It may be difficult to believe today, but there was once a time that Bayern Munich was not the biggest club in Munich. In fact, it was not until the late 1970’s that they started on the road to becoming the juggernaut they are today – prior to that they were a relatively minor club. And prior to that, it was 1860 who were far and way the city’s most popular club. In 1963, TSV 1860 Munich became one of the Bundesliga’s founding clubs, and started in the new league with a bang by winning the 1963/64 DFB-Pokal aka the German Cup. Bayern, meanwhile, where forced to play in the second division due to a rule that stipulated that only one team from each city could play in the new league.

 

1860’s road to the German Cup final featured a 2-0 defeat of what is another 21st century powerhouse, Borussia Dortmund, who also had a quality team back in this era. In April of 1964, 1860 defeated 1 FC Kaiserslautern 4-2 to proceed to the quater finals, where they saw off 1 FC Saarbrucken. An exciting semi final contest saw 1860 put four past Altonaer FC 93 and it was then through to the final against a skillful Eintracht Frankfurt outfit in Stuttgart. Kohlars and Brunnenmeier scored the goals necessary to claim the cup for 1860 and start them on their journey to 1960’s success.

 

In the 1964/65 European Cup Winners Cup, 1860 took on the rest of Europe and experienced a brilliant run all the way to the final at Wembley Stadium against a West Ham side that was captained by the great Bobby Moore and also featured Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, all three of whom went on to star in Englands winning World Cup campaign of 1966 just a few months later. On the way to the final, the Bavarians destroyed US Luxembourg 10-0, eliminated FC Porto 2-0, sent Legia Wasaw home 4-0 (all aggregate scores) and just edged out Torino. Unfortunately for 1860 though, the ultimate prize eluded them. The fact is that it would have been a big ask to defeat the high flying Londoners on what is essentially their own turf, and Bobby Moore climbed the Wembley steps once again to collect the trophy after a 2-0 win to The Hammers in front of over 97,000 people. In 1965/66, die Lowen (The Lions) went from 8th spot on the table on to the very top after 22 matches, only to be replaced by Borussia Dortmund and then, momentarily, Bayern Munich. On the second to last day of the season, 1860 had their chance to reclaim top spot when they happened to play the leaders, Dortmund. They took the chance well with a 2-0 win which put them narrowly ahead and sealed 1860’s only Bundesliga title following a 1-1 draw against Hamburg SV in the penultimate match. This made 1860 the first team from Munich to win the Bundesliga, cementing their reputation as the city’s most popular side. It was all thanks to the offensive style of Grosser and Rebele, plus 1860’s goalkeeper Radenkovic who was the first foreign star to pplay in the Bundesliga. But nobody could have forseen that it would be their last ever league title, and Bayern stole away their legions of supporters thanks to their phenomenal achievements throughout the 70’s. The Bundesliga win qualified the side for the European Cup the following season, but they didn’t last long and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the second round. It was a painful time to be an 1860 Munich fan, as they had to watch Bayern go on to greatness while the only direction 1860 moved in was backwards.

 

Little do many realise that it was a moment of madness, lasting a mere few seconds, at a youth match in the Munich suburb of Giesing that forever changed the destinies of the city’s two teams. A young, unknown SC 1906 Munich player by the name of Franz Beckenbauer (you might have heard of him), who like most Bavarians happened to be a huge 1860 fan, was on the receiving end of an altercation between himself and a member of 1860’s youth team in a match between the two sides. It had been his dream to wear the blue of 1860 Munich, but it was this incident that made the young Beckenbauer decide that they were not the club for him. Instead, he joined Bayern and the rest, is history. If Beckenbauer had joined 1860, perhaps it is they that could have gone on to achieve incredible success and become a global phenomenon and one of the worlds richest and most powerful football clubs. He would have gone on to attract coach Udo Lattek to 1860 who in turn would have brought Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeness to the club. Both these players were set to join 1860 but persued contracts with Bayern instead due to Latteks influence. In this alternate universe, Bayern could have become eternal strugglers, a laughing stock languishing in German football’s third tier. But, perhaps entirely due to “the slap”, it’s 1860 who find themselves in this situation today. They were relegated in 1970 and it took seven years for them to return to the Bundesliga, only to be immediately relegated again.

 

The club has since gone from bad to worse and they almost had to be rescued from insolvency by their rivals Bayern Munich in 2011, much to the discust of both sets of supporters, until being saved by a Jordanian investment group. In 2018 they were relegated all they way to the Regionalliga Bayern, the fourth tier of the German league system. 1860 Munich don’t look to be challenging Bayern again for some time to come.

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Achievements:
German Bundesliga – Champions x1, runners-up x1
DFB-Pokal – Winners x1
European Cup Winners Cup – Runners-up x1
Coppa delle Alpi – Runners up x1

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Star player: Rudi Brunnenmeier, dob 11 Feb 1941, pob Munich, Germany
Clubs: 1860 Munich, Neuchatel Xamax, FC Zurich, SW Bregenz, FC Balzers

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One of the Bundesliga’s first superstars and once crowned the leagues top scorer, five time German national team member Brunnenmeier was 1860’s greatest player at the time,and one of their greatest ever, representing them from 1960 when they were in the Oberliga Sud up until 1968 after they had become champions of Germany. While playing in the Oberliga, Brunnenmeier contributed 73 goals in 88 matches to the 1860 cause. He struck the net 19 times in 29 matches during 1860’s cup winning season in 1964, and scored the winner in the final of that competition. In the 1965 Cup Winners Cup final, Brunnenmeier forced West Ham goalkeeper Jim Standen to made a number of fine saves before the Germans eventually went down 2-0. Brunnenmeier’s career followed the fortunes of 1860 and as the club slid downwards, so did he. By the 1966/67 season, he only managed to score 7 goals all season before leaving the side. However, his 66 goals in 119 matches remain a club record to this day, and he is still thought to be one of, if not the, greatest forwards in the history of 1860 Munich. He spent some time playing in Switzerland but then he fell victim to alcohol abuse which sent him into poverty. He was only able to get by through odd jobs here and there. He became manager of a couple of nightclubs, but as an alcoholic he was his own best customer. In 1987 he spent half a year in jail for drink driving. He tried to clean up his act by becoming an insurance agent, but was soon in trouble again for falsifying documents. Brunnenmeier then tried construction, had a go as a bouncer in Munich's red light district and sold pretzels from a pretzel stand. He had no family and lost his life to his addiction in 2003, dieing a lonely death in poverty in his tiny, squalid apartment. The remaining members of 1860’s 1966 championship winning side attended his funeral, which was paid for by the club and held to great public attention.