Uli Hoeneß

Ulrich "Uli" Hoeneß (, ; born 5 January 1952) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a forward.

He played for West Germany at one World Cup and two European Championships, winning one tournament of each competition.

During his playing career, he was mainly associated with Bayern Munich, where he won three Bundesliga titles and three European Cups.

In 1970, he played as left-sided forward with amateurs TSG Ulm 1846 and was recruited by Udo Lattek, then manager of Bundesliga club FC Bayern Munich.

Hoeneß immediately made an impact, scoring six times in 31 matches as the Bavarians finished in second position, behind Borussia Mönchengladbach, and adding the domestic cup.

During his eight-and-a-half-year stint with Bayern, Hoeneß enjoyed great success, winning a total of eight major titles, including three league titles and as many European Cups.

His debut came on 29 March 1972, he scored the final goal in a 2–0 friendly win in Hungary.

As one of six Bayern players in the German squad, Hoeneß won both UEFA Euro 1972 and the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

In the final of the latter, against Holland, he committed a foul on Johan Cruyff in the opening minute that led to a goal from the subsequent penalty, but West Germany came from behind to win 2–1.

Hoeneß had retained his amateur status until 1972, allowing him to take part in that year's Summer Olympic Games.

There, he played alongside future Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld as West Germany failed to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament, losing 3–2 to East Germany, a match in which Hoeneß scored his only goal of the tournament.

This historic match was also the first between West Germany and East Germany.

In the 1973–74 edition of the latter competition, the final replay against Atlético Madrid, he produced one of his most outstanding performances, scoring two goals in the 4–0 victory.

However, in the final of the following year's European Cup against Leeds United, he was brutally fouled by Frank Gray and suffered an injury on his right knee from which he never fully recovered.

He also played with the national side in Euro 1976 in Yugoslavia, where he missed the decisive West German shot in the penalty shootout loss against Czechoslovakia, skying it over the crossbar.

In late 1978, Hoeneß was loaned to Bayern neighbours 1. FC Nürnberg, where it was hoped he could get more match practice.

His recovery failed, however, and he was forced to hang up his boots at a mere 27.

He had appeared in 250 matches in Germany's top division, netting 86 times.

Hoeneß played 35 times for West Germany.

Immediately after retiring as a player in May 1979, Hoeneß was appointed commercial/general manager of Bayern Munich.

When he started on 1 May 1979, Bayern had twelve employees, 12 million Deutschmarks in revenue, and 8 million marks of debt.

On 17 February 1982, Hoeneß was the sole survivor of the crash of a light aircraft in which three others died.

He was on his way to a West German national team friendly.

Between 2002 and 2005, Bayern also built a state-of-the-art stadium, the Allianz Arena, at a cost of €340 million.

Hoeneß was one of the catalyst for the building of the stadium.

Hoeneß later served as Bayern Munich's general manager, and eventually as the club's president from 2009 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019.

On 27 November 2009, after 30 years as a general manager, Hoeneß was elected president of the club.

During his reign, the club experienced strong growth in revenue and stature.

In 2014, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, ultimately serving 18 months in prison for the offence.

Hoeneß was born in Ulm, Württemberg-Baden.

He attended the Hans-Multscher-Grundschule before changing to the Schubarth-Gymnasium, both located in Ulm.

In August 2016, Hoeneß announced that he would seek re-election to the post of president of Bayern Munich.

He was re-elected in November 2016 with more than 97% of the votes, as there were no other candidates for this position.

In November 2018, Bayern had over 1,000 employees and their revenue had risen to €657.4 million.

On 1 May 2019, Hoeneß celebrated 40 years of working for Bayern's management.

On 15 November 2019, Hoeneß retired as Bayern's president and was succeeded by Herbert Hainer.

Hoeneß spent 49 years at Bayern, both as player and in management of the club.

Hoeneß and his wife Susanne have two children, Sabine and Florian, and have been married for over 40 years.

Hoeneß is a son of a master butcher, and now co-owns HoWe Wurstwaren KG, a Nuremberg-based bratwurst factory.

Hoeneß's younger brother Dieter also had a very successful career as a player in the Bundesliga and for the West Germany national team.