Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (German: [ˌkaʁlˈhaɪnts ˈkalə ˈʁʊmənɪɡə]; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional footballer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest German footballers of all time, he also served as the Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of German Bundesliga team Bayern Munich.

As a player, Rummenigge achieved significant success with Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, two European Cups, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups. He also won two Ballon d'Or awards, in 1980 and 1981. In 2004, Rummenigge was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

A member of the West Germany national team, Rummenigge won the 1980 European Championship and captained the squad that finished runner-up in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

Rummenigge is a former chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), serving in that capacity from 2008 until 2017. He also served as representative of the ECA to the UEFA Executive Committee from 2021 to 2024.

Rummenigge was born in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia.

He joined Bayern Munich in 1974, coming from the Westphalian amateur side Borussia Lippstadt, for a transfer fee of c.€10,000. He immediately showed strength as a dribbler. His scoring qualities were initially insignificant, but would find 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 Bundesliga's top striker, a feat he repeated in 1981 and 1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively.

With Bayern, he won the European Cup in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, 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 from Belo Horizonte.

During the tenure of coach Pál Csernai, he developed an effective partnership with midfielder Paul Breitner. The duo was nicknamed ‘Breitnigge,’ a portmanteau coined by the German newspaper Bild.

The club, then often dubbed as "FC Breitnigge", won in this period the Bundesliga title in 1980 and 1981, and the DFB-Pokal in 1982 and 1984. A renewed triumph in the European Cup was denied, when the club lost the 1982 final narrowly against Aston Villa. In the season before Rummenigge was top-scorer in this competition with 6 goals.

With the West Germany national team he took part in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In 1978, West Germany exited in the second group stage of the tournament. In 1982 and 1986, the team were runners-up to Italy and Argentina, giving him the unique distinction of captaining the senior team to two silver medals in the FIFA World Cup.

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

Known as an attacker, Rummenigge was capable of playing as a centre-forward, second striker, or winger. He was renowned for his movement. Renowned for his exceptional goalscoring instincts, he was capable of scoring from difficult positions.

Rummenigge was also praised for his both-footedness, aerial ability, leadership and professionalism. Although his later career was hampered by recurring injuries, particularly following his move to Inter Milan, he remained an effective and influential attacking player.

In autumn 1991, Bayern Munich invited Franz 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). 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. Oliver Kahn took over his CEO position at Bayern Munich from 1 July 2021. Rummenigge was appointed a member of the supervisory board on 30 May 2023.

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.

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 as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.

In 2026, Rummenigge was introduced as one of the new "Class of '27" Icons in EA Sports FC 27, receiving a 90-rated Icon player item.

His brother Michael Rummenigge was also a noteworthy footballer, who played as a forward for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and was capped twice by West Germany.

Kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84

Guérin Sportivo All-Star team: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984

Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1980

Onze Mondial: 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985