When was the last time Bayern Munich had a non-German starting goalkeeper?

Comunicado oficial: Yann Sommer is officially a Bayern Munich player after Borussia Mönchengladbach signed their replacement Jonas Omlin from Montpellier. The 34-year-old Swiss goalkeeper will be playing for the Rekordmeister until 2025 and will be the starting goalie for the rest of the 2022/23 season and fight for minutes with the injured Manuel Neuer when he recovers.

A goalkeeper that is not German starting for Bayern Munich isn’t something you see every day, which made me wonder: Who was Bayern’s last foreign goalkeeper? Bayern have had German first-choice goalkeepers since 1988 when Raimond Aumann rose through the ranks at Bayern’s youth. Aumann was the understudy and replacement of the last foreign goalie that Bayern had. Can you guess who?

Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images

If you answered Belgian stalwart Jean-Marie Pfaff, then you’re correct! I’m aware that we had Pepe Reina, but he doesn’t count because he was only a back-up here in 2014/15 (3 games played).

Pfaff arrived from Beveren in 1982 already aged 29 but was a solid goalkeeper for Bayern in the 1980s, turning out in 156 games until 1988 when he moved back to his native Belgium. In a career that ran from 1972 to 1990, Pfaff played an impressive 570 games for club and country.

Remember when I said Pfaff was solid? Well, Pfaff’s debut was one to remember as he scored one of the most bizarre own goals in Bundesliga history on Matchday 18 of the 1982/83 Bundesliga season:

(Editor’s note: hopefully Sommer doesn’t do the same!)