Did you know Bayern Munich chairman Rummenigge was a former player?
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was a former player at Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Servette FC from 1974 to 1989. He played as a striker and scored 162 goals in 310 appearances for Bayern Munich.
Rummenigge is currently the CEO at Bayern Munich where he looks after the management, control and communication, represents the club in the national and international committees, coordinates with the supervisory board and is also responsible for fan-club affairs. In the past, he has also served as the Vice-President of Bayern Munich from 1991 to 2002.
He is also the Chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) and a member of the UEFA strategic advisory committee for professional football.
Ballon d’Or success as the frontman of the Bavarians
Rummenigge, nicknamed ‘King Kalle’, joined Bayern Munich at the age of 19 from amateur side Borussia Lippstadt in 1974 for a fee of €10,000 and although he didn’t start scoring goals until later, he was an instant success with the fans owing to his incredible strength and dribbling skills.
The arrival of coach Pal Csernai in 1979 saw Rummenigge attain the heights of his career as he became the top scorer in the Bundesliga for two consecutive seasons – 1979-80 with 26 goals and 1980-81 with 29 goals – and again in 1983-84 with 26 goals.
He was an important part of the success that Bayern enjoyed at the time, winning the Bundesliga in 1980 and 1981, the Intercontinental Cup in 1976, European Cup (now UEFA Champions League) in 1975 and 1976, and the DFB cup in 1982 and 1984.
During his time with Bayern Munich, he also won two consecutive Ballon d’Or awards in 1980 and 1981. He was also named German Footballer of the Year in 1980 and the European Footballer of the Year in 1980 and 1981.
Stints in Italy and Switzerland before retirment
After a successful decade at Munich, in 1984, Rummenigge was sold to Inter Milan for a then-record fee of €5.7 million.
Although he had a great start to his career there, contributing to the team’s improvement from the previous season and helping them finish at the 3rd position in Serie A, most of his time passed on the bench due to injuries which continued throughout his time in Italy.
Aged 29, Rummenigge enjoyed personal success at Inter Milan as he was the club’s highest scorer with 13 goals in his second season, but the next and his final season saw him laden with injuries for the most part.
After his contract expired, the German moved to Servette FC, a top-tier club in the Swiss Super League. He showcased his experience and skills in a fitting manner and repeated the same in his second and final season with the club, scoring the most goals (24) and also winning the Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year award before his retirement from the game.
International Career
Rummenigge has been capped a total of 95 times for the German national team and scored 45 goals in a decade of his service from 1976-1986. He won the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship, defeating Belgium in the finals and finished as runners-up in the 1982 edition.
He appeared in three editions of the World Cup – 1978 Argentina, 1982 Spain and 1986 Mexico – finishing as the runners-up in 1982 and 1986 behind Italy and Argentina, respectably. In 1982, Rummenigge scored a hattrick in a group stage match against Chile.
Other achievements
- Winner of the Golden Foot All-Time Legends award in 2009.
- Second highest scorer in Bayern Munich history (218), only behind Gerd Muller (566)
- Sixth on the list of top scorers of the German National Team (45), behind Miroslav Klose (71)