TSV 1860 Munich

• 1848: Foundation of the association (15 July)
• 1860: Re-foundation of the club (17 May)
• 1899: Foundation of the football department (March 6)
• 1926: Completion of the stadium construction on Grünwalder Straße (Zisch Stadium)
• 1931: German runner-up
• 1942: German Cup Winner
• 1945: Founding member Oberliga Süd (1st league)
• 1948: South German Vice-Champion
• 1955 + 1957 South German second league champion and promotion to the Oberliga Süd (1st league)
• 1963: Southern German champion and founding member of the (1st) Bundesliga
• 1964: German Cup Winner
• 1965: Finalist in the European Cup Winners' Cup
• 1966: German Champion and participation in the European Cup of Champions
• 1967: German runner-up
• 1970: Relegation to the Regionalliga (then 2nd league)
• 1972: Move to the newly built Olympic Stadium
• 1973: Record attendance 90,000 spectators at the Olympiastadion 1860 : FC Augsburg
• 1974: Founding member of the 2nd Bundesliga
• 1976: Return to the stadium at Grünwalder Straße
• 1977: Runner-up in the 2nd Bundesliga Süd and promotion to the Bundesliga, relegation at the end of the season
• 1979: Southern German champion and renewed promotion to the Bundesliga
• 1982: Withdrawal of licence with forced relegation to the Amateuroberliga (3rd league)
• 1992-1994: march through from the 3. to the 1. league
• 1996: German Indoor Champion, qualification for the UEFA Cup
• 2000: Participation in the qualification for the Champions League
• 2001: Co-founder of the Allianz Arena
• 2002: Spin-off of parts of the football division into a GmbH & Co. KGaA
• 2004: President Wildmoser resigns after being remanded in custody, he is succeeded by Karl Auer
• 2004: Relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga and return to the Grünwalder Stadion
• 2005: Move to the newly built Allianz Arena
• 2006: Spectator record in the 2nd Bundesliga with 41,932 spectators on average per game
• 2011: Sale of 60% (49% voting, 11% "silent" shares) of the GmbH shares to Jordanian investor Hasan Ismaik
• 2015: Successful relegation matches to remain in the 2nd Bundesliga
• 2017: Sporting relegation from the 2. Bundesliga, refusal of licence for the 3. league and therefore relegation to the Regionalliga Bayern (4. league), return to the Grünwalder Stadion
• 2018: Championship in the Regionalliga Bayern and promotion to the 3. Liga
• 2020: Bavarian Toto Cup Winner

This section mainly presents the history of the main club and the football department, historical data and events of other departments can be found in the respective sections of the departments. An overview of all placings of the first football team can be found under season balances of TSV 1860 München.

1848 to 1933: Beginnings of the association

The club was first founded as the Munich Gymnastics Club on 15 July 1848 in the hall of the "Buttlesche Brauerei zum Bayerischen Löwen", only to be banned again just one year later (1849) because of "republican activities". The new official foundation then took place on 17 May 1860, followed by the renaming to Turnverein München von 1860 in 1889. Ten years later, on 25 April 1899, the football department of the Löwen was founded, but it was not until three years later, on 27 July 1902, that it played its first public match with another team, losing 4-2 to 1. Münchner FC 1896.

In 1911, the leased site on Grünwalder Straße became the club's new home ground, where in turn the Heinrich Zisch Stadium, named after the then president, was completed in 1926 to accommodate up to 40,000 spectators.

In 1931 the team reached the final of the German championship for the first time, where they lost to Hertha BSC.

1933 to 1945: The TSV under National Socialism

Compared to FC Bayern, which was reviled as a "Jewish club" at the time, the Munich Lions were "one of the few big football clubs that showed a clear affinity with the strengthening National Socialism even before 1933." As one of the "National Socialist flagship clubs" (along with Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart), National Socialists such as NSDAP and SA members Fritz Ebenböck, Sebastian Gleixner and Emil Ketterer also took over almost all the high offices at the Löwen. Thus already in September 1933 in a general meeting of the gymnastic club the implementation of the leader principle was decided. Shortly thereafter, the entire remaining sports club dissolved itself and in March 1934 joined the National Socialist-influenced Turnverein under the name "Turn- und Sportverein München von 1860" with all its departments. Under the new club leader, the SA-Sturmbannführer Fritz Ebenböck, a new constitution was adopted, which also included the adoption of an Aryan paragraph. This meant the final exclusion for the few remaining Jewish or "non-Aryan" club members of the TSV. While the TSV footballers were initially still able to successfully prevent the occupation of their department by National Socialists, the NSDAP city council member Sebastian Gleixner, "one of the most ruthless ringleaders of the NSDAP in Munich", then also took over the office of football department head from a high NS functionary.

It was above all the relations to the NSDAP that helped the club to save itself from insolvency in the thirties.

Until the 2000s, the club's self-portrayal of this period was limited purely to sporting events; the political background was not addressed. Even today, TSV 1860's role close to the Nazis during the Nazi era is still not mentioned on the official websites of the professional football department. However, the club today supports the fan group "Löwenfans gegen Rechts" (Lions fans against the right), which has existed since 1995, and also the book project "Die Löwen unterm Hakenkreuz" (Lions under the swastika), which is critical of the times.

In 1942 the first title at DFB level was won with the Tschammerpokal.

1945 to 1963: Post-war period and qualification for the Bundesliga

After the Second World War, the sporting fate of TSV 1860 was initially changeable. In 1945, TSV 1860 was a founding member of the newly created Oberliga Süd, and in 1948, as runners-up in the Süd, it took part in the first final round of the German football championship after the war, but was eliminated in the preliminary round by 1. FC Kaiserslautern. This was to be TSV 1860's last participation in the finals for the time being; they did not take part again until the last finals before the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963. After relegation from the Oberliga Süd in 1953, he spent several years in the then 2. Liga Süd (1953-55 and 1956/57), before TSV played continuously in the Oberliga Süd again from 1957. In 1961 Max Merkel took over the team and led them to the championship in the Oberliga Süd just at the important introduction of the Bundesliga, qualifying them for the newly formed Bundesliga.

In the Oberliga Süd, a total of five places for the new league were awarded on the basis of a twelve-year ranking, with the champions of the last Oberliga season 1962/63 of the five Oberliga divisions qualifying in each case.

Qualified for the Bundesliga by the twelve-year ranking

Qualified for the Bundesliga by winning the championship in the last Oberliga season (1962/63)

Not qualified for the Bundesliga

1963 to 1970: Championship and European Cup Final

In 1963, TSV 1860 Munich was a co-founder of the Bundesliga. In 1964, the club became DFB Cup winners for the second time by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the final and reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later. TSV 1860 München lost the final 2-0 to West Ham United in front of 97,974 spectators at London's Wembley Stadium. In the 1965/66 season, the Lions were top of the table from matchday 8 to matchday 22, but were then ousted by Borussia Dortmund and, for a time, FC Bayern München. It wasn't until the penultimate matchday that TSV regained the top spot in the table with a 2-0 win in Dortmund against their direct opponents. With a 1-1 draw against Hamburger SV on the last matchday, the first place could be defended and the club became German Champion for the first and until today only time (players of the championship team see here). The next year the club could still become vice-champion and reached the second round in the European Champions Cup, where the Munich Lions were eliminated against Real Madrid, but after that it went continuously downhill and relegation to the regional league followed in 1970.

1970 to 1977: Second class

Since the founding of the Bundesliga, the Regionalliga was the second highest division in Germany until the founding of the 2nd Bundesliga in 1974. TSV 1860 München always just missed promotion to the Bundesliga until 1977.

On 15 August 1973, an eternal Olympiastadion spectator record was set during TSV 1860's regional league match against FC Augsburg. After the 60ers scored a leading goal in the third minute, fans still waiting for admission stormed the stadium, injuring 136 fans, mainly when they climbed over the fence. Estimates of the eventual crowd ranged from a general 80,000 to 90,000 spectators to 100,000 spectators. The match is considered the highest attendance second division match in the world and ended 1-1.

After dramatic promotion matches against Arminia Bielefeld, 1860 returned to the Bundesliga for the 1977/78 season after a seven-year absence.

1977 to 1982: Rollercoaster ride and license revocation

However, the club could only stay in the Bundesliga for one year and had to be relegated directly as the third last team. In the 1978/79 season, 1860 competed in the southern division of the 2nd Bundesliga. By the championship at the end of the season the immediate promotion succeeded. After two years in the first division, the Lions had to be relegated from the Bundesliga again at the end of the 1980/81 season. After missing out on re-promotion by just one point in the 1981/82 season, the DFB withdrew the club's licence in the summer of 1982 because TSV 1860 München had taken on too much of a financial burden after being re-promoted to the Bundesliga. From 1980, the then young Rudi Völler had played for TSV 1860 München; however, he left the club for Werder Bremen due to the licence withdrawal.

1982 to 1994: The lean years until the resurgence

The forced relegation to the third-class Bayernliga meant a major upheaval in the Löwen squad. After 14 players had left the club, 20 new ones were signed. Nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to win promotion again. In the following season, the Löwen reached the promotion round, but only won one game, the other five were lost. In the 1984/85 season, the team was temporarily threatened with relegation to the Landesliga, although four coaches tried, namely Bernd Patzke, Oktavian Popescu, Erich Beer and Wenzel Halama. With Halama, second place in the Bayernliga was achieved in the following season 1985/86, and the team was able to participate in the promotion round again - as an alternate for SpVgg Landshut. However, with five defeats and one draw, they only finished fourth. In the following seasons, the club missed the championship title and a possible promotion a few times, until it was finally achieved under coach Karsten Wettberg in 1991. However, the club was immediately relegated to the Bayernliga; but only for one year, because then began with Werner Lorant the march to the 1st Bundesliga.

The jubilation of the fans was overwhelming when the final whistle blew in Meppen for the last game of the 1993/94 second division season and TSV 1860 München became the first club ever to make the direct march from the amateur camp (Bayernliga) into the Bundesliga with a 1-0 victory, rejoining it after a 13-year absence.

1994 to 2004: The years in the Bundesliga

Until 2000, 1860 could always improve - got stars like Thomas Häßler and Martin Max - and reached the qualification for the Champions League by a 4th place in the Bundesliga besides some participations in the UI Cup as well as the UEFA Cup. In the 1999/2000 season, TSV 1860 also managed to win both derbies in one season against FC Bayern Munich for the first time (1:0, 2:1). However, TSV was no longer able to match its earlier successes in sporting terms. Finally, Werner Lorant was dismissed on 18 October 2001, after the team had suffered a 1:5 defeat against FC Bayern München five days earlier.

The stadium issue escalated during this period after the club stopped pursuing a reconstruction of the Grünwalder Straße stadium in 1995 and the games were now played entirely at the Olympiastadion, which was disliked by many fans. After an initial wave of euphoria with club records in terms of spectator numbers and good successes in the Bundesliga, interest in the Löwen gradually ebbed away, partly due to declining performances. There were major differences among the fans over the venue issue, which led to a real split between different fan groups. There were also heated discussions between these groups about the possible reconstruction of the Olympic Stadium and TSV 1860 München's involvement in the construction of the new Allianz Arena in Fröttmaning.

After 1860's successor Peter Pacult was unable to repeat the successes of the 1999/2000 season, he was replaced by Falko Götz in March 2003. Götz had to rebuild the squad for financial reasons and replace the "old stars" Häßler, Max and Davor Šuker with young players. After a decent start to the season, however, Götz's team found itself in a relegation battle at the beginning of the second half of the season. In addition, club president Karl-Heinz Wildmoser and his son Karl-Heinz Wildmoser junior were arrested in March 2004 on bribery charges in connection with the construction of the stadium. Disputes over competence between the medially inexperienced big butcher Karl Auer, who had succeeded Wildmoser as president, and the ex-minister of culture Hans Zehetmair as vice-president culminated in the dismissal of coach Götz. Zehetmair, who had been the first to announce the coach's resignation without consulting the president and management, was sharply criticized for his rash action and subsequently resigned. Götz was succeeded by former player Gerald Vanenburg, who, however, was unable to prevent 60's relegation to the second division.

The investigation against former president Karl-Heinz Wildmoser was later dropped, while his son, who was also managing director of the club as well as of the Allianz Arena stadium operating company, was sentenced to several years in prison.

2004 to 2011: Mediocrity in the second division

Vanenburg's successor as head coach was the second-league experienced Rudi Bommer, under whose aegis direct promotion was targeted. However, he was dismissed in November 2004 due to sporting failure and replaced by Reiner Maurer, the former co-coach and head coach of the U23s. After a strong second half of the season, 1860's promotion hopes were only dashed on the last matchday, so that the team only finished in fourth place in the end.

The first season in the new Allianz Arena got off to a promising start for the Löwen; at the beginning of the first half of the season, the team was still temporarily top of the table, but by the winter break was only among the extended group of favourites. A 0-0 draw at the start of the second half of the season against last-place LR Ahlen led to the dismissal of coach Maurer. His successor was Walter Schachner, and Stefan Reuter took over as manager.

Economically and sportingly, the spring of 2006 was threatening for 1860. In March, President Auer announced his resignation for health reasons, his successor was the previous chairman of the supervisory board Alfred Lehner. Stefan Ziffzer was installed as managing director. A short time later, FC Bayern saved the Löwen from insolvency by buying the shares in the Allianz Arena for 11 million euros and guaranteeing a buy-back right. Under coach Walter Schachner, the club was in acute danger of relegation. It was not until the penultimate matchday that TSV 1860 München secured its relegation status with a 1-0 home win over relegation rivals 1. FC Saarbrücken. In the end, the team finished the season in 13th place.

The club's youth work, on the other hand, was crowned with success. The B Juniors (U17) won the German championship for the first time. The DFB awarded the Fritz Walter Medal to the brothers Lars (gold, born in 1989) and Sven Bender (bronze, born in 1989) and to Alexander Eberlein (silver, born in 1988).

Albrecht von Linde became the club's new president on 28 March 2007. However, the club failed to win promotion back to the Bundesliga even at the third attempt. After a season without ups and downs, the club finished eighth in the final standings under Walter Schachner and his successor Marco Kurz, who had taken over the team in spring 2007. Economically, 1860 returned to calmer waters in the 2006/07 season.

After a good first half of the 2007/08 season, the team slipped into mid-table in the second half. The club only managed to stay in the relegation zone on the penultimate matchday with a 1-1 draw at home to VfL Osnabrück, and even finished last in the second-round table. After the match against Osnabrück, managing director Stefan Ziffzer said of president von Linde: "The fish stinks from the head, and with us the head is the president. This president is a disgrace." Von Linde then pronounced immediate dismissal in the presence of sponsors who applauded Ziffzer. The reason for the dispute were diametrically opposed views on the economic course of the football department and media reports, which had not been denied by the presidium, about a pending sacking of sporting director Stefan Reuter. On 26 May 2008, Albrecht von Linde announced his resignation, and the Supervisory Board unanimously elected Rainer Beeck as his successor at the same meeting.

After just eight wins in the 2008 calendar year and another defeat in the first match of 2009, managing director Stefan Reuter was suspended. Manfred Stoffers succeeded him as managing director, Miroslav Stević became the new sports director. Head coach Marco Kurz was also suspended at the end of February, and was succeeded by former co-coach Uwe Wolf. Under his leadership, the Löwen won their next two games, but in the nine games that followed, the team only managed to pick up six more points, none of which were wins. After matchday 32, Wolf was replaced by Ewald Lienen. The team picked up one point from the last two games of the season, which was enough to keep them in the relegation zone.

In spring 2009, Nicolai Schwarzer from Berlin was being discussed as a new investor and made a down payment on the purchase agreement. After quarrels in and between the management, the supervisory board and the DFL (German Football League), Schwarzer dropped out again. The down payment already made was converted into a long-term loan, which TSV 1860 repaid in 2011 when investor Hasan Ismaik joined the club (with Schwarzer waiving part of his investment).

The 2009/10 season was not very successful for TSV 1860 at the beginning, and at times the team even threatened to fall into the relegation places. In the course of the first half of the season, however, the Löwen stabilised and eventually finished the season in 8th place, which was an improvement on the previous season for the first time since relegation, with the exception of the 2006/07 season. In the 2009/10 DFB Cup, the Sechzgern managed to advance to the round of 16 of the cup after beating Hertha BSC. There, they finally failed against FC Schalke 04. At the request of the coach Ewald Lienen, the contract was terminated. He moved to Olympiakos Piraeus. His successor was Reiner Maurer. In June 2010, managing director Manfred Stoffers resigned after losing a lawsuit in the I. Instanz against Allianz Arena GmbH over the payment of catering costs. On 28 July 2010, former president Karl-Heinz Wildmoser passed away. Since 1 August 2010, Robert Niemann was Manfred Stoffers' successor. In October 2010, TSV 1860 was deducted two points for violations of the licensing regulations.

2011 to 2017: Hasan Ismaik's entry and decline

The financial situation remained tense and several players were sold or transferred during the 2010/11 season. As the season progressed, representatives of the club spoke several times of the club being on the verge of insolvency. After rumours had already arisen the year before about the entry of an investor from the Arab world, these became more concrete at the beginning of April 2011, when the Jordanian businessman Hasan Ismaik expressed interest in joining TSV 1860. In the weeks that followed, several conditions were met, including 1860 Munich's creditors waiving 40 percent of their respective claims. The DFL rejected the submitted contract proposal twice, but accepted it after various adjustments. After the team finished the season in mid-table in sporting terms, the cooperation agreement between 1860 and Ismaik was signed on May 30, 2011, which transferred Ismaik's Dubai-based company HAM International Limited 60 percent of the shares of TSV München von 1860 GmbH & Co. KGaA, saving it from insolvency through a transfer of €18.4 million. However, in order to comply with the 50+1 rule, Ismaik only holds 49 percent of the voting rights. On joining, Ismaik formulated his goals: "We want to make the Sechziger strong, we don't want any more financial holes, we want to be in the first division within three years."

In the 2011/12 season, TSV 1860 was able to demonstrate a higher home attendance average compared to the previous season for the first time since the 2005/06 season. Due to the promotion of SpVgg Greuther Fürth in that season, the Löwen were the longest staying team in the 2. Liga since the 2012/13 season. After a good start to the 2012/13 season with 16 points and no defeats, coach Reiner Maurer was sacked after only four points were taken from the following six games. On 15 January 2013, after a supervisory board meeting lasting several hours, it was announced that Sven-Göran Eriksson would be hired as the second coach alongside Alexander Schmidt. However, the latter cancelled his contract with the club a few days later.

The new coach for the 2014/15 season was the Dutchman Ricardo Moniz, who had the ambitious goal of becoming second division champion, but was dismissed on 24 September 2014 after a disappointing start to the season, after which Markus von Ahlen returned as coach. Back in August, Julian Weigl, Yannick Stark, Vitus Eicher and Daniel Adlung were demoted after partying until the middle of the night and ranting about the club following a 3-0 defeat to Leipzig.

On 17 February 2015, van Ahlen was suspended and replaced by Torsten Fröhling, the coach of the U-21 team. With him as coach, TSV 1860 finished the season in 16th place in the table and thus had to play two relegation matches against Holstein Kiel to remain in the second division. After a goalless draw in front of an away crowd, the team won the second leg 2-1 in Munich on 2 June 2015, thus avoiding relegation in the 2015/16 season.

Due to the previous failures of the club and failed negotiations with the investor Ismaik, the presidium resigned in the summer break 2015 with immediate effect. In November 2015, Peter Cassalette was elected as the new president. Fröhling's contract was extended until 2016, having previously considered signing Felix Magath. On 6 October 2015, Fröhling was suspended; Benno Möhlmann became the new coach. In April 2016, after 19 points in 19 games with 10 defeats, they parted ways with Möhlmann again. The previous U-21 coach Daniel Bierofka took over the team in the penultimate position in the table. He was able to save the Löwen from falling into the third division with three wins in a row. In June 2016, Eichin succeeded Oliver Kreuzer as managing director of sport at TSV 1860 München.

Kosta Runjaic took over as head coach for the 2016/17 season. Players with Bundesliga experience such as Ivica Olić and Stefan Aigner were signed. Ismaik also brought up the idea of building a new stadium. The new Löwenarena was to provide space for around 50,000 fans and a Löwenzoo was also to be built next to the stadium. However, as the Löwen were involved in the relegation battle again, contrary to expectations in the first half of the season, Ismaik announced on 17 December 2016 that they were ending their cooperation with Runjaic. In this context, the managing director of the KGaA, Thomas Eichin, was also publicly dismantled, as the dismissal was decided by Ismaik over Eichin. In November 2016, Eichin was removed as managing director on the initiative of Hasan Ismaik and demoted to sporting director, as well as being given leave of absence shortly afterwards. US-based Anthony Power was installed as Eichin's successor as managing director. Economically, a lot was invested in the team during the season. For example, the Brazilian striker Ribamar was signed for 3.2 million from Botafogo FR. Along with the later promoted VfB Stuttgart and Hannover 96, TSV 1860 maintained the most expensive squad in the league.

After Daniel Bierofka took over as coach on an interim basis until the end of the first half of the season, former FC Porto and Olympiakos Piraeus coach Vítor Pereira was subsequently introduced in December 2016. In April 2017, Ian Ayre was brought in from LiverpoolFC as the KGaA's new manager. However, the sporting decline continued. The season ended with 36 points on the relegation place. There, TSV faced SSV Jahn Regensburg. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Regensburg and a 0-2 home defeat in the second leg, which was overshadowed by rioting by 1860 fans in the closing minutes, the club was relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga.

Since 2017: Present

On the very day of relegation from the 2nd Bundesliga, the president of the e. V., Peter Cassalette, resigned from his position. Already at noon before the relegation second leg, the managing director of the KGaA, Ian Ayre, who had been hired less than eight weeks earlier, had resigned from his position. The amount of money needed to obtain the license for the 3rd league was not deposited by the deadline. The reason for this was differences between the e. V. and Hasan Ismaik as shareholder of the KGaA. Subsequently, the deputy chairman of the board of directors, Robert Reisinger, was appointed as the new president of the e. V. on an interim basis and elected to office at the general meeting in July 2017, and the economist Markus Fauser, partner and managing director of a company specialising in interim management, was appointed as the managing director of the KGaA on an interim basis.

In the 2017/18 season, the team competed in the Bavarian Regionalliga; Daniel Bierofka became the new coach. The core of the team was formed by the second team (U21) from the previous season, with which Bierofka had finished second in the Regionalliga Bayern. Jan Mauersberger and Sascha Mölders remained from the regular professional squad. The team was strengthened with a few external additions, such as Timo Gebhart. Shortly before the start of the season, an insolvency of TSV München von 1860 GmbH & Co. KGaA was averted, not least due to the termination of the lease agreement for the Allianz Arena and the associated return to the municipal stadium on Grünwalder Straße, On 31 October 2017, the club won the autumn championship in the Regionalliga Bayern with 43:13 goals, thirteen wins and only two defeats on matchday 19. In January 2018, Michael Scharold succeeded Markus Fauser as managing director in addition, Günther Gorenzel was hired as sporting director. On 5 May 2018, TSV 1860 München became Regionalliga champions with a 3-0 away win against FC Pipinsried. In the promotion play-offs, the team faced Southwest champions 1. FC Saarbrücken. After a 3-2 away win and with a 2-2 draw in front of their home crowd, TSV 1860 München were promoted to the 3. Liga, where they finished 12th in the following season.

In the 2019/20 season, which was interrupted and marked by the Covid 19 pandemic, 1860 finished in 8th place. For the first time, the Sechzger won the Bavarian Toto Cup with a 5:2 victory after penalty shootout at home against FC Würzburger Kickers.