Josef Uridil (nicknamed ''Pepi, der Tank'') (24 December 1895 – 20 May 1962), was an Austrian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach.

Biography

Pepi Uridil, third son of the taylor Kajetan Uridil, was born on Christmas Eve 1895 in the Vienna suburb of

Ottakring Ottakring () is the 16th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 16. Bezirk, Ottakring). It is located west of the central districts, north of Penzing and south of Hernals. Ottakring has some heavily populated urban areas with many resid ...

. He began to play football aged eight in the streets of his neighbourhood with his brother Franz. Pepi Uridil played for numerous clubs in his youth, such as ''Sportklub Orion'', ''Tasmania'', ''Rekord'' and then Blue Star Vienne, before leaving for the great club of

SK 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, ...

Hütteldorf Hütteldorf (; Central Bavarian: ''Hittldorf'') is a part of Vienna's 14th district, Penzing. It is located in the west of Vienna, in the geographical center of the district, stretching roughly from ''Deutschordenstraße'' (which forms the border ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he got the nickname "Tank". Pepi Uridil played for a number of seasons with Rapid, and in 1919, his team won in the final 3-0 against

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 ...

. Throughout his career Uridil is said to have scored around 1000 goals. He was one of the main players in the Championship victory in 1921 against

Wiener AC Wiener Athletiksport Club, also known as Wiener AC or WAC, is an Austrian sports club in Vienna. It is particularly noted for its hockey team, which was established in 1900. Its football team won the Austrian Championships and was Runner-up in ...

. Dionys Schönecker's men were losing 1–5 at half-time, 3–5 with 15 minutes remaining, and finished with goals from Uridil to win 7–5. Uridil was also an entrepreneur. He created his own brand of beer, ''Uridil'', and a brand of sugar, ''Kracheln''. The famous Viennese writer Hermann Leopoldi wrote a musical piece named ''Heute spielt der Uridil'' ("Today, Uridil is playing") in 1922. Pepi Uridil played a number of film roles, such as ''Pflicht und Ehre'' ("Necessity and Honour") in 1924. At the end of the First World War, he became an Austrian international for the first time. He played for the

Austria national football team The Austria national football team (german: Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Austria in men's international football competition and it is controlled by the Austrian Football Association (German: Österreichischer Fußbal ...

between 1919 and 1926 and scored eight goals in eight games. After his retirement from football, Pepi Uridil became a manager of Bratislava club. He then moved to Ripensia Timişoara and the Romania national football team for 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 ...

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 ...

. His team were beaten in the first round by eventual finalists,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He later coached Austrian side SC Helfort, then Beogradski SK in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1935. He then moved to Switzerland to coach

FC Biel Fussballclub Biel-Bienne is a Swiss association football club based in Biel/Bienne. The currently play in the 2. Liga Interregional. Honours Swiss championship *Champions: 1946–47 *Runners-up: 1947–48, 1959–60 Swiss Cup *Runners ...

from 1936 to 1937, and

FC Lucerne Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league syste ...

until 1938. He then trained German side

Schwarz-Weiß Essen Schwarz-Weiß Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The side has its origins in the gymnastics club ''Essener Turnerbund'' founded in 1881. A football department was formed in January 1900 and this b ...

between 1938 and 1941, and VfL Altenbögge between 1941 and 1943. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he returned to coaching Schwarz-Weiß Essen from 1949 to 1951. He went on to train his former club, Rapid Vienna, for one season from 1953 to 1954. That year, the Austrian side beat the London club Arsenal 6-1 on 25 May 1953.

Honours

* Austrian Football Bundesliga (5): 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923 * Austrian Cup (2): 1919, 1920 * Austrian Football Bundesliga top scorer (3): 1919, 1920 (non-official), 1921

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uridil, Josef 1895 births 1962 deaths People from Ottakring Association football forwards 20th-century Austrian people Austrian footballers Austria international footballers SK Rapid Wien players First Vienna FC players S.S.C. Bari players Austrian expatriate football managers Austrian football managers S.S.C. Bari managers Schwarz-Weiß Essen managers FC Luzern managers SK Rapid Wien managers OFK Beograd managers FC Ripensia Timișoara managers Romania national football team managers 1934 FIFA World Cup managers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate football managers in Italy Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in Romania Expatriate football managers in Yugoslavia FC Biel-Bienne managers Austrian people of Czech descent Burials at Ottakring Cemetery