FK Austria Wien (Austria)

Fußballklub Austria Wien is a professional football club from the Austrian capital of Vienna who are one of the foremost names football in the country, having been formed as Wiener Amateur-Sportverein on October 29th 1910.

The founding fathers of the club were previously members of Vienna Cricket and Football Club who left following a disagreement with their club management. It took a six months period before ‘Die Amateure’, as the club was known, was permitted to play by the ÖFB.

The club were founder members of the Austrian championship in 1911-12, which at the time was primarily Vienna based playing in Park Prater sharing WAC-Platz with the legendary coach Jimmy Hogan in charge of the side before being replaced by Hugo Meisl after the inaugural season.

Ludwig Hussak was the captain of the club and the national team as the club moved to Ober St. Veiter Stadion in the west of the city in May 1914. The goals of Franz Hansl and Konrád would take the side led by Johann Andres to a league runners-up place in 1919-20.

The season would see the team reach the final of the ÖFB Cup where they were defeated by Rapid Wien. The team bounced back the following campaign with another second place in the league but their first Cup triumph as Wiener Sport-Club were defeated 2-1.

Gustav Lanzer’s side reached a third successive Cup final; losing 2-1 in the 1921-22 showpiece to Wiener AF. Die Amateure ended as league runners-up in 1922-23 before the 1923-24 season saw the club pick up the league and cup double.

Gustav Wieser led the scoring as his side completed an incredible 8-6 extra time win against SK Slovan Wien. The Cup was retained the following season after First Vienna FC were dispatched 3-1 as Amateure finished as league runners-up.

However, 1925-26 saw another double season. The I. Liga triumph was backed up with another ÖFB Cup final victory against First Vienna FC; this time 4-3 as crowds pushed the stadium’s 30,000 capacity in Ober St Veit.

The successful team was built around the talents of Theodor Lohrmann, Johann Tandler, Karl Geyer, Wilhelm Morocutti, Viktor Hierländer, Wieser along with Kálmán and Jenő Konrád.

Austrian football heralded the professional era from 1926, leading to the club changing names to their current title, before ending the 1926-27 season as Cup runners-up after a 3-0 loss to Rapid Wien, who would go on to become Austria’s fiercest rivals. However, finances at the club were dire with trophies being sold to meet demands.

Further ÖFB Cup final defeats followed in 1929-30 to First Vienna FC and then twelve months later to Wiener AC after a round-robin series. At this point ‘Der Violett und Weiß’ abandoned their home stadium which was duly demolished as the club as the rent could not be met.

Austria moved to play matches as tenants between Praterstadion, Hohen Warte and Schönbrunner Stadion. Praterstadion was used the most often of the three as the clubs fifth national cup was won with a 1-0 win against Brigittenauer AC in 1932-33 thanks to a Viktor Spechtl goal.

At the time the club played in the Mitropa Cup, which was the forerunner to the European Cup. Austria Wien became champions in 1933-34 when they defeated Internazionale over two legs as Matthias Sindelar scored a hattrick in front of 60,000 fans at Praterstadion.

Further ÖFB Cups were lifted in 1934-35 and 1935-36 with a 5-1 hammering of Wiener AC for Josef Blum’s team being followed up as First Vienna FC were beaten 3-0 under Jenő Konrád.

The Mitropa Cup was also won for a second time in 1935-36 when a goal from Camillo Jerusalem sealed a 1-0 win against Sparta Praha at Strahov-Stadion. Austria ended as league runners-up in 1936-37 with Sindelar topping the scoring before he became coach.

During the period of Anschluss, the Austrian league became Gauliga Ostmark, one of sixteen top-flight German leagues. In 1938 many of the club officials fled to Switzerland and France after Nazi persecution as all club property was confiscated.

Initially the club was forced to change its name to SC Ostmark before the decision was reversed a few months later. Johann Safarik was top scorer in the early season of the competition for the team.

Hans Mock wore the Nazi armband rather than that of the skippers as he led Austria before he was called up to play for the German national side when other players declined to take part. It was a divisive period in the history of both club and country.

Sindelar, one of the greatest ever Austrian players, opposed the Anschluss and was found dead with his girlfriend in Vienna in suspicious circumstances. Karl Gall and Austrian international Franz Riegler were both killed in conflict.

Austria went through Anschluss without any success on the pitch but finished as runners-up in the first national championship after the War and liberation had taken place. Ernst Stojaspal scored the goals in the season of 1945-46.

In 1946-47 the team ended as cup runners-up after a 4-3 defeat to SC Wacker Wien before returning to lift the trophy the following season when Sturm Graz were beaten 2-0. The ÖFB Cup was retained in 1948-49 as Vorwärts Steyr were defeated 5-2.

The league title was also collected as Austria completed their third double in the latter season under coach Wudi Müller who’d taken over once peacetime had been restored to rebuild the side with experienced signings joining the youth and experience already at the club.

The national Staatsliga was retained in 1949-50 as Adolf Huber and Ernst Melchior led the attack. Austria went on to become runners-up in 1951-52 before collecting their fifth title in 1952-53 and then falling just short in second place the following campaign.

Müller departed a year later as Austria struggled to repeat previous success for the next seven years. It was not helped by a player’s strike over wages in 1955 and the defection of three players during a tour of Australia in 1958. The appointment of secretary, Norbert Lopper to oversee the club helped settle the ship.

Over the years the club had used other venues for home matches, such as Helfort-Platz, Wiener Neustädter Stadion and Rannersdorfer Stadion outside the city.

A new generation of players including Horst Hirnschrodt, Ernst Fiala and Horst Nemec helped Austria to a 4-2 Cup victory against Rapid Wien in 1959-60 to herald the start of a glorious few years in the club history.

The league title was won in three consecutive seasons; 1960-61, 1961-62 and 1962-63 with Nemec banging in the goals consistently. The three wins were followed up by a runners-up berth in 1963-64.

The ÖFB Cup was won in 1962-63 as Grazer AK were seen off 4-1. The trophy was retained the following year with a singe goal win against LASK Linz before the 1963-64 final was lost 1-0 to SK Admira Wien. Karl Schlechta successfully coached the team for the first two years of the era before being succeeded by Eduard Frühwirth.

Ernst Ocwirk, one of the greatest ever Austrian players took over as coach in 1965, leading the team to the ÖFB Cup win in the final against LASK Linz after extra time in a replay. In 1967 the club decided that it was time to find a permanent home stadium of their own.

Violett und Weiß became league champions again in 1968-69 with Helmut Köglberger top scoring after the club had returned to Praterstadion after a season back at Schönbrunn. Stars such as Josef Hickersberger, Thomas Parits, Alfred Riedl and Robert Sara along with Köglberger were the star players of the day.

The league title was retained in 1969-70 as the season was spent playing at Bundesstadion Südstadt before the Cup was won once again twelve months later under returning coach Müller with Austria back as tenants at Praterstadion.

Young talents Herbert Prohaska, Erich Obermayer, Felix Gasselich, Ernst Baumeister and Hans Pirkner came to the fore as Karl Stotz led the side to become league runners-up in 1971-72 which was spent at Sport-Club-Platz before WFV-Stadion came out of hibernation to stage home games.

Josef Pecanka’s team won the Cup with an aggregate win against SV Austria Salzburg in 1973-74 following the signing of a long term lucrative sponsorship deal which was backed up in 1975-76 as Austria won the Bundesliga title with Stotz back in charge with the team back at Sport-Club-Platz.

The appointment of coach Hermann Stessl came up trumps as a sixteenth ÖFB Cup was held high with a two legged win against Wiener Sport-Club in 1976-77. The win led to another season in European competition, where Austria had not made any progression in the past.

The club moved to share the new Weststadion with Rapid Wien before returning to Franz Horr Stadium; the former WFV-Stadion which had been renamed in honour of the former president of the Austrian FA.

However, the European Cup Winners-Cup run of 1977-78 would be different. Wins over Cardiff City, Lokomotíva Košice, Hajduk Split and Dynamo Moscow saw Austria progress to the final at Parc des Princes in Paris. RSC Anderlecht proved too strong and won the encounter 4-0.

In a glorious season Austria also won their twelfth Austrian league title to begin an unprecedented period. Success on the pitch and increased crowds led to a return to Praterstadion as semi-final of the European Cup was reached in 1978-79 before going out to Malmö FF as the league title was retained.

Erich Hof came in as coach while star player Prohaska was sold to Internazionale while Friedl Koncilia and Gerhard Steinkogler came in. Josef Degeorgi, Alfred Drabits and Toni Polster were among those who made their way into the first team.

Third and fourth consecutive titles arrived in 1979-80 and 1980-81 as Walter Schachner and Felix Gasselich led the goals charts. Another ÖFB Cup had been won in the former of those seasons against SV Austria Salzburg. The 1981-82 season was spent playing at Hohe Warte Stadion.

Václav Halama took over as coach in April 1982 after Wacker Innsbruck had been defeated on aggregate in the Cup final and finished as league runners-up as Austria returned to Franz-Horr-Station which had been upgraded with new stands and floodlights.

Second place arrived once again in 1982-83 but glory almost came in the Cup Winners-Cup. Diego Maradona’s Barcelona were defeated before a semi-final defeat to Real Madrid. The next league title was won in 1983-84 as Hungarian striker Tibor Nyilasi netted regularly with

Further Bundesliga titles in 1984-85 and 1985-86 made it another three in a row. The latter of the seasons also saw the ÖFB Cup regained with a 6-4 extra time win against Rapid Wien after the same opponents had defeated Austria in the previous two finals.

Austria fell short of a fourth successive league title in 1986-87 as they finished runners-up which was repeated in 1987-88 as coaches continued to last just one season at a time. Big matches were moved at the time to Rapid’s Gerhard Hanappi Stadium rather than Praterstadion, which was being refurbished.

In 1989 a match away to Ajax was marred with crowd riots as Austria keeper Franz Wohlfahrt was struck with an iron bar which led to a two year ban for the Dutch club. In 1989-90 the team coached again by Hof won the Cup against Rapid Wien after extra time as well as finishing as league runners-up as Andreas Ogris top scored.

Austria made it league title number nineteen under former midfield legend Prohaska in 1990-91 before going on to complete another three in a row with championships in 1991-92 and then under Stessl in 1992-93.

The ÖFB Cup was lifted in 1991-92 with a single goal win against Admira Wacker Wien and then again 1993-94 with former player Hickersberger in charge as FC Linz were seen off 4-0 with Austria ended as league runners-up in the same season.

The landscape of Austrian football had begun to change when big money was thrown towards Swarovski Tirol and its predecessor FC Tirol Innsbruck before Sturm Graz and then SV Austria Salzburg found success.  

Austria fell into decline despite the form of youngsters Thomas Flögel, Toni Pfeffer and Michael Wagner. Fortunately, the club was supported by sponsors Magna which allowed the signings of Vladimír Janočko, Sigurd Rushfeldt and Jocelyn Blanchard.

The club collected a league and cup double in 2002-03 under coach Christoph Daum with FC Kärnten being defeated 3-0 in the ÖFB final in Graz thanks to a couple of goals from Rushfeldt and one from Janočko.

Joachim Löw took over team affairs for 2003-04. Libor Sionko was added to the team that ended up as league runners-up and then lost out on penalties to Grazer AK in Salzburg after Radosław Gilewicz had netted twice along with a Sean Dundee effort.

With new signing Filip Šebo and coach Lars Søndergaard the side lifted the Cup in 2004-05 after beating Rapid Wien 3-1. The trophy was retained in 2005-06 as SV Mattersburg were defeated 3-0 with Šebo among the scorers before the side made it a double as the Bundesliga title was secured after Frank Schinkels led the team to glory.

It became three Austrian Cup wins in a row for Austria in 2006-07 when goals from David Lafata and Andreas Lasnik saw a comeback against SV Mattersburg with Georg Zellhofer in place as head coach.

Karl Daxbacher was appointed as coach in May 2008 before Austria won the 2008-09 ÖFB Cup with a 3-1 extra time win against Admira Wacker Mödling. The team went on to finish second in the league in 2009-10 with Milenko Ačimovič scoring the goals.

The Franz Horr Stadium was renamed Generali-Arena in a sponsorship deal in 2010. Former player Ivica Vastić had a spell before being replaced by Peter Stöger in June 2012 who led the team to a twenty fourth league title in 2012-13 as well as runners-up in the ÖFB Cup as huge underdogs FC Pasching triumphed.

The following season under Nenad Bjelica saw Austria battle through the qualifying rounds to reach the group stages of the Champions League, where the opposition of FC Porto, Atlético Madrid and Zenit Saint Petersburg proved too strong for any further progression.

Gerald Baumgartner had been succeeded by Andreas Ogris who led Austria in the Cup final of 2014-15 which was lost after extra time to Red Bull Salzburg; who had been heavily funded and would began their own era of dominance in Austrian football.

Thorsten Fink arrived as the new coach at Austria in July 2015 before the club decamped to the renamed Ernst-Happel-Stadion from 2016 to the reopening of the rebuilt Generali-Arena against Borussia Dortmund in July 2018.

During their time away Austria finished as league runners-up to Red Bull Salzburg before Thomas Letsch arrived as coach in February 2018, remaining in charge until being replaced by Robert Ibertsberger as Austria finished the 2018-19 season in fourth place.

The team under Christian Ilzer, who was appointed in May 2019, were positioned in the lower half relegation round after the table was split in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted proceedings.

FK Austria Wien will play in the Bundesliga in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

FK Austria Wien 0 SKN St. Pölten 0 (Saturday 7^th March 2020) Bundesliga (att: 6,800)

My second day of my Viennese football and cultural adventure had gone superbly well having visited numerous venues with gaining admission no problem. I’d also attended the second half of a lower grade friendly and then the first half of the Stadtliga game between ASK Elektra and First Vienna.

From the second of the matches I took the U1 train from Donaumarina to Praterstern where I changed for the U1 service. Trains were a little less frequent owing to engineering work with several terminating earlier than the end of the line.

The usual tip of looking out for club colours was adopted, though the first bloke I followed initially went to the wrong platform. We must have looked a pair as I pursued him back up the stairs. Eventually we reached Altes Landgut, the nearest stop to the Generali-Arena.

Fans went down one of two routes, so I followed the bigger mass across the main B225 road and along the side before cutting through the McDonalds car park and then up

Fishhofgasse to the main forecourt outside the stadium.

My ticket had been bought in advance and printed online for €23 for the 5pm kick off. It was for the NordOst corner section, but the turnstiles were closed. I went in behind the North Stand where a pleasant steward did his security work before I went up the first set of stairs to the concourse.

I was taking photos as fans were standing in tribute to remember someone who’d recently passed. The stand was scarcely populated and as I was about to walk back up the steps a friendly face introduced himself.

Hans, an Austria fan had seen my plans on Twitter a few weeks earlier and had been most helpful in my planning. Indeed, he had found me my friendly earlier that day. We’d been in touch earlier in the day, but I didn’t envisage it would be so easy to catch up.

The first job was to grab a beer. Hans kindly allowed me to put cash onto his fan card to purchase as the ground operated a similar system to many major stadiums around Europe. We stood at the back of the lower seating tier and chatted away.

Generali-Arena was a fine venue and had been designed with the fans in mind after its reconstruction. The single level Sud Tribune stood alone opposite while the other three sides wrapped square around the pitch in one continuous two-tiered block. Access around three sides was easy.

Hans explained that Austria were having a tough time on the pitch affected by finances after the stadium rebuild. The fans weren’t totally happy with the club. The Ultras had held meetings with directors after a boycott. Before kick-off the head of the fans announced the outcome over his megaphone.

We enjoyed a good conversation about the places we’d visited, matches of old involving Austrian football as I tried to enhance my knowledge. There’s nothing better than learning from knowledgeable locals, and Hans most certainly fitted into that department. His advice throughout my trip was invaluable.

It was sad to get a feeling of slight despondency among the home fans. It was the final round of matches before the league was split into two. Austria were going to end in the bottom half for the first time in living memory. The visitors from St. Pölten were bottom of the table.

It was as well I was in good company as the match did little to cheer. Der Violett und Weiß had drawn their previous five games and did little to convince that this match would end any differently despite the attacking intentions down the left of Manprit Sarkaria and Andreas Poulsen who was on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Pak Kwang-ryong went close for St. Pölten before the North Korean was in the wars after Austria keeper Patrick Pentz cleaned him up after making a clearance. Referee Sebastian Gishamer deemed the challenge only worthy of a yellow card. I remained unconvinced. At the other end, forward Christoph Monschein was getting very little change from the visiting defence.

Between enjoying another beer, I had a wander to take photos. I saw that the section behind the goal was made up of railed terracing that as was the lower section of the away fans corner. Free programmes were in plentiful supply on the shelves on the concourse.

After the break Hans and his pals had a good laugh when the attendance was announced. They remarked that it must have been very busy upstairs! The rain teemed down as the sides continued to struggle to provide any entertainment as the home fans did their best to rally their troops.

St. Pölten keeper Thomas Vollnhofer made a slight error that Patrick Wimmer couldn’t quite capitalise upon. In stoppage time Stefan Stangl cleared off his line as the onrushing Monschein looked to pounce. 0-0 was about the right score.

Hans said his goodbyes and left me with a parting gift of a beer mug. He gave me a choice of two and I went without hesitation for the one with Herbert Prohaska on it to remind me of my youth and the fantastic Austrian side at the 1978 World Cup.

My plans were uncertain, but I initially wanted to go back to the hotel to charge my phone and freshen up. My Google Map App showed that a bus would take me most of the way back. I was delighted to find my way to the stop just as the vehicle arrived and get seat.

It was only fifteen minutes later when I decided to chart on our progress after checking up on the football scores from back home that I realised that something was wrong. The driver was going like a lunatic and getting a lot of feedback from fans. Perhaps he was a Rapid fan?

The 15A was the correct service but I’d got on at the wrong side of the road and gone in the wrong direction. I alighted and waited for one heading the other way which took me to Meidling station from where the U6 took me to Längenfeldgasse.

I’d noticed a takeaway place the previous evening when trying to find an ATM opposite the station. I decided to give the Syrian owned Shawarma a punt. Despite the language barrier the friendly chap made me a delicious meat and chip kebab roll for me to go home with.

It turned out to be the best €3, which included a bottle of water, that I’d spent for some time. Once I’d eaten and put my feet up, I took a shower and ended up calling it a night. Who’s have thought I’d ever give up a Saturday night; especially in a new city, but it would prove a great call the next day.

After all, I had two full days and nights to go and that would take energy. Sometimes rest after a marvellous day out is the perfect medicine.