German Football: The riches of Bavaria - Let the accusations begin!

I recently came across an article claiming Bayern Munich could ruin the Bundesliga. But is it really the case?

Mario Gotze‘s recent €37 million transfer has stoked a fire that has been dormant for quite some time. Bayern Munich have been targeted by media, pundits and a lot of anger by neutral football fans who believe that snatching up of talent from rivals seems unnecessary, given their resources at hand and is only going to poison the game that we love.

The scenario is seen by many as ‘The Rich Bavarians’ vs ‘The courageous Dortmund youth’, and often elicited as David vs Goliath.

There is no such joy or elation in this wide and confusing world that can match what you get when a fringe team happens to knock your rivals from a competition, or hand them a thrashing that they’ve been brandishing for quite some time. That’s pretty much what has happened to Dortmund’s support after their successful reign as Bundesliga champions from 2011-2012. Europe has had it’s share of giant slayers in the form of the APOEL’s and BATE Borisov’s, but this was the time for a German club to finally take the initiative, and Dortmund have done that with some conviction. Though outplayed in the Bundesliga this season, they could salvage some pride with a trophy that has eluded them for 16 years, the Champions League.

Their story of success has been marred with the antagonist of their story, the most successful team in German history, Bayern Munich. But is it right to give them the tag of villains? If we go with the present, I’m sure the football purists would point at the extent of their transactions across Europe, but if the past would be taken into consideration, it would be ridiculous to call them as the ‘money club’ of Germany. Here’s why:

Bundesliga and their history of bizarre transfers

While Bayern are considered as the bad boys of the Bundesliga, and Klopp’s ‘Fledglings’ are the darling of the Bundesliga, if we were to go by the record books, Bayern aren’t the only German club to break the bank on players.

While financial superiority has helped Bayern take the upper hand in every transfer tussle, the other clubs from Bundesliga aren’t far behind and have racked millions for acquiring their transfer targets.

Let’s begin with our focus being on the evergreen period in German football, the 1970′s!

Werder Bremen signed five big players to earn the tag of “the million-mark side”. They did their jobs perfectly, sharing 37 goals between them. However, a decade of expensive transfers was followed by relegation as they shipped 93 goals in 34 games in 1980.

FC Cologne signed Roger van Gool in 1976 for a German transfer record of DM 1 million! Eintracht Frankfurt broke the record in the years to come by securing the signature of Lajos Detari for a new record of DM3 million. Borrusia Dortmund, in 1995, paid DM 10 million for the likes of Heiko Herrlich from Borussia Mönchengladbach, and just six years later, they spent DM 50 million to acquire the services of Marcio Amoroso, all at a time when Bayern Munich were churning a measly profit of DM 200,000!

With their recent flourishes in the transfer market, it’s really important to remember that Bayern have achieved all this via branding and utilisation of smart business ventures. Most of their escalating transfers have come in recent years, with Mario Gomez signing for the Bavarian side for a whooping €30 million from Stuttgart. Manuel Neuer soon followed for €22 million, and of course, Javi Martinez for a staggering €40 million.

Why do they spend so much money? Simply because they’ve hoarded a lot of money and have the right to spend. That, however, hasn’t been the case with other Bundesliga clubs – Dortmund in particular.

Financial unrest at Dortmund

Borrusia Dortmund’s romance with the Bundesliga has been topsy-turvy. Having been involved in the committee that gave birth to the Bundesliga, Dortmund were the favorites in the early years of the league. They were the first German club to leave a mark on Europe with a Cup Winners Cup victory against Liverpool in 1966. That was seen by many as Germany’s introduction to Europe.

However, their decision making and bizarre transfers soon started to take a turn for the worse, and they were chronicled with financial troubles in the early 1970s, with relegation finally engulfing them in 1972. Their resurgence from relegation was again down to the players they brought in. Soon, their troubles came back to haunt them as they were again relegated in 1986. It was only in 1991, when Ottmar Hitzfeld took over the reigns, that provided the club with the much required stability. The prodigal genius engineered Dortmund to two title wins, and the coveted Champions League win in 1996-97. Their rise to power was met by increased revenue as the German TV stations started pouring in money into European football coverage. Their reward was a staggering DM 25 Million.

In the 1990s, Dortmund’s financial capabilities were bring matched, and sometimes overtaken by the rich Italians. Despite the increasing competition, Dortmund managed to land players such as Matthias Sammer, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Jürgen Kohler, Andreas Möller, and Stefan Reuter. They further raided Juventus for Julio Cesar and Paulo Sousa.

With their rich spending montage in the 1990s, a few fans started fearing for the worst. Player wages significantly increased over the turn of the millennium, and this was soon starting to show as Dortmund struggled to hold onto their famous players. Having finished 4th in 1999, they were nearly relegated in the season that followed.

To up the ante, Dortmund again raked in money from their owners and bought Fredi Bobic for €5.8 million, Tomas Rosicky for €14.5 million, Marcio Amoroso for €25 million, Jan Koller for €12.75 million, and Evanilson for €15 million. This again led to a short term gain, as they went on to win the league that season. However, in the seasons that followed, financial insolvency hampered their progress; their spending had finally caught up with them.

Are Bayern the ‘bad-boys’ of Germany?

Now that brings us to our question, are Bayern really the ‘bad-boys’ of Germany? Are they the Joseph Kony of Germany who pick up talent from fellow German-clubs and turn them against their old employers? Let’s begin with a quote from Marcus Babbel who left Bayern Munich in 2000,

“Among the top clubs in Europe, Bayern are the most humane. They have always shown generosity where there were problems.”

With other clubs making significant progress in Europe in the late 1960s, Bayern were restructuring their foundations and looking towards the future we now are a part of. They’ve been targeted with hate by the fellow occupants of the Rhineland, but what makes them so successful? The answer is: Good business, good planning and a wee-bit of luck. Bayern appointed Robert Schawn as Bundesliga and the world’s first professional business manager, a move that no other club dared to make at a time when the economy looked as meek as stumbling blocks. Robert was succeeded by Uli Hoeness, who is pretty much a household name in Munich. His programs aimed at development, and was called as the man who ‘saw the future’. He sent out scouts all across Germany and looked to build towards a future that would give them fitting returns. He weaved a thread of connections across Germany that promised the very best of returns everytime their scouts took rounds of the rival stadiums.

Apart from stern decision making and numerous connections, Uli and Bayern Munchen are remembered for their humility.

When a long-term knee injury put ex-Bayern player Alan McInally out of action, Bayern offered him money grant and continued with their financial and medical support until Alan finally ran his contract out with the club from Munich. Uli took personal care of his player, Lars Lunde, who was involved in a freakish car accident. Hoeness is also credited with changing Gerd Muller, offering him psychological help and helping him overcome his long duels with alcohol, before finally offering Gerd a job opportunity at Bayern Munich.

Bayern have also helped numerous clubs overcome their everlasting problems. In 2003, when Dortmund finally fell victim to financial insolvency, Bayern loaned €2 million to their rivals, helping them on their road to recovery. They even played a benefit match for St Pauli, which brought up enough revenue to hand St Pauli with a lease of life in the Bundesliga. Numerous other clubs, such as their own cross-town rivals 1860 Munich Hertha BSC and Dynamo, Dresden have benefited from Bayern’s humanitarian-ship.

So, with that being said, are they the bad boys of Germany?

Every story demands a great ending. Bayern’s 2 million euro grant to Dortmund seemed a little too less, given Dortmund’s debt of 200 million euros. But here we are today, looking at a youthful Borussia Dortmund and an unbeatable Bayern Munich taking over Europe and setting up a final date at Wembley. Does Gotze’s transfer to Bayern now seem all that bad given the massive help Die Borussen received from the Bavarian side?

Every good story has a villain, but the very best ones have heroes on all sides.