The brass band played a warm welcome and Herbert Hainer tirelessly signed autographs as he left: on his first fan club visit to Austria, the president stayed much longer than he was actually supposed to. Red and white are Austria's colours – and those of FC Bayern, said Hainer. "There's a deep connection there." More than 200 fans gathered in Natternbach to drill the 69-year-old with questions. Austrian players will continue to be promoted at FC Bayern, Hainer promised, prompting the biggest applause of the evening. From Gustl Starek to Harald Cerny and David Alaba to Konrad Laimer, footballers from the neighbouring country have a tradition in Munich.
Entry into book of honour of market town
First of all, Hainer and Markus Meindl, head of the fan and fan club department, were welcomed by the mayor, Nadine Humberger, in the fan club's own pub. After being entered in the book of honour of the market town, they went to the event at the nature resort. Also present there: a delegation from the affiliated fan club Pomperlbuam Bad Griesbach (who are also members of the FC Bayern fan dialogue working group) from Lower Bavaria and guests from the St. Pius Workshop, an institution for people with disabilities.
Hainer received honorary membership of the fan club, which initiated a donation to the local Red Cross together with the German record champions to mark the visit. In the question and answer session, one of the big topics was the new sporting director Christoph Freund, who will officially join Bayern from Salzburg on 1 September. The president said that there are high hopes of him and again earned much applause. "It was a very nice evening, which once again showed how great the cohesion of the FCB fans is. I enjoyed the visit very much and would like to thank you very much," said Hainer. Fan club chairman Johannes "Hannes" Obernhumer said it had been "an honour and a great day".
Largest fan club in Austria
The Natternbach fan club is Bayern's largest fan club in Austria with 2,277 members – which is even larger than the population of the village itself. They travel to every home match at the Allianz Arena, and 100 members will again be in Munich against Augsburg on Sunday.
Last weekend, the FC Bayern first team played the Dream Match against the Weinbeisser Kaltern fan club:
Topics of this article