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Grazer Athletiksport Klub (lit. 'Graz's Athletic Sport Club'; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying success in the decade between 1995 and 2005. The other sections are basketball, diving and tennis, which however all act as separate legal entities. The "GAK" football section folded during the 2012–13 Regionalliga Mitte Season in Autumn 2012. It has since been revived and returned to the Austrian Second League in 2019,[1] and four years later won promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga after a seventeen-year hiatus.[2]
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| Full name | Grazer Athletiksport Klub | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Die Roten (The Reds) Die roten Teufel (The Red Devils) Rotjacken (Red Jackets) Athletiker (Athletics) | |||
| Short name | GAK | |||
| Founded | 18 August 1902 | |||
| Ground | Merkur-Arena | |||
| Capacity | 16,364 | |||
| President | Réne Ziesler | |||
| Head coach | Rene Poms | |||
| League | Austrian Bundesliga | |||
| 2023–24 | Austrian 2. Liga, 1st of 16 (promoted) | |||
| Website | http://www.grazerak.at/ | |||
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The beginning
The club arose from an informal association of local academics around the medical student Georg August Wagner from Prague, later a professor at Charles University and the Charité in Berlin. Acquainted with football from his hometown, he organised the first public match in present-day Austria on 18 March 1894 in the Graz municipal park. The Grazer Athletik-Sport-Club – modeled after the Wiener AC – was established eight years later on the 72nd birthday of Emperor Francis Joseph.
European football and the golden start to the new millennium
Between 1962 and 1983, GAK was involved in European competitions. Their first match was against Odense BK in the Cup Winners Cup in 1962. The club has made regular appearances in European cups ever since, with regular UEFA Cup appearances since the 1980s, but the highlight came on the domestic scene in 1981 when they won the Austrian Cup. The golden years arrived in the first half of the 2000s, when GAK won the Austrian Cup twice more, in 2000 and 2002. Their biggest success was in 2004 where they did the double – they managed to win the cup yet again along with the Austrian title, finishing the league season one point ahead of Austria Wien. Their last appearance in Europe was a disappointing 5–0 away defeat to RC Strasbourg in Round 1 of the UEFA Cup in the 2005–06 season.
Financial troubles and bankruptcy
During the 2006–2007 season, 'Grazer AK' went into administration. The club was docked 28 points as a result. In the 2007–2008 season, the club was not allowed to participate in the professional leagues and was relegated to the Austrian Regional League Central.[3] After a second bankruptcy, the club managed to achieve a settlement and accommodation with its creditors in September 2008, ensuring its survival. Soon after, the club started having difficulties again after it could not recover from its relegation to the Regional League and was eventually dissolved in 2012.
New start
A phoenix club called Grazer AC was set up by the fans soon after the 2012 dissolution called and started from the bottom tier in the 2013–14 season. At an extraordinary meeting on 14 March 2014, Grazer AC was declared to be a continuation of the original "GAK" in agreement with its umbrella association. After winning every single championship, the club made its return to professional football in the 2019–20 season with promotion to the second tier.
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The Reds recorded their highest average attendance (9234) in 2003/2004. The average attendance since the forced relegations had settled at around 3500, but the quality of the organized support had risen. The "curve" was in sector 22, before relegation to the Regionalliga in sector 25. Despite relegation to the third tier, several hundred fans attended away games. The ultra fan groups are known as the Red Firm, the Graz Society, the Tifosi Rosso Bianco and the Everreds. Parts of the fan scene maintain friendships with KFC Uerdingen 05, NK Čelik Zenica and SV Austria Salzburg.
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GAK have an important rivalry with cross-town rivals Sturm Graz, with whom they contest the Graz derby. In 1974, there was significant opposition from both sets of fans against a proposed merger to become FC Graz. Since 1920, excluding the friendly matches (especially before the first official Styrian Cup in 1920), 199 matches have been played between the two, of which there were: 185 encounters in the league (130 at the professional level and 55 at amateur level in the Styrian League); an additional seven encounters in Austrian Cup (including one final that was won by the GAK in 2002); 1 match in the Austrian Supercup; 2 meetings in the Tschammerpokal and 4 games in the Styrian Cup. The first derby took place in 1911 and the most recent on 2 Nov 2023. The Red Devils have the superior record in the rivalry. On 19 October 2022, a long period without a derby ended when the two clubs met in the last 16 of the ÖFB-Cup.
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Positions since the team was re-founded at the end of 2012.
| Season | League | Level | Place | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Austrian Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | 1. Klasse Mitte A (VIII) | 8 | 1 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 124 | 12 | 112 | 62 | not qualified |
| 2014–15 | Gebietsliga Mitte (VII) | 7 | 1 | 26 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 107 | 29 | 78 | 70 | not qualified |
| 2015–16 | Unterliga Mitte (VI) | 6 | 1 | 26 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 88 | 19 | 69 | 69 | not qualified |
| 2016–17 | Oberliga Mitte/West (V) | 5 | 1 | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 65 | 29 | 36 | 51 | not qualified |
| 2017–18 | Landesliga Steiermark (IV) | 4 | 1 | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 24 | 37 | 68 | not qualified |
| 2018–19 | Regionalliga Mitte (III) | 3 | 1 | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 70 | 28 | 42 | 68 | Semi-finals |
| 2019–20 | First League (II) | 2 | 15 | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 31 | Second round |
| 2020–21 | First League (II) | 2 | 6 | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 46 | 42 | 4 | 46 | First round |
| 2021–22 | First League (II) | 2 | 7 | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 47 | 39 | 8 | 46 | First round |
| 2022–23 | First League (II) | 2 | 2 | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 52 | 29 | 23 | 60 | Third round |
| 2023–24 | First League (II) | 2 | 1 | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 69 | Third round |
| Green marks a season followed by promotion | ||||||||||||
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Results
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Aggregate | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962–63 | UEFA Cup Winners Cup | Round 2 |  B 1909 Odense |
4:6 | 1:1 (H) | 3:5 (A) |
| 1964–65 | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | Round 1 |  NK Zagreb |
2:9 | 2:3 (A) | 0:6 (H) |
| 1968–69 | UEFA Cup Winners Cup | Round 1 |  ADO Den Haag |
1:6 | 1:4 (A) | 0:2 (H) |
| 1973–74 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 |  Panachaiki |
1:3 | 0:1 (H) | 1:2 (A) |
| 1981–82 | UEFA Cup Winners Cup | Round 1 |  Dinamo Tbilisi |
2:4 | 0:2 (A) | 2:2 (H) |
| 1982–83 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 |  Corvinul Hunedoara |
1:4 | 1:1 (H) | 0:3 (A) |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup | Qualification | Vojvodina |
7:1 | 2:0 (H) | 5:1 (A) |
| Round 1 |  Germinal Ekeren |
(a) 3:3 | 1:3 (A) | 2:0 (H) | ||
| Round 2 |  Inter Milan |
1:1 (3:5 p) |
0:1 (A) | 1:0 a.e.t. (3:5 p) (H) | ||
| 1997 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group stage | Silkeborg IF |
5:4 | 2:0 (H) | |
 Ebbw Vale |
0:0 (A) | |||||
 NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac |
1:3 (H) | |||||
 SC Bastia |
2:1 (A) | |||||
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup | Qualifying Round 2 |  VPS |
3:0 | 0:0 (A) | 3:0 (H) |
| Round 1 |  Litex Lovech |
3:1 | 1:1 (A) | 2:0 (H) | ||
| Round 2 | AS Monaco |
3:7 | 3:3 (H) | 0:4 (A) | ||
| 1999–00 | UEFA Cup | Qualifying Round 2 |  KÍ Klaksvík |
9:0 | 5:0 (A) | 4:0 (H) |
| Round 1 |  FC Spartak Trnava |
4:2 | 3:0 (H) | 1:2 (A) | ||
| Round 2 | Panathinaikos |
(a) 2:2 | 2:1 (H) | 0:1 (A) | ||
| 2000–01 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 | 1. FC Košice |
3:2 | 3:2 (A) | 0:0 (H) |
| Round 2 |  Espanyol |
1:4 | 0:4 (A) | 1:0 (H) | ||
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | Qualifikation | HB Tórshavn |
6:2 | 2:2 (A) | 4:0 (H) |
| Round 2 | FC Utrecht |
3:6 | 0:3 (A) | 3:3 (H) | ||
| 2002–03 | UEFA Champions League | Qualifying Round 2 |  Sheriff Tiraspol |
6:1 | 4:1 (A) | 2:0 (H) |
| Qualifying Round 3 |  Lokomotiv Moscow |
3:5 | 0:2 (H) | 3:3 (A) | ||
| 2002–03 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 |  APOEL |
1:3 | 0:2 (A) | 1:1 (H) |
| 2003–04 | UEFA Champions League | Qualifying Round 2 |  Tirana |
7:2 | 5:1 (A) | 2:1 (H) |
| Qualifying Round 3 | Ajax |
2:3 | 1:1 (H) | 1:2 (s.g.) (A) | ||
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 |  Vålerenga IF |
1:1 (a) | 0:0 (A) | 1:1 (H) |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Champions League | Qualifying Round 3 |  Liverpool |
1:2 | 0:2 (H) | 1:0 (A) |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | Round 1 | Litex Lovech |
5:1 | 5:0 (H) | 0:1 (A) |
| Group stage | AJ Auxerre |
5:4 | 0:0 (A) | |||
 Amica Wronki |
3:1 (H) | |||||
 Rangers |
0:3 (A) | |||||
| AZ Alkmaar |
2:0 (H) | |||||
| 1/16 finals | Middlesbrough |
3:4 | 2:2 (H) | 1:2 (A) | ||
| 2005–06 | UEFA Cup | Qualifying Round 2 | Nistru Otaci |
3:0 | 2:0 (A) | 1:0 (H) |
| Round 1 | Strasbourg |
0:7 | 0:2 (H) | 0:5 (A) | ||
Derby statistics vs. SK Sturm Graz
Total in Austrian first tier as of 23 August 2005:
- 46 Won
- 42 Drawn
- 42 Lost
(Goals: 174:168)
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- As of 16 August 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Karl Mütsch (1948–1951)- Josef Pojar (1951–1952)
- Engelbert Smutny (1952)
- Karl Mütsch (1953–1954)
- Alfred Pestitschek (1954–1957)
János Szép (1957–1960)- Ferdinand Fritsch (1960–1962)
Juan Schwanner (1962–1963)- Fritz Pimperl (1963–1964)
Milan Zeković (1964)- Karl Durspekt (1964–1965)
- Karl Kowanz (1965–1967)
- Fritz Kominek (1967–1969)
- Vlado Šimunić (1969–1970)
- Karl Durspekt (1970–1971)
- Helmut Senekowitsch (1971–1973)
- Alfred Günthner (1973–1974)
- Hans Hipp (1974–1975)
- Hermann Stessl (1975–1977)
- Hermann Repitsch (interim) (1977)
- Gerd Springer (1977–1978)
- Walter Koleznik (interim) (1978)
Václav Halama (1978–1981)- Zlatko Čajkovski (1981–1982)
- August Starek (1982–1984)
- Helmut Senekowitsch (1984–1985)
- Gernot Fraydl (1985–1986)
- Adolf Blutsch (1986–1987)
- Adi Pinter (1987–1988)
- Václav Halama (1988–1989)
- Karl Philipp (1989)
- Adi Pinter (1989–1990)
- Heinz Binder (1990)
Savo Ekmečić (1990–1992)
Milan Miklavič (1992–1993)
Hans Ulrich Thomale (1993–1996)
Ljupko Petrović (1996)- Hans Peter Schaller (1996)
- August Starek (1996–1997)
- Klaus Augenthaler (1997–2000)
- Rainer Hörgl (2000)
- Werner Gregoritsch (2000–2001)
- Christian Keglevits (2001)
Thijs Libregts (2001–2002)- Christian Keglevits (2002)
- Walter Schachner (2002–2006)
Lars Søndergaard (2006–2007)- Dietmar Pegam (2007)
- Stojadin Rajković (2008)
- Gregor Pötscher (2008–2010)
- Heinz Karner (2010)
- Peter Stöger (2010–2011)
- Aleš Čeh (2011–2012)
- Ante Šimundža (2012)[4]
- David Preiß (9 October 2017 – 25 February 2020)
- Gernot Plassnegger (2020–2021)
- Gernot Messner (2021–present)
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- Austrian Bundesliga (I)
- Austrian Cup
- Austrian Supercup
- Winners (2): 2000, 2002
- Runners-up (1): 2004
- Austrian First League (II)
- Winners (4): 1974–75, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2023–24
- Austrian Regionalliga Mitte (III)
- Winners (2): 2011–12, 2018–19
- Landesliga Steiermark (IV)
- Winners (1): 2017–18
- Oberliga Mitte/West (V)
- Winners (1): 2016–17
- Unterliga Mitte (VI)
- Winners (1): 2015–16
- Gebietsliga Mitte (VII)
- Winners (1): 2014–15
- 1. Klasse Mitte A (VIII)
- Winners (1): 2013–14
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