Fans name greatest Reds of all time

The Allianz Arena represents the future for Bayern, but thoughts turned back to the past for a short time during the celebrations to mark the opening of the Reds spectacular new home ground on Tuesday, as a clutch of the famous players who have etched their names on the annals of the club came forward to be honoured as the greatest team in the club's 105-year history.

Over the past few weeks, fans have voted by post and via fcbayern.de for a goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders, three strikers and a coach from a list of 60 worthy candidates. The result was announced to tumultuous applause from the 66,000 present at the ground ahead of the inaugural match.

The players hailed as all-time greats came forward one by one to acknowledge the cheers. Sepp Maier, Klaus Augenthaler, Franz Beckenbauer, Stefan Effenberg, Giovane Elber and company, local heroes to a man, were all there to bask in the rapturous reception. Of the honoured twelve, only Lothar Matthäus could not make it to the breathtaking new stadium, due to his commitments as Hungary coach – but son Loris stepped forward to represent his famous father.

Bayern's all-time greats:

Goalkeeper:
Sepp Maier

Defenders:
Klaus Augenthaler
Franz Beckenbauer
Paul Breitner
Katsche Schwarzenbeck

Midfield:
Stefan Effenberg
Lothar Matthäus
Mehmet Scholl

Forwards:
Giovane Elber
Gerd Müller
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Coach:
Ottmar Hitzfeld