A note in advance: This piece mainly features well-known men who often present a full pint of beer. If women are seen at all, they are usually given the role of decorative supporting actresses. Both are due to the nature of the event in question here: FC Bayern’s traditional Oktoberfest visit, which was staged again this Sunday.
Coach Thomas Tuchel and 100 million striker Harry Kane were introduced to Munich Oktoberfest society on the occasion in the Käfer wooden hut. The fact that the beer is being presented offensively has to do with the fact that the Paulaner brewery is one of FC Bayern’s sponsors.
Many images that are distributed from the event bear the label “Images for Paulaner” – so they are not journalistic images in the strict sense. Looking back, there are still some interesting observations about how those responsible have fared at the Oktoberfest over the years.
Double premiere
September 24, 2023, after a 7-0 home win in the Bundesliga against VfL Bochum: Thomas Tuchel (left) makes his first Oktoberfest appearance as Bayern coach. Jan-Christian Dreesen (right) has been there for a long time. In February 2013 he succeeded Karl Hopfner as CFO of FC Bayern München AG. This time he came as chairman of the record champions for the first time. He was appointed to this post in May 2023.
Nagelmann’s only appearance
September 18, 2022, after a 0-1 defeat in the Bundesliga in the away game against FC Augsburg. The faces suggest it: “Wiesn in der Krisn” was one of the headlines for FC Bayern’s appearance at the Oktoberfest, after it was canceled twice due to the corona pandemic. Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic (far left) and the then CEO Oliver Kahn (far right) took coach Julian Nagelsmann, his partner Lena Wurzenberger and Oliver Kahn’s wife Svenja (from left) in the middle.
Ancelotti’s last feast
September 23, 2017, after a 2-2 draw in the home game in the Bundesliga against VfL Wolfsburg. In view of the latest results, it has to be said: the mood was better at the Oktoberfest show. The Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (right) brings a lot of what it takes to work with the then chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (left), Susanne Hoeneß (middle) and the club president at the time, her husband Ulrich (second from right). To toast fervently at the Oktoberfest. “I’ll try everything there is to eat here,” Ancelotti promised at the start on the Isar in July 2016, but added slyly: “But it’s not far to Italy.” A few days after the Oktoberfest date, FC Bayern released him after a 3-0 defeat in the Champions League group phase at Paris St. Germain.
One of 15 dirndls
Also 2017: It’s not just the breakdown of relationships between the club and the coaches that can be understood when looking at the archives. Mats Hummels and his wife Cathy appeared together at the Oktoberfest back then. They are now going their separate ways – and not just because Mats Hummels has left the club. His wife at the time was asked by TV Munich how many dirndls she had. Answer: “Not that many. Fifteen.”
The unusual pep
September 30, 2015, after a 5-0 win in the Champions League group stage against Dinamo Zagreb: They set aside a lot at FC Bayern for the Catalan Josep “Pep” Guardiola – including championship, cup and Champions League winner Jupp Heynckes (or “triple” winner for short). Guardiola was supposed to take the club to world level. However, his Oktoberfest appearances were not characterized by avant-garde; together with his wife Cristina, he presented more classic Oktoberfest outfits. His final Oktoberfest walk in 2015 was unusual for another reason: it took place on a Wednesday because of the tight schedule.
Van Gaal’s warning to the players
October 4, 2009, after a 0-0 draw in the home game in the Bundesliga against 1. FC Köln: There was a lot going on at FC Bayern during the Oktoberfest in 2009. The club was challenged in the Bundesliga, the cup and the Champions League. No wonder that coach Louis van Gaal, who on another occasion described himself as a “celebrant”, warned the professionals before his first Oktoberfest outing that one Oktoberfest was enough, even if he welcomed it in principle, “especially the foreign players get to know the Bavarian culture”. The Dutchman himself approached this twice at the festival.
Klinsmann’s solo
October 5, 2008, after a 3-3 draw in the Bundesliga home game against VfL Bochum. “Brown leather pants, white traditional shirt, suede vest, permanent smile and a good face to face the bad game”: This is what the observers noted about Jürgen Klinsmann’s only Oktoberfest appearance as a coach, during which he was comforted by Bayern Grande Edmund Stoiber and his wife Karin. Klinsmann didn’t bring his wife Debby to the appointment – to the chagrin of the waiting photographers, onlookers and autograph hunters.
step into public
Also 2008: The appointment also offers those accompanying the professionals an opportunity to put themselves in the spotlight. In 2008, not only Bastian Schweinsteiger’s then-girlfriend Sarah Brandner (left) took advantage of this, but…
Italian creation
… also Marta Cecchetto, the girlfriend of the then not very successful Italian goalscorer Luca Toni. Experts named the extravagant dirndl combination with a green velvet cape and hat as “the flashiest traditional costume combination of all the players’ wives.”
The double van Bommel
October 1, 2006, after a 0-1 defeat in the Bundesliga away game against VfL Wolfsburg: Back then, the event was not as completely orchestrated as it is today, which can be seen from the fact that there are two snapshots from the almost identical angle by Dutchman Mark van Bommel (Bayern player until 2011). One with the sponsor’s beer.
And one with a water bottle.