1860 Munich are by far the older of the two main Munich clubs, Bayern not having been founded until 1900. For fans of a certain age from other countries, they were also for many years better known than their now illustrious neighbours. Watching my early football in the 1960s, I was well aware of 1860, not least due to their 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup exploits, where they reached the final, only to lose to Bobby Moore's West Ham. In 1966 they were German champions and in 1967 runners-up. Since then, however, major success has eluded them.

As well as being older than Bayern, 1860 were also in the Bundesliga before their local rivals. They'd won the regional 'Oberliga Süd' in 1962/63, so when the new national Bundesliga was launched for the 63/64 season, they were automatically admitted as one of the founding members. Bayern would have wait until 65/66 before they were able to join 1860 in the top flight.

Since their heyday in the 1960s, Die Löwen (The Lions) have spent time in the top flight, the second tier, the third tier and even one season in tier 4, the Regionalliga Bayern. Since the turn of the century, they've generally been in the 2. Bundesliga (tier 2) or the 3. Liga (tier 3).

For information on getting to the stadium, travel to and around Berlin, and places to eat, drink and stay, use the respective links above to the relevant pages on this site.

For more background history on the club and latest news, use the external links below.