The FC Bayern Munich Junior Team is the youth academy for German football club FC Bayern Munich. The Junior Team was created in 1902 and restructured in 1995. It has educated many players who have become regulars in the Bundesliga and Germany.[1] The vision for the Junior Team is "to educate young players so that it will be possible for FCB to keep a global position in club football in the next millennium" and its mission is "to have the best youth development in club football."
The Junior Team was created in 1902[2] and restructured in 1995.[3]
In 2006 FC Bayern purchased land near the Allianz Arena with the purpose of building a new youth academy. In 2015 the project, estimated to cost €70 million, was started, after overcoming internal resistance. The main reasons for the project were that the existing facilities were too small and that the club, while very successful at senior level, lacked competitiveness with other German and European clubs at youth level. The new facility was scheduled to open in the 2017–18 season.[4]
The vision for the Junior Team is "to educate young players so that it will be possible for FCB to keep a global position in club football in the next millennium" and its mission is "to have the best youth development in club football."[5]
There are 165 players, 16 instructors and managers, 1 physiotherapist and 1 masseur.[2] Rosters remain unchanged while the kids learn their trade whether it be for goalkeeper, defence, midfield or forward. They are trained for no more than 1 or 2 positions.[6]
Bayern Munich Junior Team uses a 4–3–3 formation system from D Juniors and upwards.[2] Players from overseas are offered accommodation in a youth apartment block with 13 single rooms inside the club grounds on Säbener Straße.[2] The facility arrangement is different from many other high-profile clubs, in that both the first team and the youth teams train at the same location.[3]
Bayern Munich has a residence building for players who are between 15 and 18 and live too far away from the training ground.[7] Up to 14 youth team players can live there.[7] They have an employee in the residence building where in the morning waking up and prepares a breakfast buffet and also takes care of small and large problems of youth players.[7] There are up to eight part-time teachers are available to support the youth players to compensate for the educational gaps.[7] The ground floor of the youth center is also the office of the junior team and a meeting room for the coaches.[7]
As part of the restructuring and to help find players for the Junior Team, Bayern Munich has developed a "Talent Day" where up to 500 boys are scouted. The Talent Days are done over Saturday and Sunday.[8] The format used is three 20-minute 5-a-side matches on reduced-sized football fields.[8] The scouts are looking for how well the participants "cope with the ball" with "particular skill", "excellent dribbling" and "good vision".[8] An average of seven children will make it to the Bayern Munich Junior Team during Talent days.[6] Talent Days has drawn "worldwide attention".[8] The event has drawn participants from all over Germany along with participants from Austria, France, Italy, Egypt, Slovenia, Slovakia and Australia.[8][9]
In 2003, Bayern Munich started partnering with other football clubs.[10] The partner clubs are SpVgg Unterhaching, Ingolstadt 04, Kickers Offenbach and Ulm 1846, 1860 Rosenheim, SpVgg Landshut, TSV Milbertshofen and SC Fürstenfeldbruck.[10] SpVgg Unterhaching, Ingolstadt 04, Kickers Offenbach and Ulm 1846 are the elite partners.[10] 1860 Rosenheim and SpVgg Landshut are regional partners.[10] TSV Milbertshofen and SC Fürstenfeldbruck are local partners.[10] Udo Bassemir is responsible for club partnerships.[10] Players they are interested in are not transferred immediately.[10] They allow the player to train at their own club and at Bayern Munich's training fields and the transfer happens at the "right time".[10]
The penultimate stage for youngsters at Bayern is Bayern Munich II, which currently plays in the Regionalliga Bayern, the fourth tier of German football.
Bayern Munich has won the German under 19 championship three times and the under 17 championship five times. Here are the championship winning teams with goals in the final in brackets:
^Jon Townsend (18 March 2015). "The Bayern Munich Academy Way". These Football Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
^ ab"FC Bayern U19 – Der Kader 2019/20" [FC Bayern U19 – The 2019–20 squad]. fcbayern.com (in German). Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
^ ab"FC Bayern U17 – Der Kader 2019/20" [FC Bayern U17 – The 2019–20 squad]. fcbayern.com (in German). Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
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