He won everything there was to win with FC Bayern München and he earned a unique place in the history of the club: Sepp Maier is still one of the most famous and popular players ever to wear the shirt of the record champions. The former goalkeeper today celebrates his 75th birthday – and fcbayern.com wishes Sepp many happy returns!
Maier does not see his age as a reason to ease off. “I feel like a 25-year-old,” said the birthday boy laughing. “I play golf, go walking in the mountains and travel a lot.” Sepp is still very active and he wants to stay that way: “I want to be 100 one day,” he said five years ago on his 70th birthday.
All-time records
Maier played well over 600 games for FCB and he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for FC Bayern (473 matches) and he also set a record in Germany’s top-flight in the 1970s with 442 appearances in succession. The Cat from Anzing, as he was known, never thought of leaving his hometown club: “I had plenty of offers. But why should I move on? I played for the best team in Europe!”
The club’s success was due, in no small part, to the performances of the long-term first choice keeper at FCB. Maier joined FC Bayern at the age of 15 in 1958 and he earned his first professional contract in 1962 and a year later he was the number one at FCB. Bayern were in the second tier Regional League South back then. It was not until 1965 that he celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga with his team-mates, a year later he lifted the DFB Cup and in 1967 he was in the side that won the European Cup Winners Cup. “The best thing for me was that went from right at the bottom to the very top,” declared the exceptional keeper.
Germany’s goalkeeper of the century
Numerous titles followed: Maier won the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and European Cups four times with FC Bayern – plus the Intercontinental Cup once. And Maier was also successful beyond Munich, winning the World Cup and European Championships with Germany and he still holds the record of 95 caps for a Germany keeper. He was also Germany’s Player of the Year three times and in 1978 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and he is also Germany’s goalkeeper of the century.
When a car accident ended his playing career in 1979 at the age of 35, Maier remained in the game becoming the goalkeeping coach for FC Bayern and Germany before finally hanging up his boots in 2008. Sepp is celebrating his birthday in peace and quiet with his wife at their home in South Tyrol: “If I celebrated my birthday in Munich with a big party then the guest list would be terribly long.”
