Rudi Strittich (3 March 1922 – 11 July 2010) was an Austrian
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach and former player.
Club career
Strittich debuted for
Vorwärts Steyr
''Vorwärts'' (, "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily a ...
, and later played for
First Vienna FC
First Vienna FC is an 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. It is familiarly k ...
. While with First Vienna, he went on a tour of the Middle East and upon returning was arrested along with two other players for smuggling narcotics into Austria. Strittich was imprisoned for three months and banned from football for one year by the
Austrian Football Association
The Austrian Football Association (german: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund; ÖFB) is the governing body of football in Austria. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as w ...
.
Unable to play football in Austria, Strittich was recruited by
Béla Guttmann
Béla Guttmann (; 27 January 1899 – 28 August 1981) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, and was Jewish. He was deported by the Nazis to a Nazi slave labor camp where he was tortured; he survived the ...
to play for Italian club
USC Triestina. The Austrian FA would not clear him to play, so he joined Colombian side
Samarios, where he could play because the
Colombian Football Federation
The Colombian Football Federation (in es, Federación Colombiana de Fútbol) is the governing body of football in Colombia. It was founded in 1924 and has been affiliated to FIFA since 1936. It is a member of CONMEBOL and is in charge of the Col ...
was not at the time affiliated to
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
Upon returning to Austria, Strittich learned that his ban was still in effect, as the Austrian FA ruled that he did serve the ban while playing in Colombia. He moved to Switzerland and trained with the youth side of
Young Fellows Zürich. Next, he briefly returned to Vienna, and was sold to French side
Besançon RC
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
after just six months. He suffered a back injury in France, and would retire from playing soon after.
International career
He made his debut for
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 ...
in December 1946 against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and earned 4 caps, scoring one goal.
Coaching career
After retiring as a football player Strittich worked as a coach for
Sturm Graz
Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white.
In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...
in his home country. However, his greatest success as a coach came in
Denmark
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, where he made
Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...
champions in 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1979. He was also coach of the
Denmark national football team
The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...
from 1970 to 1975.
Honours
As a player
*
Austrian Football Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...
(1): 1943
As a manager
*
Danish Football League (4): 1961, 1962, 1965, 1979
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strittich, Rudi
1922 births
2010 deaths
Men's association football midfielders
Austrian footballers
Austria men's international footballers
SK Vorwärts Steyr players
First Vienna FC players
Racing Besançon players
Expatriate footballers in Colombia
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in France
Austrian football managers
Austrian expatriate football managers
SK Sturm Graz managers
Esbjerg fB managers
SK Vorwärts Steyr managers
Viborg FF managers
FC Red Bull Salzburg managers
FC Basel managers
Real Murcia managers
Denmark national football team managers
Expatriate football managers in Denmark
Expatriate football managers in Greece
Expatriate football managers in Spain
Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in France
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
AaB Fodbold managers
Unión Magdalena footballers
People from Steyr
Footballers from Upper Austria
Sportspeople convicted of crimes
Drug traffickers