1.
Liebenauer Stadium
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The Merkur-Arena in Graz, Styria, Austria, is the home of the football clubs SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK. Originally, the stadium was named after bodybuilder, actor and former governor of the U. S. state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger and it was built from 2000 to early 2001 and is owned by Stadion Liebenau Betriebs GmbH. It opened with the game Grazer AK vs. SK Sturm Graz on 9 July 1997, in December 2005, when Schwarzenegger did not stop the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, an intense discussion in his hometown began about what to do with the stadium that bore his name. After some days, Schwarzenegger revoked the city of Grazs right to the use of his name, on the night of 26 December 2005 the name was removed from the stadium. The remaining part Stadion Graz-Liebenau was removed on 17 February 2006, in March 2016 the Austrian insurance company Merkur Versicherung secured the rights to bear a name and the stadium was renamed to Merkur-Arena. The Merkur-Arena has a capacity of 15,400 in 27 sectors. The away fans are normally in sector 8, which has a capacity of about 750, when more away fans are expected, sector 9 with about 750 seats is also given to the away team and sometimes even also sector 10. At Champions League games of the SK Sturm Graz, some platforms were built so that the stadium had a capacity of 16,000 spectators. Furthermore, the stadium has a wheelchair area, the first game in the new UPC-Arena was the 125th derby between SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK. The field equipped with a lawn heating has a size of 105 x 68 metres, the stadium hosted a World Cup qualifier between Austria and Faroe Islands on 5 September 2009 which ended in 3–1 victory for the home team. It also hosted a friendly between England and Japan on 30 May 2010. England had been training in Irdning, a village in the Austrian Alps. The match ended 2–1 to England, courtesy of two own goals by Japan, the average season attendances from league matches held at the Merkur-Arena for Grazer AK and SK Sturm Graz. Merkur Versicherung won the rights over several other companies. The contract is set to last for 10 years until 2026, Homepage of Merkur Insurance Austria Homepage of SK Sturm Graz Homepage of Liebherr GAK UPC-Arena Stadium images
2.
Austrian Football Bundesliga
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The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, since Austria stayed in sixteenth place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of the 2015–16 season, the league gained its first spot for the UEFA Champions League. The Austrian Bundesliga, which began in the 1974–75 season, has been a registered association since 1 December 1991. It has been most won by the two Viennese giants Austria Wien, who were national champions 23 times, and Rapid Wien, the current champions are Red Bull Salzburg. Hans Rinner is president of the Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Football Bundesliga is currently known as tipico Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons. Football has been played in Austria since around 1890, around the turn of the twentieth century two attempts were made to start a national championship. From 1900 onwards, a cup competition was played in Vienna and this cup was actually played in league format. The efforts to create a football league succeeded in 1911, with the introduction of the first Austrian football championship, the competition for this championship, the 1. Klasse, was created and organized by the Niederösterreichischer Fußball-Verband, from 1924, the league was considered professional and changed its name to I. In 1929, an amateur championship was first played, won by Grazer AK. Clubs from the league in Vienna were not part of this competition. Teams from the states of Austria were first allowed to join the highest division with the introduction of the Nationalliga in the season of 1937–38. Austrias annexation by Germany in 1938 brought the Austrian Nationalliga to an early end, numerous teams were disbanded and some players fled out of the country. The Austrian Nationalliga was integrated into the system of the NSRL, despised by Nazis as unworthy of a true German, professionalism in sports was outlawed in May 1938. Innovations like the Hitler salute were introduced as compulsory before and after every game, Teams, like Hakoah Wien were banned and others, like Austria Wien were first closed and then renamed. Finally, the operation of the teams was handed over to the local Hitlerjugend units. The league champions now qualified for the German football championship, which Rapid Wien won in 1941, from 1941, the league was renamed Gauliga Donau-Alpenland to further eradicate the memory of Austria as an independent country. Following Nazi Germanys defeat in World War II and the disbandment of the NSRL, the league returned to a Vienna-only format in 1945, briefly named 1
3.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
4.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
5.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
6.
Graz
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Graz is the capital of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. On 1 January 2017, it had a population of 320,587, in 2014, the population of the Graz Larger Urban Zone who had principal residence status stood at 605,143. Graz has a tradition as a university town, its six universities have more than 44,000 students. Its Old Town is one of the city centres in Central Europe. Politically and culturally, Graz was for more important for Slovenes than Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. In 1999, Graz was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites, Graz was sole Cultural Capital of Europe for 2003 and got the title of a City of Culinary Delights in 2008. The name of the city, Graz, formerly spelled Gratz, stems most likely from the Slavic gradec, some archaeological finds point to the erection of a small castle by Alpine Slavic people, which in time became a heavily defended fortification. The name thus follows the common South Slavic pattern for naming settlements as grad, the German name Graz first appears in records in 1128. Graz is situated on the Mur River in the southeast of Austria and it is about 200 km southwest of Vienna. The nearest larger urban center is Maribor in Slovenia which is about 50 km away, Graz is the capital and largest city in Styria, a green and heavily forested area. These towns and villages border Graz, The city of Graz is divided into 17 districts, however, no historical continuity exists of a settlement before the Middle Ages. During the 12th century, dukes under Babenberg rule made the town into an important commercial center, later, Graz came under the rule of the Habsburgs, and in 1281, gained special privileges from King Rudolph I. In the 14th century, Graz became the city of residence of the Inner Austrian line of the Habsburgs, the royalty lived in the Schloßberg castle and from there ruled Styria, Carinthia, most of todays Slovenia, and parts of Italy. In the 16th century, the design and planning were primarily controlled by Italian Renaissance architects and artists. One of the most famous buildings built in style is the Landhaus, designed by Domenico dellAllio. Karl-Franzens-Universität, also called the University of Graz, is the citys oldest university, for most of its existence, it was controlled by the Catholic church, and was closed in 1782 by Joseph II in an attempt to gain state control over educational institutions. Joseph II transformed it into a lyceum where civil servants and medical personnel were trained, in 1827 it was re-instituted as a university by Emperor Franz I, thus gaining the name Karl-Franzens Universität, meaning Charles-Francis University. Over 30,000 students currently study at this university, the astronomer Johannes Kepler lived in Graz for a short period
7.
Styria
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Styria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states and it borders Slovenia and the Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The capital city is Graz which had 276,526 inhabitants at the beginning of 2015, the March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar dynasty, Steyr, in todays Upper Austria. In German, the area is still called Steiermark while in English the Latin name Styria is used, the ancient link between Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of arms, a white Panther on a green background. The term Upper Styria used by an Austrian refers to the northern and northwestern parts of the federal-state, the term West Styria is used for the districts to the west of Graz, the districts east of Graz are referred to as East Styria. The western and eastern parts of the district Graz-Umgebung may or may not be considered parts of West and East Styria, the southern parts of the Duchy of Styria, which have formed part of Yugoslavia or Slovenia since 1918, were referred to as Lower Styria. During early Roman times, Styria was inhabited by Celtic tribes, after its conquest by the Romans, the eastern part of what is now Styria was part of Pannonia, while the western one was included in Noricum. During the Barbarian invasions, it was conquered or crossed by the Visigoths, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Rugii, the Lombards, the Franks, in 595 the latter were defeated by the Slavs, who thenceforth ruled it. In 1180 Styria separated from the Duchy of Carinthia and became a Grand Duchy of its own, after the hereditary subdivision of the latter, Styria formed the central part of Inner Austria. Styria developed culturally and economically under John, Archduke of Inner Austria between 1809 and 1859, as elsewhere in the developed world, there has been a shift away from the manufacturing sector towards the service sector in Styria. This has had consequences for the industrial regions of upper Styria which have suffered a steady decline in population in recent years. Styria is home to more than 150 clean technology companies, of one dozen are world technology leaders in their field. The revenue of Styrian cleantech companies totals €2.7 billion and this equals to 8 percent of the Gross Regional Product, and is one of the highest concentrations of leading clean technology companies in Europe. The companies have a growth rate of 22 percent per year—well above the worldwide cleantech market growth of 18 percent per year. The region created roughly 2,000 additional green jobs in 2008 alone, the state is divided into 13 districts, one of them a statutory city. Graz however is a stronghold of the left-wing Communist Party, the governor has usually been an ÖVP member. In these elections, the KPÖ also received votes after it had gained much popularity through its role in local politics in Graz during the preceding few years. The two right-wing populist parties, the Freedom Party of Austria and the Alliance for the Future of Austria, gebirgsdivision Robert Stolz, composer born in Graz Getty Kaspers, lead vocals of Dutch band Teach-In, who won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest
8.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
9.
UEFA Europa League
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The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, in 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase, the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner enters at least at the round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used. The title has been won by 27 different clubs,12 of which have won the more than once. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971, the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup which was played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA, the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool in 1973, Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 1976, beating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each,1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs domination, when Maradonas Napoli beat Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year. 1995 saw a third final, with Parma proving their consistency. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996, Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian club era. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 2001 and Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, either side of Sevillas success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraines Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final, in 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year
10.
Grazer AK
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Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletik-Sport Klub, is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section is one of the most traditional Austrian clubs, the other sections are basketball, diving and tennis, which however all act as separate legal entities. The GAK football section was dissolved in 2012, however, it has since been revived, the club has a big rivalry with neighbours Sturm Graz. The club arose from an association of local academics around the medical student Georg August Wagner from Prague, later a professor at the Charles University. 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. Between 1962–1983 GAK has been involved in European competitions and their first match was against Odense BK in the Cup Winners Cup in 1962. The Golden years arrived in the first half of the 2000s and their biggest success was in 2004 where they did the double – they managed to win the cup yet again but also the Austrian title. Their last appearance in Europe was a disappointing 5–0 away defeat to RC Strasbourg in 2005 in Round 1 of the UEFA Cup, 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. After a second bankruptcy, the managed to achieve a settlement and accommodation with its creditors in September 2008. Soon after, the club started having difficulties again after it never recovered for its relegation to the Regionalliga Mitte, a phoenix club was set up by the fans soon after the club was dissolved in 2012 called Grazer AC and started from the bottom tier. On 14 March 2014 Grazer AC at a meeting was considered to be a continuation of the original GAK in agreement with its umbrella association. Currently they are in the 5th tier of the football pyramid, the organised fan movement at GAK started in 1985. Since then several fan groups have created, the most well-known currently are the Red Firm, Society Graz, Tifosi Rosso Bianco. GAK have a big rivalry with cross-town rivals Sturm Graz with whom they compete the Graz Derby, in 1974 there was big opposition from both sets of fans against a proposed merger to become FC Graz. The very first Derby took place in 1911, the last was dated 17 May 2007, so far Sturm Graz have won more derby matches than GAK. Due to the recent financial troubles and subsequent relegations GAK is more likely to revive the derby with Sturms reserve squad as they begin to climb up the football pyramid, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, total,46 Won 42 Drawn 42 Lost The GAK tennis section was able to win the Austrian mastership in 1938,1989,1991 and 2002, as well as the German mastership in 1940
11.
Anschluss
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Anschluss is the term used to describe the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. German spelling, until the German orthography reform of 1996, was Anschluß, the idea of an Anschluss began after the Unification of Germany excluded Austria and the Austrian Germans from the Prussian-dominated German nation-state in 1871. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, there had been several years of pressure from supporters in Austria and Germany for the Heim ins Reich movement. Earlier, Nazi Germany had provided support for the Austrian National Socialist Party in its bid to seize power from Austrias Fatherland Front government. Infuriated, on 11 March, Adolf Hitler threatened invasion of Austria, and demanded Chancellor von Schuschniggs resignation, Hitlers plan was for Seyss-Inquart to call immediately for German troops to rush to Austrias aid, restoring order and giving the invasion an air of legitimacy. In the face of threat, Schuschnigg informed Seyss-Inquart that the plebiscite would be cancelled. Nevertheless, the German Führer underestimated his opposition, Schuschnigg did resign on the evening of 11 March, but President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor. At 8,45 pm, Hitler, tired of waiting, around 10 pm, a forged telegram was sent in Seyss-Inquarts name asking for German troops, since he was not yet Chancellor and was unable to do so himself. Seyss-Inquart was not installed as Chancellor until after midnight, when Miklas resigned himself to the inevitable, clearly it was Hitler, and not Schuschnigg, who was terrified by the potential results of the scheduled plebiscite, and that was the best indication of where Austrians loyalty lay. The newly installed Nazis, within two days, transferred power to Germany, and Wehrmacht troops entered Austria to enforce the Anschluss, Austrian citizens of Jewish origin were not allowed to vote. No military confrontation took place, and even the strongest voices against the annexation, particularly Fascist Italy, France, the loudest verbal protest was voiced by the government of Mexico. Although Austria had never been a part of the German Empire, Austria was predominantly ethnically German, prior to annexing Austria in 1938, Nazi Germany had remilitarized the Rhineland, and the Saar region was returned to Germany after 15 years of occupation through a plebiscite. In March 1939, Hitler then dismantled Czechoslovakia by recognising the independence of Slovakia and that same year, Memelland was returned from Lithuania. With the Anschluss, the Republic of Austria ceased to exist as an independent state, at the end of World War II, a Provisional Austrian Government under Karl Renner was set up by conservatives, social democrats and communists on 27 April 1945. It cancelled the Anschluss the same day and was recognized by the Allies in the following months. In 1955 the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, the idea of grouping all Germans into a nation-state country had been the subject of debate in the 19th century from the ending of the Holy Roman Empire until the ending of the German Confederation. Austria had wanted a Großdeutsche Lösung, whereby the German states would be united under the leadership of the Austrian Germans and this solution would include all the German states, but Prussia would have to take second place. This controversy, called dualism, dominated Prusso-Austrian diplomacy and the politics of the German states, by 1871, the decision was to form a kleindeutsch German Empire based on Prussia and excluding Austria
12.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
13.
DFB-Pokal
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The DFB-Pokal or German Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and it is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the German Football Association, and runs from August until June, the winner qualifies for the DFL-Supercup and the UEFA Europa League unless the winner already qualifies for the UEFA Champions League in the Bundesliga. The competition was founded in 1935, then called the Tschammer-Pokal, in 1937, Schalke 04 were the first team to win the double. The Tschammer-Pokal was suspended in 1944 due to World War II, in 1952–53, the cup was reinstated as the DFB-Pokal, named after the DFB, and was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. Bayern Munich have won the most titles with 18 wins, also being the incumbent title holders, fortuna Düsseldorf hold the record for most consecutive tournament game wins between 1978 and 1981, winning the cup in 1979 and 1980. The competition format has varied considerably since the inception of the Tschammer-Pokal in 1935, the DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2, Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3. Liga are automatically qualified for the tournament, of the remaining slots 21 are given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the Verbandspokale. The three remaining slots are given to the three regional associations with the most mens teams and they may assign the slot as they see fit but usually give it to the runner-up in the association cup. Reserve teams like Borussia Dortmund II are not permitted to enter, the pairings for the DFB Cup are not entirely random as the teams are split into two pots of 32 teams each. One pot contains all the amateur teams including teams from the 3, liga and the teams just being promoted to the 2. The other pot contains the teams from the Bundesliga and the teams of the 2, Bundesliga who has not just been promoted. Therefore, in the first round of the cup each professional team plays an amateur team, since 1982, the amateur generally plays at home when facing a professional team. For the second round, the teams are divided into two pots according to the same principles. This time, the dont have to be of equal size, though. Amateur teams get paired with professional teams until one pot is empty, the remaining teams are then drawn from the nonempty pot with the team first drawn playing at home. For the remaining other than the final the teams are drawn from one pot
14.
Gauliga Ostmark
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The Gauliga Ostmark, renamed Gauliga Donau-Alpenland in 1941, was the highest football league in Austria after its annexation by Germany in 1938. From 1941, the northern-most region of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Drava Banovina, the Gauliga Ostmark was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1938, after Austrias annexation, to replace the previously existing national league in the occupied country. The former country of Austria was renamed Ostmark and became part of Germany until 1945, the renaming of Austria to Ostmark was carried out to eradicate all recognition of the countrys former independence from Germany. To take matters further, the FK Austria Wien was also renamed in April 1938 and this step however was revoked two months later and the club remained one of the few, if not only, institutions to be permitted to carry the former countrys name. Unlike the professional Austrian Nationalliga, the new Gauliga was supposed to be strictly an amateur league, the new league consisted of six clubs from the old Austrian first division, all based in Vienna and the champion of the second-tier Vienna league. Additionally, the three champions of the leagues of Niederdonau, Oberdonau and Styria were also admitted to the new Gauliga. As such, it was only the time in the history of Austrian football for regional clubs to take part in the premier competition of the country. Previously, this level had only been open to clubs from Vienna but, in 1937, in its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the three teams were relegated. The league was reduced to eight teams for the 1939–40 season, in 1940–41, the Gauliga Ostmark returned to a strength of ten clubs. After the German occupation of Yugoslavia in April 1941, parts of what is now the country of Slovenia were added to the two southern-most Gaue in the Ostmark, additionally, the league was renamed Gauliga Donau-Alpenland. However, no clubs from the part of Yugoslavia did take part in the league. The league was reduced to nine clubs during the 1941–42 season due to the withdrawal of Sturm Graz, the season after, it played with eleven teams. In 1943–44, it played with nine teams only. The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected the Gauligas, after nine of eighteen rounds, the competition was halted on 11 March 1945. Additionally, Admira in 1939 and First Vienna in 1942 both lost the final to FC Schalke 04. In the cup competition, Rapid again took out one title, in 1938 while First Vienna won the last competition before the end of Nazi Germany, Sturm Graz withdrew during the 1941–42 season. At the end of the Second World War, Austria was reestablished as an independent country, a national football competition was formed again in 1945, the Erste Liga later being renamed Staatsliga and, from 1974, Austrian Bundesliga, kicking off on 1 September 1945
15.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
16.
Nottingham Forest F.C.
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Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottinghamshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club, often referred to as Forest, have played matches at the City Ground since 1898. Founded in 1865, Forest were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, since then, they have mostly competed in the top two League tiers, bar five seasons in the third tier. Forest won the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959, Forest were founded in 1865 as Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club by a group of shinty players shortly after their neighbours Notts County, in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and won the competition in 1892, in their early years Forest were a multi-sports club, as well as their roots in bandy and shinty, the baseball club Forest deployed were British champions in 1899. Forests charitable approach to the sport helped teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, in 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest also donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton, Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3–1 at Crystal Palace. However, for much of the first half of the 20th century the club spent life in the Second Division and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom. In 1949 the club were relegated to the Third Division, but were promoted back two years later as champions having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They therefore became the first team to defeat the Wembley hoodoo, by this time Forest had replaced Notts County as the biggest club in Nottingham and went on to become runners-up in the First Division and FA Cup semi-finalists in 1967. However, after a successful period for the club, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest, cloughs first game in charge was the third round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams to win the First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the Second Division and they also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial but uncertain circumstances. The case was dismissed and Anderlecht was acquitted from all charges Nottingham Forests next major trophies came in 1989 when they won the Football League Cup. Cloughs side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic 1–0, in Forests team that day was young Irish midfielder Roy Keane, who had joined the club the previous summer. In the summer of 1991, Brian Clough broke Forests transfer record fee by signing the top scorer, Millwall striker Teddy Sheringham
17.
Ivica Osim
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Ivan Ivica Osim is a Bosnian former football player and manager. He was most recently head coach of Japan, before he suffered a stroke in November 2007, on 18 April 2011 FIFA announced that Osim will head an interim committee to run the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country was suspended from all international competitions. As a player, he was a member of the Yugoslavia national team, as assistant manager, he won a bronze medal with Yugoslavia at the 1984 Olympics, and reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup as the manager of Yugoslavia. Both of his parents were born in Sarajevo. Following the end of the WWII, he started playing football in the FK Željezničar Sarajevos youth system and he studied mathematics at the University of Sarajevo. Ivica Osim is married to Asima and they have three children, two sons, Selmir and Amar, and daughter Irma and his son Amar was a football player himself, who afterward also became a football manager. Since 1992 Ivica lived most of the time with his wife in Austria, in Graz. then Japan, Osim began his professional career with FK Željezničar Sarajevo in 1959. Osim is considered one of the best Bosnians to step on a field who was known as a ruthless dribbler. He stayed in Yugoslavia until the end of 1968, as transfers abroad were prohibited for players under 28 at the time, in December 1968 he went to the Netherlands, to play for Zwolsche Boys. This stay lasted only three months, due to a knee injury, in 1970, he moved to RC Strasbourg and played the rest of his career in France, playing for Valenciennes, Sedan and again at Strasbourg. He played in 16 matches for Yugoslavia, including the 1968 European Championship where the Yugoslavs reached the final, when his playing career ended in 1978, Osim took the coaching job at the club where he began playing, FK Željezničar Sarajevo. He coached the club until 1986, and finished third in the Yugoslav championship once, reached the Yugoslav Cup final once, Ivica Osim won the 1991–92 Yugoslav Cup with Partizan having beaten his old club FK Željezničar during semi-finals of the competition. In addition, he assisted Ivan Toplak, coach of the Yugoslav Olympic team at the 1984 Olympics that won the bronze medal, in 1986, he took over the Yugoslav national team. The first qualifying cycle for Euro 88 ended in failure with an embarrassing 1–4 home loss versus England, Osims Yugoslavia rebounded in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifications, finishing ahead of France and Scotland. At the tournament his team reached the quarterfinals by beating Spain 2-1 in the round of 16, and prceeded to face Diego Maradonas Argentina in the quarterfinals. Despite losing a defender Refik Šabanadžović to a red card at the half a mark, Osims team held on through the entire game, extra time. Osim also coached FK Partizan from 1991 to 1992, in parallel with the national team, Yugoslavia qualified for the 1992 European Championship, but he resigned on May 23,1992, as his family in Sarajevo faced Serbian bombardment in the Yugoslav wars. My country doesnt deserve to play in the European Championship, said Osim, On the scale of human suffering, Yugoslavia was banned from the event, and its newly independent states have since competed as separate nations
18.
SK Rapid Wien
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Sportklub Rapid Wien, often called Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian football club playing in the countrys capital city of Vienna. Rapid is the most successful Austrian club in terms of titles, it has won 32 Austrian league titles. Rapid twice reached the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1985 and 1996, the club was founded in 1897 as Erster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club. The teams original colours were red and blue, which are often used in away matches. On 8 January 1899 the club was renamed, taking on its present name of Sportklub Rapid Wien, in 1904, the team colours were changed to green and white. The club won Austrias first ever championship in 1911–12 by a single point. Rapid became a dominant force during the years between the 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, Rapid would be the most successful of these clubs. The team was able to overcome a 3–0 Schalke lead to win the match 4–3, as the winners of the 1954–55 season, Rapid were Austrias entrant for the inaugural European Cup in the following season. They were drawn in the first round against PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, 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 Italys AC Milan before being defeated 7–2 in the match at the San Siro. Rapids best performance in the European Cup came in the 1960–61 season when they reached the semi-final before being eliminated by eventual winners S. L, benfica of Portugal 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, the club was involved in a controversial episode in 1984 when they eliminated Scottish club Celtic from the European Cup Winners Cup last 16. Celtic were leading 4–3 on aggregate with 14 minutes left in the match, 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. Television images clearly showed that a bottle was thrown onto the pitch, 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, Rapids fine was doubled but UEFA also stipulated that the game be replayed 100 miles away from Celtics ground. The game was held on 12 December 1984 at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Rapid reached its first European final in 1985, losing 3–1 in the Cup Winners Cup Final to Everton of England in Rotterdam
Günther Neukirchner, defender (1989–2006)
