When life became more important than titles - Mala Grohs' special time at FC Bayern

The atmosphere at the Campus before kick-off mixes grass, bratwurst, and nervous football anticipation. Mala Grohs appears in a Bayern training outfit, bringing warmth and sense to the moment. She joined Munich from Bochum in 2019 and began in the reserve team, learning patiently without a red-carpet welcome. Over seven years, she trained continuously, improved step by step, and gradually earned a place in the Bayern goal. Her rise was driven by quiet persistence rather than loud claims. She became the number one goalkeeper and a key dressing-room presence, organizing through reliability and warmth rather than volume.

"It’s just before kick-off at the Campus. The air smells of grass, bratwurst and that slightly nervous expectation which football always brings with it. Somewhere, studs clatter on concrete. Laughter can be heard coming from the dressing room. "Diese Tage voller Sonne" ("These Days Full of Sunshine") can be heard, loud enough to reveal: work is being done here, but please, not without humour. And then she comes out. Not with a grand entrance, but as if someone had put sense and warmth into a Bayern training outfit. Mala Grohs."

"Seven years with FC Bayern Women: in football that’s about three generations, half a revolution and five new tactical trends. When she came to Munich from Bochum as a youngster in 2019, it was initially a case of being patient, learning and waiting in the reserve team. No red carpet. While others might have grown restless, Grohs did something that’s almost became a rarity in professional football: she just kept going. Training, developing, more training. Always a bit better, always a bit closer to the first team."

"She gradually fought her way into the Bayern goal. Not with great rallying cries but with the quiet persistence of someone who obviously understood from an early age that talent is nice, but in the long run, perseverance and hard work often pay off. And eventually she was no longer a prospect or a good back-up, but the number one. That’s perhaps the most remarkable thing about Mala: she never seemed to have anything to prove to anyone - and yet she did it constantly for that very reason."

"As well as being goalkeeper, she’s a hugely important person and point of contact in the dressing room. That rare breed of person who organises a team not through volume, but through presence. Warm-hearted, reliable,"

Read at FC Bayern Women