Uli Hoeneß Receives Legend Award – Thomas Helmer's Memorable Story
Uli Hoeneß walked away with the Legend Award at the Sport Bild gala on Monday night. On the red carpet, though, it was an old Bayern story that stole a slice of his spotlight.
Thomas Helmer, former Bayern defender and European champion, stopped and told reporters about the night he almost came to blows with the club’s long-time strongman.
“He sometimes did wild things as well,” Helmer recalled. Hoeneß, the fiery manager who built Bayern into a superpower, could be a very different figure once the dressing-room door clicked shut. “When he gets emotional, I experienced him differently in the dressing room too. We almost had a fight once as well. I wanted to beat up Uli Hoeneß.”
The scene he painted comes straight from another era.
Old Olympiastadion. A Champions League night, “I think against Kyiv,” Helmer said. Bitter cold, “felt like minus 17 degrees,” barely 13,000 spectators scattered around the vast bowl – but the game beamed out live on television. Bayern led 1-0 at half-time, yet the scoreline disguised the chaos.
“We were 1-0 up at half-time, but I think Kyiv ran through on our goal three times, they just did not get the ball in,” Helmer remembered.
That was enough to light the fuse.
Hoeneß “went crazy,” as Helmer put it. The manager stormed into the dressing room and unloaded: “‘What are you playing at, what are you serving up to the spectators? This is an outrage for Bayern Munich. Millions are watching, no matter how many are here in the stadium… even if it is cold.’”
The tirade didn’t stop there. As Helmer walked past, Hoeneß turned on him personally: “‘And you’re running around like my grandfather!’”
For Helmer, it was a step too far. The defender, never short of competitive edge on the pitch, snapped.
He grabbed the nearest thing to hand – “a cup of electrolytes” – and hurled it towards Hoeneß’ head. The shot missed. The cup smashed against the wall instead. Hoeneß, sensing the mood and the danger, didn’t push his luck.
“Then he was smart enough to go to the physios in the dressing room and hide,” Helmer said, half-laughing at the memory.
The story could have ended as a lasting feud. At Bayern, confrontations at that level often shape careers. Here, it did the opposite.
By the following day, the heat had gone. “The next day we then had a completely open conversation. Uli never held a grudge,” Helmer said.
That, in Helmer’s eyes, is the real measure of the man.
Helmer gushes about Hoeneß the person
The former defender, who spent the prime of his career under Hoeneß’ rule, now speaks about him with unfiltered admiration, even affection.
“There are two people in the world I would go to if I had a problem. No matter whether private, financial or health-related – one of them is Uli Hoeneß!” Helmer said.
A cup of electrolytes once flew past his head. Decades later, Helmer would trust that same man with just about everything else.
