Austria Vienna
Historic club narrowly escape demotion to amateur ranks
Austria Vienna’s 110-year run in the top flight of the country’s football league came perilously close to an end, and it had nothing to do with what was happening on the pitch. Beset by financial problems, the Violets were initially denied a licence for next season, which would have condemned them to amateur football, and were only saved when the decision was overturned on appeal by Austrian football’s so-called “protest committee”.
This followed a huge fund-raising campaign in which Austria international David Alaba, who began his career at the club, was reportedly among the contributors. In between, fans organised a mock funeral procession that ended with them depositing a coffin at the doors of the club’s Generali Arena, as part of a protest against the club’s owners. “The time of the gravediggers is over,” read one banner at the protests. “Not a threat but a promise: If you destroy our Austria, we will destroy you!” said another.
Things have been getting steadily worse for the 24-time Austrian champions and 27-time cup winners. For the last two seasons, they have not even managed to make the title play-offs (the Austrian Bundesliga is split into two groups for the final part of the season) and have instead been thrown into the relegation group.
Their story is similar to many other traditional clubs around Europe from outside the big five leagues.
There was a time when Austria Vienna were a force in Europe, reaching the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1978 and European Cup semi-final the following season, where they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Malmo – the sort of pairing which would nowadays be unthinkable in the final four of Europe’s top club competition.
But the reshaping of European football has seen clubs from smaller leagues unable to compete with the financial muscle of those from the “Big Five”. Austria Vienna’s last appearance in the Champions League group stage was in 2013-14 and, predictably, they finished bottom of their group.
The club expect to operate on a budget of €24 million for the 2021-22 season, a modest amount which includes the youth and women’s teams, but is still the second-highest in the Austrian Bundesliga.
In the last three seasons, they have made only one signing that involved the payment of a fee – €260,000 for Benedikt Pichler from Austria Klagenfurt in 2019.
Founded as Wiener Amateur
SV in 1910 and renamed Austria Vienna in 1926, their problems were compounded following the arrival of Red Bull at Salzburg in 2005.
Like neighbours Rapid Vienna, Austria were simply unable to compete with both Red Bull’s financial resources and slick management.
RB Salzburg, backed by a worldclass scouting setup, have become remarkably successful in the art of acquiring young talent, developing the players and selling them on to bigger clubs for a huge profit, and the traditional clubs have been unable to keep up.
In contrast, Austria Vienna have only sold one player for a fee since the start of 2020, earning €365,000 for midfielder Tarkan Serbest.
Of Austria Vienna’s 24 titles, only three have come since the turn of the century and the last was in 2013. Since then, they have employed eight different coaches, with none able to
Things have been getting steadily worse for the 24-time Austrian champions and 27-time cup winners
replicate success, including former Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Stoger, manager for the 2020-21 campaign.
Last season, the club – which is valued at €25m – reported a loss of €19m and liabilities of €78m.
There was hope in March when the club signed a partnership with luxury lifestyle management group Insignia, a move that chief executive Markus Kraetschmer described as a milestone in its history. “We believe in Austria’s potential to become one of the best and most important brands in football,” said Insignia vice-president Luka Sur.
But, only one month later, the application for a licence for next season was rejected by the Austrian Bundesliga, reportedly due to a lack of bank guarantees.
Austrian media reports said the club had just over one week to raise €7m, something they achieved with the help of former players Alaba – who reportedly chipped in with €500,000 – and Aleksandar Dragovic, club president Frank Hensel and vicepresident Raimund Harreither.
Kraetschmer would not confirm details but implied that there had been some generous contributions. “If someone wants to talk about it, he is at liberty to do so. We as a club are not allowed to say anything about it,” he said. “Many people took the initiative. We have experienced solidarity and cohesion. Basically, everyone inside and outside the club agreed: Austria Vienna must stay in the Bundesliga.”