First Vienna (Austria)

First Vienna Football-Club 1894 is the oldest football club in Austria having been formed on August 22nd 1894 with their logo designed by William Beale based on the three legs flag of his homeland of the Isle of Man.

Englishmen based in the capital had formed Vienna Cricket Club in 1892. A group of which broke away to establish First Vienna Cricket and Football Club. At the same time more cricketers enjoyed playing football at Baron Rothschild’s Kuglerwiese in the Döbling district of the city.

It would they who were registered one day ahead of the cricket and football club as First Vienna Football-Club. Their new rivals moved to Prater as acrimony reigned between the two over their names before meeting in ‘Vienna’s’ opening match in front of 300 spectators at Kuglerwiese.

Vienna lifted the Challenge-Cup, a forerunner to the ÖFB Cup when AC Victoria Wien were defeated 2-1 in 1898-99 before old rivals Vienna Cricket and Football Club were beaten 2-0 the following season as Wilhelm Eipeldauer and Albert scored. The club moved to a new ground at Kreindlwiese in November 1899 by Hohe Warte.

The opening game was against DFC Prag with the hosts being coached by former player Mark Nicholson who had originally being sent for work by his employers, Thomas Cook & Son after previously playing for West Bromwich Albion prior to the club SC Nicholson being named in his honour in Vienna.

The team progressed with no English players in the line up for the first time. Hermann Schönaug took over as coach as the team won prestigious friendlies against Slavia Praha, Graz, Wiener FC 1898 and Wiener AC. Franz Joli, a founder member of the club took over the running of it in 1904 for its twentieth anniversary.

The ÖFV Wiener Cup, another previous incarnation of the ÖFB Cup was lifted in 1906-07 as Floridsdorfer AC were beaten by a single goal. The ‘Döblingen’ became founder members of the Vienna based official championship in 1911-12, from where they were relegated at the end of the second season.

Vienna joined an alternative FBiNÖ competition for two seasons with clubs from further afield. They won the title in 1914-15 as Döblinger SC before returning to the ÖFV organisation a year later as a Zweite Klasse A side in 1916-17, going on to win the championship and promotion in 1918-19.

The club bought the land at Hohe Warte where smaller club FC Ostmark had been in residence where they turned the pitch ninety degrees. Hohe Warte Stadion was opened against Hakoah Wien with a capacity of up to 90,000 which would become home of the national team and cup finals.

Vienna finished as national league runners-up in 1923-24 before losing out in the ÖFB Cup final 3-1 to Wiener Amateur-Sportverein, who would later become Austria Wien. The same opponents were to retain the cup 4-3 against the Döblingen a year later.

Another league runners-up place came in 1925-26 prior to two consecutive ÖFB Cup wins. Rapid Wien were defeated 3-2 in 1928-29 thanks to goals from Leopold Giebisch, Karl Gerhold and Fritz Gschweidl; a member of the national ‘Wunderteam’.

The win was backed up by a 1-0 victory against Austria Wien twelve months later as Gschweidl netted the winner. Josef Adelbrecht also helped himself to goals throughout the season as a third place in the league was accrued.

First Vienna became national champions for the first time in 1930-31 to qualify for the Mitropapokal, the predecessor to the European Cup. Vienna reached the 1931 final where they defeated Wiener AC on aggregate.

A second place in the league the following season was rewarded with a chance to retain the Mitropapokal. The team fell just short as they lost the 1932 final to AGC Bologna. The 1932-33 campaign saw the Döblingen win 1. Liga with Gustav Tögel getting among the goals.

The 1935-36 season ended with a runners-up place in the league and an appearance in the final of the ÖFB Cup, which ended in a 3-0 defeat to Austria Wien. However, the team returned a year later to lift the trophy with a 3-2 win over Wiener Sport-Club.

Austria was annexed to Germany throughout World War Two with the league championship becoming one of sixteen top flight Gauliga’s. Gauliga Donau-Alpenland was won in 1941-42 for the team to go on to the rounds of the German football championship.

Wins against LSV Olomouc, Germania Königshütte, Planitzer SC and SpVg Blau-Weiß 90 to reach the final against FC Schalke 04. The match attracted a crowd of 90,000 to Berlin’s Olympiastadion where the team from Gelsenkirchen won 2-0.

The following season saw Vienna lift another Gauliga title as well as defeating LSV Hamburg 3-2 after extra time to lift the German Tschammer Cup. 45,000 fans saw Karl Decker score a penalty and Rudolf Noack net twice for the Austrians at the Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn in Stuttgart.

It became three Gauliga Donau-Alpenland titles in a row in 1943-44. The country was liberated as the side lost 2-1 in the ÖFB Cup final to Rapid Wien in 1945-46 with Decker and Richard Fischer being regular scorers.

In 1954-55 the Döblingen became national champions for the sixth time, with most of the squad belonging to Austrian international squad. Otto Walzhofer ended as top scorer in a side containing bronze medallists from the 1954 World Cup Kurt Schmied, Karl Koller under former player Poldl Hofmann.

Johann Buzek along with Herbert Grohs took up the role as lead scorer as the side ended as league runners-up in 1956-57 which was followed up by two third places before the close of the decade.

The sixties were devoid of honours with the best placing being runners-up in 1960-61 with Helmut Senekowitsch banging in the goals before Friedrich Cejka weighed in throughout the 1964-65 campaign as the side put together a string of mid table finishes before being relegated in 1967-68.

The Regionalliga Ost title was won at the first attempt as First Vienna regained their place at the top tier which was backed up with fourth place in 1970-71. The team went down again in 1973-74 before returning with another second tier title under their belt in 1975-76.

Another demotion was suffered in 1979-80 despite the star players August Starek and Hans Krankl being recruited. The team went back to an enlarged Bundesliga after a decent 1981-82 campaign but failed to retain their place twelve months later.

Vienna refused to lie down as they won promotion as 2. Division runners-up in 1983-84 before plummeting back down bottom of the table the following season. A new set up was arranged for 1985-86 as teams were divided into three smaller divisions after the top two leagues had played out a regular season.

After finishing top of the initial second tier, the Döblingen secured a place in the top level which was retained at the end of 1986-87, a season in which the club stunned Austrian football with the signing of Mario Kempes along with former Austrian international Gerhard Steinkogler.

The following season saw the loan signing of future internationals Kurt Russ and Andreas Herzog along with Peter Stöger. Peter Webora, Andreas Heraf, Hannes Reinmayr, Ivica Vastić and Gerald Glatzmayer were prominent players in the yellow and blue.

The 1988-89 and 1989-90 campaigns saw Vienna compete in the UEFA Cup where they went out on both occasions in the second round after earlier defeating Ikast FS and FC Valletta. Olympiacos FC ended the adventure on the second venture.

The same league system continued for a few more years before Vienna dropped to the 2. Division for the start of the 1993-94 season with Rudi Eggenberger as coach. Back in a two tiered full season set up the team went on to third place in 1994-95, 1995-96 and again in 1996-97.

The final of those also saw the team go on a fine run in the ÖFB Cup as the likes of Austria Wien and Graz AK were defeated before a semi-final victory on penalties was achieved against SV Austria Salzburg.

In their first national cup final for thirty-six years, the match at Ernst-Happel-Stadion saw SK Sturm Graz prove too strong with a 2-1 win with First Vienna gaining consolation through a late own goal.

Another third place league finish in 1997-98 was as good as it got before defeat to FC Lustenau 07 in the play-offs in 2000-01 saw the club drop to the third level in Regionalliga Ost under coach Walter Skocik.

Hohe Warte was suffering from years of neglect as the terracing became overgrown. New steel areas were put on the banking to help with safety regulations as its capacity was cut down to 7,200.

A third place finish was accrued in 2002-03 which was repeated again in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. The goals of Osman Bozkurt and Andreas Fading fired the team under former player Stöger to the 2008-09 Regionalliga Ost title.

Vienna survived in the second level beating SC-ESV Parndorf 1919 in the relegation play-off in 2010-11 with new coach Alfred Tatar in charge of the team. The side were demoted in 2013-14 amid licensing violations and points deductions.

Back in Regionalliga a fourth place was achieved in 2014-15 followed by a runners-up place in 2015-16. The league title was won in 2016-17 but it would come at a huge cost as the club had to fight against a file of bankruptcy.

Eventually after several court hearings and appeals to the football authorities First Vienna were permitted to continue under new sponsors Uniqa. However, they were demoted to the fifth level 2. Landesliga.

Coach Markus Katzer led the side to third place before the appointment of Peter Hlinka in July 2018. Vienna waltzed to the league title as Mensur Kurtisi and Patricio Paredes Saez plundered the goals with over 1,500 fans attending the final home league game.

The side continued their form and were top of the Wiener Stadtliga in 2019-20 when promotion was denied as the season was abandoned by the COVID-19 pandemic with Mario Konrad doing his bit for the goals tally.

First Vienna FC 1894 will play the 2020-21 season in the Wiener Stadtliga.

My visit

Saturday 7^th March

I’d been invigorated to visit Vienna for a weekend of football and sightseeing by several posts from fellow afficionados on the excellent Non-League Matters Forum who’d also been to the city on similar adventures.

Hohe Warte was high on my list after researching and seeing a couple of images. Unfortunately, First Vienna were away to ASK Elektra, more of which later, after I had booked my dates. Not to worry. I could still go and have a look.

I’d been to the home of Fav-AC in Favoriten before taking the U1 from Troststraße U Bahn station to Schwedenplatz where I transferred to the U4 line to Heiligenstadt. On leaving the station I was struck by the imposing buildings of Karl Marx Hof.

Unaware of their historical significance until later in my trip I just looked on impressed as I walked along Heiligenstädterstraße before crossing the road to take on the steep incline of Klabundgasse to the entrance to the stadium.

Part of my research included checking underage fixtures involving the club. I knew that there would be lots of people around for matches on the all weather pitches behind the Main Stand, but would the main stadium be open?

I needn’t have worried. There was access through the main gate and from the other pitches. I am so glad that I was there on a pleasant day to take in a quite astonishing arena, even in its weather worn state. It reminded me of a larger version of the Cathkin Park home of Third Lanark in Glasgow, only with a stand and minus the trees. See what you think here.

A path ran right around the three open sides around a quarter of the way up. The new metal areas were on the far bank, which was the steepest side with a TV gantry towards the top. The far end was overgrown with bushes behind the path, but the old terracing was still in evidence.

The steps on all three sides were still easy to navigate even with grass growing over them. A scoreboard at the far end gave evidence that the stadium was also used for American Football. A smart cantilevered raised stand containing terracing and seats occupied the fourth side.

I stood in awe for several minutes on the banking as well as taking a walk all the way around. There were so many things I loved about the place. Not least the four towering corner floodlight pylons. Just what must it have been like being among 85,000 fans in 1923 for the international between Austria and Italy.

The snack bar was open for parents watching their offspring. A poor young kid wore one right where it hurts in one of the games. I felt like crying for him. On the way back to the main gates I came across a memorial for two former players who had died in the two World Wars.

There was also a wall of comeback which gave the names of those who had helped the club in their hour of need in 2017 along with a monument to club legend and Austrian national team coach Karl Decker.

I am lucky to have visited so many stadiums over the years, some no more than basic pitches with minimal structures all the way to Europe’s biggest. Hohe Warte was right up there in my list of special places.

It was time to head on my way. My local Twitter pal Hans had found me a friendly game nearby which I would be able to see the second half and relax from crisscrossing the city. Take a look at FC Adrenalin 07 against SV OMV Gänserndorf played at Nußdorfer AC here.

As for First Vienna. Well I was to take in the first half of their 3pm kick off against ASK Elektra before heading to the Bundesliga game at Austria Wien. You can see how the Döblingen got on in front of a big away following here.