Wednesday, May 9, 2012

9 May 1945 - Heynckes The Hometown Hero

On 9 May 1945, striker Josef "Jupp" Heynckes was born in Mönchengladbach where he went on to become his home team's all-time top scorer.

Heynckes made his professional debut in 1964 with Borussia Mönchengladbach, then in the second-tier Regionalliga West. But his 23 goals in 25 league appearances that first season helped the club earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the following season. He played only two more season there before transferring to Hannover in 1967.

He did well at Hannover, scoring 35 goals in three seasons, but returned to Gladbach for the 1970-71 season which ended with them as league champions. Additional titles followed in 1975, 1976, and 1977--along with the 1975 UEFA Cup--as Heynckes established himself as one of the world's premier strikers. He was the league's top scorer in 1974 and 1975, with 30 and 29 goals, respectively. He retired from playing in 1978 having scored a club record total of 292 goals in 400 appearances for Gladbach (plus another 35 in 101 appearances for Hannover).

He moved immediately into management, taking charge of Gladbach from 1979 to 1987, then again from 2006 to 2007 . His resume includes a long list of other teams, including Athletic Bilbao (twice), Schalke, Benfica, and Real Madrid (with whom he won the Champions League in 1998). He is currently in his third stint as manager of Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga in 1989 and 1990.

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