FC Bayern Frauen · History

FC Bayern München Frauen, the women’s section of FC Bayern Munich, was officially founded on 7 June 1970, three months before the German Football Association (DFB) lifted the ban on women’s football it had imposed in 1955. According to the club magazine, 74 women were already seeking to form a women’s department in 1967, and Maria Meissner played a leading role in setting it up. The team won the German championship in 1976, was a founding member of the Frauen-Bundesliga in 1990 and has won seven league titles and three DFB-Pokal trophies.

Early years and the 1976 title

Karl-Heinz Mainz coached the side in 1970-71, and Fritz Bank was in charge from 1971 to 1976. In that final year Bayern reached the national championship final, played at the Leimbachstadion in Siegen in front of 3,700 spectators, and beat Tennis Borussia Berlin 4-2 after extra time, with Inge Mayerhofer and Doris Niederlöhner scoring in the added period. Bayern returned to the final in 1979 and 1982, losing both to SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach, and lost again in 1985. At regional level the team won 19 consecutive Bavarian championships between 1972 and 1990 and the Bavarian Cup in 1982 and every year from 1984 to 1990. In the DFB-Pokal it reached the 1988 final, lost 4-0 to TSV Siegen, and the 1990 final, lost 1-0 to FSV Frankfurt.

Bundesliga, relegation and return

Bayern were among the founding members of the Frauen-Bundesliga in 1990 but finished bottom in 1991-92 and went down. Under Dagmar Uebelhör (1992-1996), Burkhard Kagelmann (1996-1998) and Peter König (1998-2004) the club rebuilt, and in 2000 it won promotion back to the top flight after beating SC Freiburg 3-2 in the promotion round. Bundesliga Cup wins followed in 2003 and 2011, and in 2009, with Günther Wörle as coach, Bayern finished league runners-up, one goal behind Turbine Potsdam.

The Thomas Wörle years

Thomas Wörle took over in 2010 and stayed until 2019. On 12 May 2012 Bayern won their first DFB-Pokal, beating 1. FFC Frankfurt 2-0 in Cologne, the club’s biggest success since 1976. In 2014-15 the team claimed its first Bundesliga title without losing a match, and it retained the trophy in 2015-16. Bayern reached the cup final again in 2018, losing to VfL Wolfsburg on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. In the UEFA Women’s Champions League the club made its first semi-final in 2018-19, going out 2-0 on aggregate to FC Barcelona.

Jens Scheuer, Alexander Straus and the first double

Jens Scheuer (2019-2022) delivered the 2020-21 league title and another European semi-final, lost 5-3 on aggregate to Chelsea. Alexander Straus took charge in 2022. In May 2023 the team sealed the title with an 11-1 win over Turbine Potsdam on the final day, the club’s biggest victory, and it added the 2023-24 championship. On 25 August 2024 Bayern won their first Supercup in Dresden, beating Wolfsburg 1-0 through Klara Bühl. On 1 May 2025, four days after securing a third straight league title, they beat Werder Bremen 4-2 in the cup final in Cologne in front of 45,146 spectators, with a Lea Schüller hat-trick: the club’s first double and its first season with league, cup and Supercup.

Grounds

Since 2013-14 the team has played at the Grünwalder Stadion, which holds 15,000, and drew 2,721 there against Wolfsburg in February 2015. On 27 May 2018 it opened the FC Bayern Campus with a 2-1 win over the same opponent; the ground’s best attendance is 4,347, set on 5 November 2023. Bayern played their first league match at the Allianz Arena on 14 October 2023, a 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt before 19,000 fans, and on 6 September 2025 a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen there drew 57,762, a German attendance record for women’s club football.

José Barcala and the second double

Spanish coach José Barcala took charge in 2025. On 30 August that year Bayern won the Supercup in Karlsruhe, 4-2 against Wolfsburg, and in 2025-26 they won the league unbeaten: 24 wins, 2 draws, 90 goals scored, 9 conceded and 74 points, with Pernille Harder the team’s top scorer on 16. On 14 May 2026 they beat Wolfsburg 4-0 in the cup final in Cologne before 46,064 spectators to complete a second double. In the Champions League they knocked out Manchester United 5-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals before losing 5-3 to FC Barcelona in the semi-finals. On 15 August 2026 Bayern won a third consecutive Supercup in Ingolstadt, beating Wolfsburg 3-0 with one goal from Jovana Damnjanović and two from Klara Bühl.