Uli Hoeneß

Football player infobox
playername= Uli Hoeneß


fullname = Ulrich Hoeneß
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1952|1|5
cityofbirth = Ulm
countryofbirth = West Germany
height =
currentclub = FC Bayern Munich (director)
position = Forward (Retired)
years = 1970–1978
1978–1979
clubs = FC Bayern Munich
1. FC Nuremberg
caps(goals) = 239 (86)
011 0(0)
nationalyears = 1972–1976
nationalteam = Germany
nationalcaps(goals) = 035 0(5)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =
manageryears = 1979–
managerclubs = FC Bayern Munich (director)

Ulrich “Uli” Hoeneß, (born 5 January 1952) is a former German football (soccer) player and is now general manager of the football club Bayern Munich.

Career

Hoeneß was born in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. The left-forward initially played for amateur side VfB Ulm. In 1970 Udo Lattek, the coach of Bayern Munich recruited Hoeneß who was to stay for ten years with the club. In this period he enjoyed great successes, winning the Intercontinental Cup, three times the European Cup of Champions, four German championships and once the German Cup. In 250 Bundesliga matches he scored 86 goals.

In the rematch of the European Champions Cup final 1974 against Atlético Madrid he gave one of his most outstanding performances when he contributed two memorable goals to the 4–0 victory, demonstrating his excellent counter-attacking skills. In the European Cup final of 1975 against Leeds United he suffered a knee injury from which he never fully recovered and which eventually led to the end of his career at the age of 27. In his last season he was placed on loan with league competitors 1. FC Nuremberg, where it was hoped he could get more match practice, but Hoeneß' recovery failed.

Hoeneß also played 35 times for Germany. With the national side he won as one of six players from Bayern the 1972 European Football Championship and the 1974 FIFA World Cup. In the 1974 World cup Final he committed a penalty (on Cruyff) in opening minutes that led to a goal. In the final of the 1976 European Football Championship in Belgrade against the CSSR he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout after extra-time, kicking it high over the crossbar.

Hoeneß retained his amateur status until 1972, allowing him to take part in the Summer Olympics in that year. There he played for the German “Olympic Selection”, amongst others with the later Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. The German team failed to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament due to a 2–3 defeat at the hands of East Germany, with Hoeneß scoring his sole tournament goal in this match. This match was also the first encounter of German national teams from East and West on the football pitch.

Since 1979 he has been appointed as commercial/general manager of Bayern Munich, where he has overseen a period in which the club had continued sporting success, winning the Intercontinental Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup, 15 more German championships and seven German Cups. In this time also the financial side of the club has experienced strong growth: the revenue increased approximately by a factor of 20 and membership increased tenfold to more than 100 000, making Bayern the second largest membership based football club in the world. Between 2000–05 Bayern has also built at a cost of € 340m an own football stadium, the Allianz Arena, which was also a venue of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In his combined career as player and general manager of Bayern Munich Hoeneß was involved in altogether 2 Intercontinental and 4 European Cups, 17 national championships and 9 national cups plus one UEFA Cup. Before Hoeneß arrived, the club had won a total of seven major trophies.

Private life

* In 1982 Hoeneß was the sole survivor of the crash of a light aircraft in which three others died. Being asleep in the back, he sustained only minor injuries. About an hour after the crash, a forest warden picked up Hoeneß who walked around disoriented and shocked. The warden, who recognised him on the spot, reported that all Hoeneß could whisper was “I'm feeling so cold.” Hoeneß has no memory of the accident. It is said that this “miraculous” survival changed Hoeneß's life and he became a more compassionate person who helped many FC Bayern players when they had bad times, including Gerd Müller. [Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger, "Tor!: The Story of German Football"]

* A son of a butcher, Uli Hoeneß co-owns a Nuremberg-based Bratwurst factory.

* Brother Dieter Hoeneß (* 7 January 1953, Ulm) also had a very successful career as a player in the Bundesliga and is now the general manager of Hertha BSC Berlin.

Honours

* German Champions: 1972, 1973, 1974
* German Cup: 1971
* European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 1974, 1975, 1976
* Intercontinental Cup: 1976
* World Cup: 1974
* European Championship: 1972

Links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy74.html 1976 European Player of the Year Top 20]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/euro-uefatot.html 1972 European Championships - UEFA Teams of Tournament]

References