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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Philipp Lahm

Happy anniversary Bayern Munich: 125 years and a simple secret for success

Uli Hoeness, Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer.
Uli Hoeness (left), Gerd Müller (right) and Franz Beckenbauer: a troika that ran Bayern on and off the pitch for so long. Photograph: Imago Sportfotodienst/Imago/PA Images

I congratulate my club on its anniversary. On Thursday, Bayern Munich will be 125 years old. The club was in my cradle, because my grandfather was and my father is a Bayern fan. When I was young, they told me a lot about the golden 70s with the three European Cup victories. They admired Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier and the other players. They were almost in awe of one of them: Franz Beckenbauer.

In the beginning, Bayern were one of many clubs. I have a few black-and-white pictures from the founding days in mind; I know the club history. But I can only really talk about it from the Beckenbauer era onwards, and since then Bayern have been something very special.

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