Created on 28-06-2008 at 00:00 AM
The senior Bayern squad reports back to the Säbener Strasse headquarters and training ground on Monday as the official 44-day summer break comes to an end. Fans and visitors who have not dropped by the club’s flagship facility since the end of last season are in for a big surprise after a major reconstruction programme which started on 17 May.
The former professionals’ quarters have been combined with the changing rooms, weights room and physiotherapy unit into an expansive new performance centre, where Mark van Bommel and his colleagues will surely quickly feel at home on Monday. A lick of paint remains to be applied here and there, but the vast bulk of the remodelling work is complete.
Fences come down
The players will not be the only ones rubbing their eyes in astonishment, as arrangements for the thousands of fans who regularly flock to the practice ground and club HQ have also been transformed. The all-new ServiceCenter, which officially opened its doors four weeks ago, boasts a comprehensive range of service facilities including ticketing, membership and fan club desks, while a completely revamped 250 square metre FCB megastore offers every conceivable merchandising item the Bayern loyalist could desire.
The diehards who like to attend training sessions will also be more than pleasantly surprised. On Friday and Saturday, the security fencing surrounding training pitch number one was lowered or in many places removed altogether. Where the action on the pitch was once obscured by tall mesh fencing, waist level barriers now permit a full and uninterrupted view of the stars at work.
Feelgood factor
“We’ll create a force field which will be hugely enjoyable for the players,“ explained new head coach Jürgen Klinsmann, initiator of the radical alteration to the fencing system. Both the players and the fans will benefit from a feelgood atmosphere at the heart of the club. Everyone is welcome to come by on Monday at 3.30 pm for a first taste of the ‘new’ Bayern Munich.