The 52nd season of the Austrian handball championship began in August 2012 and ends in May 2013. The reigning champions of the 2011/12 season Alpla HC Hard was able to defend the title, all teams managed to stay up.
Ten teams are represented in the top division, the HLA. The championship was divided into several phases. In the basic round, all teams played a simple round-trip round against every opponent. After that, the league was divided into two groups.
The first six teams played in another round-trip round, the master playoff, for a place in the HLA semi-finals, while the last four teams had to fight against the top four teams in the second-highest division in the promotion playoff for relegation. The four best teams of the master playoffs were divided as follows: first against fourth and second against third played against each other in best-of-3 mode for the entry into the final. The final was also held in best-of-3 mode.
In a thrilling game, the Viennese could conceivably narrowly prevail against the Harder away. This gave the Fivers the chance to fix the first double in the club's history in the following home game. Without key player Edelmüller, who had to watch the second match of the final series from the spectator stand due to a suspension, the Margaretner struggled, especially in the second half, and on May 25, 2013 had to defeat for the first time since November 30, 2011 at home give. In the third and decisive final game Vorarlberg had the better end for themselves in front of their home crowd, the Viennese missed too many chances. Towards the end the Fivers came up again, but could not turn the tide.
yellow cards
Time penalties
Red cards
