A bond for life - how the fan friendship between FC Bayern and VfL Bochum came about

33-time champions and a team who have been relegated six times. At first glance, FC Bayern and VfL Bochum have little in common. Ahead of this weekend's clash, members' magazine "51" takes a look back at how the legendary fan friendship between red and blue began - a bond for life!

The best friendships often go back so far that you can hardly remember the moment when it all began: Maybe you once loaned your neighbour's son a toy in the playground, and that's why you've now been going on holiday together for decades. It's the same with Bayern's fan friendship with VfL Bochum: the friendship between the Reds and the blues from the Ruhr valley goes back so far that it can be described as a genuine Bundesliga playground friendship.

‘Bochum Boys’ came to the aid of FCB fans who were being attacked

The friendship was cemented on 3 November 1973, Bundesliga Matchday 14. Bayern had just secured a hard-earned 1-0 win at VfL and were perhaps already thinking about the second leg of the round of 16 in the European Cup at Dynamo Dresden, which was scheduled for the following Wednesday. As the Bayern fans left the stadium, they were attacked by Bochum fans on Castroper Straße (brawls in and around the stadium were much more common back then than they are today). The Bayern fans used to suffer particularly badly because their team were dominating the league at will. The Reds were also clearly outnumbered on that day, but then something unprecedented happened: the ‘Bochumer Jungen’ ('Bochum Boys'), one of the oldest fan clubs in existence, came to the Bayern fans' aid and drove the attackers away. Not only did the evening pass peacefully, it also ended in a lively get-together in the 'Gaststätte Beckporte' pub, the home of the fan club. Some say that a toast was also raised in ‘Haus Frein’ - the Bavarians actually drank pilsner, albeit only the ‘Fiege’ beer that is revered in Bochum. A few days later, the ‘Boys’ received a message from HSV fans, with whom they had previously had a casual friendship. The Hamburg fans were outraged and demanded it be "us or them". It was quickly clear to the ‘Bochum Boys’ though: "We won't under any circumstances let ourselves be blackmailed ."

VfL and FCB met for the first time in September 1971, after Bochum had been promoted to the Bundesliga. Bayern won 2-0 in Bochum. And fans from both camps report today that they immediately took a liking to each other. Perhaps that first encounter was also the reason why they rushed to the Bayern fans' aid in 1973. The evening gave rise to friendships for life. The fan friendship was celebrated in public for the first time in spring 1974 at the Olympiastadion in Munich: although the Reds won 4-0, Bochum fans did a lap of honour around the Tartan track after the game. In their hands: a banner with a message.

Regular trips to each other's away games

Despite the fan friendship, away trips to Bochum were sometimes fraught with danger. After a convincing 3-1 away win in 1981, Bochum and Bayern fans went to the nearby funfair together after the final whistle, where they encountered some frustrated Bochum fans. A brawl ensued. However, the incident brought the two sides even closer together. Addresses and telephone numbers were exchanged, especially between the ‘Bochum Boys’ and the FCB ‘Red Angels’ fan club. Most of them were given community service for the fairground brawl. These days, however, this is one of those "do you remember" anecdotes that everyone laughs about.

In the early 1980s, joint fan chants developed ("We belong together/like the wind and the sea/VfL Bochum/and FCB") and meetings became more regular. Because now they also attended each other's away games - even when Bochum were relegated to the second division and played against 1860 Munich, for example.

Knowing fans in another city also had logistical advantages. You no longer had to take the night train, but could stay until Sunday morning. In Bochum, an encounter usually looked like this: before and after the game, everyone would gather in the local pub of the ‘Bochum Boys’ (where, apart from the Bavarians, fans of other teams were never allowed in). They would spend the night at "Mama Scholler's’"- as Heiko, a Bayern fan from Penzberg, recounts - an obviously very stress-resistant mother of a Bochum fan, who would make her "very nice house" available and also provide the lads with pretzels, rolls and beer. Another Bochum resident, Martin, had plenty of space at home in Witten-Stockum. Up to 40 people would spend the night at his place, so there would only be room for one or two of them on the bare floor or in the bathtub. In Munich, they liked to wrap up the matchday in the ‘Lustiger Bauern’ near the Olympiastadion, one of the favourite pubs of the fan community at the time.

New generation keeps the fan friendship alive

From the outside looking in, the fan friendship appeared to become dormant for a few years in the 1990s, but it was never really interrupted. "We were always very active, even during the 11 years we played in the second tier," says Kerstin, the VfL supporter who was one of the driving forces behind the fan friendship. There was of course a good reason why things were quieter for a short time: "It was the time when everyone was getting married and having children. You still always go to the stadium, but you don't do much else at this stage of your life." That's why Kerstin is also "immensely proud" that the next generation has taken up the baton. It's said that the ultras from both clubs got to know each other better at a fan football tournament. The ‘Schickeria’ fan group have said that even during the pandemic, contact never ground to a halt. Birthday message banners and small fan tifos have also been commonplace for some time.

The first generation of the fan friendship between Bayern and Bochum no longer sleeps in bathtubs, of course, as they've become more accustomed to comfort due to their age: People like to take a few days off for a get-together and travel to games with their families - in some families, the children are now already friends. Unfortunately, however, there's increasingly a sad reason for these get-togethers: funerals of the warhorses from the early days of fan culture are held quite regularly. When a Bochum scarf is laid on the gravestone of a Bayern fan, it certainly shows that there's a deep bond here. It's about countless shared memories, about a significant period of life that you've walked together.

Bayern and Bochum: A bond for life.