Grazer AK

Grazer AK

Full name	Grazer Athletiksport Klub
Nickname(s)	Die Roten (The Reds) Die Roten Teufel (The Red Devils) Rotjacken (Red Jackets) Athletiker (Athletics)
Short name	GAK
Founded	18 August 1902;121 years ago (1902-08-18)
Ground	Merkur-Arena
Capacity	16,364
Chairman	Réne Ziesler
Coach	Gernot Messner
League	Second League
2022–23	Second League, 2nd of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Grazer Athletiksport Klub (English: 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 used to be one of the most popular Austrian clubs, mostly successful in the decade 1995–2005. The other sections are basketball, diving and tennis, which however all act as separate legal entities. The "GAK" football section was folded during the 2012–13 Regionalliga Mitte Season in Autumn 2012. It has since been revived and returned to Austrian Second League in 2019. ^[1]

History

Historical chart of GAK league performance

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 the 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 has been 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 they won the Austrian Cup two more times in 2000 and 2002. Their biggest success was in 2004 where they did "the double" – they managed to win the cup yet again but also the Austrian title, winning the title by one point over 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. ^[2] 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 Regionalliga Mitte and eventually was dissolved in 2012.

New start

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 in the 2013–14 season. On 14 March 2014, Grazer AC at an extraordinary meeting was considered 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 for the 2019–20, with their promotion to the 2nd tier.

Supporters

The highest attendance average reached the red jackets in the championship season 2003/2004. This season, an average of 9234 pilgrimage to the home games of the "Athletics". The average attendance since the forced descent had settled at "only" 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 the third-rate fate pilgrimage several hundred fans to the away games. The ultra-fan groups are the Red Firm, the Society Graz, the Tifosi Rosso Bianco and the Everreds. Parts of the fan scene maintain friendship to KFC Uerdingen 05, NK Čelik Zenica and also SV Austria Salzburg.

Graz Derby

GAK have a big rivalry with cross-town rivals Sturm Graz with whom they contest the Graz Derby. In 1974 there was big 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 Austrian Supercup; 2 meetings in the Tschammerpokal and 4 games in the Styrian Cup. The very first Derby took place in 1911, the last was dated 2 Nov 2023. The Red Devils are the most successful Team in the lookwise^{[ clarification needed ]} of local rivalries. In October, the 19th 2022, a long period without vivid opponent ship find his end,^{[ clarify ]} when both Clubs are fighting each other at the last 16 of the ÖFB-Cup.

Past seasons

These are the seasons that the team has done since it was re-founded at the end of the year 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
Green marks a season followed by promotion

European competition

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

(as of 23.8.2005) Total (in 1st Austrian League):

• 46 Won
• 42 Drawn
• 42 Lost

(Goals: 174:168)

Current squad

As of 1 February 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 1 GK   AUT Jakob Meierhofer 5 DF   GER Yannick Oberleitner 6 MF   AUT Markus Rusek 7 MF   AUT Murat Satin 8 MF   AUT Gabriel Zirngast(on loan from LASK) 9 FW   AUT Daniel Maderner 10 MF   AUT Christian Lichtenberger 11 MF   GEO Levan Eloshvili 13 MF   AUT Marco Perchtold ( captain ) 15 DF   AUT Lukas Graf 16 MF   AUT Thomas Mayer 17 MF   AUT Thomas Schiestl 19 DF   AUT Marco Gantschnig 20 MF   AUT Thorsten Schriebl

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   AUT Michael Lang 22 DF   AUT Felix Holzhacker 23 MF   AUT Paolo Jager 24 DF   AUT Felix Köchl 25 FW   GER Lenn Jastremski (on loan from Bayern Munich II) 26 GK   AUT Christoph Nicht 27 DF   AUT Benjamin Rosenberger 28 FW   CMR Kevin-Prince Milla 30 DF   AUT Miloš Jovičić 31 GK   SWE Haris Mujanic 32 MF   AUT Martin Murg 33 GK   AUT Maximilian Fahler 70 FW   AUT Jan Stefanon 99 FW   CMR Michael Cheukoua

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 — DF   AUT Sebastian Jost(at SV Tillmitsch) — MF   AUT Lukas Alterdinger(at Grödig) — FW   CRO Filip Smoljan(at SC Kalsdorf)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   AUT Paul Kiedl (at SC Kalsdorf) — FW   AUT Max Rauter(at SV Wildon) — FW   JPN Atsushi Zaizen (at SKU Amstetten)

Managerial history

• 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) ^[3]
• David Preiß (9 October 2017 – 25 February 2020)
• Gernot Plassnegger (2020–2021)
• Gernot Messner (2021–present)

Honours

GAK celebrates its Austrian Championship 2004 at Hauptplatz in Graz.

• Austrian Bundesliga (I)
  • Winners (1): 2003–04
  • Runners-up (2): 2002–03, 2004–05
• Austrian Cup
  • Winners (4): 1980–81, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04
  • Runners-up (2): 1961–62, 1967–68
• Austrian Supercup
  • Winners (2): 2000, 2002
  • Runners-up (1): 2004
• Austrian First League (II)
  • Winners (3): 1974–75, 1992–93, 1994–95
• 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

References

1. "2019/20 Ende! Der GAK trifft auf den SV Lafnitz". Im letzten Spiel der Saison treffen wir auf den SV Lafnitz. ... (in German). Retrieved 29 September 2023.
2. "Austria's GAK agree to leave top flight". FIFA. 11 April 2005. Archived from the original on 18 September 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
3. Rijavec, Matej (25 June 2010). "Mura išče novega trenerja: Šimundža skočil čez mejo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 25 June 2012.

External links

• official homepage