Austrian national soccer team of amateurs
The Austrian national soccer team of amateurs was a selection team with amateur players who represented the Austrian Soccer Association in soccer matches against teams from other associations. The amateur national team played a total of 98 international matches between 1926 and 1979. The greatest successes were winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1936 and winning the European Championship in 1967 .
Many amateur national players such as Rudi Hiden , Ernst Melchior or Josef Hickersberger managed to play their way into the display and later to become regular players in the national team . After the UEFA had spoken out against the continuation of the competition of the amateur European championship and in Olympic football tournaments from 1982 onwards its own Olympic team with professional footballers came to the train, the Austrian amateur national team was dissolved.
history
Background and first game of the amateur national team
The concept of professional football was first developed outside of Great Britain after the First World War, at the time of a new football boom in Central Europe. The leading countries were Austria (1924), Czechoslovakia (1925), Hungary (1926) and soon Italy (1931), which introduced professional league championships in their associations. In addition, international competitions were created with the Mitropacup for the professional clubs and with the European Cup of Nations for the professional national teams, which on the one hand were a major economic pillar of the system and on the other hand were able to secure the dominant position of these countries in European football in the long term. The introduction of professional football in Austria now also meant a clear separation in the structure of the Austrian football system. After a long dispute between the ÖFB and the VAFÖ , an Austrian amateur championship could also be introduced in 1928 .
In international traffic, the introduction of professional football meant a certain separation from countries that continued to play amateur football. On the one hand, player changes were only possible under difficult conditions with re-amateurization measures, on the other hand, the professional national team was excluded from the most important tournament of the amateur associations, the Olympic Games. So the ÖFB consequently went over to creating a national team for amateur players, but this was only possible in coordination with the other professional associations. So it came on September 18, 1926 for the first game of an Austrian amateur national team against a Hungarian team in Budapest . In the 2-4 defeat, the players Franz Kerndl , Franz Raab , Düringer, Josef Patzak , Schulz II, Schulz I, Adolf Koller , Gustav Kraus , Walter Roscher , Gustav Ferstl , Josef Kingall and alternate players Walter Wacher were on the field all of them came from clubs in Vienna.
Promotion of amateur football in the European Cup
For the Austrian amateur national team, primarily players from the first amateur class from Vienna, which represented the third level of performance, and from the national leagues were used. Due to the conditions in Austrian football at the time, professional operations were not possible for clubs outside the greater Vienna area, neither for sporting nor for economic reasons, so that the amateur national team and the amateur championship were important pillars for the promotion and dissemination of football outside Vienna. The international matches soon took place in Graz , Linz or Wels , but this was unthinkable for an A international match in Austria for decades due to infrastructural reasons (it was not until May 1, 1968 that the first home international match outside of Vienna, namely in Linz against Romania, took place , carried out). Initially, the activity of the amateur national team was limited to games against the Hungarian and soon against the Czechoslovak selection. A decisive step towards integration into Europe-wide gaming traffic was the creation of an amateur European championship in 1929 based on the example of the professional European championship.
To this end, the two events were won by Poland and then by Romania , who competed with their senior national teams. While the Austrian team was always able to prevail against Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Poland with 0: 1 and 1: 3 and Romania with 0: 1 and 1: 4 proved to be too tough opponents. On a positive note, however, the high attendance in Graz with 3,500 and in Linz even with 4,500 viewers remains. Subsequently, in 1934, with the amateur selection of France and the senior national team of Norway , new international opponents and the final establishment of the amateur national team. In 1935, ÖFB President Richard Ebersthaller decided to send the amateur national team to the 1936 Olympic Games to represent Austria . This decision was by no means undisputed, because, unlike the previous international opponents, the senior national teams of much larger associations also took part here, such as host Germany , who for example only renounced professional football for ideological reasons. Many feared that the Austrian team, which basically consisted of third division players, would do too badly.
1936 Olympic Games and temporary dissolution
When the Olympic Games were approaching in 1936, the ÖFB showed meticulous preparation and hired Jimmy Hogan and Luigi Hussak as prominent team coaches who prepared the team in Salzburg for the tournament. In Berlin, the Oberammergau house was later moved into, and Erwin Fadenhecht took over the formal team management as the association captain of the amateur classes. The first opponent of the Austrians was the senior national team of Egypt on August 5th. With a clear 3-1 victory, the “Team of the Nameless” qualified for the quarter-finals. Here the Austrian team met Peru , against which they could take a 2-0 lead. After Laudon was injured, the outnumbered team had to accept compensation and extra time. Here the Peruvians were able to pull away 4-2 before the game was abandoned after riots. The field was stormed by Peruvian fans and the Austrian players threatened with knives, among other things, and goalkeeper Kainberger shot at with various objects.
The quarter-final match was ultimately canceled by FIFA and played again on August 10 in the Poststadion . Peru refused to take part and Austria got into the semi-finals due to a 3-0 score without a fight. Austria was allowed to play against the Polish national team for the first time in the Olympic Stadium in front of 100,000 spectators. Here the big sensation succeeded, the provincial footballers passed in front of the big scenery and celebrated a clear 3-1 victory. So the amateurs were in the final against Italy and now met the first team that had to do without its professional footballers. The Italians didn't take it that seriously and also used professionals who were officially registered as students. It was Annibale Frossi from Inter Milan who brought Italy 1-0 up, but Franz Fuchsberger equalized in front of another 100,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium. In the extension, however, Frossi again managed to make it 2: 1 with another defeat. After the game there were violent protests by the Austrians, who accused referee Peco Bauwens of deliberately favoring the Italians due to his nationalistic and regime-loyal attitude. The silver medal winners ultimately presented themselves as follows:
| position | Surname | society | league |
|---|---|---|---|
| goal | Eduard Kainberger | Salzburg AK 1914 | Salzburg regional league |
| Josef Lagofsky | Heressport Vienna | II. Northern League | |
| Backs | Ernst Kuenz | FC Lustenau 07 | Vorarlberg regional league |
| Martin Kargl | SC Kores | II. Northern League | |
| Leo Schaffelhofer | Linz ASK | Regional League Upper Austria | |
| Halves | Anton Krenn | Police Sports Club Vienna | II. Northern League |
| Karl Wahlmüller | SV Urfahr | Regional League Upper Austria | |
| Max Hofmeister | Donawitzer SV | Regional League Styria | |
| Ernst Bacher | Salzburg AK 1914 | Salzburg regional league | |
| Forwards | Walter Werginz | Klagenfurt AC | Regional League Carinthia |
| Adolf Laudon | Salzburg AK 1914 | Salzburg regional league | |
| Klement Steinmetz | Kapfenberger SV | Regional League Styria | |
| Karl Kainberger | Salzburg AK 1914 | Salzburg regional league | |
| Franz Fuchsberger | SV Urfahr | Regional League Upper Austria | |
| Franz Mandl | First Vienna FC 1894 | I. League | |
| Josef Kitzmüller | SK Admira Linz | Regional League Upper Austria |
The 1936 Olympic Games made the amateur footballers well known for a short time, but all of them remained loyal to their small clubs and continued to play football as a hobby. There was a special reward for runner Franz Fuchsberger, who was allowed to play against Hungary in the professional national team on September 27, 1936 and thus became the first national player who did not come from the Vienna, Prague or Teplitz area. After the Olympic Games on August 16, 1937, also in Berlin, there was only one (last) appearance of the amateur national team against Hungary, which ended 6: 3. Among the debutants were Leopold Mikolasch , Josef Epp and Ernst Melchior , three later senior national players, as well as the later internationally successful coach Willy Kment . After the annexation of Austria in 1938 , the amateur national team was dissolved and professional football was also banned because it was "unworthy of the German body". From then on, Austrian national players competed in the greater German national team , and there was also an Ostmark selection for two international matches in 1939 .
New beginning and development until the 1960s
After the end of the Second World War and the restoration of the senior national team, it took until 1949 for professional football in Austria to be reactivated in two leagues, the A-League and the B-League , the latter only encompassing the easternmost part of the country. In the run-up to the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, the amateur national team was reactivated. The first game after a 15-year break was a preparatory game against the new West German amateur selection on June 8th in Munich. Participation in the Olympic Games was again under the same auspices as in 1936, this time making it even more difficult that the socialist states, which were strong in play, for ideological reasons - like the Scandinavian countries - renounced professional football. Austria was lucky and got the bye in the preliminary round, but in the first round (at the same time round of 16) there was a clash with hosts Finland on July 19, 1952 in Helsinki ; the amateur selection almost seemed to create a sensation and took the lead twice with two Gollnhuber goals, but had to accept the 2: 3 before the half-time break. After changing sides, however, there was a turnaround and Austria turned the game to 4: 3 in front of around 30,000 Finnish spectators with hits from Stumpf and Grohs. The opponent in the quarterfinals was Sweden and here, too, the amateurs brought the favorites and defending champions on the verge of defeat and led on July 23, 1952 (again in Helsinki) to ten minutes before the end with a Grohs goal from the 40th minute with 1 : 0, but ultimately had to admit defeat to the later bronze medalist 1: 3. From the amateur team, Bandy Kollmann , Herbert Grohs and Otto Gollnhuber later made the leap into professionalism, Joschi Walter made a career as an official.
Despite this unexpectedly good performance, there were only three amateur international matches in the following two years and then a four-year break. Victories against Hungary and Iceland as well as a defeat against West Germany were the results. Several players later made careers in the A team, including Ignaz Puschnik , Helmut Senekowitsch , Paul Halla , Stefan Kölly and Karl Jarosch . Due to the increasing importance of the B national team and the junior national team, the amateur national team simply lost its importance outside of the Olympic qualification, as the difference between amateur and professional also dwindled more and more. In the four qualifying games for the 1960 Olympic Games , the amateur national team was active again. This time, however, the best possible squad that was allowed under the provision at that time was set up, that is, many semi-professionals and senior national players. Since the opponents in qualification group 7 at that time were Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the chance of qualifying was accordingly out of reach. Except for a 0-0 in the first match against Czechoslovakia (October 7, 1959 in Vienna), there were only more defeats: on November 22, 1959 against Hungary in Budapest 1: 2, at home (in Graz) on March 26, 1960 even 0: 4 and ultimately on April 30, 1960 in Ústí nad Labem a 1: 2 against Czechoslovakia. Hungary, on the other hand, traveled to Rome without losing points, where it finally won the bronze medal on September 9, 1960 with a 2-1 in Italy.
After this phase, which can be described as the "short-term interlude of the amateur team from 1959 to 1960", an amateur national team in the original sense was set up for the first time (after 1954) in 1966. The background to this was the introduction of the European Amateur Championship by UEFA.
European champion in 1967 and previous years
Austria was drawn into qualification group three together with the Netherlands and England. The freshly assembled amateur team was able to prevail surprisingly clearly and was already after three games with two wins against the Netherlands (on April 23, 1966 in Schijndel and May 29, 1966 in Salzburg with 2: 1 each) and a surprisingly clear 3: 0 against England on October 1, 1966 (also in Salzburg) no longer to be pushed from the top of the table (the 2-0 on October 26, 1966 in London was meaningless). In line with these successes, it was decided again to take up regular game operations for the amateur national team, so in addition to the four aforementioned competitive games (in 1966), four friendlies took place again in 1967. Under the experienced coach Viktor Hierländer , the team finally drove to Palma (Spain) for the final round of the European Championship on June 15, 1967 (according to the Vienna workers' newspaper from June 15, 1967, page 10: "European Cup of Amateur Teams"). In the semifinals on June 16, the team met Turkey, which had eliminated the team of the Federal Republic of Germany with a 1-0 on November 16, 1966 in Eskisehir in the qualification , whereby the Germans had protested in vain against the Turkish contingent. Austria fought their way into extra time, having survived a penalty from the Turks (Yaleintas next to them) in the 88th minute, before the former Mattersburger Suttner scored the 1-0 winner with a free kick in the 92nd minute. “Austria's amateur team outdid itself,” said the next day on page 12 in the Vienna workers' newspaper . Two days later, the final sensation of the “blatant outsider” was made perfect. In the final, Scotland, which on June 16 also only got over Spain 2-1 in extra time, was beaten 2-1 by goals from Promintzer and Hickersberger. The winning team was composed as follows:
| position | Surname | society | league |
|---|---|---|---|
| goal | Johann Schorn | SC Eisenstadt | Regional League East |
| Defense | Robert Lengyel | Semperit Traiskirchen | Regional league of Lower Austria |
| Andreas Nekam | FS Elektra | Regional League East | |
| Gerhard Zacsek | SC Marchegg | Regional league of Lower Austria | |
| Walter Suttner | SC Eisenstadt | Regional League East | |
| Rudolf Babler | SC Brunn | Regional league of Lower Austria | |
| Günther Scheffl | FS Elektra | Regional League East | |
| midfield | Ferdinand Milanovich | SV Danube | Vienna League |
| Josef Granabetter | SC Eisenstadt | Regional League East | |
| Bernd Langgruber | Salzburg AK 1914 | Regionalliga West | |
| Kurt Leitner | Viennese sports club | National league | |
| Günther Komanovits | SC Eisenstadt | Regional League East | |
| Otto Jaros | FS Elektra | Regional League East | |
| Storm | Josef Hickersberger | FK Austria | National league |
| Werner Burgholzer | SV Grieskirchen | Regional League Upper Austria | |
| Johann Promintzer | UFC Frauenkirchen | Regional League Burgenland |
With the amateur national team qualifying for the 1968 Olympic Games seemed within reach. The team initially prevailed against the Swiss selection with 0: 1 and 4: 1 after extra time. In the second leg, there was also a subsequent reward for the European championship title, because the team was allowed to play in front of 32,000 spectators as a prelude to the international match between Austria and Greece. The decisive duel with France was just lost 1: 3 and 1: 1. In the period that followed, the amateur national team stepped out of the focus of media coverage again, but was continued for ten years until 1977 with annual friendly games plus qualifying games for the European Championships and the Olympic Games. However, the games were increasingly being played in smaller towns.
At the European Championships in 1970 , defending champions Austria failed with a largely new team in the qualification against Yugoslavia and the FRG. Via Luxembourg, however, the amateur team reached the final round of qualifying for the 1972 Olympic Games in 1971 , where France and the Soviet Union proved to be too strong opponents. A special feature this year was participation in the Kourosh Cup in Tehran, where the team met the national teams of Romania, Egypt, Iran, Morocco and Turkey.
At the third European Championship in 1974 , Austria joined the eventual winners Yugoslavia and Italy in one group. Although both home games could be won, the amateur team missed participation in the European Championship due to defeats away from home. In the draw for the Olympic Games, the team had bad luck, the GDR and Czechoslovakia were overwhelming opponents for the amateur team. At the turn of the year 1975/76 an international tournament participation could be fixed in Riyadh. There there were clashes with Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Turkish junior team and Italy. It was one of the last appearances of the national team, there was only one friendly game against the FRG in the same year and the participation in the European Championship in 1978 . Here the Austrian team narrowly missed the semi-finals against Greece and Italy and missed two match points with two 0-0 in the last two games. Since the amateur European championship was subsequently discontinued and a continuation of the team did not seem sensible only with regard to the Olympic Games, the team was dissolved. Two years later, a team was only set up for the 1980 Olympic qualification against Turkey, but it just failed with 1: 0, 1: 2 and 3: 3 on penalties in the preliminary round. The ÖFB no longer registered for the 1984 Olympic Games .
