Jupp Heynckes All-Time Top Scorer

Lore & Background

Heynckes played 369 matches in the German Bundesliga, scoring 220 goals. His tally is the fourth highest in this league, after Gerd Müller's 365 goals, Robert Lewandowski's 312, and Klaus Fischer's 268. He started his professional career in 1964 with his hometown club Borussia Mönchengladbach, who were then in the second division. In 1965, the club achieved promotion to the Bundesliga. He scored 27 Bundesliga goals in two seasons for Borussia before joining Hannover 96, where he spent three years and scored 25 times in 86 league matches. He returned to Mönchengladbach in 1970, with the club having just won the first league title in its history. With Heynckes, Gladbach became the first club to retain the Bundesliga title in 1970–71. He won four Bundesliga titles as a player (all with Borussia Mönchengladbach), one DFB-Pokal, and one UEFA Cup. He is Borussia Mönchengladbach's top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 195 goals. As a manager, he led Mönchengladbach to the 1980 UEFA Cup final, where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt.

In Their Own Story

The rain slicked the grass at the Bökelbergstadion as the clock ticked down in a crucial Bundesliga decider. The crowd roared, a sea of black and white, sensing destiny in the air. Jupp Heynckes, chest heaving, tracked a long ball over the top. With a leap that seemed to defy gravity, he met the cross with a thunderous header, sending the net rippling just as the referee's whistle signaled the end. The stadium erupted; another chapter of legend was written by the man who would forever be their king.

Reader's Guide

Heynckes is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time. He won four Bundesliga titles as manager of Bayern Munich and two UEFA Champions Leagues: with Real Madrid in 1997–98 and Bayern in 2012–13, the latter of which was part of a continental treble. He did not win the Bundesliga as a manager of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Did You Know?

• Heynckes scored 23 goals in 21 games in the UEFA Cup, making him the ninth-highest goalscorer in the history of the competition and the only member of the top ten to have scored at a ratio of over a goal per game.
• He was joint top goalscorer in the Bundesliga alongside Gerd Müller in 1973–74 with 30 goals, and outright top scorer in 1974–75 with 27 goals.
• Heynckes scored a hat-trick in the 1975 UEFA Cup final second leg against Twente, securing a 5–1 away win and making Gladbach the first German winners of the UEFA Cup.