A game of the Sparkasse Schülerliga (Hauptschule St. Pantaleon versus Hauptschule Friedburg) in 2011.
The Sparkasse Pupil League is a youth football competition of Austrian schools that was launched in 1975 on the initiative of the then Austrian national coach Leopold Šťastný . The student league is a U-13 competition and is played according to the ÖFB rules for young footballers.
In the first year of 1976, 463 schools across Austria took part in this competition, a number that increased to 756 schools in the second year of existence. The first final took place in the then newly opened Weststadion. The BRG Linz, Fadinger Straße, won against HS Nenzing after a 2-2 with 4-2 in the penalty shootout. - Based on the model of the soccer school league, a volleyball school league was created in 1977. The third final in 1978 in Salzburg was the best attended with 15,000 spectators, as the local secondary school in Lehen was in the final. In 1979 Herbert Kolm became one of the two managing directors and directs the fate of the student league football for more than a quarter of a century without interruption. 1982 played in the final in front of 10,000 spectators BRG Mattersburg against Wattens HS II, the game ended 4-0. 1981 was the only "student league international game" so far organized. The winner of the national championship, the Tulln sports school , lost against the Bavarian champions Leidersbach with 0: 1. In 1983 970 school teams took part in the competition, which has remained unmatched to this day. In 1985 the ten-year existence was celebrated with a ceremony in the Salzburg Residence . The federal final was held on this occasion in the Salzburg-Lehen stadium. In 1992, the initiator of the student league, Leopold Stastny Leopold Šťastný , arriving from Canada at the age of 81, attended his last final game. In 1995 the 20th anniversary was celebrated with a big ceremony in Hohenems Castle. In 2000 the student league celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 2001 a video film designed by Peter Elstner was published and in the ÖFB publication “100 Years of Football in Austria” the student league is given a detailed article. An official indoor competition was organized from 2002. Since fair play is an important part of the school league concept, a jury awards a prize to the fairest team. In the 2010 to 2014 seasons, the Praxis-NMS Salzburg, whose ranks included young players from FC Red Bull Salzburg , made it to the final, which they could always win until 2011. In 2015, the most successful school to date, the SHS Linz-Kleinmünchen, won the title for the 7th time.
A special feature of the student league is / was that the teams taking part in the finals also provided a so-called celebrity supervisor in addition to their physical education teachers / coaches. The final teams in 1976, the BRG Linz and the HS Nenzing, were looked after by Berti Vogts and Jupp Heynckes . As a result, it was mostly current or former Austrian football greats such as (among others) Josef Hickersberger , Kurt Jara , Friedl Koncilia , Hans Krankl , Willi Kreuz , Felix Latzke , Klaus Lindenberger , Manfred Linzmaier , Erich Obermayer , Bruno Pezzey , Herbert Prohaska , Robert Sara , Sepp Stering , Hermann Stessl and Kurt Welzl . Team boss Prof. Branko Elsner was also there once. In the 1997/98 season there was a change of sponsors, because »Bank Austria« withdrew, from now on - in addition to »Erste Bank« and the regional savings banks - the »s Bausparkasse« and for 5 years also the »s Insurance «the main competition. In December 1999 a mascot called "Ollie" was created. For 2001/02 Hans Krankl could be won for an advertising campaign, which could be seen on posters and in a short film (as a trailer for the final matches). In the course of time, technology competitions were also held, initially as an individual competition, then for an entire team. Similar to the boys, a school league for girls (name: Post-Liga) was initiated.
Sebastian Drga - Gymnasium of the Diocese of Eisenstadt - 2nd place on June 28th, 2008 at the final in Neusiedl; With 14 goals in the final tournament, including all three in the final in the 3: 5 defeat - he sets a new goal record, surpassing the 11 goals scored by Roland Linz in 1984 for HS Trofaiach
Jürgen Leitner - final winner 1987 with the BG / BRG 2 Vienna, Wohlmutstraße, in Linz - FK Austria Vienna
Roland Linz - 1994 national champion with HS Franz Jonas Trofaiach, where he set a record with 11 goals that was only exceeded in the 2008 final (14 goals by Sebastian Drga) - FK Austria Wien
