TSV 1860 München

Munich is often defined by its greatest club, but TSV 1860 München has held its own against that shadow for longer than most realise. Founded on 17 May 1860 , the club was established well before the German Football Association and the Bundesliga.

Their finest moment came in 1966 , when they captured the Bundesliga title. They were the team that kept knocking on the door of European success, reaching the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1965 before losing to West Ham United. They had the game won in domestic cups too, lifting the DFB-Pokal in 1964 and the Tschammerpokal in 1942. Yet the peak was brief. Relegation followed, and with it the slow retreat from the summit.

From 2005 to 2017, 1860 shared Munich’s new cathedral of football with their eternal rivals, FC Bayern München. It was an arrangement built on co-ownership, but the market had overreacted to the favourite. After relegation in 2017, the club sold their 50% share to Bayern for €11 million and terminated the rental contract.

Today they play in the 3. Liga , far from the glare of the city centre. Their home is the Grünwalder Stadion , a concrete bowl with a capacity of 15,000. In a city obsessed with winning, 1860 München survives by remembering what it once was.