Karl-Heinz "Kalle"Rummenigge (German:[ˌkaʁlˈhaɪntsˈkaləˈʁʊmənɪɡə]; born 25 September 1955) is a Germanfootball executive and former professional player. Considered as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest German footballers of all time, he was also the longtime Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of GermanBundesliga teamBayern Munich.
As a player, Rummenigge had his greatest career success with Bayern Munich, where he won theIntercontinental Cup, twoEuropean Cups, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups. He also won twoBallon d'Or awards, in1980 and1981. In 2004, Rummenigge was named byPelé in theFIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[1]
Rummenigge is a former chairman of theEuropean Club Association (ECA), serving in that capacity from 2008 until 2017. He also served as representative of the ECA to theUEFA Executive Committee from 2021 to 2024.[2]
He joined Bayern Munich in 1974, coming from the Westphalian amateur side Borussia Lippstadt, for a transfer fee ofc.€10,000.[4] He immediately showed great strength as a dribbler. His scoring qualities were initially insignificant, but would find great improvement in later years, particularly after the arrival of coachPal Csernai in 1979. In1979–80, he scored 26 goals and became for the first time theBundesliga's top striker, a feat he repeated in1981 and1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively.[5]
With Bayern he won theEuropean Cup in1975 and1976.[5] In1975, 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 ofAS Saint-Étienne.[6] In the same year he became also part of the team that prevailed in theIntercontinental Cup finals againstCruzeiro EC fromBelo Horizonte.[5]
In the era of coach Csernai, he found in midfielderPaul Breitner a congenial partner and he formed such a formidable one-two-punch that they were only called Breitnigge[7] (name invented by German newspaperBild).
The club, then often dubbed as "FC Breitnigge", won in this period theBundesliga title in1980 and1981, and theDFB-Pokal in1982 and1984. A renewed triumph in the European Cup was denied, when the club lost the1982 final narrowly againstAston Villa. In the season before Rummenigge was top-scorer in this competition with 6 goals.
In 1984, aged 29, he was sold for a record fee of €5.7m[8] toInter Milan. Despite a notable beginning, in which he helped the team to compete until the end for the1984–85Scudetto, Rumenigge's career in Italy was mostly marred by injury problems. At the end of his contract in 1987, Rummenigge moved on toSwiss first division clubServette 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.
With theWest Germany national team he took part in the1978 World Cup in Argentina,1982 World Cup in Spain and the1986 World Cup in Mexico. In 1978, West Germany exited in the second group stage of the tournament. In 1982 and 1986, the team was runner-up behindItaly andArgentina, giving him the unique distinction of captaining the senior team to two silver medals in the FIFA World Cup.[9]
Rummenigge also took part in twoEuropean Championship tournaments. In the1980 competition in Italy, West Germany defeatedBelgium in the final by 2–1 to win their second UEFA Euro.
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 losing1986 World Cup final match against Argentina. 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 autumn 1991, Bayern Munich invitedFranz 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).[10] 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."
During his tenure, Bayern Munich managed to move to their new stadium,Allianz Arena.[11]Oliver Kahn took over his CEO position at Bayern Munich from 1 July 2021.[12] Rummenigge was appointed a member of the supervisory board on 30 May 2023.[13]
In April 1983, the British pop duoAlan & Denise recorded a tribute song about his "sexy knees" in the song "Rummenigge". The single reached number 43 inGerman charts.[14]
From 1990 until 1994, Rummenigge worked as a TV co–commentator for matches of the German national team.
His brotherMichael Rummenigge was also a noteworthy footballer, who played as a forward for Bayern Munich andBorussia Dortmund and was capped twice by West Germany.
Rummenigge and his wife Martina have three sons and two daughters born between 1980 and 1991.[15]
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