Bayern Munich are by far the most successful team in German football history, having won a total of 26 league titles and 17 DFB-Pokal trophies. They have also firmly established themselves as one of Europe's elite football clubs, with six Champions League trophies to their name, among other silverware.
They have earned a lot of nicknames over the years. A simple reference to the club's red kit, Die Roten (The Reds) is arguably the most popular one. Supporters also like to call their club Stern des Südens (Star of the south), as in their minds Bayern represent the south of Germany.
The most fascinating and notorious moniker, though, is FC Hollywood – a name that is still used to describe the shenanigans around the club very often. So what's the story behind this nickname? GOAL takes a look.
Why are Bayern Munich called 'FC Hollywood'?
Bayern earned the 'FC Hollywood' tag in the 1990s when the off-field antics of stars like Lothar Matthaeus and Jurgen Klinsmann made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. As much as their unquenchable thirst for silverware, the Bavarians have always had a capacity of finding trouble and strife where no other team would. It’s not exclusively their fault, it's something in their DNA.
They were, of course, already Germany’s biggest club in the 1990s, although their domestic dominance was not nearly as extensive as it is currently after two decades of almost non-stop success. Bayern managed four Bundesliga titles during that decade but also became known for explosive characters at the club getting involved in a series of spats and generally getting up to no good.
To name a few, the notorious Steffen Effenberg embroiled himself in a scandal by having an affair with model Claudia Strunz, the wife of teammate Thomas Strunz, while the iconic Matthaeus challenged Klinsmann to a “TV duel” after the duo had a falling out, which ultimately contributed significantly to Bayern's losing the title in 1996.
Nonetheless, controversial incidents weren’t just limited to players, as even managers and club officials had their fair share of notorious tales. In a volatile rant during a press conference, manager Giovanni Trappatoni lashed out at everything he saw as wrong with the team, while Bayern legend and former club president Uli Hoeness once served a prison sentence for tax fraud.
Managers were hired and fired at an unparalleled rate (eight different permanent head coaches in total in the 90s), while they even flirted with relegation in 1991-92 campaign.
As a result, reporters started using a different nickname: FC Hollywood. This label perfectly captured the intense theatrics, larger-than-life egos, and the frequent front-page coverage in the newspapers. The comparison to Tinseltown seemed quite fitting, given Hollywood's reputation for consistently producing box office hits, even amidst all the off-script drama.