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Antrim team find out they can't be called Bayern Money for nothing

A CO ANTRIM football team named in a cheeky nod to Bayern Munich have had to rebrand after being threatened by the German goliaths' lawyers. The Ballymoney team formerly known as FC Bayern Money had been playing in the Ballymena Saturday Morning League for two seasons when the most successful team in German soccer got in touch and advised them to change their name or formally affiliate with the club. Club secretary Mark Shannon said Bayern Munich told the junior football side they could continue playing in their kit, which bears the German team's crest, for the forthcoming season but that the Ballymoney version of the famous name must go. "A month or two ago we got a letter from the solicitors representing the club who told us to change the name or affiliate with them but we decided to go with changing the name," he said. "The affiliation was in German and rather than get it translated, and worried that we would lose some control of the club, we changed the name. "I don't think they explicitly said they'd take legal action although I dare say they would have gone down that road if we hadn't done anything." Now playing as Sporting Ballymoney FC, the team are in the third division of the junior league and will start the new season in a cyan strip rather than the navy and red of recent years. "They said we could keep our Bayern Money kit for this season but we were planning to get a new kit anyway," Mr Shannon said. There are three divisions in the Saturday morning league which includes teams from within a 25-mile radius of Ballymena. Local team Harryville Homers won the Coca Cola Irish Junior Cup last season.