Ernst Happel

Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager.

Ernst Happel

Happel in a commemorative banner
Personal information
Full name	Ernst Franz Hermann Happel
Date of birth	(1925-11-29)29 November 1925
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Date of death	14 November 1992(1992-11-14) (aged 66)
Place of death	Innsbruck, Austria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1938–1942	Rapid Wien
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1942–1954	Rapid Wien	177	(8)
1955–1956	RC Paris	42	(9)
1956–1959	Rapid Wien	63	(17)
Total		282	(34)
International career
1947–1958	Austria	51	(5)
Managerial career
1962–1969	ADO Den Haag
1967	San Francisco Gales
1969–1973	Feijenoord
1973–1974	Sevilla
1974–1978	Club Brugge
1977–1978	Netherlands
1979	Harelbeke
1979–1981	Standard Liège
1981–1987	Hamburger SV
1987–1991	Swarovski Tirol
1992	Austria
Medal record Men's football Representing  Austria (as player) FIFA World Cup 1954 Representing  Netherlands (as manager) FIFA World Cup Runner-up 1978
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Team Austria in 1958 with the following players – from left to right, standing; Walter Horak, Ernst Happel, Karl Koller, Alfred Körner, Paul Halla, Walter Schleger; crouched: Helmut Senekowitsch, Gerhard Hanappi, Rudolf Szanwald, Franz Swoboda and Johann Buzek.

Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time,^[1][2][3] winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Belgium, West Germany, and Austria. Happel won the European Cup twice, in 1970 with Feyenoord and 1983 with Hamburger SV, managed Club Brugge to a European Cup runner-up finish in 1978, and won a runners-up medal with the Netherlands at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. This is the best result ever for a non-domestic manager in a World Cup alongside Englishman George Raynor's Swedish runner-up campaign in 1958.^[4] He was the first of the six managers to have won the European Cup with two clubs (Carlo Ancelotti, Ottmar Hitzfeld, José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Jupp Heynckes being the other five). He is also one of six managers–– along with Ancelotti, Mourinho, Giovanni Trapattoni, Tomislav Ivić, and Eric Gerets–– to have won top-flight domestic league championships in at least four countries.

Playing career

Club level

Happel started his professional playing career at Rapid Wien, where he made his first team debut at age 17. Forming a solid defensive partnership with Max Merkel, he played 14 years for Rapid, from 1943 until 1954 and 1956 until 1959, winning the Austrian Championship title six times. He was chosen in Rapid's Team of the Century in 1999.^[5]

The two years in between Happel played for Racing Club de Paris in France.

International level

Happel made his debut for Austria in September 1947 against Hungary. He played for Austria at the 1948 Summer Olympics.^[6] He was a participant at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, where he helped them reach third place, and also at the 1958 World Cup. His last international was a September 1958 match against Yugoslavia. He earned 51 caps and scored 5 goals.^[7]

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Happel went on to become one of the greatest coaches of all time. He won the league title in four countries. He also took two clubs to gold in the European Champions' Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) and the Netherlands to second place in the 1978 World Cup. His first club was ADO Den Haag in 1962, with whom he won the Dutch Cup in 1968. After Den Haag he coached Feyenoord, with whom he won the European Cup (defeated Glasgow Celtic in the 1970 final) and the Intercontinental Cup in 1970, and the Dutch championship in 1971.

At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, Happel was coach of The Netherlands national team and reached the final against the Argentina national team. Always a man of few words, Happel's pre-match pep talk is said to have consisted of just one sentence: "Gentlemen, two points." The Dutch, however, lost the final 3–1 in extra time.

During his career as coach, Happel worked for several clubs, including Sevilla, Club Brugge (winning the Belgian Championship title several times) and Hamburger SV (1981–1987, German champions in 1982 and 1983, German Cup winner 1987).

In 1983, he won the European Cup again, 13 years after the triumph with Feyenoord, this time with Hamburger SV, defeating Juventus in the final. He is one of six coaches in the history of the European Cup (now called Champions League) to win the title with two clubs, the others being Ottmar Hitzfeld, who won with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich; José Mourinho, who won with Porto and Inter Milan; Jupp Heynckes, who won with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich; Carlo Ancelotti, who won with Milan and Real Madrid; and Pep Guardiola, who won with FC Barcelona and Manchester City.

In 1987, Happel returned to Austria as coach of Swarovski Tirol. With the club, he won the Austrian Championship title twice (1989 and 1990) before becoming coach of the Austria national team in 1992.

Personal life

All youth players of Rapid Vienna automatically became member of the Hitler Jugend in 1938. Ernst reported he refused to sing along to their songs until he was kicked out of their gatherings.^[8]

He was conscripted and dispatched to the Eastern Front in 1943. Although he never saw action, he was arrested by the Americans in 1945. He escaped by jumping out of the train wagon in Munich and took several months to make his way back to Vienna. He smuggled himself into the Soviet occupation zone with the excuse that he had seen from afar his house was still standing and that he'd started playing at Rapid Vienna again.^[8]

Ernst Happel never married. He was described by one of his ex-players Birger Jensen as a bit of a loner, always accompanied by his cigarettes and cognac.^[9] He nevertheless would meet up with Austrian friends, enjoying card games, pool and darts.^[9]

Death

Plaque at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna

A heavy smoker for most of his adult life, Happel died of lung cancer in 1992 at age 66. In the wake of his death, the biggest football stadium in Austria, the Praterstadion in Vienna, was renamed the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. Four days after his death, Austria played against Germany and reached a 0–0 draw; Happel's cap lay on the bench during the entire match.

Managerial statistics

Club

Club	From	To	Competition	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
ADO Den Haag	26 August 1962	22 May 1969	Eredivisie	222	94	66	62	042.34
			KNVB Cup	31	24	5	2	077.42
			European Cup Winners' Cup	4	2	0	2	050.00
ADO Den Haag Total				257	120	71	66	046.69
San Francisco Golden Gate Gales	28 May 1967	1 July 1967	USA Western Division	12	5	3	4	041.67
San Francisco Golden Gate Gales Total				12	5	3	4	041.67
Feyenoord	10 August 1969	20 May 1973	Eredivisie	136	101	23	12	074.26
			KNVB Cup	10	5	2	3	050.00
			Intercontinental Cup	2	1	1	0	050.00
			European Cup	17	10	4	3	058.82
			UEFA Cup	21	13	4	4	061.90
Feyenoord Total				186	130	34	22	069.89
Sevilla	2 September 1973	17 December 1973	Segunda División	14	5	4	5	035.71
			Copa del Generalísimo	1	1	0	0	100.00
Sevilla Total				15	6	4	5	040.00
Club Brugge	27 January 1974	25 October 1978	First Division	166	97	39	30	058.43
			Belgian Cup	19	13	4	2	068.42
			Belgian League Cup	8	5	1	2	062.50
			European Cup	17	8	3	6	047.06
			UEFA Cup	12	6	2	4	050.00
Club Brugge Total				222	129	49	44	058.11
K.R.C. Harelbeke	11 February 1979	1 May 1979	Second Division	11	6	1	4	054.55
K.R.C. Harelbeke Total				11	6	1	4	054.55
Standard Liège	29 August 1979	17 May 1981	First Division	68	38	15	15	055.88
			Belgian Cup	14	12	1	1	085.71
			Belgian Super Cup	1	0	1	0	000.00
			UEFA Cup	8	4	3	1	050.00
			Intertoto Cup	6	2	1	3	033.33
Standard Liège Total				97	56	21	20	057.73
Hamburger SV	8 August 1981	20 June 1987	Bundesliga	204	109	53	42	053.43
			DFB-Pokal	22	15	2	5	068.18
			German Supercup	1	0	1	0	000.00
			Intercontinental Cup	1	0	1	0	000.00
			European Cup	11	7	2	2	063.64
			UEFA Cup	20	10	2	8	050.00
Hamburger SV Total				259	141	61	57	054.44
Swarovski Tirol	18 July 1987	30 November 1991	Bundesliga	176	91	45	40	051.70
			Austrian Cup	20	15	1	4	075.00
			Austrian Supercup	3	0	1	2	000.00
			European Cup	8	4	2	2	050.00
			European Cup Winners' Cup	2	1	0	1	050.00
			UEFA Cup	6	3	1	2	050.00
Swarovski Tirol Total				215	114	50	51	053.02
Totals |				1,274	707	294	273	055.49

*Dates of first and last games under Happel not dates of official appointments

National teams

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Netherlands	31 August 1977	25 June 1978	12	8	2	2	066.67
Austria	1 January 1992	14 November 1992	9	2	3	4	022.22
Total			21	10	5	6	047.62

*Dates of first and last games under Happel not dates of official appointments

Honours

Player

Rapid Wien^[10]

• Austrian Football Bundesliga: 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1956–57
• Austrian Cup: 1945–46
• Zentropa Cup: 1951

Austria

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1954

Manager

ADO Den Haag^[11]

• Dutch Cup: 1967–68

Feyenoord^[12]

• Eredivisie: 1970–71
• European Cup: 1969–70
• Intercontinental Cup: 1970

Club Brugge^[13]

• European Cup runners-up: 1977–78^[14]
• UEFA Cup runners-up: 1975–76^[15]
• Belgian Championship: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78
• Belgian Cup: 1976–77

Standard Liège^[16]

• Belgian Cup: 1980–81

Hamburger SV^[17]

• European Cup: 1982–83
• UEFA Cup runners-up: 1981–82
• European Super Cup runners-up: 1983
• Bundesliga: 1981–82, 1982–83
• DFB-Pokal: 1986–87

Swarovski Tirol^[18]

• Austrian Championship: 1988–89, 1989–90
• Austrian Cup: 1988–89

Netherlands

• FIFA World Cup runners-up: 1978^[19]
• Tournoi de Paris: 1978^[20]

Individual

• France Football 9th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019^[21]
• World Soccer 9th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013
• ESPN 14th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013^[22]

References

1. "Ernst Happel – Legendary football manager". The Sporting.blog. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
2. Stephan Uersfeld (6 August 2013). "Greatest Managers, No. 14: Ernst Happel". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
3. "Ernst Happel: The 'Weird Man' Who Conquered European Football and Helped Shape the Modern Game". Sports Illustrated. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
4. "Nenhuma seleção ganhou uma Copa do Mundo com um técnico estrangeiro" [No team has won a World Cup with a foreign manager]. Goal.com Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
5. Team of the Century Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Rapid Archive
6. "Ernst Happel". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
7. Appearances for the Austria National Team – RSSSF
8. "125 Jaar Club Brugge: het fantastische 'volgasvoetbal' van Ernst Happel, 19/11/1925-14/11/1992 (4) – RW". De Witte Duivel (in Dutch). 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
9. "Ernst Happel (29/11/1925-14/11/1992), Weense Weltmeister bij Club Brugge, aflevering 2". De Witte Duivel (in Dutch). 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
10. "SK Rapid Wien – Titles, trophies and places of honor".
11. "Historie". De Haagse Voetbalhistorie.
12. "Feyenoord, een topclub zonder geld". 6 August 2010.
13. "Ernst Happel Trainerscarrière". Club Brugge. 26 September 2017.
14. "1978 final highlights: Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge". UEFA.
15. "Voetbal – UEFA Cup – 1975/1976 – Home". Sportuitslagen.
16. "Palmares". Standard de Liège.
17. "Hamburger SV – Titles, trophies and places of honor".
18. "FC Swarovski Tirol – Titles, trophies and places of honor".
19. "FIFA World Cup 1978". Archived from the original on 17 May 2018.
20. "1978 Tournoi de Paris". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
21. "France Football have ranked the 50 greatest managers of all time". GiveMeSport. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
22. "Greatest Managers, No. 14: Ernst Happel". ESPN FC. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2019.

External links

• Player profile – Rapid Archive
• Ernst Happel at National-Football-Teams.com