets (less goals conceded by a goalkeeper) (212) and wins (311). Youssoufa Moukoko (16 years, one day) is the youngest ever play to feature in the Bundesliga, while Klaus Fischel (43 years, six months, two days) is the oldest. 

 The Bundesliga is now firmly established as one of the world's best leagues and is a leader when it comes to fan ownership and sustainability. It's football as it's meant to be. 

Source Information: https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/the-history-of-the-bundesliga-explained-19385

 After the German FA (DFB) was founded in January 1900, football clubs across the nation were invited to join Germany’s newly formed football federation – but not all of them accepted the offer. One Bavarian sports and gymnastics club, MTV 1879 Munich, rejected the chance to join the DFB following a vote by its members. Disgruntled, a group belonging to the club’s football team vowed to break away and form their own club. Meeting at local Café Gisela, 17 footballers, led by Berliner Franz John, signed a document establishing a new team, which they called Bayern Munich.  

 Due to financial troubles, and in need of a pitch, they joined forces with affluent outfit Münchner Sport-Club (MSC) in 1906, though they still retained their independence. The one concession made was that they would wear the MSC club colors: red shorts and white shirts. It’s a color combination still worn proudly by Bayern to this day.

 While successful in local terms from the get-go, Bayern grew in dominance as the years went by. They were crowned Eastern District champions in 1910, before lifting the Southern German Championship in 1926. The biggest prize of all, Germany’s national championship, was finally theirs six years later. Fans traveled by whatever means they could – rail, bicycle, even on foot – to watch the Nuremberg-held final against Eintracht Frankfurt. It was worth the pilgrimage, too, because Bayern defeated the Eagles 2-0 to become champions of Germany for the first time.  

 Following World War II, football in West Germany was split up into five regional divisions – the highest of each was known as the Oberliga. Bayern played in the Oberliga South, and added to their trophy haul in 1957 when lifting the DFB Cup for the first time in their history. With German football due a rebrand just a few years later, more silverware wasn’t far away.  

 In 1963, a new national league, called the Bundesliga, was formed, but the very first seasons didn’t feature the club that would on to dominate the competition in later years. 

Following promotion in the third season of the Bundesliga,  Bayern’s debut campaign in the top flight saw them finish third, with cross-town rivals 1860 winning the Meisterschale. The power balance was set to change, however, and not merely in the city of Munich. 

 The youngsters that secured Bayern’s top-flight status would rapidly emerge into world beaters, powering the club to a maiden Bundesliga title in 1971/72 – the first of three consecutive wins. Those successes were immediately followed by a hat-trick of European Cup victories between 1974 and 1976. With Gerd Müller scoring goals at an unstoppable rate, and Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer ensuring regular clean sheets, Bayern emerged as a giant of European football during the 1970s and beyond.  

 During that decade, Müller and Beckenbauer would each win the Ballon d’Or (the defender twice), while all three, including Maier, would win a UEFA European Championship in 1972 and a FIFA World Cup in 1974 with West Germany. The trio all started in both of those finals. Bayern’s status as an elite club is a given today, but it was forged during that golden era, and in large part thanks to those legendary players. 

 Bayern had won the Meisterschale 22 times in dominant fashion by the start of the 2012/13 season, but that specific campaign heralded an unprecedented period of dominance for Germany’s most decorated club. Under the guidance of Jupp Heynckes, Bayern secured their first treble that term, winning the Mesiterschale, DFB Cup and the UEFA Champions League by defeating Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund in the latter final. That Bundesliga win would mark the first of 11-straight league titles,  running until the end of the 2022/23 season.  

 That decade also saw Bayern claim five DFB Cup crowns (taking their overall tally to a record 20) and another Champions League in 2019/20. The latter season marked their second treble, under coach Hansi Flick, as Bayern reasserted themselves as the biggest club in the world.  

 This unparalleled success coincided with Bayern becoming the biggest club in the world for a time in terms of membership. Their current 382,000 members still puts them in the highest bracket in terms of global support. 

Source Information: https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/five-key-periods-bayern-munich-125-years-beckenbauer-muller-heynckes-31005