SK Rapid Wien

Sportklub Rapid (German pronunciation: [ʁaˈpiːd]), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional 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, although its cross-city arch rival FK Austria Vienna has won more combined league and cup titles. Rapid twice reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 and 1996, losing on both occasions.

Sportklub Rapid

Full name	Sportklub Rapid
Nickname(s)	Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites), Hütteldorfer, Rapidler
Founded	8 January 1899; 125 years ago (8 January 1899)
Ground	Allianz Stadion
Capacity	28,345
Chairman	Alexander Wrabetz
Head coach	Robert Klauß
League	Austrian Bundesliga
2023–24	Austrian Bundesliga, 4th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

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.

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 (thanks to Wilhelm Goldschmidt^[1]), taking on its present name of Sportklub Rapid, following the example of Rapide Berlin. Wien or Vienna are commonly added when referring to the club but are not part of the official name. 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,^[2] and retained the title the following season.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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 away goals rule would have seen Aue advance without needing the replay, held at the St Jakob Park in neutral Basel.^[6]

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 160 kilometres (100 mi) 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

In 2015, the Rapid youth team took part^[10] in the third season of the Football for Friendship international children's social program, the final events of which were held in Berlin.^[11]

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 regardless of the score. The first mention of the practice 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 have been 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, the Hungarian club Ferencváros and the Greek club Panathinaikos. As Rapid, Ferencváros and Panathinaikos also play in green the alliance is nicknamed the "Green Brothers"

Stadium

Allianz Stadion

Rapid played at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium - which was opened on 10 May 1977 with a Vienna 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.^[12] During its construction, Rapid played its home games in the Ernst Happel Stadion.

The stadium was officially unveiled when Rapid Wien hosted Chelsea in a pre-season friendly on 16 July 2016 and won 2–0.^[13][14]

Rivalries

Main article: Vienna derby

A 2010 Wien derby match between Rapid Wien and Austria Wien.

Rapid Wien contest the Vienna derby with their local Vienna rival FK 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.^[15] 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

• Champions (32): 1911–12, 1912–13, 1915–16, 1916–17, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1922–23, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1995–96, 2004–05, 2007–08

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

• Champion: 1941

German Cup

• Champion: 1938

Continental

Mitropa Cup:

• Champions (2): 1930, 1951

Cup Winners' Cup

• Runners-up: 1984–85, 1995–96

Team photo for the 2010–2011 season

Players

Current squad

As of 4 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  AUT Benjamin Böckle 4 DF  AUT Jakob Schöller 5 MF  AUT Roman Kerschbaum 6 DF  FRA Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao 7 FW  CRO Dion Drena Beljo (on loan from Augsburg) 8 MF  AUT Lukas Grgić 9 FW  AUT Guido Burgstaller 10 FW  AUT Christoph Lang 14 FW  MAR Ryan Mmaee (on loan from Stoke City) 16 MF  NOR Tobias Børkeeiet 17 MF  MLI Mamadou Sangaré 18 MF  AUT Matthias Seidl 19 FW  BRB Thierry Gale 20 DF  AUT Maximilian Hofmann 21 MF  AUT Louis Schaub 22 FW  SWE Isak Jansson 23 DF  AUT Jonas Auer

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF  GER Dennis Kaygın 25 GK  AUT Paul Gartler 27 FW  AUT Noah Bischof 28 MF  AUT Moritz Oswald 30 MF  AUT Nicolas Bajlicz 37 FW  AUT Jovan Živković 38 FW  MAS Ferdy Druijf 41 FW  AUT Bernhard Zimmermann 45 GK  AUT Niklas Hedl 50 GK  AUT Laurenz Orgler 51 GK  AUT Benjamin Göschl 53 DF  AUT Dominik Vincze 55 DF  SRB Nenad Cvetković 66 FW  AUT Furkan Dursun 70 FW  FRA Ismail Seydi 77 DF  HUN Bendegúz Bolla

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  AUT Oliver Strunz (at Altach until 30 June 2025)

Notable former players

Nation	Name	Years	A	Position	G	SR
AUT	Richard Kuthan	1911–1926, 1927-1929	244	Striker	164	0.672
AUT	Josef Uridil	1918–1925, 1926-1927	106	Striker	127	1.198
AUT	Edi Bauer	1911–1926	188	Striker	133	0.707
AUT	Ferdinand Wesely	1920–1931	206	Striker	121	0.587
AUT	Robert Dienst	1948–1962	284	Striker	307	1.080
AUT	Franz Weselik	1923–1934	175	Striker	160	0.914
AUT	Rudolf Flögel	1958–1972	332	Striker	145	0.436
AUT	Matthias Kaburek	1928–1936, 1939-1945	158	Striker	138	0.873
AUT	Johann Riegler	1948–1961	272	Striker	160	0.588
AUT	Peter Schöttel	1986–2002	436	Defender	4	0.009
AUT	Michael Konsel	1985–1997	395	Goalkeeper
AUT	Hans Krankl	1970–1978, 1981–1986	350	Striker	267	0.763
AUT	Gerhard Hanappi	1950–1965	333	Midfielder	114	0.342
AUT	Reinhard Kienast	1978–1992	393	Midfielder	61	0.155
AUT	Heribert Weber	1978–1989	315	Defender	39	0.124
AUT	Helge Payer	2001–2012	298	Goalkeeper
AUT	Franz Binder	1938–1948	242	Striker	267	1.103
AUT	Ernst Happel	1942–1954, 1956–1959	240	Defender	25	0.104
AUT	Walter Zeman	1945–1961	235	Goalkeeper
AUT	Robert Körner	1942–1958	212	Striker	80	0.377
AUT	Alfred Körner	1942–1959	286	Striker	157	0.548
AUT	Louis Schaub	2011–2018	189	Attacking midfielder	30	0.159
AUT	Andi Herzog	1986–1992, 2002–2003	174	Attacking midfielder	37	0.213
AUT	Andreas Ivanschitz	2000–2005	147	Attacking midfielder	25	0.170
AUT	Leopold Grausam	1963–1970	142	Forward	58	0.408
AUT	Roman Wallner	1999–2004	134	Forward	42	0.313
AUT	Florian Kainz	2014–2016	98	Midfielder	15	0.153
AUT	György Garics	2001–2006	99	Full-back	3	0.030
AUT	Erwin Hoffer	2006–2009	85	Forward	41	0.482
ALB	Hamdi Salihi	2009–2012	67	Forward	36	0.537
BEL	Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo	2017–2019	56	Left-back	3	0.054
BLR	Alyaksandr Myatlitski	1991–1993	58	Defender	9	0.155
BRA	Joelinton	2016–2018	60	Midfielder	15	0.250
BUL	Trifon Ivanov	1995–1997	53	Defender	7	0.132
CAN	Ante Jazić	2001–2004	107	Left-back	1	0.009
CRO	Zlatko Kranjčar	1983–1990	210	Striker	106	0.505
CRO	Mario Bazina	2006–2008	72	Midfielder	18	0.250
CRO	Nikica Jelavić	2008–2010	71	Forward	27	0.380
CZE	René Wagner	1996–2004	220	Forward	75	0.341
CZE	Ladislav Maier	1998–2005	161	Goalkeeper
CZE	Antonín Panenka	1981–1985	127	Attacking midfielder	63	0.496
CZE	Marek Kincl	2004–2007	92	Striker	27	0.278
CZE	Radek Bejbl	2005–2007	59	Defensive midfielder	3	0.051
DEN	Johnny Bjerregaard	1966–1972	151	Striker	96	0.636
FIN	Mako Heikkinen	2007–2013	173	Centre-back	4	0.023
GEO	Giorgi Kvilitaia	2016–2018	55	Striker	17	0.309
GER	Steffen Hofmann	2002–2005, 2006–2018	434	Midfielder	98	0.226
GER	Oliver Freund	1997–2002	126	Midfielder	6	0.048
GER	Jens Dowe	1999–2001	60	Attacking midfielder	7	0.117
GRE	Thanos Petsos	2013–2016, 2017–2018	92	Defensive midfielder	5	0.054
GRE	Taxiarchis Fountas	2019–2022	68	Forward	35	0.515
KOS	Atdhe Nuhiu	2010–2013	59	Forward	13	0.220
MNE	Branko Bošković	2007–2010	104	Attacking midfielder	19	0.183
NED	Gaston Taument	2005–2008	61	Winger	4	0.066
NOR	Jan Åge Fjørtoft	1989–1993	129	Centre forward	63	0.488
POL	Krzysztof Ratajczyk	1996–2001	142	Defender	1	0.007
POL	Maciej Śliwowski	1993–1996	71	Forward	21	0.296
SVK	Marek Penksa	1996–2000	110	Midfielder	18	0.164
SVK	Ján Novota	2011–2017	96	Goalkeeper
SVK	Peter Hlinka	2004–2007	93	Midfielder	11	0.118
SVK	Jozef Valachovič	2004–2007	71	Defender	7	0.099
TJK	Sergei Mandreko	1992–1997	107	Midfielder	16	0.150
USA	Terrence Boyd	2012–2014	59	Forward	28	0.475
YUG	Petar Bručić	1982–1987	118	Midfielder	6	0.051

Players with most appearances are Peter Schöttel (436), Steffen Hofmann (434), and Michael Konsel (395). The top three scorers are Josef Uridil (score rate 1.198), Franz Binder (1.103), Robert Dienst (1.080).

Club staff

Position	Name
President	Alexander Wrabetz
Vice-president	Nikolaus Rosenauer
Sports Coordinator	Steffen Hofmann
Sporting director	Markus Katzer
Manager	Robert Klauß
Assistant managers	Thomas Kraus
Goalkeeper coach	Jürgen Macho
Fitness coach	Martin Hiden
Athletic coach	Tony Prünster Julian Helml Alexander Steinbichler
Match analyst	Daniel Seper
Club doctor	Thomas Balzer Patrick Bitzinger Wojtek Burzec Lukas Brandner Manuel Rosenthaler Wolfgang Skalsky
Physiotherapist	Gerald Kemmer
Kit Manager	Dragisa Vukadinovic

Coaching history

• Dionys Schönecker (1910–25)
• Stanley Wilmott (1925–26)
• Edi Bauer (1926–36)
• Leopold Nitsch (1936–45)
• Hans Pesser (1 July 1945 – 28 February 1953)
• Josef Uridil (1953–54)
• Viktor Hierländer (1954–55)
• Leopold Gernhardt (1955)
• Franz Wagner (1955)
• Alois Beranek (1956)
• Franz Wagner (1956)
• Max Merkel (1 July 1956 – 30 June 1958)
• Rudolf Kumhofer (1958–59)
• Robert Körner (1 July 1959 – 30 June 1966)
• Rudolf Vytlacil (1 July 1966–68)
• Karl Decker (1968–70)
• Rudolf Vytlacil (1968 – 30 April 1969)
• Karl Rappan (1969–70)
• Gerd Springer (1970–72)
• Robert Körner (1972)
• Ernst Hlozek (1 April 1972 – 22 April 1975)
• Josef Pecanka (1975)
• F. Binder / R. Körner (1 September 1975 – 30 June 1976)
• Antoni Brzezanczyk (1976–77)
• Robert Körner (1977)
• Karl Schlechta (1978–79)
• Walter Skocik (1 July 1979 – 1 April 1982)
• Rudolf Nuske (1982)
• Otto Barić (1 July 1982 – 30 June 1985)
• Vlatko Marković (1 July 1985 – 30 June 1986)
• Otto Barić (1 July 1986 – 11 September 1988)
• Wilhelm Kaipel (interim) (12 September 1988 – 19 September 1988)
• Vlatko Marković (19 September 1988 – 30 June 1989)
• Hans Krankl (1 July 1989 – 30 June 1992)
• August Starek (1 July 1992 – 31 May 1993)
• Hubert Baumgartner (1 July 1993 – 22 May 1994)
• Ernst Dokupil (23 May 1994 – 1 April 1998)
• Heribert Weber (1 April 1998 – 1 May 2000)
• Ernst Dokupil (1 July 2000 – 18 August 2001)
• Peter Persidis (interim) (18 Aug 2001 – 5 September 2001)
• Lothar Matthäus (6 September 2001 – 10 May 2002)
• Josef Hickersberger (1 July 2002 – 31 December 2005)
• Georg Zellhofer (1 Jan 2006 – 27 August 2006)
• Peter Pacult (5 September 2006 – 11 April 2011)
• Zoran Barisic (interim) (11 April 2011 – 30 May 2011)
• Peter Schöttel (1 June 2011 – 17 April 2013)
• Zoran Barisic (17 April 2013 – 6 June 2016)
• Mike Büskens (7 June 2016 – 7 November 2016)
• Damir Canadi (11 November 2016 – 8 April 2017)
• Goran Djuricin (9 April 2017 – 29 September 2018)
• Dietmar Kühbauer (1 October 2018 – 10 November 2021)
• Steffen Hofmann (interim) (11 November 2021 – 28 November 2021)
• Ferdinand Feldhofer (29 November 2021 – 15 October 2022)
• Zoran Barisic (16 October 2022 – 14 November 2023)
• Robert Klauß (20 November 2023 – 30 June 2026)

See also

• List of SK Rapid Wien records and statistics

References

1. Memory Stone for Wilhelm Goldschmidt. Archived 9 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine. (in German).
2. Austria 1911/12. Archived 13 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (2 February 2005).
3. Austria 1912/13. Archived 13 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (9 February 2005).
4. Austria – List of Champions. Archived 27 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (25 July 2013).
5. UEFA Champions League 1955/56 – History – Rapid Wien –. Archived 9 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. UEFA.
6. UEFA Champions League 1960/61 – History – Rapid Wien –. Archived 7 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. UEFA.
7. "Erinnerungen an Hassduell". sportv1.orf.at. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
8. European Cup Winners' Cup Finals 1961–99. Archived 23 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com (31 May 1999).
9. UEFA Champions League 2005/06 – History – Rapid Wien –. Archived 18 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. UEFA.
10. "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.
11. "Champions League-weekend Berlijn onvergetelijk voor Merel Hulst uit Assen". Asser Courant (in Dutch). 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
12. "SK Rapid Wien - Eckdaten / Das grün-weiße Jahrhundertprojekt: Unser neues Stadion". Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
13. "Eröffnung des Allianz Stadions am 16. Juli gegen Chelsea" (in German). SK Rapid Wien. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
14. "Zurück in Hütteldorf: Show, Unterhaltung, Sieg vs. Chelsea" (in German). SK Rapid Wien. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
15. Archived 10 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Rapid at UEFA.com
• Rapid at EUFO.de
• Rapid at Weltfussball.de
• SK Rapid Wien Results current results of SK Rapid Wien