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He was raised in a middle-class family as the son of a butcher. Like his younger brother Dieter, he started his playing career at VfB Ulm. As a child, he joined the youth teams of TSG Ulm 1846 (now SSV Ulm 1846). At fifteen, he became captain of the DFB student team. In 1970, he advanced to the professional squad of FC Bayern Munich alongside Paul Breitner and Rainer Zobel. He made his Bundesliga debut on August 15, 1970, in a 1-1 draw in Stuttgart and scored his first goal on November 28, 1970, in a 1-1 draw against Braunschweig. In his first year, he finished as runner-up and won the DFB Cup. In 1971, he completed his Abitur at Schubart-Gymnasium in Ulm but later abandoned his teaching studies in English and history to focus on football.
That same year, 1971, he was called up to the U-23 national team, playing his first international match on June 11 in Heilbronn, where he scored his first international goal in a 2-0 victory over Albania. He participated in the 1972 Olympic Games and played his final U-23 match on November 21, 1973, in Warsaw, which ended in a draw. He quickly became a league star, known for his speed, running 100 meters in 11.0 seconds. The striking partnership of Müller and Hoeneß scored 53 goals during the 1971/72 and 1972/73 seasons. In 1972, he secured a regular place on the national team under coach Helmut Schön, debuting in March and joining the legendary Wembley team. That year, he became European champion with the DFB team and won his first German championship with FC Bayern under coach Udo Lattek just ten days after the European Championship final.
During the 1973/74 European Champions Cup, he scored two goals in the second leg against Dynamo Dresden and in the second final match versus Atletico Madrid. He played in all seven World Cup matches in 1974, scoring a penalty against Sweden and missing one against Poland. West Germany won the tournament, defeating the Netherlands 2-1 in Munich to claim their second world championship since 1954. He suffered a serious injury in the 1975 European Cup final against Leeds United. In the 1976 European Championship final, he missed a penalty in the shootout against the USSR, who then became champions. After scoring 86 goals in 239 games for FC Bayern until 1978, he transferred to 1.FC Nürnberg for the 1978/79 season, playing eleven more matches. However, due to irreparable knee damage, he retired at 27. In 1980, at the age of 27, he became the youngest manager in the league at FC Bayern Munich.
When he began, FC Bayern had sales of twelve million marks with a debt of seven million marks. In his first year, he celebrated winning the German championship in 1980. He played a key role in the economic growth of FC Bayern Munich, introducing professional merchandising inspired by practices in the USA during the 1970s, which was then largely unknown in Germany, generating millions in additional revenue for the club. In 1982, he was the sole survivor among four passengers in a sports bike crash. In 1983, together with Werner Weiß, he founded the HoWe Wurstwaren KG sausage factory in Nuremberg. Under his leadership, FC Bayern became the most successful football club in history. Between 1980 and 2008, the club won 16 German championships, 9 DFB Cups, 6 League Cups, and the 1996 UEFA Cup.
Nearly all of the club's successes occurred during his tenure. In 1999, he was the first football manager to be named Manager of the Year. In 2006, he received the Bavarian Sports Prize in the "High Performance Athlete Plus" category. In 2009, he was honored with the "Golden Sports Pyramid" and inducted into the "Hall of Fame" of German sports. In November 2009, he received the "Bambi" award in the "Economy" category. At the end of November 2009, after over 30 years, he stepped down as manager at FC Bayern. On November 27, 2009, he was elected President of FC Bayern München e.V. at the annual general meeting, and in March 2010, became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of FC Bayern München AG. Christian Nerlinger succeeded him as manager on December 1, 2009, while his predecessor as president, Franz Beckenbauer, was named honorary president.
On March 13, 2014, the 5th criminal chamber of the Munich II Regional Court sentenced him to three and a half years in prison for tax evasion. The following day, he resigned as President of FC Bayern Munich e.V. and chairman of the supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG and announced he would not appeal the verdict. After his early release, he resumed both positions from 2016 to 2019. Since deciding not to seek re-election, he has served only as a regular member of the supervisory board.
