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New edit — Michael Ballack/Philipp Lahm

A Lothar/Klinsi clip from "Ein Sommer in Italien - Die WM 1990"

The best explanation why Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann didn't become absolute enemies DESPITE all those things. At least in my opinion.

And the 'Something was going on?' is that for Nick and Jonas or Nick and Aleksandar - The family tree as beautiful as it is, i have a bit of a trouble seeing everything clear.

There’re so many lines that it must be confusing 😭 I get it. Totally fine 😅

In the original setting, Jonas is Schweinski’s son. For me, Jonas is so Manuel's son and Aleks is so Thomas' kid. but if I make them like that it’s hard to ship pavlobig😔. That's why I added "godson but loves him like he births him" at Manu-Jonas. Yes, not many crumbs until now. But I’m still waiting…

And "something was going on…" is for Nick and Aleks. No great reason, just because they were pretty cute last year...

It hurts. It still hurts. I’m so sad. Another dream has come to an end. Tragically, once again.

As for Leon… I’m really, deeply disappointed.

Let's be honest. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't outright refuse, he hesitated. He backed down when the team needed him most.

Think about it. The first five penalty takers—as far as I know, the coach decides the order for the first five, though players can decline—were all younger than Leon or had less international experience, except for captain Kimmich. But they didn't back down.

Yes. Kai, Nick, and Jona missed their penalties, and Germany went out. But how can I blame them? Havertz scored the equalizer. Woltemade had only just come on and was making his World Cup debut. Tah had never taken a penalty before. Above all, they had the courage to step up under that kind of pressure. They were fighters at least. As a fan, I can gladly applaud them and tell them to keep their heads up.

Yes. Brown, Anton, and Thiaw also hesitated when it came to being the sixth penalty taker. But do you honestly think that's the same thing? Players with far less experience at international level—especially at the World Cup—hesitating is very different from a player who's been a pro for well over a decade and has earned 73 caps for Germany.

I understand why he was reluctant. Nobody wants to be in that situation. But understanding it on a human level and being disappointed are two completely different things. His performances for Bayern over the past few years have, to put it mildly, fallen well short of expectations. And now this? A coward. A coward. A COWARD.

German football family tree

Or German football RPF Saga — if I dare call it that. Previous versions are here.

Yes, I revised it again, hoping it’s the last one. Though I have an unfounded feeling that someday I’ll make Final_RealFinal_ultimate_ver2 😅

If I tried to explain everything, this would never see the light of day. So I’m posting it like this. Maybe I really need to write kinda official lore book…

As for the accidental incests, please just squint and move on. This was absolutely not intentional; I just ended up cramming in every ship and piece of lore I love, and — well, here we are.

Also, this is 100% copyright-free. If this inspires you to make your own version of the (German) football family tree, tweak or expand it to your liking, or even write fanfic based on it — please do! I'd absolutely love that. In fact, I want you to "steal" it and make it your own.

If you're curious about the stories behind this family tree, why I arranged things the way I did, or just want to share your thoughts, or to chat about (classic) German football or anything else, I'd be more than happy to talk! My Asks and DMs are always open. Comments are welcome too!

And if this sparked your interest, feel free to check out the rest of our little corner of the fandom—we'll always be happy to have you.❤️

Einfach ein großes Lob für diese fantastische Arbeit – danke.

What a precious ask😱 woahhhh so happy that you like it! 

So, I guess this is where it all started.

We’ve always had family lores for them, right? Something like — Josh is neuller kid, Leon is hömmels’ son. It was basically fanon lol. So I wanted to sort them as the family tree style.

I’ve always been deeply interested in the history of FC Bayern and German NT and their legends. Maybe it’s just because I’m history freak lol. Anyway, little by little I started digging through old materials, learning more, and eventually began to ship the retro footballers and to collect the lores there as well. (Unfortunately, there’s no real way to know whether fandoms like ours even existed around 20th-century players while they were active — or, if they did, what kinds of stories people told about them.)

And with Bayern (or honestly, German football in general), the legends never really leave. They come as players, but they stay—as coaches, directors, executives, advisors, or simply as figures whose influence never disappears. They’re still there, woven into the club and into football itself. That’s why the family tree format felt so strangely perfect for them.

The reason I merged the classic football rpf lores with all of those family trees was, at its core, something like: “Surely there’s something in here you’ll love.” It sounds grandiose, but maybe I wanted to tell the lonely people digging through this niche that they weren’t alone. lol Because that’s exactly how I felt.

There were so many things that inspired this project: the tiny classic football fandom, especially the fanlores I picked up from interacting with Chinese fans; a handful of AO3 fics; fanworks preserved in old LJ archives; other fans’ own versions of football family trees; and all the different interpretations and headcanons people shared with me after I started building this little community.

For example, one friend once told me that: "Ballack is Lothar/Klinsi child, but because his parents didn’t get along, he was handed over to Brehme and Völler to be raised. This explains why Ballack’s style is so similar to Lothar’s, why he was made captain by Klinsi, why he debuted at Kaiserslautern where Brehme was, and why he rose to fame at Leverkusen under Völler’s lead." Such a perfect story.

And once a few basic frames were decided (if you compare the first and second versions, you’ll notice how incredibly simple it used to be), the rest of the tree started growing naturally from there. I tried to take into account the lineages associated with each position, symbolic legacy within the national team and clubs, similarities in playing style, and the countless pieces of fandom lore people had created over the years. For example:

Lothar is obviously Franz’s son. But Franz’s child with who? Well, Lothar came from BMG. He’s also a genius midfielder. So who fits? Oh, right—Günter Netzer. Perfect. The 1972 Euros were essentially won through the partnership between Bayern and Gladbach—or, more specifically, between Franz Beckenbauer and Günter Netzer—so clearly they were kinda arranged ship by DFB. That’s the kind of logic I use. (Also because I absolutely adore this pair. lol)

Germany has been blessed with an almost uninterrupted lineage of world-class goalkeepers. That’s exactly why the Maier–Kahn–Neuer line exists.

Flo became Micha’s son because, well… he was Leverkusen’s golden boy. They both blossomed there. And he specifically became Micha and Torsten’s child because they — Capitano and Lutscher — were just that real. Did you know Micha once openly defied Jogi Löw to protect Torsten? If you dig through the old LJ archives, you’ll even find people calling them “Le grande OTP.”

And Lenny’s godfather simply had to be Ballack. After all, he’s his agent!

Things like that. Maybe one day I’ll have to write a full commentary explaining why every relationship in this family tree ended up the way it did.

Strictly speaking, I never really defined this as the A/B/O setting. It’s probably closer to Mpreg, if anything. That said, the top/bottom dynamics are actually pretty firmly established in my head. If you imagine the family tree as something like a royal AU, then it’s probably easiest to think of it as functioning through a sort of gender-swap. Anyway, once I finish what I’m currently working on, maybe I’ll make a proper Omega-verse version of the family tree too.

Lastly, thank you so much for enjoying it!

I’m planning a big update to the tree during the World Cup. Some existing parts will be revised, and a lot of new characters and ships will be added: bravertz, steno, leweus, kreus, pavischof, meyeretzka, raummich, samisut, MichaFips… honestly, too many to list here. I hope you’ll look forward to it. ❤️

"Bischi komm"

X

What a beautiful 🤩

Funny moment at the Bayern press conference before FCBATA. We ask Tom Bischof about his relationship with Aleks Pavlovic and Lennart Karl — and who is number one at the Uno game.

Bishop: “Of course I am.” When the press conference is finished and Bischof opens the door to the side room (the players' cafeteria), Pavlovic cries out: “Hey, why do you say you're the best at Uno?”

@

They were too important to each other😭