Uli Hoeneß steps down as Bayern president

His decision to retire heralds the end of 49 years of daily involvement with the record champions since joining as a player in 1970.

A world and European champion with West Germany, Hoeneß scored 108 goals in 329 matches for Bayern. A career that included three Bundesliga titles, a DFB Cup and three consecutive European Cups was cut short at the age of 27 due to injury in 1979.

The Ulm native remained with the Bavarians, though, becoming the youngest general manager in Bundesliga history and set about turning the Munich club from indebted also-rans into the most successful team ever in German football.

Watch: Uli Hoeneß, the man who made Bayern a giant of the game

In 2009, after 30 years in the job, Hoeneß succeeded Franz Beckenbauer as the club’s president (overseeing all sporting departments), having also spent the previous seven years in the capacity of vice chairman of the football club.

Hoeneß stepped down from all his roles in 2014 before returning as president two years later, being re-elected by 98.5 per cent of the members.

During his 40 years in management, Hoeneß has overseen an unprecedented haul of trophies as Bayern have won 20 Bundesliga titles, 11 DFB Cups, two UEFA Champions League trophies and more.

He was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the state-of-the-art Allianz Arena, which Bayern have already completely paid off thanks to a strong financial balance that Hoeneß championed with his innovative ideas regarding merchandising in his early years as general manager.

As president of the entire FC Bayern München group, Hoeneß has also been a strong proponent of the club’s basketballers, who won their own double in 2018.

Hoeneß will be succeeded as president by Herbert Hainer, the former CEO of adidas and deputy chairman of the Bayern Supervisory Board, of which Hoeneß will remain a member until the end of his term in 2022.