Ten years ago, a few friends in Ulaanbaatar founded an FCB fan club. The football team of Bayern fans first enjoyed success in amateur competitions - and has now been promoted to the Mongolian first division - the FCB club magazine "51" paid them a visit.
As the Bavarians enter the stadium, the FC Bayern crest is omnipresent. It flies on the flags in the stands. It's emblazoned on the jerseys of the spectators. And one fan has even had the rhombuses and stars tattooed on his chest. On this late summer morning, it's easy to forget that the Allianz Arena is more than a ten-hour flight away. Because even on the other side of the world, in the stadium of the Mongolian Football Federation, people share an unconditional passion for the Reds.
What sounds like a film script has become reality in Ulaanbaatar: An FC Bayern fan club, founded by a few old student friends, has - thanks to a good portion of passion, sweat and risk-taking - been promoted to the country's first division. There, the team is now battling to win the Mongolian championship. And the club continues to proudly display its admiration for the great role model from Germany with its name: "Bavarians FC".
"No one thought we would ever get this far," says Otgonbayar Ulaankhuu. The 39-year-old, whom most fans affectionately call just "Ogi", is something like the mastermind behind the globally unique success story.
It all began in Berlin, where Ogi moved to study shortly after graduating from high school. "I learned a lot from the Germans at that time - discipline and honesty, for example," says the Mongolian. But the most formative experience abroad was probably his passion for football: back then, in the summer of 2006, the whole country turned into one World Cup party. Otgonbayar was infected by the football virus, and the choice of his favourite club was easy: "Mehmet Scholl and Michael Ballack were in the Bayern squad at the time - they were real characters, that's what attracted me," he says in fluent German.
Clash with the Lions
When Ogi returned to Ulaanbaatar, he quickly founded the first Bayern fan club in Mongolia. He also officially registered the Bavarians at Säbener Straße. At first, it was mainly a handful of loosely organised friends with an affinity for Germany who met to watch football together and kick a ball around a recreational pitch. But the Bavarians soon grew into a substantial community, with several hundred fans joining the Facebook group.
Perhaps it might have remained a passionate hobby. But Ogi was already dreaming big back then: he entered his club in fan tournaments, organised charity events for orphans, and eventually even attracted sponsors. "All the fans, and the old players from back then too, help us out to this day. We're a huge family," says Ogi. And the Bavarians' family members are a colourful mix: some work as tourist guides, others are businessmen, one Bayern fan is employed by the foreign ministry.
„No-one thought we would get this far.”
Otgonbayar Ulaankhuu
With their combined efforts, they finally put together a team that won the national amateur cup in 2020. The reward was a place in the third division. From there, they were promoted to the second division, and the Bavarians finished the season in second place. In a promotion play-off against the BCH Lions, who share the same nickname as Bayern rivals 1860 Munich, of all teams, they booked their place in the Khurkhree National Premier League in the spring of 2023, where they're now competing against nine other teams for the title.
But on this matchday, things initially go anything but smoothly. Despite a strong squad, loud fan chants and stunning blue skies, the Bavarians concede three goals against Tuv Azarganuud. Nevertheless, 28-year-old João Machado, one of three Brazilians playing for the Bavarians, pulls one back in the 45th minute.
„I wanted to bring the Mia san mia mentality to Mongolia.”
Zolo, Bayern Fan
When the referee blows the whistle for half-time, coach Nikola Vitorovic's face is etched with dissatisfaction. His idea of dominating the game from the start with aggressive pressing has not worked so far. "We're much too reserved, we have to play much more aggressively," says the 33-year-old Serb. Nikola is a true football veteran who has travelled half the world. Born in Cyprus, he played in various leagues and countries such as Lithuania and Romania. As a coach, he earned his spurs in Malta, Singapore and Bangladesh. When the call came from Ulaanbaatar in the spring, just a few days before the start of the season, he quickly accepted: "A new country, a new challenge. One of the reasons I took the job was also that the club has Bayern fans behind it."
So that the Mongolians can continue their successful run, Nikola has imposed a rigid regime: the players have to train six days a week, and he only allows the team one day of rest. Yet most of the players are only semi-professionals: they still have to work a bread-and-butter job to pay their rent. 30-year-old Angarag, for example, works in foreign exchange trading during the day. "The workload is of course very hard. But since we've been playing in the top tier, we've just had to get on with it," says the defender.
The most loyal fans in Mongolia
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the Bavarians' success story is happening in Mongolia. For the state is unique in many respects: just three and a half million people live here in an area four times the size of Germany.
In Ulaanbaatar, tradition stands side by side with the modern: Soviet tenement buildings stand next to glass shopping malls, Buddhist temples, Korean supermarkets and hip cafés line the side streets. The passion for football is also omnipresent: young people play on dozens of recreational pitches every afternoon until the harsh climate forces them indoors at the end of October.
Back to the stadium: While the referee blows the whistle for the second half, the match commissioner Zolo, a Mongolian with broad shoulders and an even broader smile, leads us through the sports complex. In the basement are the teams' changing rooms, on the ground floor the office of the federation president. A commentator who takes care of Facebook streaming the games sits on the first floor. And finally, at the very top, there's a small VIP lounge with a panoramic view. As a match commissioner, Zolo has to remain neutral, of course. But it's plain to see from her "Treble 2020" T-shirt where her heart belongs. "As a Bayern fan, I wanted to tbring the Mia san mia mentality to Mongolia," she says proudly.
But the Bavarians didn't quite manage to get the win on this matchday. Despite a clear improvement in performance, they lost 4-3. With three defeats and two wins so far, they're in a solid mid-table position. However, the Bavarians are now seven points behind the league leaders.
By midnight at the latest, however, the defeat is long forgotten. Around 30 Bavarians have gathered in a sports bar in the western part of the city to support FC Bayern, with crisps and cans of beer. The match against Augsburg, like all Bundesliga matches, is broadcast by the local channel "Premier Sports".
Its editor-in-chief Ishig Otgonbaatar is also watching on the big screen this evening. "The Premier League still has the most viewers, but then comes the Bundesliga," says the 47-year-old. Ishig has been a true Bayern fan since the early 1990s. "Because I liked Lothar Matthäus so much back then. Even Maradona couldn't score against him," the Mongolian explains. Later, he turned his passion for football into his profession: as a sports reporter, he regularly visited the Allianz Arena and interviewed superstars like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry.
With every Bayern goal, the mood becomes more exuberant. Even though most members have to work the next morning, they stay until the end of the game. Also because many of them haven't seen each other for a long time, as it's the first fan meeting since the pandemic. Before the Bavarians say goodbye and head off into the night, they embrace the visitor from Germany: Teams like Chelsea, they say, may have more supporters in terms of numbers. But Bayern definitely have the most loyal fans in Mongolia.
© Fotos: Ayuna Shagdurova
In the current October issue, the FC Bayern members' magazine "51" also reported on the U15s Elite Cup:
