The Austrian Football Association (german: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund; ÖFB) is the governing body of football in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as well as its female equivalent. It is based in the capital,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Since 1905, it has been a FIFA member, and since 1954, a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

member. Since 7 April 2002, Friedrich Stickler (Dipl. Eng.), the director of executive committee of the Austrian lottery, has been the president of the Austrian Football Association. Supporting him is its president, Kurt Ehrenberger, Frank Stronach, Dr.

Gerhard Kapl Gerhard Kapl (11 November 1946, in Wels – 25 July 2011, in Graz) was an Austrian state official, referee and football official. Life Gerhard Kapl lost his father at an early age and grew up in poverty. Kapl completed the matura with distincti ...

, and Dr.

Leo Windtner Leopold "Leo" Windtner (born 30 August 1950 in Linz, Upper Austria) is general manager of Energie AG Oberösterreich' and honorary president of the Austrian Football Association (german: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund, ÖFB). Biography Windtner g ...

. In 2004, it was announced there are 285,000 players (both sexes) in Austria playing for 2,309 teams in the federation, although many more players play informally or for non-recognised teams. Thus the federation is the largest sporting organisation the country. Football is, perhaps with the exception of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ...

, the most popular sport in Austria. Football possesses a large value, and has a rich history and tradition in Austria.

History

In 1894, the

First Vienna Football Club First Vienna FC is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there ...

, the first football team in Austria, were founded in Vienna. From this nucleus, the Austrian Football Association was established in 1904. One year after the establishment, Austria became a member of the international football federation FIFA and hosted the fifth FIFA congress in 1908. In 1913, they supervised the Galicja national team, which was directly subordinate to the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( pl, Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej; PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the Ekstraklasa), the Polish Cup and the Polish national fo ...

. The milestones of the federation and past football history were the years 1930 to 1933, 1950 to 1954 and then 1958 as well as 1978, 1982, 1990 and 1998 with the participation of Austria at the World Cup. Hugo Meisl was one of the best-known personalities in the early years of the Austrian Football Association, becoming general-secretary and national team coach in 1927. At the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

, his team won silver after losing 2–1 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Austria's only international final. Meisl's team, nicknamed the ''Wunderteam'', remained unbeaten from 12 April 1931 to 23 October 1932 in 14 successive matches. The highlights of this series were the 6-0 (Berlin) and 5-0 (Vienna) victories against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. The 1950s saw more achievements with their well-known football greats such as

Ernst Ocwirk Ernst Ocwirk (7 March 1926 – 23 January 1980) was an Austrian football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers of all time. He spent the majority of his playing and coaching years between Austria and Ital ...

(twice captain of the FIFA World Selection Team), Ernst Happel, Gerhard Hanappi and Walter Zeman. The FIFA World Cup 1954 ranks among being most successful in Austrian Football Association history. Twenty years after being in 4th place in the

FIFA World Cup 1934 The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in ...

held in Italy, Austria returned to the circle of the best teams again.

Regional associations

* Burgenland Football Association (German: Burgenländischer Fußball-Verband - BFV) in 1923 * Lower Austrian Football Association (German: Niederösterreichischer Fußball-Verband - NÖFV) in 1911 * Upper Austrian Football Association (German: Oberösterreichischer Fußball-Verband - OFV) in 1919 *

Salzburg Football Association The Salzburg Football Association (German:Salzburger Fußballverband; SFV) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs of the Austrian state Salzburg. The SFV was founded in 1921 and has its headquarters in Salzburg. The SFV is one of 8 ...

(German: Salzburger Fußball-Verband - SFV) in 1921 *

Styria Football Association The Styria Football Association (german: Steirischer Fußball-Verband, StFV) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs of the Austrian state Styria. The StFV was founded in 1911 and has its headquarters in Graz. The StFV is one of 8 regi ...

(German: Steirischer Fußballverband -StFV) in 1923 * Tirol Football Association (German: Tiroler Fussballverband - TFV) in 1919 * Vorarlberg Football Association (German:Vorarlberger Fussballverband - VFV) in 1920 * Vienna Football Association (German: Wiener Fußball-Verband - WFV) in 1923

Former regional associations

* Polish Football Association ( pl, Związek Polski Piłki Nożnej, ZPPN) in the

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

in 1911-1920 centered in Lemberg (today

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukra ...

), transferred to the

centered in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

as the ''Lwow District (okrug)'' * German Alpine Football Association (german: Deutsch-Alpenländische Fußballverband) in 1911 centered in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

* Austrian Union of Sports Workers and Soldiers (german: Verband der Arbeiter- und Soldatensportvereine Österreichs)

Former associations of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

* Football Association of German Prague (german: Verband der Prager Deutschen Fußball-Vereine) in the city of Prag in 1900 to 1904 and merged to the German Football Union * Hungarian Football Federation in 1901 as a separate Hungarian association of the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

* Bohemian Football Union in 1901 * Austrian Football Union in 1904 * Polish Football Union in 1911

Presidents

* 1904–1906:

Heinrich Strehblow Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of p ...

* 1906–1907:

Ignaz Abeles Ignaz is a male given name, related to the name Ignatius. Notable people with this name include: * Franz Ignaz Beck (1734–1807), German musician * Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704), Bohemian-Austrian musician * Ignaz Brüll (1846–190 ...

* 1907–1914:

Adolf Wallner Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

* 1914–1922:

* 1922–1926:

Karl Volkert Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austr ...

* 1926–1938:

Richard Eberstaller Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...

* 1945–1955:

Josef Gerö Josef may refer to * Josef (given name) * Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan s ...

* 1955–1969: * 1970–1976:

Heinz Gerö The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

* 1976–1982: * 1982–1984: Herbert Raggautz and Heinz Gerö (interim) * 1984–2002: Josef "Beppo" Mauhart * 2002–2008: Friedrich Stickler * 2008–2009:

Kurt Ehrenberger Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

(interim) * 2009–2021:

* 2021–present: Gerhard Milletich

Current sponsorships

Uniqa The Uniqa Insurance Group AG (corporately styled "UNIQA") is one of the largest insurance groups in its core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe and has approximately 40 companies in 22 countries and serve about 10.5 million custom ...

* Admiral *

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

* Magenta * Tipp3 *

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of t ...

* Kronen Zeitung * Geomix * Raiffeisen Bank International *

Stiegl Beer in Austria comes in a wide variety of styles. There are many small breweries across the country, although a few large breweries dominate the market. The most common beer is ''Märzen''. Breweries Styrian breweries, in the south, include ' ...

* ÖBB *

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

* Coca-Cola

External links

Austrian Football Association
at FIFA site

at UEFA site {{Authority control

Football in Austria Futsal in Austria Foo 1904 establishments in Austria Sports organizations established in 1904 Football in Austria-Hungary Organisations based in Vienna Sport in Vienna