Austria return to form in style

uefa.com looks back at the achievements of FK Austria Wien as part of our series of histories of the 18 clubs directly involved in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

One of Austria's most successful teams, FK Austria Wien have won the national championship 22 times - 20 times since the second world war - as well as 23 Austrian Cups. However, such a proud tradition came under threat in the mid-1990s, when the club fell behind the likes of FC Tirol Innsbruck and SK Sturm Graz. Indeed, Austria finished out of the top four in the 2000/01 season, but subsequently bounced back in style.

Cricketing origins
The club were founded in 1911 in the Austrian capital - developing out of a cricket and football club that had been formed in 1894 - and were initially known as Wiener Amateur Sportvereinigung. They claimed their first league title in 1924 and two years later added a second - changing their name to FK Austria Wien, or Austria Vienna - in the same year.

Best in the world
The Violets enjoyed a purple patch during the 1930s, providing many players for the Austrian national team, which at the time was considered one of the best in the world. In 1933 and 1936 the club won the Mitropa Cup, a forerunner of the European Champion Clubs' Cup with a more limited geographical focus, but suffered badly under the Nazi regime after the Anschluss in 1938. Many club officials were Jewish and their best-ever player Matthias Sindelar refused to play for the German national side and later committed suicide.

Technical expertise
Austria became well known over the years for a highly technical style of play as personified by the likes of Sindelar before the war, Ernst Ocwirk - dubbed the best centre-half in the world in the 1950s - and in the 1970s and 1980s, Toni Polster and Herbert Prohaska.

Rapid decline
More recently the club moved from the Prater national stadium to the more modest Franz-Horr-Stadion. The last decade of the 20th century saw them add three more league titles in 1991, 1992 and 1993 but following their 20th cup success in 1994 their fortunes declined dramatically.

Schachner the man
However, the appointment of Walter Schachner as coach sparked a revival. Financial problems meant that champions Tirol were demoted at the end of 2001/02, a decision which not only increased Austria's domestic chances but also enabled the club to qualify for the first round of the UEFA Cup having finished fourth in the league.

Domestic dominance
Austria defeated FC Shakhtar Donetsk 5-2 on aggregate in the first round before being knocked out by eventual winners FC Porto in the second round. It was on the domestic front where the club really made their presence felt, however, as they dominated the Austrian Bundesliga and claimed the title by an emphatic winning margin of 13 points. Austria, now coached by Christoph Daum, completed a league and cup double by brushing aside FC Kärnten 3-0 in the Österreichischer Cup final. Daum then departed, bequeathing a club in fine health to his successor Joachim Löw.