Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player.

Considered one of the greatest German footballers, he was also the longtime Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of German Bundesliga team Bayern Munich.

As a player, Rummenigge had his greatest career success with Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, two European Cups, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups.

He joined Bayern Munich in 1974, coming from the Westphalian amateur side Borussia Lippstadt, for a transfer fee of ca. €10,000.

He immediately showed great strength as a dribbler.

With Bayern he won the European Cup in 1975 and 1976.

In 1975, he did not take part in the final of the competition, whilst in the year thereafter a glass of brandy sufficiently prepared the nervous Rummenigge to contribute to the defeat of AS Saint-Étienne.

In the same year he became also part of the team that prevailed in the Intercontinental Cup finals against Cruzeiro EC from Belo Horizonte.

In the era of coach Csernai he found in midfielder Paul Breitner a congenial partner and he formed such a formidable one-two-punch that they were only called Breitnigge (name invented by German newspaper Bild).

Altogether, between 1976 and 1986, Rummenigge amassed 95 caps and scored 45 goals for West Germany, including one in extra-time in the 1982 World Cup semi-final victory over France, and one in the losing 1986 World Cup final match against Argentina.

With the West Germany national team he took part in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

In 1978, West Germany exited in the second group stage of the tournament.

His scoring qualities were initially insignificant, but would find great improvement in later years, particularly after the arrival of coach Pal Csernai in 1979.

In 1979–80, he scored 26 goals and became for the first time the Bundesliga's top striker, a feat he repeated in 1981 and 1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively.

He also won two Ballon d'Or awards, in 1980 and 1981.

A member of the West Germany national team, Rummenigge won the 1980 European Championship and was part of the squad that finished runner-up in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and at the 1986 World Cup.

The club, then often dubbed as "FC Breitnigge", won in this period the Bundesliga title in 1980 and 1981, and the DFB-Pokal in 1982 and 1984.

In 1980, he was named German Footballer of the Year and in 1980–1981 the European Footballer of the Year.

In the 1980 competition in Italy, West Germany defeated Belgium in the final by 2–1 to win their second UEFA Euro.

A renewed triumph in the European Cup was denied, when the club lost the 1982 final narrowly against Aston Villa.

In the season before Rummenigge was top-scorer in this competition with 6 goals.

His substantial contribution to the successes of the club and the Germany national football team found also expression in personal honours.

In 1982 and 1986, the team was runner-up behind Italy and Argentina, giving him the unique distinction of captaining the senior team to two silver medals in the FIFA World Cup.

Rummenigge also took part in two European Championship tournaments.

He also scored a hat-trick in a group stage game against Chile during the 1982 World Cup.

One of the most talented attacking players of his generation, Rummenigge was often lauded as a highly versatile forward, capable of playing as a second striker, winger, or flat-out centre forward.

His main strengths were his pace, dribbling, heading and goalscoring ability, from both close range and from outside the box.

He also had a penchant for scoring from awkward situations.

Rummenigge was also praised for his both-footedness, leadership and physical strength.

However, his later career was greatly affected by injuries, in particular after his move to Inter Milan.

In 1984, aged 29, he was sold for a record fee of €5.7m to Inter Milan.

Despite a notable beginning, in which he helped the team to compete until the end for the 1984–85 Scudetto, Rumenigge's career in Italy was mostly marred by injury problems.

At the end of his contract in 1987, Rummenigge moved on to Swiss first division club Servette FC in Geneva, where he saw his career out.

In his last season, 1988–89, he had his last success, becoming top scorer in the Swiss league with 24 goals.

In autumn 1991, Bayern Munich invited Franz Beckenbauer and Rummenigge to return to the club as vice presidents.

Rummenigge held this position until February 2002, when he was appointed Chairman of Executive Board of the newly corporatised football department of the club (FC Bayern München AG).

According to the club, "in his role as chairman he is responsible for external relations, new media, board affairs and representing the holding company on national and international bodies."

Rummenigge is a former chairman of the European Club Association, serving in that capacity from 2008 until 2017.

He also served as representative of the European Club Association (ECA) to the UEFA Executive Committee from 2021 to 2024.

Rummenigge was born in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia.