President Herbert Hainer: An anniversary year with plenty of reasons to celebrate – and to be optimistic

In our interview, president Herbert Hainer looks back with pride on FC Bayern's successful anniversary year, which was marked by sporting triumphs, commercial strength and social commitment. He's particularly optimistic about how women's football is developing, the club's youth development programme and the club’s family-like character.

Herbert Hainer – The interview

Herr Hainer, FC Bayern has enjoyed a special year – the club celebrated its 125th anniversary. How do you see the club as 2025 draws to an end?
"It's been an eventful, exciting and special year, at the end of which we have well over 430,000 members, which says a lot about how much is being done right in this club, both on and off the pitch. On behalf of the club, I would like to thank all members and fans for their support and loyalty. Together, we can look back on an anniversary year with plenty of reasons to celebrate, which also gives us plenty of reasons to be optimistic: FC Bayern is in an excellent position, not least when you look at the league tables for our professional teams in both men's and women's football – and above all beyond that."

But there's now been a change of basketball coach...
"Yes, it wasn't an easy decision, and we would like to thank Gordon Herbert. We're also in first place in the Bundesliga, but after the downward spiral in the Euroleague, we had to take action. Svetislav Pesic has already coached FC Bayern, knows the club and the Euroleague inside out. With his vast experience, he's someone who knows what needs to be done now."

What's your overall assessment in detail?
"In sporting terms, we celebrated the 'Bavarian treble' with the men's and women's football championships and the basketball championship – something that has never happened before, and the women also won the double for the first time in their history. Financially, our CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen was able to post outstanding results at the Annual General Meeting, and in social matters, we once again implemented many projects in which we’re committed to helping people in need, promoting open-mindedness and diversity. In recent weeks in particular, we've been able to implement important decisions such as the extension of Vincent Kompany's contract until 2029 and the acquisition of the Sportpark Unterhaching for the women's team. We celebrated 125 years of FC Bayern and are in an excellent position to continue our success story."

What makes you so confident?
"If we take our 4-0 win at Heidenheim which rounded off the year, for example – there was a lot of 2025/26 FC Bayern in that. Our team dominated awkward opponents, we compensated for many absences, Harry Kane broke another record with 100 goal contributions after 78 games – and Cassiano Kiala and David Santos Daiber, two more home-grown players, made their Bundesliga debuts. Our sporting management team of Max Eberl and Christoph Freund, together with Dreesen, has laid a promising foundation for the coming months. I also found it very interesting that Vincent Kompany said in a recent interview that he doesn't want to see 'Kompany football', but 'FC Bayern football'. That says a lot about how our coach thinks. He also said he wanted 'a team with the force of a hurricane, working together, supporting each other and enjoying themselves' – I think that's a first-class guiding principle for a club as a whole."

With the acquisition of Sportpark Unterhaching, FC Bayern is ushering in a new era in women's football...
"It's also a signal to the entire German football community: FC Bayern is taking the lead here and clearly demonstrating that we believe in women's football by investing in it. Now that the 14 first division clubs have joined forces to form the Frauenbundesliga e.V., it's time to turn words into action. Germany has been awarded the 2029 Women's European Championship – by then, we want to have created a location that sets standards across Europe. We want to create a new stage for our next generation, which is already in place with players such as Alara, Franziska Kett, Ena Mahmutovic and Momoko Tanikawa – and also remain attractive to top international players. Pernille Harder, Magda Eriksson and Sarah Zadrazil are extending their contracts with us because they see how women's football is developing. We've been German champions four times in the past five years and, as I mentioned, won the double for the first time in 2025 – all of which shows the work that our director Bianca Rech and her team are doing."

Sportpark is the fourth property after the Allianz Arena, the FC Bayern Campus and BMW Park for the basketball players – how difficult is it to strike a balance between economic development and remaining close to your fans and family-oriented?
”FC Bayern is a club that values dialogue – something we've been putting into practice for many years, not least through our numerous member engagement activities. My personal highlight in this regard was the revival of our promotion walk around Lake Tegernsee in the summer, 60 years after our promotion to the Bundesliga. 500 members were randomly selected to take part, and this is how we imagine FC Bayern: with new generations following tried and tested paths, moving into the future with a sense of responsibility that stems from our history. Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have established that FC Bayern differs from other top international clubs due to its family-like character. We must and will all continue to live by this. In this spirit, to quote our fans' new anthem: 'Forever forward, FC Bayern!'"