Are Bayern Munich the world’s nicest superclub?
What do you do if you've just won the double and held a huge end-of-season party to celebrate with your fans? Jet off on a well-deserved holiday? Not if you're Bayern Munich: the record Bundesliga champions played in a benefit match at the end of the 2018/19 campaign prior to putting their feet up for the summer.
That's right. On 25 May, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and Co. hoisted the DFB Cup aloft following their victory over RB Leipzig. Just two days later they were on the pitch again at Kaiserslautern's sold-out Fritz-Walter Stadium, playing a benefit game in front of 49,780 fans.
The reason? The Red Devils had asked Bayern for help in order to secure their licence to continue playing in the third tier of German football next season. Despite being old rivals, Bayern duly obliged, with Lewandowski netting a late equaliser to cancel out Hendrick Zuck's eighth-minute opener in a game that ended 1-1. All proceeds and gate receipts went to Kaiserslautern and the former Bundesliga champions duly received their playing licence.
In doing so, Bayern continued a long-established tradition of helping out clubs in financial need. One of the most remarkable instances was in 2003, when they visited lower league side VfB Chemnitz on 6 July. Far from being the brainchild of a savvy marketing executive, however, the match came about thanks to two brothers, Rick and Roy Furchner, aged 11 and seven, who played in Chemnitz's youth academy.
The previous winter, they had visited Bayern's training ground and handed a note to Michael Ballack, who started his football career in the eastern German club's youth teams. The midfielder passed on the request for help to Bayern general manager Uli Hoeneß, who set the wheels in motion for the game to take place. The match, which the record champions won 11-1, raised a reported €300,000 for Chemnitz, enough to stave off bankruptcy.
Just a few days later, on 12 July, Bayern came to the aid of St. Pauli. The Hamburg-based outfit had been in the Bundesliga in the 2001/02 season and even beat Bayern 2-1 at home on Matchday 20, but suffered relegation from Bundesliga 2 to the third tier at the end of the 2002/03 campaign.
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Such a rapid descent naturally enough meant that the club's finances took a hit and, in their hour of need, they turned to Bayern for help in order to maintain their licence. And so it was that Ottmar Hitzfeld's charges – still at the start of their pre-season preparations for 2003/04 – won 1-0 at St. Pauli's Millerntor Stadium in front of 20,500 fans, with all profits going to the home team's cause once again.
That, along with other actions taken by St. Pauli, helped them avoid bankruptcy, keep their licence and avoid being relegated to the fourth tier as a punishment. Hoeneß even did a lap of honour around the pitch afterwards, sporting a specially made t-shirt with the word "Retter" (Saviour) printed on it.
The matches were no one-offs, and indeed in 2002/03, they were just two of seven benefit games Bayern participated in, raising more than €500,000 for clubs in need.
Union Berlin (September 1997 and July 2004), Darmstadt (May 2008), Alemannia Aachen (January 2013), Hansa Rostock (July 2013), Dynamo Dresden (August 2015) and Kickers Offenbach (August 2017) are others to have benefitted and stayed afloat from friendly matches, while Bayern even gave Borussia Dortmund a loan in 2004 to ease their economic woes at the time.
So why do they do it? Well, as the games are invariably played in the off-season, either in winter or summer, they offer Bayern a chance to test out new or young players and to experiment with different tactical formations.
As advantageous as that may be, however, it seems Bayern do it out of the kindness of their hearts and a love of the game. "As a traditionalist it's a big shame to see clubs like Aachen in difficulty," said Hoeneß when asked in 2013. "And you can't simply sit back and let teams like Alemannia go under."
In such a results-driven business, where finances often play a key role, there are few other clubs in the upper echelons of the sport that would go to the lengths Bayern do to help teams in need, including their competitors.
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