In the 1960s, Rainer Ohlhauser was the perfect strike partner of 'Bomber' Gerd Müller and played a major role in the successes that paved the way for FC Bayern's future. fcbayern.com takes a look at the life of the club legend.
FC Bayern have already scored more than 4,100 goals in the Bundesliga. Of course, Gerd Müller scored the highest number of them, and Robert Lewandowski is currently working hard at driving the number ever higher. The first, however, was scored by Rainer Ohlhauser. On 21 August 1965, the second matchday of Munich's debut season, the forward scored in the 24th minute against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Grünwalder Stadion to put Bayern 1-0 up. The Reds won 2-0 and celebrated their first Bundesliga victory. Today, Ohlhauser celebrates his 80th birthday and fcbayern.com takes a look back at the man who played a major part in the great development of the Reds, and not only because of that maiden goal.
Bayern since 1961
When Ohlhauser moved to Munich, he was still working part-time as a steel construction fitter. Here he is in action against VfB Stuttgart in November 1961.
In 1961, Ohlhauser, then 20 years old, moved from his home club SV Sandhausen to FCB and his life changed. During the day he worked as a steel construction fitter, then trained three evenings a week. "I had only had a coach for a year beforehand - up to 19 I'd taught myself everything," Ohlhauser said in an interview with the FCB members' Magazine '51'. But back then, they were still a long way away from the requirements of today. "Before matches we warmed up on concrete on the street in front of the Grünwalder Stadion."
Striker with scoring instinct and outstanding pace
Struck with force! Ohlhauser had everything you needed as a striker - including a good shot, of course.
With his remarkable pace and goalscoring instinct, the qualified steel construction fitter quickly progressed to become a striker who was feared throughout the league. When Gerd Müller also arrived in Munich three years later, Bayern had an unparalleled strike partnership. "Gerd was my ideal partner. I was a very strong runner and always looked for him, he was good at shielding the ball and finishing. But he also let me have something, maybe a back pass, or he'd play a one-two," reminisced Ohlhauser in an interview with spox.com.
Ohlhauser/Müller fire FCB into the Bundesliga
They were often able to cheer together: Müller and Ohlhauser celebrate a goal in the 1967 cup final. In the 4-0 win over Hamburg, Müller scored twice, Ohlhauser scored once (along with Dieter Brenninger) and Bayern defended the cup.
In the 1964/65 season, the duo then fired Bayern into the Bundesliga. With 49 goals in total, Ohlhauser was the top scorer of all the regional leagues that year and netted an incredible four times in the decisive match against TeBe Berlin, an 8-0 win. After having to give way to local rivals 1860 München when the Bundesliga was founded and also failing the previous year, Ohlhauser & Co. had finally arrived in the top flight.
Domestic and European trophies
These men made the name FC Bayern famous in Europe with the 1967 victory over Rangers. Head coach Zlatko "Tschik" Cajkowski with his starting XI from the final: (back row, from left) captain Werner Olk, goalkeeper Sepp Meier, Franz Beckenbauer, Franz </em>'Bulle' <em>Roth, Peter Kupferschmidt, Hans Nowak. (front row, from left) Rudi Nafziger, Rainer Ohlhauser, Gerd Müller, Dieter Koulmann and Dieter Brenninger.
This was the beginning of the incredible success story of FC Bayern, who, with 30 titles are now the record German champions. And for Ohlhauser, too, more silverware was not long in coming. In 1966, he won the DFB Cup for the first time. In 1967, the Bavarians defended this title and sensationally triumphed in the European Cup Winners' Cup against Rangers. It ended 1-0 after extra time and Ohlhauser was, of course, instrumental in the win. His long pass was converted by Franz 'Bulle' Roth for the much-celebrated winning goal. This title is considered the beginning of the great Bayern era.
The next major coup followed in 1969, when FCB became Bundesliga champions for the first time. The men from Munich also won the DFB Cup again - the first double in the club's history. Once again, Ohlhauser was the perfect partner for Bomber Müller, and the duo scored 40 of the 61 goals that season. Without these successes, FC Bayern would not be where they are today. "That's how the success story began back then, they relied on home-grown youngsters - and since then this club has simply been managed sensationally. It's incredible to see this development. I'm proud to be part of this history," enthused Ohlhauser in the current issue of '51'.
Remembering historic successes with Bayern
Ohlhauser celebrates with the Meisterschale in 1969. It was Bayern's first Bundesliga title - many more would follow.
In 1970, the striker left Munich for Zurich after more than 300 competitive appearances and an incredible 220 goals. There he became Swiss champion with Grasshoppers in 1971 and ended his career at FC Winterthur in 1976. "The promotion was the foundation for everything, the European Cup Winners' Cup win in Nuremberg was terrific, but for me the double was the most wonderful thing. The championship is simply something special, and then we also won the cup - FC Bayern's first double: historic," said Ohlhauser, looking back on his career.
Even many years after his playing days ended, Ohlhauser (centre-left, next to Franz Beckenbauer) still has a connection with FC Bayern. In 2019, he and his teammates were honoured at the Allianz Arena to mark the 50th anniversary of the first double in 1969.
"I played with the best, with Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier - that was an absolute honour," continued the man whose pace meant he impressed not only in attack. "When Franz Beckenbauer was absent, I filled in for him quite nicely," said Ohlhauser, recounting that he played as sweeper from time to time.
Ohlhauser raves about Lewandowski
Now 80, he continues to follow the action at the record champions with great enthusiasm. "I admire Robert Lewandowski. He can do everything, he's terrific. I would have loved to have played with him," he said. It's not hard to imagine how Bayern's goal tally would explode if the Ohlhauser of yesteryear were to form a strike partnership with The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020.
Rainer Ohlhauser played in numerous finals. However, he describes one particular derby as the game of his life. Read why here:
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