Rudolf Röckl

Rudolf "Rudi" Röckl (born January 12, 1927 , † November 2, 1976 in Vienna ) was an Austrian football player and football official .

Club career

Rudi Röckl made his championship debut as a striker for the Wiener Sport-Club in April 1943, at a time when the clubs often resorted to junior players due to the war-related lack of players. He became a regular player in the first post-war season 1945/46 , where he got two goals against SC Rapid Oberlaa at the beginning and the sports club finally took fourth place. In the following year Röckl was mainly used in the runner row, and from 1947 the young footballer found himself in the position he was supposed to fill for the rest of his playing career, namely as a tough and uncompromising defender. The Dornbacher were mostly in the middle of the table at that time, and at the end of 1951 Röckl moved to city rivals First Vienna FC .

With the Döblingern he formed a defensive row with Karl Nickerl and Alfred Umgeher , and at the end of the 1954/55 season the team was able to celebrate the championship title due to the better goal difference compared to Röckl's home club. In the following years the Vienna was one of the top clubs in Austria and regularly finished the championship among the top three, but could not achieve another title. In 1960 Röckl left Vienna and ended his career in Wiener Neustadt, where he defended another season and a half with the first division newcomer 1. Wiener Neustädter SC .

National team

Röckl made his debut in the national team in November 1949 when he stood alongside Ernst Happel in defense in a 5-2 win over Yugoslavia . In the next few years the defensive duo Röckl-Happel was as good as set in the national team before Röckl lost his place to the Austrian Karl Stotz at the end of 1952 . It was not used regularly until 1955. He played his 24th and last game in the national dress in October 1956 in a 2-0 draw against Hungary , where he played alongside the debutant Erich Hasenkopf .

Functionary career

In 1969, Röckl became section head and board member at Vienna and held this position until his death in 1976. Röckl led the club through economically difficult times, had to plug financial holes again and again and was able to secure important dress sponsors for the club with the Ortmann paper mill and Rank Xerox . In terms of sport, he worked with the coaches Arnošt Hložek , Horst Franz and Otto Walzhofer and was able to bring the team back to the top division two years later after relegation in 1974.

successes

• 1 × Austrian champion: 1955
• 24 games for the Austrian national team