Editing Gerd Müller (section)

==Club career==
===Bayern Munich===
Born 3 November 1945, in [[Nördlingen]], Germany, Müller began his football career at his hometown club [[TSV 1861 Nördlingen]] youth ranks in 1958. Aged 18, Müller joined [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] in 1964, where he teamed up with future stars [[Franz Beckenbauer]] and [[Sepp Maier]]. The club, which would go on to become the most successful German club in history, was then still in the [[Regionalliga Süd (1963–1974)|Regionalliga Süd]] ''(Regional League South)'', which was one level below the [[Bundesliga]] at the time.

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F025342-0009, Bonn, Landesvertretung Bayern, Fußballmanschaft.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Müller autographing a football in 1967. To his left are [[Franz Beckenbauer]] and [[Werner Olk]]]]
After one season, Bayern Munich advanced to the Bundesliga and started a long string of successes. With his club, Müller amassed titles during the 1960s and 1970s: he won the German Championship four times, the [[DFB-Pokal]] four times, the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] three consecutive years (the first West German team to win it; Müller scored in the [[1974 European Cup final|1974 final]] replay and the [[1975 European Cup final|1975 final]]), the [[European/South American Cup|Intercontinental Cup]] once, and the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] once.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=15 August 2021|title=Gerd Müller ist tot|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/gerd-mueller-tot-bayern-1.5157907|access-date=15 August 2021|website=[[Süddeutsche.de]]|language=de|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815113710/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/gerd-mueller-tot-bayern-1.5157907|url-status=live}}</ref>

An opportunistic goal-scorer, Müller also became German top scorer seven times and European top scorer twice. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, 53 goals over the second-most successful Bundesliga scorer, [[Robert Lewandowski]], since 2022.<ref name=":1" />

====Club goal records====
At his peak, Müller held the single-season Bundesliga record with 40 goals in [[1971–72 Bundesliga|season 1971–72]], a record that would be held until Lewandowski scored 41 goals during the [[2020–21 Bundesliga|2020–21 season]], also for Bayern Munich.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/lewandowski-makes-bundesliga-history-with-goal-41-in-bayern/gw7c0ikywvel1arinwhcup05s | title = Lewandowski makes Bundesliga history with goal 41 in Bayern Munich's title-winning campaign | website = goal.com | date = 22 May 2021 | access-date = 22 May 2021 | archive-date = 30 May 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210530222256/https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/lewandowski-makes-bundesliga-history-with-goal-41-in-bayern/gw7c0ikywvel1arinwhcup05s | url-status = live }}</ref> Then, Müller also held the record for most club goals scored in all European club competitions in one season for 40 years, [[Scoring in association football|scoring]] 67 goals during the [[1972–73 FC Bayern Munich season]], and 85 (72 for Munich, 13 West Germany) goals in total during 1972. However, that record was surpassed by [[Lionel Messi]] of [[FC Barcelona]] in Spain who scored 73 in the [[2011–12 FC Barcelona season|2011/12]] season, and 91 goals in the calendar year of 2012.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1228330/hesse:-looking-for-gerd-muller-goals?cc=5901 | title = Looking for Goals | author = [[Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger|Uli Hesse]] | date = 17 November 2012 | publisher = [[ESPN]] | access-date = 28 November 2012 | archive-date = 21 November 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121121013455/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1228330/hesse:-looking-for-gerd-muller-goals?cc=5901 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20661031 | title = Lionel Messi of Barcelona sets new goal-scoring record | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 10 December 2012 | access-date = 10 December 2012 | archive-date = 10 December 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121210062927/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20661031 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 May 2012 |title=Lionel Messi Breaks Gerd Muller's 39-Year-Old Record with 68th Goal This Season |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1169837-lionel-messi-breaks-gerd-mullers-39-year-old-record-with-68th-goal-this-season#:~:text=With%20his%2068th%20goal%20in%20all%20competitions%20this,set%20in%20the%201972-73%20campaign%20with%20Bayern%20Munich |access-date=27 September 2024 |website= bleacherreport.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Fort Lauderdale Strikers===
After his career in the Bundesliga, Müller went to the [[United States]], where he joined the [[Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983)|Fort Lauderdale Strikers]] (based in the [[Miami metropolitan area|Miami area]]) of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] (NASL) in 1979.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Gerd Müller: One of the greatest goalscorers of all time|url=https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/gerd-muller-s-story-a-goalscoring-great-bayern-munich-germany-13441|access-date=15 August 2021|website=bundesliga.com|language=en|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815115652/https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/gerd-muller-s-story-a-goalscoring-great-bayern-munich-germany-13441|url-status=live}}</ref> He played three seasons with this team, scoring 38 goals,<ref name=":2" /> and reaching, but losing, the league final in 1980.<ref name="Zeitung 2017">{{cite web | title=Deutsche Stars in Nordamerika: Beckenbauer, Müller, Matthäus: Schweinsteigers Vorgänger | website=[[Westdeutsche Zeitung]] | date=21 March 2017 | url=https://www.wz.de/sport/fussball/international/beckenbauer-mueller-matthaeus-schweinsteigers-vorgaenger_aid-27196447 | language=de | access-date=15 August 2021 | archive-date=15 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815183049/https://www.wz.de/sport/fussball/international/beckenbauer-mueller-matthaeus-schweinsteigers-vorgaenger_aid-27196447 | url-status=live }}</ref>