Senator Wilhelm Neudecker, born on 24 October 1913 in Straubing, was the driving force behind FC Bayern’s ascent into the footballing elite. A building contractor who was heavily involved in the reconstruction of Munich’s famous Frauenkirche after the Second World War, he became FC Bayern president in April 1962 when the club was still in the lower-tier Oberliga. By the time he left office 17 years later, the club’s trophy haul included the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, four German championships and four DFB Cup triumphs.
Neudecker paved the way for the glittering 1970s at FC Bayern. He hired coaches such as Zlatko Tschik Cajkovski and Udo Lattek, and signed top quality players including Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier, Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner.
Promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965 was only the first step in FC Bayern’s rise to the status of a world-leading club, confirmed with the Intercontinental Cup success in 1976. Neudecker also overhauled and modernised the club’s infrastructure. He hired Robert Schwan as the first professional general manager in German football, and supervised the amalgamation of the head office and training facility at the current Säbener Strasse site.
Neudecker served as chairman of the German FA (DFB) league committee from 1975 to 1986 and was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1978. He died in Munich on 24 December 1993 at the age of 80.