Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player. He was the longtime Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

team Bayern Munich. As a player, Rummenigge had his greatest career success with Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, two

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

s, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups. He was also honoured twice as European Footballer of the Year. 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 The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

and at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

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

Club career

Rummenigge was born in

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. G ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

. 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. 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

's top striker, a feat he repeated in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

and 1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively. With Bayern he won the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and 1976. In

, 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 Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It play ...

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). The club, then often dubbed as "FC Breitnigge", won in this period the Bundesliga title in 1980 and

, and the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

and 1984. A renewed triumph in the European Cup was denied, when the club lost the

final narrowly against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

. 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 German national football team found also expression in personal honours. In 1980, he was named German Footballer of the Year and in '80–81 the European Footballer of the Year. In 1984, aged 29, he was sold for a record fee of €5.7m to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

. 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.

International career

With the West German national team he took part in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina,

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 ...

in Spain and the

in Mexico. In 1978, West Germany exited in the second group stage of the tournament. In 1982 and 1986, the team was runner-up behind

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. Rummenigge also took part in two European Championship tournaments. In the 1980 competition in Italy, West Germany defeated

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in the final by 2–1 and won the trophy. 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. He also scored a hat-trick in a group stage game against Chile during the 1982 World Cup.

Style of play

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.

Bayern Munich management

Rummenigge (right) with Uli Hoeneß in 2013 In autumn 1991, Bayern Munich invited

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the f ...

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." During his tenure, Bayern Munich managed to move to their new stadium, Allianz Arena. On 1 June 2021, it was announced that Oliver Kahn will take over his CEO position at Bayern Munich starting 1 July 2021.

Miscellaneous

In April 1983, the British pop duo Alan & Denise recorded a tribute song about his "sexy knees" in the song "Rummenigge". The single reached number 43 in

German charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindus ...

. From 1990 until 1994, Rummenigge worked as a TV co–commentator for matches of the German national team. In March 2004, he was named by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FI ...

as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. His brother Michael Rummenigge was also a noteworthy footballer. He played as forward for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from 1982 to 1988 and 1988 to 1994, respectively. He also represented Germany on two occasions between 1983 and 1986. Rummenigge and his wife Martina have three sons and two daughters born between 1980 and 1991. Rummenigge supports ending the 50+1 rule.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list West Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rummenigge goal.''

Honours

140px, Rummenigge in 1982 Bayern Munich *

: 1979–80, 1980–81 *

: 1981–82, 1983–84 *

: 1974–75, 1975–76 * Intercontinental Cup: 1976 West Germany *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

: 1980 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

runner-up:

, 1986 Individual *'' Kicker''

Team of the Season: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1991–92 *'' Guérin Sportivo'' All-Star team: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 * Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84 * Goal of the Year (Germany): 1980, 1981 * Footballer of the Year (Germany): 1980 *'' Guérin Sportivo'' Player of the Year. 1980 * UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1980 * Ballon d'Or: 1980,

* Onze d'Or 1980, 1981 * Bravo Otto 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 * European Cup Top Goalscorer: 1980–81 *

FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

: 1982 *

FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

: 1982 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1982 * DFB Pokal Top Goalscorer: 1981–82 * Swiss League Top Goalscorer: 1988–89 * Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1988–89 *

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

*Bayern Munich All-time XI * Golden Foot, as football legend: 2009 *'Best European Manager' at the Golden Boy Awards by '' Tuttosport'': 2020 * Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2021

Notes

References

External links

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
at fcbayern.de

at soccer-Europe.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Rummenigge, Karl-Heinz 1955 births Living people People from Lippstadt Sportspeople from Arnsberg (region) Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia German footballers Association football forwards FC Bayern Munich footballers Inter Milan players Servette FC players Bundesliga players Serie A players Swiss Super League players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Champions League top scorers Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners Ballon d'Or winners FIFA 100 Germany B international footballers Germany international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Italy German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Switzerland German chief executives FC Bayern Munich board members