HOLLAND FOOTBALL

Kaiser Franz led his teammates to the West German title, three points above Schalke 04. Bayern scored 101 goals in the championship, 40 of which belonged to Gerd Muller. He was far above the rest of the goalscorers – Klaus Fischer (Schalke 04) was second with only 22 goals. Yet, Bayern, with their superior attack were overwhelming champions – their defense was second best. Schalke 04 had better home record than the Bavarians too. These two clubs fought for the title, leaving the rest far behind – Borussia (Moenchengladbach) finished third, but 9 points behind Schalke 04. However, their captain Gunter Netzer was voted West German footballer of the year. Bayern were becoming superclub – the core of team, built by Zlatko Cajkovski remained, finely tuned by Udo Lattek, younger coach who was to be one of the best coaches of the 1970s. The team added young players like Hoeness and Breitner. Bayerns’s policy was also taking shape: it was somewhat between this of Ajax and the traditional superclub policies – Bayern depended on their youth system and bought, so far, relatively cheap foreign players. But unlike Ajax, players were not bought just because they were cheap – Bayern looked for players to fill in positions where the team lacked strength – the Dane Hansen came to play right back, for instance. Not to keep the bench of reserves warm. Bayern also spent money on established players – never spending outlandish amounts, though. This careful financial policy of never spending neither too much, nor too little, made soon Bayern the European giant they are still today.

Champions in 1972. This line-up remained during the glorious years of the Bavarians. With the years only fine additions were made.
Back, left to right: Krauthausen, U. Hoeness, Hansen, Roth, G. Muller, Schwarzenbeck, Beckenbauer, Udo Lattek – coach.
Front: Hoffmann, Zobel, Maier, Breitner.