SK Rapid Wien

Sportklub Rapid Wien (German pronunciation: [ʁaˈpiːt ˈviːn]), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, as well as a German championship in 1941 during Nazi rule. Rapid twice reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 and 1996, losing on both occasions. The club is often known as Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites) for its team colours or as Hütteldorfer, in reference to the location of the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, which is in Hütteldorf, part of the city's 14th district in Penzing.

Rapid Wien
Full nameSportklub Rapid Wien
Nickname(s)Die Grün-Weißen
(The Green-Whites),
Hütteldorfer
Founded8 January 1899 (8 January 1899)
GroundAllianz Stadion
Capacity28,345
ChairmanMartin Bruckner
Head coachDietmar Kühbauer
LeagueAustrian Bundesliga
2019–20Austrian Bundesliga, 2nd
WebsiteClub website
European home colours

History

Early history
The 1. Arbeiter FC in 1898

The club was founded in 1897 as Erster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club (First Viennese Workers' Football Club). The team's original colours were red and blue, which are still often used in away matches. On 8 January 1899, the club was renamed, taking on its present name of Sportklub Rapid Wien, following the example of Rapide Berlin. In 1904, the team colours were changed to green and white. The club won Austria's first ever national championship in 1911–12 by a single point,[1] and retained the title the following season.[2]

Historical chart of Rapid Wien league performance

Between World Wars

Rapid became a dominant force during the years between the world wars, an era in which Austria was one of the leading football nations on the continent. It won its first hat-trick of titles from 1919 to 1921.[3] After the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, Rapid joined the German football system, playing in the regional first division Gauliga Ostmark along with clubs such as Wacker Wien and Admira Vienna. Rapid would be the most successful of these clubs. They won the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's DFB-Pokal, in 1938 with a 3–1 victory over FSV Frankfurt, and followed that with a German Championship in 1941 by defeating Schalke 04, the most dominant German club of the era. The team was able to overcome a 3–0 Schalke lead to win the match 4–3.

Post-World War II

As the winners of the 1954–55 season, Rapid were Austria's entrant for the inaugural European Cup in the following season. They were drawn in the first round against PSV and opened with a 6–1 home victory, with Alfred Körner scoring a hat-trick. Despite losing the away leg 1–0, the club still advanced to a quarter-final, where they started with a 1–1 home draw against Milan before being defeated 7–2 in the away match at the San Siro to lose 8–3 on aggregate.[4]

Rapid's best performance in the European Cup came in the 1960–61 season when they reached the semi-final before being eliminated by eventual winners Benfica, 4–1 on aggregate. Previously, in the quarter-final the club required a replay to eliminate East German club Aue from the tournament after a 3–3 aggregate draw. The modern away goals rule would have seen Aue advance without needing the replay, held at the St Jakob Park in neutral Basel.[5]

The club was involved in a controversial episode in 1984 when they eliminated Celtic from the last 16 of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Celtic were leading 4–3 on aggregate with 14 minutes left in the match when Rapid conceded a penalty. As the Rapid players protested to the match officials, their defender Rudolf Weinhofer then fell to the ground and claimed to have been hit by a bottle thrown from the stands. However, television images clearly showed that a bottle was thrown onto the pitch and did not hit Weinhofer. The match finished 4–3, but Rapid appealed to UEFA for a replay, and both teams were fined. The replay appeal was turned down initially, but Rapid appealed for a second time. On this occasion, Rapid's fine was doubled but UEFA also stipulated the match be replayed 100 miles away from Celtic's ground. The game was held on 12 December 1984 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and Rapid won 1–0 through a Peter Pacult strike.

Rapid reached its first European final in 1985, losing 3–1 in the Cup Winners' Cup Final to Everton in Rotterdam. Eleven years later, in the same tournament's final in Brussels, Rapid lost 1–0 to Paris Saint-Germain.[6]

Rapid last reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2005–06 after beating F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg 9–3 on aggregate and then defeating Lokomotiv Moscow 2–1 on aggregate in a play-off after a 1–0 victory in Russia. They eventually finished last in their group after losing all of their matches against Bayern Munich, Juventus and Club Brugge.[7]

In 2015, the Rapida youth team took part[8] in the third season of the Football for Friendship international children's social program, the final events of which were held in Berlin.[9]

Club culture

Rapid Viertelstunde

Almost since the club's beginnings, Rapid fans have announced the last 15 minutes of the match by way of the traditional "Rapid-Viertelstunde" – rhythmic clapping at home or away no matter what the score. The first mention of the practise goes back to 1913, and on 21 April 1918 a newspaper wrote about the fans clapping at the beginning of the "Rapid-Viertelstunde". Over the decades, there were many instances where the team managed to turn around a losing position by not giving up and, with their fans' support, fighting their way to a win just before the final whistle.

Fans
Friendship corner in the Fan Shop of the 1. FC Nürnberg with trikots of Rapid Wien.

The biggest fan club is Ultras Rapid, which was founded in 1988. Other important fan clubs are the ultras group Tornados Rapid and Spirits Rapid and the hooligan firm Alte Garde Dritte Halbzeit.

The active supporters are situated in the Block West stand, which has a capacity of 8,500 spectators. The old Block West in the now demolished Gerhard-Hanappi-Stadion had about 2,700 seats.

The fan-base of Rapid is connected, in a friendly way, with the supporters of the German club Nürnberg, the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, the Italian club Venezia and the Greek club Panathinaikos.

Stadium
Ernst-Happel-Stadion

Rapid played at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium - which was opened on 10 May 1977 with a Wiener derby match against Austria Wien - until the 2013–14 season. The stadium bore the name of its architect Gerhard Hanappi, who also played for Rapid from 1950 to 1965. Prior to 1980, when it was renamed in his honour, it was known as the Weststadion (Western Stadium), due to its geographical location in the city.

In June 2014, it was announced that a new stadium, the Allianz Stadion, will be built in place of the old Gerhard Hanappi Stadium.[10] During its construction, Rapid played its home games in the Ernst Happel Stadion.

Wiener Derby
Main article: Wiener Derby
A 2010 Wien derby match between Rapid Wien and Austria Wien.

Rapid Wien contest the Wien derby with their local Vienna rival Austria Wien. The two clubs are amongst the most supported and successful football teams in the entire country, and are the only Austrian clubs to have never been relegated. Both teams originate from Hietzing, the 13th district in the west of the city, but have since moved into different districts. While Austria Wien is seen as a middle-class club, Rapid traditionally hold the support of the capital's working class. The two clubs first met in a league championship match on 8 September 1911, a 4–1 victory for Rapid.[11] The fixture is the most-played derby in European football after the Old Firm in Glasgow between Rangers and Celtic.

Honours

Domestic
Steffen Hofmann celebrating the championship 2008.

Rapid Wien is Austria's record titleholder, lifting the trophy a total of 32 times, and the club also won a German Championship and German Cup while part of that country's football competition from 1938 to 1945 following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.

Austrian Championship

Austrian Cup

  • Champions (14): 1918–19, 1919–20, 1926–27, 1945–46, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1994–95

Austrian Supercup

  • Champions (3): 1986, 1987, 1988

German Championship

German Cup

Continental

Mitropa Cup:

Cup Winners' Cup

Team photo for the 2010–2011 season

Current squad
As of 31 January 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  AUT Richard Strebinger
4 DF  CRO Mateo Barać
6 DF  AUT Mario Sonnleitner
7 FW  AUT Philipp Schobesberger
8 MF  AUT Marcel Ritzmaier (on loan from Barnsley)
9 FW  GRE Taxiarchis Fountas
13 MF  AUT Thorsten Schick
14 MF  BIH Srđan Grahovac
16 MF  SVN Dejan Petrovič
17 DF  AUT Christopher Dibon
18 MF  HUN Tamás Szántó
19 FW  AUT Deni Alar
20 DF  AUT Maximilian Hofmann
21 GK  AUT Bernhard Unger
22 DF  MNE Filip Stojković
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 GK  AUT Paul Gartler
28 MF  AUT Christoph Knasmüllner
29 FW  AUT Ercan Kara
30 DF  AUT Leo Greiml
31 DF  AUT Maximilian Ullmann
32 FW  JPN Koya Kitagawa
36 FW  AUT Kelvin Arase
37 DF  AUT Lukas Sulzbacher
38 DF  MKD Adrian Hajdari
39 MF  AUT Dejan Ljubičić
42 FW  AUT Lion Schuster
43 FW  SRB Dragoljub Savić
46 DF  AUT Paul Gobara
47 MF  AUT Dalibor Velimirović
48 FW  AUT Yusuf Demir

Former players
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Kosovo
Montenegro
Netherlands

Coaching history

See also

References
  1. Austria 1911/12. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (2 February 2005).
  2. Austria 1912/13. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (9 February 2005).
  3. Austria – List of Champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (25 July 2013).
  4. UEFA Champions League 1955/56 – History – Rapid Wien –. UEFA.
  5. UEFA Champions League 1960/61 – History – Rapid Wien –. UEFA.
  6. European Cup Winners' Cup Finals 1961–99. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (31 May 1999).
  7. UEFA Champions League 2005/06 – History – Rapid Wien –. UEFA.
  8. "Junge Fußballspieler aus 24 Ländern Europas und Asiens trafen sich zum Dritten Internationalen Kinderforum Football for Friendship". www.prnewswire.co.uk. The International Children's Social FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP project press center. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  9. "Champions League-weekend Berlijn onvergetelijk voor Merel Hulst uit Assen". Asser Courant (in Dutch). 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Archived 10 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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