June 14, 1969 at the Frankfurt Waldstadion. Thanks to a brace by Gerd Müller, FC Bayern beat FC Schalke 04 2-1 in the DFB Cup final. The Bavarians' fourth cup win overall was a very special one for the club's history. The team from Munich became the first Bundesliga club to secure the double, having already won the German championship a week earlier - their first since their promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965. Friday marks the 50th anniversary of this memorable event.
"You laid the foundation for what FC Bayern represents today," said CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, paying tribute to the successful team of 1969 when it was honoured on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Bundesliga championship in early May at the FC Bayern Erlebniswelt prior to the home match against Hannover 96. "We still appreciate your success 50 years later. I am proud to be able to be with you here today," Rummenigge continued.
"The double was certainly a milestone, but for me being promoted is still the most important success," stressed Werner Olk, then captain of the first double winners, while reminiscing about an "incredibly talented" team that was "easy to lead". "I didn't have to put my foot down with the young boys, Franz, Gerd or Sepp. Yes, they were full of mischief, but oh, my goodness they were deadly serious on the pitch! As captain, I had a very comfortable job."
Start signal for a successful era
Just 13 players were selected by coach Branko Zebec across the whole season - a record that still stands today. Nevertheless, the Reds led the league from the first matchday to the last and clinched the championship with an eight-point lead over Alemannia Aachen. "We laid the foundation," said goalkeeper Sepp Maier, looking back. Their success was followed by another 27 championships and 15 cup victories, making Bayern the record champions in both competitions.
But that's not all. Since then, the double has been won 15 times in Germany, with FC Bayern alone boasting twelve wins. The only other teams to manage that feat were FC Köln (1978), Werder Bremen (2004) and Borussia Dortmund (2012). "I'm delighted that FC Bayern have been able to celebrate almost non-stop since our day, and that I've been able to be part of this story," said Rainer Ohlhauser, the Reds' first Bundesliga goal scorer and 'Bomber' Gerd Müller's affable partner in the double season. 40 of the 61 goals in that campaign were scored by the duo.
In addition to Olk, Maier, Ohlhauser and Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Roth, Dieter Brenninger, Peter Kupferschmidt, Gustl Starek, Helmut Schmidt, Peter Pumm and Gustav Jung made up the successful FC Bayern double-winning team. The afternoon of 14 June 1969 in Frankfurt was the start signal for a successful era.
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