Wilhelm Halpern

Willy Halpern
Personnel
Surname	Wilhelm Halpern
birthday	February 5, 1895
place of birth	Vienna ,  Austria-Hungary
date of death	March 1973
Place of death	New York ,  USA
position	goalie
Juniors
Years	station
	Metropol Vienna
	Romania Vienna
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1910-1923	SC Hakoah Vienna
	DSK Olomouc
	Cracovia Krakow
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1917-1918	Austria	3 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Wilhelm "Willy" Halpern , (born February 5, 1895 in Vienna , Austria-Hungary , † March 1973 in New York , United States of America ) was an Austrian football player in the position of goalie .

Career

After Willy Halpern had his first football experience with unorganized teams in Vienna's Augarten , he joined the newly founded club Metropol , from which Romania was later to emerge and played there in the reserve team. In 1910 he moved to SC Hakoah Wien , where, after a few games in the reserve, he moved up to the first team, to which he - apart from interruptions due to his military service during the First World War - belonged until 1923. While the blue-whites were still in the fourth level when Halpern joined, two promotions quickly followed and the team played in the second level from 1913. In the game against SC Wacker Wien , the fiercest rival for promotion, Halpern showed an extraordinary performance and secured the victory and thus the autumn championship with two penalties, but ultimately it should not be enough for promotion. His strengths included, in particular, the positional play and the speed of reaction.

At the beginning of the war, the Hakaoh initially ceased operations, Halpern entered the military and continued to work as a goalkeeper at his locations, namely at DSK Olomouc and Cracovia Krakau . Then he played again with the Hakoah in the second class, but because of the war promotion and relegation were suspended. Halpern often only came to Vienna because of the games and then immediately returned to his unit.

His performances were so convincing that in July 1917 he was called up as a player of a second-rate club in the Austrian national soccer team and made his debut in a 1: 4 against Hungary , which made him the first Hakoahner in the history of the national team. In the spring of 1918, two more missions followed against Hungary and Switzerland . In addition, he was appointed to the second grade 15 times. With the Hakoah he rose to the team captain.

In 1920 the Hakoah achieved promotion to the top division and was able to establish itself there straight away with Halpern. In the second year, the runner-up title was achieved behind the Wiener Sport-Club . During the 1923/24 season, the goalkeeper sustained a serious knee injury, which - also out of consideration for his professional obligations - forced him to end his career. Halpern was a trained jeweler and also practiced his profession while playing football.

In 1925 he emigrated to New York, where he ran a jewelry store and worked for Maccabi New York for some time .

successes

• 1 × Austrian runner-up: 1922
• 1 × Austrian second division champion: 1920
• 1 × Austrian Cup semifinals: 1920
• 3 games for the Austrian national soccer team