Jupp Heynckes turns 80: A world career as a player and coach

Jupp Heynckes turns 80 on May 9th. As a player, he was a top -class striker. As a trainer, he gained world fame. The sports show traces its way, a large circle that begins and ends in his home in Mönchengladbach.

What a successful player Jupp Heynckes was visually tangible with a museum trick. 299 white balls receive the visitor to a current exhibition at Heynckes’ Heimatklub Borussia Mönchengladbach. 299 – The former master striker Heynckes scored so many goals in 400 games for his club. The club statisticians even found that with the exception of the 38th, 44th and 49th, he met in every minute of the game. On this Friday, another number is becoming much more important for Heynckes, a round, then the famous footballer and even more famous coach are 80 years old.

Heynckes himself was not there at the opening of the exhibition, he was good for him, he said, but he is currently avoiding big human runs. The evening before, however, he strolled with his wife Iris through the Heynckes course set up in the Borussia Museum and was particularly touched, the tears close to the tears when he discovered a board that showed his childhood and described his beginnings: Mother Anna brings the baby Josef on a horse car directed by father Matthias from home to Holt in the west of Mönchengladbach and the other eight siblings Sister is added later.

Netzer: “Jupp was our best”

The young Josef Heynckes helped out as a milk man, set up Kegel on bowling alley, collected scrap iron and remnants of fabric, and nobody could have guessed that he would put a world career down, a double. As a player and as a trainer. The player Jupp Heynckes, striker, highly gifted as a footballer, set standards in the Gladbach jersey. Günter Netzer, his teammate, says: “Jupp was our best football player in all matters.”

Heynckes missed the first league triumph in his club in 1970 because he played 96 for Hannover from 1967. But in the 1970/1971 season he came back to the Bökelberg, in whose shade he once built his first house, and became champion for the first time at the end of the season.

Heynckes was also a national player – 39 caps, 14 goals – and became a regular European champion in 1972 and 1974. But at the World Cup he injured himself against Chile on the knee in the second game, although he became fit again in the course of the tournament, but no longer played. In the following Bundesliga season, says Heynckes, “I pulled my whole motivation out of disappointment and bitter.” It became Heynckes’ best season. Gladbach again won the championship, Heynckes secured the goalkeeper cannon with 30 goals and led Borussia to the UEFA Cup triumph against Twente Enschede.

Udo Latteck as a mentor

Also in 1976 and 1977 he became champion with Gladbach and in 1978 only a few goals were missing in a duel with the same 1,1. FC Köln. In the 12-0 win against Borussia Dortmund, the Heynckes, which can only be used to a limited extent due to a stubborn knee injury due to a meniscus surgery, was not enough for the title. It was also Heynckes’ last game as a player at the age of 33. He then became assistant coach under Udo Lattek at his club.

A year later, Heynckes took over Borussia as a coach, stayed for eight years, had the young Lothar Matthäus in the team, but there was great success. During this time, Heynckes was a learner, a strict and, above all, ambitious trainer, as Matthew reports, “who couldn’t lose.”

Master with Bayern

In Gladbach, however, it was not ahead of winning titles to be impossible in view of the constant sales of top players. He left his beloved home club and went to FC Bayern. There was a friendship with Uli Hoeneß. And there he won his first championship as a coach in 1989. Unforgettable, for all football Germany.

At that time, shortly before the seaside decision, Heynckes sat in an illustrious and now legendary TV round in the “current sports studio” of the ZDF. There he was permanently attacked by Christoph Daum, the coach of the title competitor 1. FC Köln. Hoeneß defended Heynckes heroic against Daum and things took her course shortly afterwards. Heynckes’ Bavaria defeated Daums Kölner in Müngersdorf 3-1. Bavaria became master.

After his time at Bayern, Heynckes tined by various leagues in the early 90s, was initially a coach at Atletic Bilbao, then at Eintracht Frankfurt. There he started with the stars Yeboah, Okocha and Gaudino, which were later even suspended. But this measure proved to be a mistake that Heynckes left the club in the dispute.

On the throne at Real Madrid

Then he went back to Spain, this time to CD Tenerife and finally to Real Madrid. Despite the win of the Champions League in 1998, he was released after a season, because in the league he was only fourth in the league. This was followed by engagements at Benfica Lisbon, back in Bilbao and unsuccessful months at Schalke 04 and at his Borussia in Mönchengladbach. He was released on both engagements. Heynckes was considered done.

But then the call came from Munich. Uli Hoeneß. After a break of two years, Heynckes agreed to his friend in April 2009 as a rescuer for five games. He won four times, in addition there was a draw, with which Bayern still reached second place. Heynckes was back in the game. And it shouldn’t be the last rescue call from Hoeneß.

Coaching

After this short assignment, he experienced a kind of coaching, Heynckes took over Bayer Leverkusen from 2009 to 2011 and reached places four and two in the championship – at 64 years of age mild and yet modern in tactics. Heynckes made itself interesting for a third term in Bayern, which ended in 2013 with the triple: championship, DFB Cup and Champions League.

In October 2017, he was now 72 years old, back to Munich to save the season. Heynckes became champion with the club, for the fourth time in his career.

Then Heynckes retired to his house in Fischeln near Schwalmtal on the Lower Rhine. He won’t celebrate his 80th birthday, but will “Very quiet and prudent in the closest circle”. In addition to his wife Iris, this also includes his daughter Kerstin. Like the father, she was born on a May 9th, but 24 years later.