First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 19. Bezirk, Döbling, Doebling). It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populate ...

district of

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

. 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 known to Austrians by the English name ''Vienna''. __TOC__

History

In the early 1890s English and Austrian gardeners working for Nathaniel Anselm von Rothschild began to play football on his estates. To avoid further damage to his flowers Nathaniel ceded them a pasture nearby and also granted the team's blue-yellow

kits Kits may refer to: *Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company * KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station * Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sc ...

, former jockey costumes of his riding stable. The Manx player William Beale designed the

triskelion A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts o ...

logo, also in the

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...

colours blue and yellow, which ''Vienna'' still uses. The team played its first match on 15 November 1894 against the ''Vienna Cricket and Football-Club'' losing 0:4 to the club which would become a bitter longtime rival until the ''Cricketers football team was finally dissolved in 1936. The city of Vienna quickly became the centre of Austrian football and by the end of 1896 there were seven clubs playing there, several of which also fielded reserve sides. Challenge-Cup-1899

In 1897, the chairman of the ''Cricketers'' donated the Challenge Cup establishing a competition open to all football clubs in what was then

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 ...

, drawing teams from Vienna,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. ''Cricket'' won the first cup competition in 1897, but ''First Vienna'' followed with consecutive cup titles in 1899 and 1900. The club also made a losing appearance in the 1907 final of the Wiener Cup which emerged when the Challenge Cup competition fell into disarray between 1903 and 1905. In the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 ''Vienna'' performed poorly and by 1915 had fallen out of first division play and did not return to the top flight until after the war in 1919.

Glory years

The club gradually returned to form and consistently finished in the top half of the league table through the 20s winning Austrian Cup titles in 1929 and 1930 before finally claiming the national championship in 1931. That same year the team also won the

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...

, one of Europe's first international club competitions. The cup title was unique in the history of the competition as they swept their opposition, winning all six of their matches. ''Vienna'' captured a second national title in 1933 with a third Austrian Cup following in 1937. The team was involved in a failed attempt in the 1924–25 season to play Austria's first night game on a field lit by torches and flares, and playing with a ball covered in lime to make it more visible. They later successfully played the country's first match under floodlights on 3 November 1956.

WWII and play in the Gauliga

After Austria was united with Germany in the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

in 1938 the football competitions of the two countries were also merged. First division Austrian teams played in the newly formed

Gauliga Ostmark The Gauliga Ostmark, renamed Gauliga Donau-Alpenland in 1941, was the highest football league in Austria after its annexation by Germany in 1938. Shortly after the occupation, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Austria, and the se ...

as part of the league structure established under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in the re-organization of German football in 1933. This led to the appearance of Austrian sides in the national finals of Germany and in competition for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

. In 1942, ''Vienna'' captured the divisional title in what was by then known as the Gauliga Donau-Alpenland (Ostmark) and went all the way to the final played on 4 July 1942 in Berlin where they dropped a 0:2 decision to ''

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

'' the dominant side of German football in the era. ''Vienna'' repeated as divisional champions the following season, but this time advanced only as far as the semi-finals before being put out 1:2 by '' FV Saarbrücken''. The club did, however, have a successful Tschammerpokal run, winning the 1943 competition by defeating ''

Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg (literally: Airforce sports club Hamburg) was a short-lived military German association football club active during World War II and is notable as the most successful of the wartime military sides. History Military spor ...

'' 3:2 in extra time to become the second Austrian side to take the cup by following in the footsteps of ''

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

'', victors in 1938. A third Gauliga title in 1944 again put the club into Germany's national playoffs where this time they went out 2:3 in the quarterfinals to eventual champions ''

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in 1900. Th ...

''. As World War II drew to a close and Allied armies advanced into Germany league play collapsed with ''Vienna'' still in a tight race again looking to repeat as division champions.

Postwar play

Occupied by Allied forces after the end of the war, Austria was once again independent of Germany and a separate league structure was re-established. In league play in the 1946 season ''Vienna'' earned only a fifth-place finish but did go on to capture the Liberation Cup donated by the Soviets. Through the late 40s and on into the early 50s the club's performance was uneven as they generally earned only mid-table results. However, led by club legend Karl Koller, in 1955 ''Vienna'' enjoyed an excellent season that ended with the club's sixth national championship title as they finished ahead of ''

Wiener Sport-Club The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

'' since they had the better goal quotient. Goal difference was not yet implemented. A 1:0 was better than a 10:1 win, the higher the quotient the better, although the ideal one being zero (forced goals divided by allowed goals). 20:1= 20, 20:2=10, so the higher quotient, the better with the exception of zero. Example: when Vienna won the championship in the 1954–1955 season they ended up with 64:26 goals = 2.461 quotient. Wiener Sport-Club finished with 75: 40 goals, achieving a quotient of only 1.875 but on equal points (39).

Fall from the top flight

''Vienna'' remained competitive through the balance of the decade, consistently finishing in the top three, but the club faded through the 60s until they were finally relegated in 1968 for the first time since their return to the top flight after World War I. They re-appeared in the first division after a single season absence, but no longer seriously challenged for the title. With the establishment of the ten-team Zehnerliga, Austria's new premier division, in 1974–75, ''Vienna'' again found itself playing second division football until earning promotion in 1976. However, they continued to struggle as a lower division side and were again sent down in 1980. The expansion of the first division from ten to sixteen teams in 1982 allowed ''Vienna'' back into the senior competition, but their inconsistent play continued. Another league re-organization established the twelve-team Austrian Bundesliga in 1985 and ''Vienna'' made its first appearance there in the following season. A highlight of this time was a strong championship round performance in 1988 that led to a fourth-place finish that earned the club a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

appearance. The club remained a lower table side and was facing relegation trouble by the early-90s, finally being sent down in 1992. ''Vienna'' next enjoyed a strong run through the 1997 Austrian Cup competition which took them to the final where they lost 2–1 to first division side

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 ...

. However, the team could not recover itself in regular league play, and while they came close to a return to the Bundesliga several times, they continued a slide that in 2000 landed them in the third division '' Regionalliga Ost'' where Vienna played until in 2009 they won the championship and gained promotion to the First League. In the 2009/10 season, ''Vienna'' finished eleventh in the second tier of Austrian football. A potential relegation playoff against Regionalliga West champions SV Grödig were canceled because the relegated team

FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. History Austria Klagenfurt Austria Klagenfurt played successfully in the ''Kärntner Liga'' and in ...

had its license withdrawn. The following 2010/11 season, Vienna finished once again second-bottom in the league table ahead of SV Gratkorn. However, under new coach Alfred Tatar managed to win their relegation matches against the champions of the Regionalliga Ost, SC-ESV Parndorf 1919, 3-0 and 2-1 respectively, and maintained their second tier status. The following year, ''Vienna'' secured their place in the league in the 36th match of the season and in the 2012/13 season, Vienna performed better, managing to keep away from the relegation battle with good performances and finished 7th. The 2013/14 season was a disaster for ''Vienna'', finishing last with a 13 point deducted due to various licensing violations. At the end of the season, Vienna and Tatar announced an amicable separation. The club's license for the 2014/15 season in professional football was also denied. From the 2014/15 season, Vienna had to play in the third tier Regionalliga Ost again. Due to the insolvency of the main sponsor Care-Energy, Vienna was declared bankrupt in 2017. While bankruptcy was averted, a championship title in the Regionalliga Ost in the same year was withheld. Promotion was denied and it got worse, with Vienna being transferred to the fifth division by court order. In the following season.

Lower leagues

In the 2018/19 season, ''Vienna'' played in the 2. Landesliga Wien, the fifth tier of the Austrian league system. In their first season, ''Vienna'' finished top with 78 points from 30 games and were promoted to the fourth division, the Wiener Stadtliga. They remained unbeaten in the league in the 2019/20 season after 17 games. The league was abandoned due to the Covid-19 outbreak, meaning the club stayed in the Wiener Stadtliga for the 2020/21 season. However, at the end of season 2020-2021 Vienna was promoted once again to the third tier Regionalliga Ost.

Club of Pioneers

In 2018 First Vienna FC, became a member of the exclusive

Club of Pioneers The Club of Pioneers is a worldwide network of the oldest continuing association football clubs from each country. The Club of Pioneers was founded in 2013 by Sheffield FC, the first and oldest association football Association football, mor ...

, as the oldest football club of Austria.

Stadium

The club's home venue is the

Hohe Warte Stadium Hohe Warte Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Vienna, Austria. It is located on the Hohe Warte hill in Heiligenstadt, a northern suburb in the 19th Viennese district of Döbling. Primarily a football venue and the home of First Vienna FC, it ...

built in 1921 and having a current capacity of 5,500 spectators.

First Vienna FC in Europe

Current squad

Club staff

* Manager: Alexander Zellhofer * Assistant Manager: Martin Lang * Assistant Manager: Jiri Lenko * Goalkeeping Coach: Patrick Kostner

Notable former players

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...

, (1986 - 1987) World Cup Winner and former Argentinian International * Alfred Drabits, (1988 - 1991) Former Austrian International * Zeljko Radovic, (1994 - 1997) Former Austrian International * Gary Noël, (2015 - 2016) Former Mauritius International *

Turgay Bahadır Turgay Bahadır (born 15 January 1984 in Vienna) is a Turkish-Austrian footballer. Career Bahadir began his career with First Vienna FC and won the youth championship in 1999. He was then scouted from SK Rapid Wien in the summer of 2000. He t ...

(2015 - 2016) Former Turkish International * Markus Katzer, (2015 - 2020) Former Austrian International * Mensur Kurtisi, (2016 - 2021) Former Macedonian International * Ümit Korkmaz, (2019 - 2020) Former Austrian International

Honours

Austrian Champions Austrian champions (in German: Österreichischer Meister) is the general name for a champion in a team or singles competition Austria's elite national sport (bundesliga) competitions and is thus comparable with the title of German champions. In c ...

(6):

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, 1933,

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, 1955 * Austrian Cup (3): 1929, 1930, 1937 * Austrian 2. Landesliga: Champions 2019 *

Austrian Regionalliga The Austrian Regionalliga (german: Regionalliga or plural , means Regional League) is the third-highest division in Austrian football, after the Austrian Bundesliga and the Second League. It is divided into 5 groups: East (), covering the sta ...

: Champions 2022 * Challenge Cup (2): 1899, 1900 *

(1):

* Liberation Cup (1): 1946 * Tournoi de l'Exposition Coloniale (Paris-Vincennes) (1): 1931 * Tournoi du Nouvel An du Red Star (1): 1924 (shared) * Tournoi de Nöel de Paris : Runners-up 1935

References

External links

Official website

Historical Austrian league results

Historical German league results

Soccerway profile
{{Coord, 48, 14, 56, N, 16, 21, 35, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark, display=title Association football clubs established in 1894 Football clubs in Vienna Football clubs in Austria Football clubs from former German territories Döbling 1894 establishments in Austria