Munich celebrates its double-winning heroines

A memorable day for FC Bayern Women: At the invitation of the City of Munich and the new Lord Mayor, Dominik Krause, the Bundesliga and DFB Cup winners signed the city’s guest book on Monday following their final match of the season. A dominant Bundesliga season, in which FC Bayern Women secured the league title early and in commanding fashion, was followed on Thursday by cup success in the final against VfL Wolfsburg in Cologne. It was the first successful defence of the double in history and the crowning glory of a season played at the very highest level.

In the festive atmosphere of the council chamber, president Herbert Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, Rouven Kasper (Board member for marketing & sales), director of eomen’s football Bianca Rech and the team led by head coach José Barcala were welcomed by Lord Mayor Krause with a long, warm round of applause.

In his speech, Hainer expressed his gratitude to the city on behalf of the entire club for inviting them once again. It was rather curious, said the president: only yesterday he'd been standing in the very same spot with the men – and a few days ago in Cologne in front of the women after their cup victory, to give speeches. “There are worse things than celebrating as FC Bayern,” he said with a chuckle, adding: “You, dear FCB Women, have once again made history: undefeated champions, DFB Cup winners without conceding a single goal, and the first team to defend the double – you make us at FC Bayern incredibly proud!”

In his speech, Lord Mayor Krause paid tribute to head coach Barcala’s squad and highlighted the team’s unity in particular: “Week after week, you demonstrated with such natural ease why you're currently the benchmark in German women’s football. And actually, there's something far more impressive than the stats, namely the way you perform as a team: as a spectator, you can feel the team spirit and the trust between you. You can sense there's a team of players on the pitch who stand up for one another and, at the same time, play football with great joy.”

Town Hall balcony & the cheering crowd at Marienplatz

Following the ceremony, which was also attended by Otto Fricke, president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the team appeared on the town hall balcony to greet the fans. Captain Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir and her teammates proudly presented the Meisterschale and the DFB Cup to the large crowd of supporters gathered at Marienplatz – symbols of a season characterised by consistency, determination and strong performances in the league, the cup and the Champions League.

During the event, Hainer also reflected on the bigger picture: “This year we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of our first women’s championship. In the early 70s, women’s football was still banned, yet FC Bayern placed an advert in the newspaper saying they wanted to put a team together,” he explained, “80 women turned up at Säbener Straße – and now FC Bayern has been successful in women's football for over half a century.” He then addressed the players led by captain Viggosdottir: “Today you thrill young girls and inspire everyone – from pioneers to professionals, from overcoming adversity to reaching the very top: this development deserves a huge round of applause.”

Referring to Krause, he said that he had explained to him the day before that FC Bayern saw the new mayor as “our little personal integration project to turn you into an FC Bayern fan”. Today, the women would be launching “an initial charm offensive”: Krause was presented with an FCB jersey bearing his name and the number 12. “You can even wear that whilst hiking in your beloved mountains,” said Hainer. “I promise you, we won’t give up on winning you over. And as you can imagine: FC Bayern can be very, very persistent.”

In their final match of the season, FCB women secured a win at Hamburger SV: