Hugo Meisl (16 November 1881 – 17 February 1937), brother of the journalist Willy Meisl, was the multi-lingual

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 of the famous Austrian '

Wunderteam ''Wunderteam'' (; ''Wonder Team'') was the name given to the Austria national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, the team had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The style of the team focused on q ...

' of the early 1930s, as well as a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Background

Meisl was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, starting out as a bank clerk after moving to

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

in 1895 but soon developed an interest in football, playing as a winger for the

Vienna Cricket and Football-Club Vienna Cricket and Football-Club is a sports club based on Döbling district, Vienna. Established on 23 August 1894, it is the second oldest team after their rivals First Vienna FC 1894. It is familiarly known to Austrians by the English name ''C ...

. In his early 30s, following a short playing career, he found employment as an administrator with the Austrian Football Association, rising to the position of General Secretary. In the 1912 Olympic Games in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Meisl appeared as a match referee. He had previously refereed the first international match between

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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 10 June 1908.

Interest in football

Meisl's enthusiasm for the game resulted in the development of a Central European club tournament: 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-Hungar ...

, the development of the Central European International Cup and the development of professional League football in Austria in 1924. His interest in football led him to develop friendships throughout Europe most notably with

Vittorio Pozzo Vittorio Pozzo (; 2 March 1886 – 21 December 1968) was an Italian football player, manager and journalist. The creator of the ''Metodo'' tactical formation, Pozzo is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and is the only manag ...

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 re ...

and

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

. Another English coach,

Jimmy Hogan James Hogan (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and coach of Irish descent. He enjoyed some success as a footballer, reaching an FA Cup semi-final with Fulham in 1907–08, but his primary legacy is as a pion ...

, who worked in

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

, helped Meisl develop a technique for dispensing with aerial passing and placing emphasis on groundwork.

Austrian 'Wunderteam'

Meisl became coach of the Austrian national side in 1913 alongside

Heinrich Retschury Heinrich Retschury (5 January 1887 – 11 June 1944) was an Austrian football player, referee, coach and official. He played for First Vienna FC and the Austrian team as defender. Career Heinrich Retschury played for First Vienna FC as defende ...

, assuming full control in 1919 and oversaw their rise to prominence in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The 14-match unbeaten run of the Austrian national side from 12 April 1931 until 7 December 1932 placed the Austrians at the forefront of international football; they had routed most of their European rivals. Among their players was

Matthias Sindelar Matthias Sindelar (, cz, Matěj Šindelář; 10 February 1903 – 23 January 1939) was an Austrian professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time, Sindelar played for Austria Wien and the Austria national ...

, the man of paper, 'Der Papierene', known for his ability to glide past rough challengers. On 11 February 1934 the Austrians beat

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

4-2 (3-0 at half-time) in the Central European International Cup competition: a defeat that signalled the end of the international career of the Italian captain

Umberto Caligaris Umberto Caligaris (; 26 July 1901 – 19 October 1940) was an Italian international footballer who played, normally at left-back, for A.S. Casale and Juventus, before ending his career with Brescia. With Juventus he won an Italian record of fiv ...

and rightly made the Austrians one of the strong favourites going into the

1934 World Cup 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 ...

1934 World Cup

During that tournament Austria renewed their rivalry with their neighbours

in a game that saw one player sent-off, a penalty awarded to Hungary and an injury to

Johann Horvath Johann "Hans" Horvath (20 May 1903 – 30 July 1968) was an Austrian footballer. Normally a forward, Horvath was one of the most noted Austrian footballers of his generation, and was well–known for his passing ability and technique. Club care ...

that would rule him out of the semi-final against

. The Italians would win that game, an early goal and desperate defending ensuring the hosts won through to the final. A goal would also separate the sides in the Gold-medal match 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-sp ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The second of these games is the only time that Austria have competed in an international final. Meisl died after suffering a heart attack in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meisl, Hugo 1881 births 1937 deaths People from Malešov People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech Jews Austrian people of Czech-Jewish descent Jewish Austrian sportspeople Jewish footballers Austrian football managers Austria national football team managers FK Austria Wien managers 1934 FIFA World Cup managers Austrian football referees Austrian footballers Association football wingers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Background

Interest in football

Austrian 'Wunderteam'

1934 World Cup

See also

References