His legacy lives on
Bayern Munich has been playing at the Allianz Arena since 2005, with its address listed as “Werner-Heisenberg-Allee 25”. For 20 years, you can find the stadium at that address, which has now ceased to exist. Why? It has been updated:
From today, the Allianz Arena address boasts a new name: ‘Franz-Beckenbauer-Platz 5’ pic.twitter.com/4RxZjVLSSn
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) May 1, 2025
That’s right, from this month onward, the address of the Allianz Arena will bear the name of Bayern great Franz Beckenbauer and his shirt number 5. Der Kaiser sadly said goodbye to the world at the start of last year. The club wants his legacy to be remembered by all, along with his teammate Gerd “Der Bomber” Müller who passed away in 2021.
Franz and Gerd were part of Bayern’s legendary 1970s team, who notably won the European Cup (the precursor of the Champions League before the name change in 1992) for three straight years (1974-1976). At international level, they were equally successful, winning the 1972 Euros and the 1974 World Cup against the all-conquering Netherlands side.
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany spoke about news as well.
“When I was 17 and playing against Bayern in the Champions League [with Anderlecht], there were rumors that Franz Beckenbauer was interested in my profile and wanted to sign me. The first thing I had in my mind is not only that I’d sign for Bayern Munich, but I also wanted to sign for Franz Beckenbauer. The offer never arrived back then. I thought that if I were close to Franz Beckenbauer, he could have helped me in my career. That was on my mind back then, even though my career took a different course,” said Kompany.
