FM14: FK Austria Wien - Die Veilchen

[Gene]

Fußballklub Austria Wien; often known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria in German speaking countries) is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. The club have won 24 Austrian Bundesliga titles, surpassed only by their cross-city rivals SK Rapid Wien. With 27 victories in the Austrian Cup and six in the Austrian Supercup, Austria Wien is the most successful club in each of those tournaments. The club reached the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in 1978, and the semi-finals of the European Cup the season after.

History:

Foundation to World War II

FK Austria Wien was founded in Vienna on 15 March 1911 as the Wiener Amateur Sportvereinigung by players and officials of the Vienna Cricket- and Football- Club, taking violet and white as the new club's colours. The team claimed its first championship title in 1924. Amateure changed their name to Austria in 1926 as the former amateurs had become professionals. The club also won their second league title that year.

The 1930s, one of Austria Wien's most successful eras, brought two titles (1933, 1936) in the Mitropa Cup, a tournament for champions in Central Europe. The star of that side was forward Matthias Sindelar, who was voted in 1998 as the greatest ever Austrian footballer.

The club's successes were halted by the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. While Jewish players and staff at the club were exterminated or fled the country, Sindelar died under unresolved circumstances on 23 January 1939 of carbon monoxide poisoning in his apartment. He had refused to play for Germany, citing injury and international retirement. Even though the club did not have any success in this period, playing in the Gauliga Ostmark, they managed a much more important victory in keeping the name "Austria" despite attempts by Nazi sports authorities to rename the club.

Post-World War II

Austria Wien won their first league title for 23 years in 1949, and retained it the following year. They later won a fifth title, in 1953. The club won 16 titles in 33 seasons between 1960 and 1993, starting with a hat-trick of titles (1961, 1962, and 1963). Forward Ernst Ocwirk, who won five league titles in two separate spells at the club, managed the side to their 1969 and 1970 Bundesliga titles. Other players of this era included Horst Nemec.

The 1970s saw the beginning of another successful era, despite no league title between 1970 and 1976 as an ageing squad was rebuilt. The side returned to a period of dominance with eight league titles in the 11 seasons from 1975–76 to 1985-86. After winning the 1977 Austrian Cup national Cup, Austria Wien reached the 1978 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, which it lost 4–0 to Belgian club Anderlecht. The following season, the club reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, losing 1-0 on aggregate to Swedish team Malmo. In 1982–83, Austria Wien reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winner's Cup, losing 5-3 on aggregate to Real Madrid of Spain.

Players at Austria Wien in this era in this successful era included: Herbert "Schneckerl" Prohaska, Felix Gasselich, Thomas Parits, Walter Schachner, Gerhard Steinkogler, Toni Polster and Tibor Nyilasi.

Recent history

At the start of the 1990s, Austria Wien enjoyed its so far last successful era: a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles (1991–93); three cup titles (1990, 1992 and 1994) as well as four Super cup titles (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) were won. The club declined in the late 1990s due to financial problems which caused key players to be sold.

Austria Wien was taken over by Austro-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach's Magna auto-parts consortium in 1999, and due to further deals with the Memphis cigarette company was renamed FK Austria Memphis Magna. Stronach's investment in players, on a budget three times as high as the average in the league, saw a first Bundesliga title for ten years in 2002–03. Despite this, coach Walter Schachner was fired, and his replacement Christoph Daum could not retain the league title, but won the Cup.

In 2004 the name Memphis was removed. Austria Wien reached their last European quarter-final in 2004-05 as they were eliminated by Parma of Italy in the UEFA Cup. On 21 November 2005, Frank Stonach decided to resign from his post. As a result several players such as topscorer Roland Linz, Vladimír Janočko, Joey Didulica, Libor Sionko, Filip Šebo and Sigurd Rushfeldt were transferred to other teams in Summer 2006. The 2005–06 season concluded with a league-and-cup double.

The season 2006–07 saw a decline at the club due to a much-reduced budget and loss of key players. Despite losing 4-1 on aggregate to Benfica of Portugal in the preliminary round of the Champions League, the team managed to qualify (against Legia Warsaw winning 2–1 on aggregate) for the Group Phase of the UEFA Cup tournament. Former player and coach Thomas Parits became the new general manager, and after losing three days later 4–0 away to Red Bull Salzburg, sacked coaching pair Peter Stöger and Frank Schinkels. Georg Zellhofer replaced them. The league season saw a sixth-place finish despite being in last place on Christmas, although Austria Wien also won the Cup. The side improved the following season, finishing in third.

The summer of 2008 brought notable changes for Austria Wien. Twelve players left the club, among them key players like Sanel Kuljic and Yüksel Sariyar, who went and joined Frank Stronach's newly founded team FC Magna in Austria's second division. The Betriebsführervertrag with Stronach's Magna company expired, which gave the club a wholly new structure. On 1 July 2008 the original name FK Austria Wien, without any sponsor name included for the first time in 30 years. The club also recruited Chinese international Sun Xiang, who became the first Chinese player to play in the Austrian Bundesliga. In the 2012-13 season Austria Vienna won their 24th league title, ahead of holders Red Bull Salzburg, but lost the Cup final 1-0 to third-tier FC Pasching. In August 2013, Austria Wien qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time after defeating Dinamo Zagreb in the play-offs round.

Stadium:

Franz Horr Stadium

FK Austria Wien play their home games at the Franz Horr Stadium which has a total capacity of 12,500 including its new East-Stand. The stadium was renamed "Generali Arena" in a sponsorship deal announced at the end of 2010 with Italian insurers Generali.

The stadium was constructed in 1925 for Slovan Vienna, a Czech immigrants' club, and was largely destroyed by the Allies in World War II. In 1973 it was named after Franz Horr, chairman of the Viennese FA, and Austria Vienna moved into the ground the following year.

Wien Derby:

The Wiener derby, or Vienna derby is an association football local derby match between city rivals FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien from the Austrian capital city of Vienna (Wien). The two sides are the most successful in the country winning more national titles and cups than any other teams. They are also two of the most popular clubs in Austria with fans across the country.

The first meeting between the clubs was 8 September 1911 when Rapid beat Austria 4-1. In total 303 competitive games have been played with Rapid the victors on 124 occasions, Austria have won 111 games and 68 have ended in a draw. The fixture is the most played city derby in Europe after the Old Firm.

Rivalry Culture

Both clubs come from the Hietzing area, the 13th district, located in Western Vienna. Today however Austria now play at Franz Horr Stadium in the Southern Vienna area of Favoriten (district 10) while Rapid are still located in the West of the city but in nearby Penzing (district 14) at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium.

Support today is mainly split along geographical divides of north and west (Rapid) and south (Austria) however both clubs have fans throughout the city and across the country. Class has been cited as a traditional means of support with Rapid being supported by the working classes while Austria were the team of the bourgeois of Vienna.[citation needed] Rapid were founded as First Workers Club of Wien compared with Austria who were founded as Wien Amateur Sports Society and incorporated a minimum intelligence requirement into their founding statutes. The class divisions may be coming back into play however as Rapid are currently only one of two Austrian sides run by its supporters. Austria were owned by Frank Stronach until 2008 and changed their name back from Austria Memphis Magna to Austria Wien.

Early Austrian football was dominated by clubs from Vienna and the Wien derby as it is known today was contested by many different clubs, most notably Rapid, First Vienna FC, who are located in the northern district 19 and SK Admira Vienna from district 21 also in the north of the city. The three clubs dominated Austrian football winning every title from 1927-1946 but Admira later merged with other clubs and eventually moved to Mödling, a town south of Vienna. The original Viennese club, First Vienna went into decline after the 1950s and now play outside the top flight. FK Austria became Rapid's main rival in the early 1960s as the two began to dominate Austrian football.

A heavy police presence is involved at matches to keep crowd trouble to a minimum. In 2007, four policemen were injured during fighting between supporters. In 2011 a game was abandoned after Rapid fans invaded the pitch.

Honours:

Domestic competitions:
Austrian Bundesliga (24)

   Champions: 1923–24 (regional title), 1925–26 (regional title); 1948–49, 1949–50; 1952–53; 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63; 1968–69,
1969–70; 1975–76; 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81; 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86; 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93; 2002–03, 2005–06, 2012–13

Austrian Cup (27)

   Champions: 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1948, 1949, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1986,
1990, 1992, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

Austrian Supercup (6)

   Winners: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2003, 2004

Wiener Cup (2)

   Winners: 1948, 1949

European competitions:
Mitropa Cup (2)

   Champions: 1933, 1936

European Cup Winners' Cup

   'Runners Up: 1978

Copa Rio

   'Runners Up: 1952

Why Austria Wien?

Historically speaking, they're one of the biggest clubs in Austria. They've done quite well in their home nation and have made themselves somewhat known over the years in Europe. Austria Wien are an up and coming club after a few rather lean years as seen by their advancement to the group stages of the Champions League. The Austrian Bundesliga while being top heavy still presents a rather unique challenge in that your wage spending is restricted to 50% of your turnover each season. Don't let down your passionate fan base and you'll be a legend, fail to reach the heights of the previous manager and you'll be out on the snowy streets of Vienna. While Vienna is one of the most beautiful and historic of all cities in Europe, don't get side tracked by the sights, you're here to do a job.

[Gene]

Club Information

You have a great youth setup to help build your sides with, which is good considering you're only allowed to register 7 non-EU players.

Expectations aren't all that high for a club of this stature in the Austrian Bundesliga.

[Gene]

Squad Analysis

The squad itself is actually a rather talented side of veterans mixed in with a few talented youngsters. You've got a big enough squad with enough players to play almost any formation you'd like.

Grunwald is a talented stopper at this level and will probably be your first choice, but Heinz Lidner is a potential Austrian number 1 and will push Grunwald for the #1 shirt. You could possibly even sell Grunwald but that will leave with a completely ineffective backup.

In central defence you have two obvious starters in Ortlechtner and Rogulj, but you also have a rather talented understudy in Wimmer. He might not ever reach world class, but he should develop into one of the better centerbacks at this level. Suttner can do a job in the center but is more at home out on the left.

Suttner is one of the better leftbacks in Austrian football not named David Alaba, and Leovac is a capable backup. You may look to strengthen this position as there really isn't any depth here, even at the youth level.

Koch and Dilaver will be battling it out for the starting role with Holland just behind them pushing. Dilaver will attract a lot of attention in the transfer market and may be an option to off load.

Midfield is rather stacked with options and it's obviously where your strength will lie. You can build your midfield any you'd like with this club and you're likely to be successful. Just remember this name, Sascha Horvath. He's quietly stashed away in your youth setup but you will develop into one of the best, if not the best Austrian midfielder in world.

Your wing and attacking midfield options are rather plentiful as well. Whatever you do, be sure to involve the talented 19 yr old, Thomas Murg. He will certainly be fixture in your side for years to come.

Striker may be another are to improve numbers wise if you want to play with two up front. Hosiner makes an excellent poacher, especially when paired with Kienast as an advanced forward. Jun is another talented player who can play a number of positions, but with his age, wages, and expiring contract, now might be the right time to sell.

Future Stars

Sascha Horvath

We'll go ahead and start with the most talented of the bunch. Horvath will command the Austrian midfield for years to come. He's a natural at CM so an advanced playmaker role may be in his future, but he can also play CAM and would make a pretty good Enganche.

Dominik Prokop

He's still 16 so he has a lot of developing left do in the physical department, but it looks like a role as a false nine might be in his future.

Peter Michorl

Could quite possibly develop into a solid midfielder given the right tutor.

Osman Hadzikic

You have several decent young keepers at your club, managing them all will be tough, and you might want to look at loaning a few out before possibly selling.

Srdan Spiridonovic

Should develop into a rather effective inside forward for those that use them. A loan in the first season will probably be needed though since he won't be able to crack the first team.

Marco Krainz

Could possibly develop into a decent ball winner for your midfield, another 16 yr old though, so he'll need a few years of development before being called on.

Patrick Pentz

Another potentially gifted keeper. He'll need some tutoring though to improve his mentals.

Bernhard Luxbacher

I know big things are expected of him at the club, which is reflected in his potential, but his attributes seem to be completely random. He looks nothing like this on my save. Here's how he looks on my save...

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/heelswxman/Screenshot2013-10-29at125804AM_zpse24bde1c.png

[SRL88]

Nice OP .

[Jogo Bonito]

Gene, thanks for the info and guide. I always try do manage top flight sides in the medium/small European nations, and after trying Croatia (Dinamo), Denmark (FC Copenhagen) and Switzerland (Basel) in FM13, it may be time to have my first ever crack in Austria.

I like the looks of Lindner, Suttner, Gorgon and in particular Hosiner - who all enjoyed great seasons last time out - but the zero transfer budget worries me a little. If you're a proper fan of the club you might not appreciate that I'm also considering Rapid and RB Salzburg too. If I do take them on, I will post here, but if I go for one of the others, I would hope to try and recruit a few of these players. That might direct me towards RB as they are probably the only Austrian club with the budget to take Hosiner. Any idea what kind of fee he would attract?

[Gene]

Gene, thanks for the info and guide. I always try do manage top flight sides in the medium/small European nations, and after trying Croatia (Dinamo), Denmark (FC Copenhagen) and Switzerland (Basel) in FM13, it may be time to have my first ever crack in Austria.

I like the looks of Lindner, Suttner, Gorgon and in particular Hosiner - who all enjoyed great seasons last time out - but the zero transfer budget worries me a little. If you're a proper fan of the club you might not appreciate that I'm also considering Rapid and RB Salzburg too. If I do take them on, I will post here, but if I go for one of the others, I would hope to try and recruit a few of these players. That might direct me towards RB as they are probably the only Austrian club with the budget to take Hosiner. Any idea what kind of fee he would attract?

Honestly I have no idea how much Hosiner would cost, but he'd certainly be worth it. He simply scores for fun in this league.