Bayern Munich's Recycled Kit Shows the Club Are Anything but Plastic

Bayern Munich are the defending German champions—a position they have found themselves in a record 26 times. The Bavarian giants generate more revenue than any other club domestically, and only Real Madrid and Manchester United outstrip them on the global stage.

Disparagingly nicknamed "FC Hollywood" in the 1990s with players such as Mario Basler occupying the gossip pages of the newspapers as often as the sports section and World Cup winners Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann engaging in a very public enmity, the club—on a cursory glance—have at times seemed detached from the average fan, and indeed the other clubs in their league.

Bayern may not be happy to share trophies, and their players may enjoy a significantly different lifestyle from their average fan—even if David Alaba and Thomas Muller today are significantly less likely to occupy column inches for the wrong reasons than were Basler and his cohort—but on scratching the surface, it is readily apparent that there is a charitable impulse woven into the very fabric of the club.

DIETHER ENDLICHER/Associated Press

It was woven into the very fabric of their shirts against Hoffenheim last Saturday. Bayern partnered with kit maker Adidas to present a full kit made entirely from fabric harnessed from waste plastic found on the coast of the Maldives.

"I'm a child of the beaches of Spain, so I'm really happy to wear a shirt entirely made of recycled ocean waste," said midfielder Xabi Alonso on the eve of the game. "It's a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the oceans."

A pessimist might remark that Bayern showed charity on the pitch quite aside from the faded club logo, with Steven Zuber's own goal all that separated Carlo Ancelotti's side from a first defeat since March, but the champions remain undefeated in the league this season—as do Hoffenheim—and they remain top of the table as they have done since the opening day.

"Parley for the Oceans" is an organisation to end plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, and Bayern's support for it wasn't simply a one-off publicity stunt.

City rivals 1860 Munich have fallen quite some way since taking the Bundesliga title in 1966, and last season finished 15th in Bundesliga 2, only two points better off than MSV Duisburg and FSV Frankfurt, who are both now plying their trade in the third tier of German football.

That 1860 were even able to contest their league position is thanks, in some part, to Bayern. 1860 were nearly relegated to the third tier 10 years before last season's debacle, with financial troubles leaving the club's very existence in question.

Bayern—who since 2005 have shared the Allianz Arena with 1860—bought 1860's 50 per cent share in the venue for a reported €11 million, and with Die Lowen (The Lion's) balance book back in the black, the German Football Association duly issued them a licence to take part in Bundesliga 2 for the 2006-07 season.

Their generosity has extended beyond the city limits before Saturday. In 1993 Bayern paid the financially struggling Dynamo Dresden roughly £1 million for Alexander Zickler. The forward would go on to play over 200 games for Bayern, winning the Bundesliga seven times, but at that early point of his career Zickler had only scored three goals in 18 games for Dresden, and the fee was considered excessive. It did, however, help Dresden stave off their own bankruptcy.

CHRISTOF STACHE/Associated Press

While Dresden and 1860 typically occupy a different plane from Bayern, the Munich giants have even stepped in to help out their biggest rivals in the Bundesliga in recent years—Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund won the two league titles preceding Bayern's recent, unprecedented, four-year dominance, even contesting the final of the UEFA Champions League against the Bavarians in 2013. Nine years earlier, the Black and Yellows had been on their knees, though.

European champions themselves in 1997, poor financial management left the club on the brink of bankruptcy seven years later—a situation compounded by failure to qualify for that the 2003-04 Champions League. When Leeds United went into financial meltdown in 2002, it would have seemed barely fathomable for Manchester United to step in and offer financial support.

But that's exactly what Bayern did to their nearest recent challengers in the Bundesliga, giving Dortmund a €2 million loan to pay their payroll, interest free. Former Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, when pressed on the matter ahead of the 2012-13 Champions League final, summed it up thus. "It was a good few years ago and I think it's a positive thing there is some solidarity in the league."

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Away from football, Bayern have helped individuals affected by crises too. When the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami struck in 2004, Bayern set up a foundation to focus on the club's social engagements. About €600,000 was raised by officials and club players.

More recently, Bayern gave support to the Magnus Hirschfeld National Foundation in a bid to explore unbiased dealing with LGBT themes in the sport.

Bayern may have dominated the German footballing landscape since their Franz Beckenbauer-fuelled rise in the 1960s, and with 25 Bundesliga shields glistening in the trophy room at the Allianz Arena, the club have won some 19 more than their next nearest challengers, Dortmund.

The club turned over $570 million in the last financial year, according to Forbes. Franklin D. Roosevelt—the 32nd President of the United States—once said that "Great power involves great responsibility." From funding survival bids for 1860 Munich and Borussia Dortmund to players helping fund rebuilding projects in Asia after natural disasters and now sporting shirts made from ocean waste, it is a message Bayern have taken to heart.

There can be fewer better examples in world football.