Leopold Baumgartner

Leo Baumgartner
Personnel
birthday	March 14, 1932
place of birth	Vienna ,  Austria
date of death	17th November 2013
Place of death	Coffs Harbor , New South Wales ,  Australia
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
	WFC 20
	Vienna AC
	SK Rapid Vienna
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1951-1953	Kapfenberger SV
1953-1958	FK Austria Vienna	66 (40)
1958-1959	Sydney FC Prague	? (49)
1960	Canterbury-Marrickville	? (30)
1961	South Coast United (player-manager)	? 0(1)
1961-1963	APIA Leichhardt (player-coach)	? (47)
1964-1965	Sydney Hakoah	? 0(6)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
	Austria U-18
	Austria amateurs
1964	Australia B	1 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1961	South Coast United (player-manager)
1961-1963	APIA Leichhardt (player-coach)
1962	Sydney Croatia
1965	Sutherland
~ 1970 ~	SSC Yugal
	Sydney Croatia
1972-1973	Sydney FC Prague
1974	Marconi
1975	Concordia College
2009	Coffs Coast Tigers
2011	Sawtell Scorpions
1 Only league games are given. As of September 12, 2018 2 As of September 12, 2018

Leopold "Leo" Baumgartner , Australia The Little Professor or The Little Professor of Soccer or Sabrina called, (* 14. March 1932 in Vienna , Austria ; † 17th November 2013 in Coffs Harbor , New South Wales , Australia ) was an Austro-Australian soccer player and coach .

Career

Career start in Vienna and assignments in Kapfenberg

Leopold Baumgartner was born in Vienna on March 14, 1932, but had to flee from here with his mother during World War II when the house in which they lived was bombed. The family later returned to Vienna, where Baumgartner initially worked for local amateur clubs. At the age of twelve he played in the men's team of the then second division WFC 20 . After he was subsequently active at the Vienna AC , he was discovered by SK Rapid Vienna due to his talent and directed to this very same place. More than a decade before that , Walter Probst (1918–2007) , who later worked in Sweden , had taken the same route and had come to Rapid in 1935 via WFC 20 and WAC. As a 16-year-old Baumgartner took part in international matches of the Austrian U-18 juniors and then completed two seasons with Kapfenberger SV in the then State League B.

Goalscorer at Austria Vienna

In 1953, as Baumgartner himself writes in his autobiography, published in 1968, a childhood or youth dream came true when he received an offer from the second major Vienna club Austria Wien to play for the club in the state league A. With the Kapfenberg team he had previously played in the State League B for promotion to the upper house in the 1952/53 season , but was defeated in the subsequent relegation to SV Austria Salzburg with an overall result of 3: 7. There he played alongside players such as Ernst Ocffekt , Ernst Stojaspal or Ernst Melchior , but did not make enough appearances in the State League A in the beginning, but was often used in test matches and on the club's numerous worldwide tours.

Under Wudi Müller , the longest serving coach in the club's history, he was used in the 1953/54 season for the reigning champions in only six championship games of the State League A. While he was still goalless in the league, he contributed 15 goals in 21 friendly and friendly matches this season and showed his scoring risk. In the final ranking of the State League A, Austria ranked second in the table, three points behind Rapid.

From late December 1954 and early January 1955 to mid-February 1955 he completed a tour with Austria through South America , where games were played in Brazil , Argentina , Uruguay and Peru . Before that, shortly before the start of the winter break, he had played a few games with the team in France and the Netherlands . In the spring and summer of the same year, he completed other games with the team in France and Scandinavia (especially in Sweden ). Of the 43 appearances this season, he completed only 14 of 26 possible in the league, contributing three goals, and was used in the remaining 29 games in friendly and friendly matches, in which he scored six goals. In the final table of the state league A, the violets took fifth place in 1954/55 .

From the 1955/56 season at the latest , Baumgartner belonged to the regular formation in Vienna Austria. The former strikers Stojaspal and Melchior had already gone abroad in 1954, giving Baumgartner the opportunity to assert himself as a striker. With 13 goals, which he scored in his 18 championship appearances this season, and often got the templates from Ocffekt, who left the team for Italy at the end of the season , he was the violet's top scorer. Baumgartner was again denied a title; Austria ranked fourth in the end. In addition, he played in 32 test and friendly games this season, in which he scored a total of twelve goals. He toured with Austria in the winter months through North, Central and South America or was in action in Poland and France in the summer months.

In 1956/57 he initially played the annual test matches with Austria in France and also competed with the team in matches in the Soviet Union . At the end of August 1956 he started the new season successfully with the team and was able to register as a goal scorer with a penalty goal in the second minute of the first game of the season, a 3-2 home win over Vienna AC. In the subsequent away game against Kapfenberg a few days later, the Viennese scored a 5-2 away win, in which Baumgartner contributed four goals. By the winter break, he had scored 13 goals in 14 league appearances and then toured Spain , Turkey and Israel with the major Vienna club . In the second half of the spring Baumgartner started cautiously. After completing three championship games, he had not yet scored a goal and was spared in the subsequent league games by coach Leopold Vogl and used in April and May 1957 mainly in friendly and test games. Only in the 21st lap did he find his way back into the starting line-up, which he then belonged to again until the end of the season. Born in Vienna, he scored 19 goals in 23 league games, once again being the team's top scorer and at least one of the top 5 in the league. In his 33 other appearances this season, he scored 30 goals.

In the following season he started the season preparation with Austria under the new coach Karl Adamek with a game in Egypt and then began a ten-week trip through Australia and New Zealand at the end of August 1957 , leaving his wife and his then one-year-old daughter Sonja behind . During this trip he was noticed by the large number of goals scored. He scored 23 goals in 15 appearances. In Australia, he was particularly impressed by the spacious streets, the size of the single-family houses, the friendly people, the climate and, above all, the white beaches, and often felt the need to share these impressions with his family. After the team returned to Austria in August 1957, Baumgartner started the season 1957/58 , but still drew on the impressions gained from the ten-week tour. With Karl Jarosch (also known as Karl Jaroš or Karl Jaros ), his teammate who was only a few months old and closest friend in the Austria team, he then talked about Australia and criticized his personal financial situation at Austria. The Viennese masseur at the time, who overheard this conversation, then offered to write a letter to a Czech friend who lived in Sydney in order to guide the two of them to the Sydney Prague FC, which was established there by Czechoslovak immigrants .

Emigration to Australia

What they both laughed at and didn't think was possible at first became reality a short time later when the two of them received an offer to move to Australia from the club in question, whose managers they knew from their tour. Since the Australian Soccer Football Association , the predecessor of today's Football Federation Australia , was not a full member of FIFA , Austria did not need approval to move to Australia. In his last season in Austria he had scored 36 goals in 27 appearances, five of them in eight championship games. On board the immigrant ship MS Flaminia , which sailed from Trieste and Genoa to Australia in the 1950s, the two and their families traveled from Genoa to Melbourne and from there by plane to Sydney. In Genoa they were supported until the departure of Baumgartner's former teammate Ernst Ocffekt, who as a goal scorer at Sampdoria Genoa was now also a star player in Italy. In Australia, the two players were given a six-bedroom house in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville for the first six months , and food and clothing were also provided. The first game with Baumgartner and Jarosch, who were praised as Austrian star players in Australia, ended in a clear 2: 7 defeat against local rivals Sydney Hakoah in front of around 7,500 spectators , which was also due to the long journey and the lack of acclimatization. In the final standings, the two achieved fourth place with their new club, whereupon the Austrian media became aware of Australian football for the first time.

Baumgartner received full trust from the club's managers from the start and placed a number of other Austrian players at Sydney FC Prague, including Walter Tamandl , András Sági and Eric (h) Schwarz. In 1959, the brothers Herbert and Erwin Ninaus from Styria followed , with the older Herbert staying in Australia until his death in 2015 and the younger Erwin returning home after two years. In the following season at the latest, Baumgartner arrived in Australia as a goalscorer. After winning the Ampol Cup with a 7-0 final victory over Auburn in the preparation for the season, he and the team also won the subsequent championship and was extremely dangerous with 32 goals. He scored two goals in the final of the championship, a victory over APIA , in front of around 13,000 spectators. His former teammate, goalkeeper Ron Lord , later said that Baumgartner scored his goals with a certain arrogance and, due to his talent, performed some tricks when scoring goals. This year he also represented the first time a selection of Soccer NSW , the predecessor of today's Football NSW , the Football Association of New South Wales , and completed for these three games against the Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa , where he even as a captain appeared on the scene . In the team, which now consisted of several Austrians and Germans (including Les Scheinflug ), it did not last long.

Move to Canterbury

In 1960 he moved within the state and the league (Division One) to the largely young players team from Canterbury-Marrickville , which was coached since 1958 by the Hungarian Joe Vlasits . There he met the brothers Johnny and Geoff Warren , Johnny Watkiss and Ron Corry , the majority of whom played a few years later in the Australian national team. In his 2002 book Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters; An Incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren & Soccer In Australia describes Johnny Warren Baumgartner as a crowd favorite who was incredibly good at the ball and always tried to entertain the audience. At the same time, the then Australian Football Association was finally excluded from FIFA in 1960. The reason was various other changes of European players who were poached by Australian clubs, which sometimes caused financial damage to the European clubs that did not receive any transfer fees and sometimes also found themselves in a precarious position at the sporting level. Even in Canterbury, which were considered the underdogs of the league, it only lasted a year, in which he celebrated great success. With 30 goals, he again showed himself to be a strong attacker and led his team into the final of the season against his former club Sydney FC Prague. There he managed to turn the game around with the help of his teammates when Canterbury was already 2-1 back. He himself scored the 2-2 equalizer, which was subsequently voted Goal of the Year, and the team won the game 5-2. In 1960 he also received the title of Mr. Soccer . Although he was considered a star as a football player, he not only made a living from it, but also worked on a part-time basis as the operator of a canteen in a migrant hotel on the South Coast .

Via South Coast to APIA and other engagements

After only a year at Canterbury, he joined the club South Coast United as a player-coach , but stayed there for only four games. In order to save their season, those responsible at APIA Leichhardt hired the Austrian star player, paid South Coast a transfer fee and gave them four APIA players as a bonus in exchange for their star. Thereupon almost 500 spectators attended the first training session under Baumgartner. However, this game year remained below expectations at the club consisting mainly of emigrated Italians, when APIA ranked sixth in the final standings. Baumgartner had already received the nickname Sabrina from the competing Italians from APIA during his active time at Sydney FC Prague and sometimes still wore it during his time at APIA. After almost a year as a player-coach at APIA, Baumgartner was elected in 1962 to coach Sydney Croatia , another team from the region, and to coach the national team of New South Wales. At the same time he also got an administrative job at APIA Leichhardt; he also held his position as a player-coach there. Nevertheless, he was largely successful with all his teams this year: with the NSW selection he won the tournament of the Australian states unbeaten, with APIA Leichhardt he made it to the semi-finals of Division 1 and with Sydney Croatia he made promotion out of the division 2.

After the promotion with Croatia, the busy Baumgartner gave up his coaching job there, but remained entrusted with his other tasks. The sporting successful year 1962 was followed by a consistently negative and difficult year 1963 for Baumgartner. At the end of February 1963, he was also entrusted with the work of Director of Coaching at the NSW Football Association. In addition, after someone in charge approached him, he briefly appeared as the head of a youth soccer camp and, due to the inability of the organizers, had to organize the camp himself for 100 boys on the same day it started. Shortly thereafter, the offensive player resigned as captain and coach of the national team for the state of New South Wales, citing the obligations to his club and the financial burden on his family should he be absent due to injury. The officials, represented by Giacomo "Jim" Bayutti , banned him for life from the NSW national team due to his resignation.

In addition, things did not go optimally at club level; APIA lost the final game for the championship at the Sydney Showground against South Coast in front of a crowd of over 30,000 spectators and was already 3-0 behind after just 20 minutes. A storm by the angry APIA supporters led to a temporary ban because the police had to push the spectators back so that the game could end. After the failed game for the championship title, Baumgartner was accused of having deliberately lost the encounter with his team. There was also an early elimination of the team against Slavia Melbourne in the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup . Subsequently, he was put on the transfer list for a fee of 1,200 Australian pounds . He was also told that because of his Austrian ancestry, it would not be easy for him in a club run by mostly Italians.

At least this year, after several years of disputes, the clubs involved reached an agreement on the replacement of Baumgartner from Austria. As early as June 1959, Austria had received an offer of 250,000 Austrian schillings for Baumgartner, Tamandl, Jarosch, Schwarz and Sági from Sydney FC Prague , but they refused. A suspension of the players that had already been obtained by FIFA before that was ignored by Australia.

Career finale after the humiliation

In 1964 Baumgartner moved to Sydney Hakoah , the association of the Jewish Society of Sydney, whose functionaries had been interested in an engagement of the Austrian for years. During this time, Baumgartner also took on Australian citizenship and was thus also entitled to represent Australia in international games. After his lifelong ban was lifted by the regional association, Jimmy Kelly, who was still a player at the time, brought him to the Australian B national team, which played two games against Everton FC , which was touring Australia, in May of this year . Baumgartner came, after the 2: 8 defeat in the first game, on May 16, 1964 in the second game in front of around 40,000 spectators at the Sydney Showground and lost the game with the Australian selection with 1: 5. His time at Hakoah ended very abruptly due to political differences. Tired of being used only as a substitute, he left the club and coached the Australian second division club Sutherland . According to various sources, the end of his career as a player is given as 1964 or 1966.

After some time at Sutherland, he took over the coaching position at SSC Yugal , a club that was founded by Yugoslav immigrants in the mid-1950s and was represented in the NSW State League First Division. With Yugal he won the final for the league title in 1970, which remained the greatest success of the club, which was dissolved in 1992. In addition to his coaching career, he opened a European restaurant that brought his family close to financial ruin. After failing his business, Baumgartner considered returning to Austria and spent a few days in his native country before returning to Australia. There he received a new training in his learned profession as a technician and got a job at Qantas , where he subsequently worked for 20 years. To earn more money, Baumgartner soon returned to football on a part-time basis as a player-coach when he received a lucrative offer from Sydney Croatia.

From 1972 to 1973 he was the coach of his first Australian club, Sydney FC Prague, and, since the club merged with SSC Yugal at the beginning of the 1973 season, he was also the last coach of the club founded by Czechoslovak immigrants. In 1974 he was briefly coach of Marconi and also worked in the same year as coach of the New South Wales football team. Baumgartner was also active as a youth coach at various clubs (e.g. Sydney Hakoah) during this time (1970s / 1980s). At a time when players like Mark Bosnich , Zeljko Kalac or Tony Popovic were breaking through from the junior teams into men's football, Baumgartner was the Director of Coaching at Sydney Croatia in the late 1980s. In the years that followed, Baumgartner remained involved in Australian football until shortly before his death. Among other things, he campaigned for the development of the sport on the North Coast of New South Wales , gave training courses for prospective football coaches, acted as regional director of coaching and was active in his hometown in 2009 as the master coach of the Coffs Coast Tigers . He also briefly trained the Sawtell Scorpions in the neighboring town of Sawtell in 2011 .

In 2001 he received as “recognition for his contribution the Award of Distinction for outstanding service to football”, which also meant the election into the Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame .

Today Baumgartner is regarded as one of the revolutionaries of football in Australia , who shaped the football landscape on the fifth continent with the modern short passing game that he brought with him from Vienna to Australian football.

Baumgartner died on November 17, 2013 at the age of 81 in his hometown of Coffs Harbor , which he moved to after finishing his work with Sydney Croatia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was survived by his wife Helen and their children Sonja and Ric. On 22 November 2013 he was in his hometown of Coffs Harbor cremated .

literature

• Leo Baumgartner: The Little Professor of Soccer . 1968.
• Bernhard Hachleitner : "The Legionaries": Austrian footballers all over the world . 2nd Edition. Lit Verlag , Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-50205-6 , p. 85-88 and 252 .
• Johnny Warren , Andy Harper & Josh Whittington : Sheilas, Wogs & Poofters: An Incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren and Soccer in Australia . 1st edition. Random House Australia , North Sydney 2002, ISBN 978-1-74051-121-6 .
• Joe Gorman : The Death and Life of Australian Soccer . 1st edition. University of Queensland Press , Brisbane 2017, ISBN 978-0-7022-5968-5 .
• Joe Gorman : The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins . 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press , Cambridge 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-80789-0 , pp. 180 .

Web links & sources

• Vale Leo Baumgartner (English)
• Leopold Baumgartner in the Austria archive
• A Tribute to The Little Professor of Soccer - Leo Baumgartner (English)
• Leopold Baumgartner: Historical Lessons of a Marquee Player - Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3 (English)
• Australia's membership of FIFA (English)
• Leopold Baumgartner on OzFootball.net (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Football collection card from 1963
2. ↑ Football collection card from 1971
3. ↑ MS Flaminia on ssMaritime.com (English), accessed on September 12, 2018
4. ↑ Schwarz in the Austria Archive, accessed on September 12, 2018
5. ↑ Socceroo B Matches for 1964 , accessed on September 12, 2018
6. ↑ SOCCER AUSTRALIA HALL OF FAME 2001 INDUCTEES (English), accessed on September 12, 2018
7. ↑ ^{a b c} THE Coffs Coast has lost its link with footballing royalty. (English), accessed September 12, 2018