SV Austria Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club, based in the city of Salzburg. The club was formed in 2005 by some supporters of the original SV (Austria) Salzburg after it was renamed FC Red Bull Salzburg by its new owners, who also changed the club's colours from its traditional violet and white to red and white. The club commenced participation in the seventh tier of Austria's national league system in 2006, then rose through four successive championships to the third tier, Regionalliga West, in 2010. In 2015, the club gained promotion to the Erste Liga, one tier below the Austrian Bundesliga, only to be relegated a year later.[1]
Historical chart of Austria Salzburg league performance
The history of the old SV Austria Salzburg until 2005 is covered in the article about FC Red Bull Salzburg, as Red Bull took over and transformed the club in 2005. It is also the prehistory of the newly founded club.
The color dispute and the Violet-White initiative
When Red Bull GmbH's plans to acquire Austria Salzburg became known in April 2005, the club's supporters were positive about the plan due to the club's poor financial situation. In Austria, renaming a sports club is comparatively normal; many teams in football or ice hockey bear the name of a sponsor, usually to reorganize their finances or increase their budget. Usually, however, such changes are made with respect for the club's tradition, which is only gently altered. In this case, it was a radical reorganization of the club, which in effect amounted to a takeover of the club - Red Bull had the sole right to appoint the club's board of directors written into the club's statutes - that led to the founding of the initiative and a power struggle between Austria's fan scene and the new de facto owner.
Points of contention were the lack of acceptance of the club's history (the new management originally stated 2005 as the year of the club's foundation, which was only reversed under pressure from the ÖFB) and, above all, the traditional colours of violet-white, which remained the official club colours on paper, but in fact no longer existed. Red and white replaced the traditional colours of violet and white - not only as the colour of the jerseys - and the Red Bull logo became an essential part of the club crest.
As a reaction to the transformation of the club by the new owner, supporters founded the Violet-White initiative, whose initial aim was to preserve the club's violet and white tradition. They acted on several levels: On the one hand, negotiations were held with club officials, on the other hand, actions such as the peaceful invasion and occupation of the pitch during a friendly match were carried out.
The talks finally broke down when Red Bull only offered a purple captain's bow, a small purple logo of the new outfitter Adidas on the jerseys and purple socks for the goalkeeper as the only compromise, which was viewed as an insult by the club's traditionalists.[2] In the course of the first half of the 2005/06 season, Austria's fan camp split into traditional violet supporters and new Red Bull supporters. Protest banners, chants, continued violet choreographies and the violet jerseys and scarves still worn by the supporters were also an expression of the rejection of Red Bull and Dietrich Mateschitz.
During the talks, but increasingly after their failure, there were various incidents between the tradition-conscious supporters and the Red Bull Salzburg management. Further agitation was caused by the conversion of the fan sector from a standing to a seated sector and bans against alleged hooligans from supporters, which were, however, partially rescinded.
Supporters' solidarity and media coverage
Throughout Austria and in many European stadiums there were solidarity rallies of fan groups with the violet supporters. Their protest is generally understood as a fight by football supporters against the progressive commercialisation of the sport and is supported accordingly. Contrary to the usual rivalries between supporters of different clubs, the developments in Salzburg have led to football supporters seeing themselves as a unit and acting together "against modern football". The aim is to preserve the tradition and identity of the respective club and to prevent the clubs from becoming mere advertising vehicles. The supporters themselves see themselves as these bearers of tradition as the players, coaches and board change. Especially in the Ultrà movement, the vehemence with which Salzburg supporters resisted the new identity of their club was welcomed and supported.
Overall, supporters of all Austrian first division clubs have shown solidarity with the Violet-White initiative with banners and choreographies, as have the supporters of most second division clubs. In Germany, the supporters of many Bundesliga clubs have also expressed their solidarity, as have some of the supporters in the lower leagues. In total, 23 football fan clubs from Austria, 53 from the rest of Europe and even two from the USA have declared their solidarity with the initiative. Such unity and support among supporters is new in Austrian and European football history. Prominent footballers and coaches such as Hans Krankl, Paul Scharner, Toni Pfeffer, Ernst Dospel and Herbert Prohaska also support the initiative of the violet supporters.
In the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, various television stations such as ZDF and ARTE also increasingly documented the activities of the Violet-White initiative and the founding of the new association in order to provide information on how football supporters deal with the commercialisation of their sport.
Foundation of a new Austria
After the failure of the negotiations with the new club managers, the majority of the violet supporters withdrew from the stadium. The aim was to found a new Austria Salzburg. The first step in this direction was the founding of the club by entering it in the register of clubs under the name Sportverein Austria Salzburg on 7 October 2005.
The founding of the club as the last step of the protest has its antecedents in England. Already in similar cases in London, where AFC Wimbledon was founded as a reaction to the move of Wimbledon FC, and Manchester (after the purchase of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer, the protests culminated in the new club FC United of Manchester), the new clubs were able to retain their supporters over a longer period of time.
The new club quickly had around 800 members and a large following. In order to be able to start playing as soon as possible, negotiations were held with the football section of PSV/Schwarz-Weiß Salzburg, which finally led to a cooperation for spring 2006. The team played in violet and white jerseys bearing the coats of arms of both clubs. At the end of the season, however, the cooperation was terminated again, as no guarantees were given by PSV for a future outsourcing of the football section.
The lowest division and the way to the top
In the 2006/07 season, Austria started as an independent club with a completely new squad (including some footballers from their own supporters' section) in the lowest division, the Salzburg 2nd Class North A, despite the fact that they had managed to stay in the Landesliga. The venue was the UFC Salzburg-Danubia ground in Nonntal.
At the beginning of the 2007/08 season, the search for a new long-term venue came to an end. SV Austria Salzburg now plays its matches at the Max Aicher Stadion in the district Maxglan of Salzburg. The club also secured the championship title in the three following seasons, which enabled them to march through to the Regionalliga West, Austria's third-highest division. With this success, Austria also became the first club from the province of Salzburg to achieve four promotions in a row.
Promotion to professional football and bankruptcy
In the 2015/16 season, Austria played in the second-tier Erste Liga and thus in professional football for the first time since its foundation. At the end of November 2015, the club announced that it had initiated reorganisation proceedings without self-administration. Shortly afterwards, coach Jørn Andersen resigned due to a lack of sporting prospects. He was succeeded by Gerald Baumgartner, who also took over the position of sporting director. Shortly afterwards, co-coach Thomas Klochan and goalkeeping coach Alex Schriebl also left the club. On 1 March 2016, the vast majority of creditors approved the reorganisation plan. As a result, the club, which was in debt to the tune of €1.4 million, was able to finish the 2015/16 season. While ninth place would have been enough to keep the club in the sporting relegation zone despite the deduction of 6 points, the club was automatically relegated to the Regionalliga West due to the insolvency. The following season 2016/17 in the Regionalliga West ended with relegation to the Salzburger Liga (4th tier). Another financial collapse could only be avoided through donations from members. In the second year, the club was promoted back to the Regionalliga, where Austria has competed ever since.
Season 2023/24
This season was the club's 90th anniversary, reflecting once again that the it embraces the history and tradition of the original Austria Salzburg. In addition, to the anniversary, it was officially announced that the club is now debt-free and therefore has no outstanding liabilities.
Furthermore, SV Austria Salzburg met FC Red Bull Salzburg for the first time, 18 years after the takeover and the resulting refounding, in the 2nd round of the Austrian Cup. Due to the classification as a high-risk game, the match could not be played in the home ground and had to be played in the stadium Untersbergarena in Grödig, which is about 10km away from Salzburg. The match took place in front of more than 4,000 spectators and attracted football fans from all over Europe. The first division team won 4-0.
The Austrian Football Bundesliga, also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA. 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 for the 2016–17 season.
Fußballclub Red Bull Salzburg, or simply Red Bull Salzburg, or just Salzburg, is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is the Red Bull Arena. Due to sponsorship restrictions, the club is known as FC Salzburg and wears a modified crest when playing in UEFA competitions.
KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen", the club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893. A series of mergers, insolvency and re-starts led to the club known today being re-formed on 3 February 1998. The club's colours are red and white and their home ground since 1953 has been the Auestadion, located in the southwest of the city of Kassel next to the historic Karlsaue park.
The Austrian Supercup was a football competition held annually from 1986 until 2004 between the winners of the Austrian Football Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup.
Louis Clément Ngwat-Mahop is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays for the Junior team of Austrian side SC Rheindorf Altach, combining his playing duties with being responsible for the integration of foreign and young players for the first team of the club. He plays as a forward or a right winger.
The Austrian Football Second League, commonly known as Admiral 2. Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football. It was formerly called the First League, from 2002 to 2018.
The Bayernliga is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the third tier.
FC Juniors OÖ is an Austrian association football club, from Pasching, Upper Austria. It was newly founded after the move of ASKÖ Pasching, who last appeared as FC Superfund, to Carinthia and the associated renaming in SK Austria Kärnten in 2007 as FC Superfund Pasching. The greatest success of the club is winning the ÖFB-Cup as the first third division in the history of the competition in the 2012–13 season and the associated qualification for the play-offs of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, in which the club was however defeated by Estoril Praia.
The Mittelrheinliga, sometimes also referred to as Oberliga Mittelrhein after its elevation to Oberliga status in 2012, is a German amateur football division administered by the Football association of the Middle Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Middle Rhine state association, the league is currently a level 5 division of the German football league system.
The Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein, formerly referred to as Schleswig-Holstein-Liga, is the fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football.
RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V., commonly known as RB Leipzig, Red Bull Leipzig, or simply Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bull GmbH, which purchased the playing rights of fifth-tier side SSV Markranstädt with the intent of advancing the new club to the top-flight Bundesliga within eight years. The men's professional football club is run by the spin-off organization RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH. RB Leipzig plays its home matches at the Red Bull Arena. The club nickname is Die Roten Bullen.
The SV Memmelsdorf is a German association football club from the city of Memmelsdorf, Bavaria. The club played for a season in the Oberliga Bayern in 2009–10, having achieved promotion to this league for the first time.
The 2009–10 Austrian Football First League was the 36th season of the Austrian second-level football league. It began on 14 July 2009 and ended on 28 May 2010.
The 2010-11 Austrian Football First League was the 37th season of the Austrian second-level football league. It began on 14 July 2010 and ended on 28 May 2011.
Türkgücü München is a German association football club from the city of Munich, Bavaria.
FC Liefering GmbH is an Austrian association football club, originally from Liefering, a section of Salzburg. It currently plays in the Second League, the second tier of Austrian football. Since 2012, Liefering has been a reserve team for Austrian Football Bundesliga side FC Red Bull Salzburg.
Sportverein Lafnitz is an Austrian association football club from Lafnitz. They currently play in the Austrian 2. Liga after their promotion in 2018 and play their home games at the Sportplatz Lafnitz in Lafnitz.
The 2011–12 season of the Regionalliga was the 53rd season of the third-tier football league in Austria, since its establishment in 1959.
Sportverein Seekirchen 1945 is a football club from Seekirchen am Wallersee, a city in Salzburg. The club plays in the Regionalliga Salzburg, the 3rd level of Austrian football.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
