Uli Hoeneß

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Ulrich "Uli" Hoeneß, (alternative spelling: Hoeness), (born 5 January 1952) was a German football (soccer) player and is now general manager of the football club Bayern Munich.

[edit] Career

Hoeneß was born in Neu-Ulm, Bayern. The offensive midfielder and 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 whem 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 Nürnberg, 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 caused a penalty in the 1st minute. 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.

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 envoved in altogether 2 Intercontinental and 4 European Cups, 17 national championshipships and 9 national cups plus one UEFA Cup. Before Hoeneß arrived, the club had won a total of seven major trophies.

[edit] Private life

• In 1982 Hoeneß was the sole survivor of a light-aircraft crash. Three people died in the incident in which Hoeneß sustained only minor injuries. Shortly after the crash Hoeneß - who had completely lost his sense of direction - was found by a forest warden. Later the warden, who recognised Hoeneß on the spot, reported that all Hoeneß could whisper was "I'm feeling so cold." Even nearly 25 years later Hoeneß still does not have any reminiscence of the accident.

• A trained butcher, Uli Hoeneß owns a Nürnberg based smallgoods factory which produces sausages.

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

Playing Career
Period	Team	Matches (Goals)	Titles
1972-1976	Germany	35 (5)	1972 European Championship 1974 FIFA World Cup
1970-1978	FC Bayern Munich	239 (86)	Intercontinental Cup 1976 European Cup of Champions 1974, 75, 76 German Championship 1972, 73, 74 German Cup 1971
1978-79	1. FC Nürnberg	11
¹ with clubs: league matches and goals only

	West Germany squad - 1974 World Cup Champions (2nd Title)
1 Maier | 2 Vogts | 3 Breitner | 4 Schwarzenbeck | 5 Beckenbauer | 6 Höttges | 7 Wimmer | 8 Cullmann | 9 Grabowski | 10 Netzer | 11 Heynckes | 12 Overath | 13 Müller | 14 Hoeneß | 15 Flohe | 16 Bonhof | 17 Hölzenbein | 18 Herzog | 19 Kapellmann | 20 Kremers | 21 Nigbur | 22 Kleff | Coach: Schön