The Säbener Strasse
Bayern's head offices and training facility
'The training ground here is fantastic. The perfect working environment!' said French star Willy Sagnol on his arrival in Munich in summer 2000. And his reaction was typical: no new signing has yet failed to be impressed by the club's headquarters at Säbener Strasse 51 in the Munich suburb of Harlaching. The 70,000 square metre facility offers everything a professional footballer could desire.
The training ground incorporates four grass pitches, one of which is equipped with under soil heating, an artificial grass pitch and a multi-functional sports hall. The players' quarters, opened in 1990, offers a generously proportioned dressing room, a massage room, a doctor's surgery, a relaxation bath, a whirlpool, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre and a conference room with screening facilities for video analysis.
Bayern's playing and coaching staff enjoy one of the finest working environments in Europe. But the commitment to quality is not restricted to the athletes. Germany's most successful club is also headquartered at the Säbener Strasse. Bayern fans and visitors come in their thousands to the ticket office, the fan shop, the club restaurant and a Euro Lloyd travel agency. The club's approximately 140 employees work in the administration centre, which also houses the offices of chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and fellow directors Uli Hoeneß and Karl Hopfner. The offices enjoy a superb view of the training ground, as the club works to continue its glorious tradition of success.
One visible component of this commitment is the club's Youth House, which houses up to 13 rising young stars from outside the city, working on their development as footballers as part of Bayern's highly successful Junior Team. The value of this particularfacility has been demonstrated by Bayern's capture of Germany's senior youth championship in 2001 and 2002, and the emergence of stars such as Paolo Guerrero and Owen Hargreaves, both former residents of the Youth House.
The arrangement is unique: the Säbener Strasse 51 is 'home' to young players, professionals, the management, administration and fans, 'the essence of Bayern Munich under one roof', so to speak. And the club is not content to rest here: this season, the superbly equipped facility is to be expanded even further on land available to the south.
FC Bayern Head Office
The reconstruction project to create the ServiceCenter also offered the chance to reunite Bayern’s administrative family. New office space on the first and second floors of the ServiceCenter has allowed the merchandising and licensing section to return “home” after years in temporary accommodation in the suburb of Oberhaching. The ticketing, member services, scouting, fan clubs, autograph, mail and traffic departments are also quartered in the new building.
That in turn has freed up space in the older office block. Board members Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeneß and Karl Hopfner maintain offices on the second floor, offering the trio an excellent view of the players’ progress out on the training ground. The finance and bookkeeping sections are located next to the management offices.
The first floor houses the media and communication, legal, sponsorship and event marketing sections, the media rights and new media department, and the international relations team. The ground floor and basement contains the IT section, plus the dressing rooms and players’ quarters for the reserves and junior teams.
The Training Facility
The Säbener Strasse site offers Bayern’s entire roster of teams, from the Bundesliga seniors down to the Under-8s, superb training and playing conditions. The stars of today and tomorrow hone their skills on five grass pitches, two of which boast undersoil heating. Naturally, the sacred turf is tended daily by the dedicated groundstaff, and the surfaces are widely accepted to match the quality of many a putting or bowling green.
The 80,000 square metre site also features two third-generation artificial turf pitches, a beach volleyball court, and a multi-purpose sports hall. Professionals and junior hopefuls alike benefit from the outstanding facilities on offer.
The day after the end of the 2007-8 campaign, major rebuilding work commenced at the Säbener Straße. The former professionals’ quarters, a base for the playing staff since 1990, was entirely gutted, reconstructed and knocked through into the adjacent former fan shop, creating a totally new and state-of-the-art performance centre, all within the space of just six weeks. As chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge commented: “We’re all thrilled. It’s a perfect oasis for the players, allowing them to focus 100 percent on football.“
“It’s the new jewel and heart of the club,“ said Jürgen Klinsmann, the initiator and driving force behind the new facility. “It’s unique anywhere in the world, the Real Madrids and Barcelonas don’t have one. We’re really proud of it,“ the Bayern coach declared. The board unhesitatingly backed Klinsmann’s initiative for a performance centre “to help each individual player develop in every area.“
The 2,000 square metre performance centre is primarily designed to help the players develop their skills, both on and off the field. The plans were partly inspired by the Player Lounges favoured by leading NFL and NBA clubs. The fundamental concept called for the creation of space. Indeed, the first floor has effectively become a single room.
The state-of-the-art weights and fitness area is located to one side, adjacent to the massage unit and the coaches’ office, where Klinsmann and his team conduct planning and analysis sessions. The opposite side boasts a café, a library and a family room, where the players are invited to spend time with their partners and children. A mixing desk and games consoles provide further relaxation opportunities.
The first floor also features an e-learning room, intended for language and computer classes. A staircase leads from the family room out onto the roof, where the glass cupola recognisable from the old fan shop now houses another innovative facility. The auditorium, effectively a private cinema with a 2.8m screen and 39 leather seats, is used for team talks and video analysis, with screened-off booths for up to five simultaneous translators.
Next to the auditorium, the roof terrace boasts barbecue equipment for relaxed communal evenings in the future. The main dressing rooms, the coaches’ dressing room and the showers, with three ice water plunge baths, are located on the ground floor. Each of the 24 lockers in the rebuilt dressing room incorporates a small digital message board, displaying each individual’s specific daily schedule.
The performance centre offers everything the stars require to work, rest and play. That idea appears to be working. “It’s genuinely the case that I’m already delighted to be spending time here between training sessions,” revealed Michael Rensing, “the performance centre is just massive, you can’t put it into words.”
FC Bayern Youth academy
What do Michael Rensing, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Owen Hargreaves and Sammy Kuffour have in common? They all made it to the big time as graduates of the Bayern junior team. All four spent many of their formative years at the Säbener Strasse youth academy.
The apartment block adjacent to head office was constructed in 1990 at the same time as the former professionals’ quarters. The facility accommodates up to 13 players aged from 15 to 18, whose home towns are too far away from Munich for the daily commute to training. There are also guest rooms for young trialists. A common room on the top floor features a kitchen and a games room. A team of up to eleven tutors is available to help with school work in the afternoons.
The academy has been managed since 2007 by Gertrud Wanke, who is effectively in loco parentis for the talented hopefuls. She wakes the youngsters and prepares their breakfast buffet, but also takes care of the players’ greater or lesser difficulties insofar as she is able. She is assisted by qualified youth worker and tutor Andreas Kronenberg, specifically tasked with helping the lads make productive use of their free time.
The junior team administrative offices are located on the ground floor of the building, centred on the office maintained by Werner Kern, director of the club’s youth and reserve sections. The complex also features a conference room with modern communication equipment. The room is used for meetings and presentations, and the coaching staff’s computer-based analyses. The academy provides a perfect foundation for the careful nurturing of talented young players seeking to follow in the footsteps of Rensing, Schweinsteiger & Co.
Comprehensive facility
FCB Service Center opens for business
Just 14 months after construction work began, the new FCB ServiceCenter opened its doors to the public at 8 am on Monday morning. The brand new facility at the Säbener Strasse headquarters offers members, fans and customers a vast range of services connected to the club, including ticketing, the members’ and fan clubs’ sections, and a new FCB megastore.
The ServiceCenter is open daily from 8 am to 8 pm CET. A Welcome Desk will be permanently staffed during these hours, where two friendly and helpful personnel are on hand to assist customers with their needs, including times when the shop and/or service desks may be closed.
250 square meter fan shop
The reception desk and the service desks for members’ administration and ticketing are miniature replicas of the Allianz Arena, providing just one of many visual treats at the new home-from-home for Bayern supporters. The all-new 250 square metre megastore is a veritable treasure trove for loyal fans of the club and its superstars Ribéry, Toni, Schweini & Co, with replica kit, shirts, caps and so much more.
Everyone at the club would be delighted to welcome fans visiting Munich to the Service Center. See you soon at the Säbener Strasse!
Der Fan Shop