Austrian Football Bundesliga facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Austrian Football Bundesliga

Organising body	Österreichische Fußball Bundesliga
Founded	1974; 51 years ago (1974)
Country	Austria
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	12 (since 2018–19)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	2. Liga
Domestic cup(s)	Austrian Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	Sturm Graz (4th title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Rapid Wien (32 titles)
Top goalscorer	Hans Krankl (270)
TV partners	Domestic ORF Sky Sport Austria International OneFootball (Selected international markets)
Website	www.bundesliga.at

The Bundesliga (which means "Federal League" in German), also known as Admiral Bundesliga because of its sponsor, is the top football league in Austria. This competition decides which team is the Austrian national football champion. It also decides which Austrian teams get to play in big European competitions organized by UEFA.

The Austrian Bundesliga started in the 1974–75 season. It has been its own official organization since 1991. The two most successful teams are from Vienna: Austria Wien, who have won 24 national titles, and Rapid Wien, who have won 32 titles. The current champions are SK Sturm Graz. The president of the Austrian Bundesliga is Phillip Thonhauser.

History of Austrian Football

Early Days (1900–1938)

People started playing football in Austria around 1890. At the start of the 1900s, there were attempts to create a national championship. From 1900, a cup competition was played in Vienna, called the Neues Wiener Tagblatt Pokal. This cup was actually played like a league.

A proper football league finally began in 1911. This was the first Austrian football championship. It was called the 1. Klasse (meaning 'First Class'). The Lower Austrian Football Federation organized it. The teams played to become the 'Lower Austrian National Champion'. In 1924, the league became professional, meaning players were paid. Its name changed to I. Liga ('First League').

In 1929, an all-Austrian amateur championship was played for the first time. Grazer AK won it. Teams from the professional league in Vienna did not join this competition. Clubs from other parts of Austria were allowed to join the top division in the 1937–38 season. This new league was called the Nationalliga ('National League').

A Difficult Period (1938–1945)

In 1938, Austria became part of another country. This caused the Austrian Nationalliga to stop early. Many teams were closed down, and some players had to leave the country. Professional sports were not allowed. New rules, like a special salute, were made compulsory before and after every game. Some teams, like Hakoah Wien, were banned. Others, like Austria Wien, were closed and then renamed.

The new top league in what was Austria was called the Gauliga Ostmark. It was an amateur league. The league champions could now play in the German football championship. Rapid Wien won this championship in 1941. After 1945, when the war ended, Austrian teams were no longer part of the German league system.

Rebuilding the League (1945–1974)

After 1945, the league went back to being only for Vienna teams. It was briefly called 1. Klasse again, then just Liga in 1946.

In 1949, the Staatsliga A was introduced. This meant teams from all over Austria could finally play for the Austrian Championship. It was a bit tricky to set up this league. There was a disagreement between those who wanted amateur sports and those who wanted professional sports. But eventually, the Staatsliga was officially confirmed. A second division, Staatsliga B, was created in 1950. This second league was later closed in 1959.

In 1965, the Austrian Football Association took over organizing the top division again. They brought back the name Nationalliga. Finally, on April 21, 1974, the creation of the Bundesliga was decided. The Nationalliga became the second division for a while.

The Modern Bundesliga (1974 to Present)

The Bundesliga officially started in the 1974–75 season. At first, it was still managed by the Austrian Football Association. In 1976, the Nationalliga was renamed Bundesliga – Second Division, and the top league became Bundesliga – First Division.

From 1974 to 1982, the league had ten clubs. Each club played the others four times a season. From 1982 to 1985, it had sixteen clubs, with each playing the others twice. In 1985, the league changed to twelve teams. They played a home and away round in the autumn. The top eight teams then went into a championship round. The bottom four teams played against the top teams from the First League to decide who would play in the Bundesliga next season. This system was used until 1993, when the league went back to having ten teams.

On December 1, 1991, the Austrian Football Bundesliga became its own separate organization. It joined the Austrian Football Association as its tenth member. Since the 2018-19 season, the league has expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams.

How the Bundesliga Works

Since 1991, the Bundesliga has been responsible for organizing the championships for the two highest divisions in Austria. Both leagues are named after their sponsors. The Bundesliga is also in charge of the Toto Jugendliga, which are leagues for younger teams (under 15, 17, and 19) from professional clubs. The Bundesliga also represents professional football in Austria, working closely with the football clubs.

The Bundesliga is a non-profit organization. The twenty teams from the top two professional leagues are members of the Bundesliga. It is run by an executive committee and a supervisory board.

Rules and Decisions

The Bundesliga has different 'senates' or committees that make important decisions. These committees are made up of people who are not connected to the clubs.

• The first committee handles player suspensions and how championship games are run.
• The second committee helps solve money disagreements.
• The third committee deals with all financial matters.
• The fourth committee is for the referees in the Bundesliga.
• The fifth committee checks if clubs are financially stable enough to get a license to play in the professional leagues.

Bundesliga Format

In the Bundesliga, twelve teams play against each other. Each team plays every other team four times during the season (twice at home and twice away). The season usually runs from July to June of the next year. At the end of the season, the team that finishes last in the league table is moved down to the Admiral 2. Liga. The champion of the Admiral 2. Liga is then promoted to the Admiral Bundesliga.

How Ties are Broken

If two teams have the same number of points, these rules decide who is ranked higher:

• Head-to-Head Match Statistics: This means looking at the games played between those specific teams (points, goal difference, goals scored). If more than two teams are tied, a mini-table is made just for their games.
• Higher Goal Difference: The team that has scored more goals than they have let in.
• Higher Number of Goals Scored: The team that has scored more goals overall.
• Higher Number of Victories: The team that has won more games.
• Higher Number of Away Victories: The team that has won more games when playing at other teams' stadiums.
• Higher Number of Goals Scored in Away Games: The team that has scored more goals when playing away from home.

Playing in European Competitions

Austrian teams can qualify for big European tournaments:

• The team that wins the Bundesliga (the champion) gets to play in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
• The team that finishes second in the Bundesliga enters the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round.
• The team that finishes third enters the UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round.
• The winner of the Europa Conference League Playoffs gets to play in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The team that wins the Austrian Cup also qualifies for the Playoff Round of the UEFA Europa League. If the Bundesliga champion also wins the Austrian Cup, then the team that finishes fourth in the Bundesliga gets to play in the UEFA Europa League (second qualifying round), and the third-place team enters the Playoff Round.

Seasons by Club

This is a list of clubs that have played in at least one Austrian Football Bundesliga season since it started in 1974, up to the 2023–24 season. Teams that are currently playing are shown in bold.

List of Champions

Season	Champions	Runner-up	Top Scorer
1974–75	Wacker Innsbruck	VÖEST Linz	Helmut Köglberger (LASK) (22)
1975–76	Austria Wien	Wacker Innsbruck	Johann Pirkner (Austria Wien) (21)
1976–77	Wacker Innsbruck	Rapid Wien	Hans Krankl (Rapid Wien) (32)
1977–78	Austria Wien	Rapid Wien	Hans Krankl (Rapid Wien) (41)
1978–79	Austria Wien	Wiener Sport-Club	Walter Schachner (Austria Wien) (24)
1979–80	Austria Wien	VOEST Linz	Walter Schachner (Austria Wien) (34)
1980–81	Austria Wien	Sturm Graz	Gernot Jurtin (Sturm Graz) (22)
1981–82	Rapid Wien	Austria Wien	Božo Bakota (Sturm Graz) (24)
1982–83	Rapid Wien	Austria Wien	Hans Krankl (Rapid Wien) (23)
1983–84	Austria Wien	Rapid Wien	Tibor Nyilasi (Austria Wien) (26)
1984–85	Austria Wien	Rapid Wien	Toni Polster (Austria Wien) (24)
1985–86	Austria Wien	Rapid Wien	Toni Polster (Austria Wien) (33)
1986–87	Rapid Wien	Austria Wien	Toni Polster (Austria Wien) (39)
1987–88	SK Rapid Wien	Austria Wien	Zoran Stojadinović (Rapid Wien) (27)
1988–89	Swarovski Tirol	Admira/Wacker Wien	Peter Pacult (Swarovski Tirol) (26)
1989–90	Swarovski Tirol	Austria Wien	Gerhard Rodax (Admira/Wacker) (35)
1990–91	Austria Wien	Swarovski Tirol	Václav Daněk (Swarovski Tirol) (29)
1991–92	Austria Wien	Austria Salzburg	Christoph Westerthaler (Swarovski Tirol) (17)
1992–93	Austria Wien	Austria Salzburg	Václav Daněk (Tirol Innsbruck) (24)
1993–94	Austria Salzburg	Austria Wien	Nikola Jurčević Heimo Pfeifenberger (Austria Salzburg) (14)
1994–95	Austria Salzburg	Sturm Graz	Souleymane Sané (Tirol Innsbruck) (20)
1995–96	Rapid Wien	Sturm Graz	Ivica Vastić (Sturm Graz) (20)
1996–97	Austria Salzburg	Rapid Wien	René Wagner (Rapid Wien) (28)
1997–98	Sturm Graz	Rapid Wien	Geir Frigård (LASK) (23)
1998–99	Sturm Graz	Rapid Wien	Edi Glieder (Austria Salzburg) (22)
1999–2000	Tirol Innsbruck	Sturm Graz	Ivica Vastić (Sturm Graz) (32)
2000–01	Tirol Innsbruck	Rapid Wien	Radosław Gilewicz (Tirol Innsbruck) (22)
2001–02	Tirol Innsbruck	Sturm Graz	Ronald Brunmayr (Grazer AK) (27)
2002–03	Austria Wien	Grazer AK	Axel Lawarée (Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz) (21)
2003–04	Grazer AK	Austria Wien	Roland Kollmann (Grazer AK) (27)
2004–05	Rapid Wien	Grazer AK	Christian Mayrleb (ASKÖ Pasching) (21)
2005–06	Austria Wien	Red Bull Salzburg	Sanel Kuljić (SV Ried) Roland Linz (Austria Wien)(15)
2006–07	Red Bull Salzburg	SV Ried	Alexander Zickler (Red Bull Salzburg) (22)
2007–08	Rapid Wien	Red Bull Salzburg	Alexander Zickler (Red Bull Salzburg) (16)
2008–09	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Marc Janko (Red Bull Salzburg) (39)
2009–10	Red Bull Salzburg	Austria Wien	Steffen Hofmann (Rapid Wien) (20)
2010–11	Sturm Graz	Red Bull Salzburg	Roland Linz (Austria Wien) (21)
2011–12	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Jakob Jantscher Stefan Maierhofer (Red Bull Salzburg) (14)
2012–13	Austria Wien	Red Bull Salzburg	Philipp Hosiner (Admira Wacker Mödling)/(Austria Wien) (32)
2013–14	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) (31)
2014–15	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) (31)
2015–16	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) (21)
2016–17	Red Bull Salzburg	Austria Wien	Olarenwaju Kayode (Austria Wien) (17)
2017–18	Red Bull Salzburg	Sturm Graz	Mu'nas Dabbur (Red Bull Salzburg) (22)
2018–19	Red Bull Salzburg	LASK	Mu'nas Dabbur (Red Bull Salzburg) (20)
2019–20	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Shon Weissman (Wolfsberger AC) (30)
2020–21	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg) (27)
2021–22	Red Bull Salzburg	Sturm Graz	Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg) (19)
2022–23	Red Bull Salzburg	Sturm Graz	Guido Burgstaller (Rapid Wien) (21)
2023–24	Sturm Graz	Red Bull Salzburg	Karim Konate (Red Bull Salzburg) (20)

Performance by Club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Seasons
Rapid Wien	32	29	1912, 1913, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1948, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1995–96, 2004–05, 2007–08
Austria Wien	24	19	1923–24, 1925–26, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2012–13
Red Bull Salzburg	17	7	1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
Wacker Innsbruck (5) (4) Swarovski Tirol (2) (1) Tirol Innsbruck (3) (–)	10	5	1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02
SK Admira Wien (8) (5) SC Wacker Wien (1) (7) Admira Wacker Wien (–) (1) *	9	13	1926–27, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1946–47, 1965–66
First Vienna	6	6	1930–31, 1932–33, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1954–55
Sturm Graz	4	6	1997–98, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2023–24
Wiener SC	3	7	1921–22, 1957–58, 1958–59
Floridsdorfer AC	1	3	1917–18
Wiener AF	1	2	1913–14
LASK	1	2	1964–65
VÖEST Linz	1	2	1973–74
Grazer AK	1	2	2003–04
Wiener AC	1	1	1914–15
Hakoah Vienna	1	1	1924–25
SpC Rudolfshügel	–	1	–
Brigittenauer AC	–	1	–
FC Wien	–	1	–
SV Ried	–	1	–

Notes:

• All teams are defunct clubs from Innsbruck, Tirol. Wacker Innsbruck (1915–99), Swarovski Tirol (1986–92) and Tirol Innsbruck (1993–02). They are considered to be the continuation of the each other.
• The Red Bull company bought the club on 6 April 2005 and rebranded it. Before 2005, the team was known as SV Austria Salzburg or Casino Salzburg. They also changed the colours from white-violet to red-white. The Violet-Whites later formed a new club, Austria Salzburg.
  • Admira Wacker Mödling was formed after the merger of SK Admira Wien and SC Wacker Wien in 1971, under the name of Admira Wacker Wien. It later merged with VfB Mödling in 1997 and SK Schwadorf in 2008. The new team plays in Mödling.

Performance by City

City	Clubs	Winners	Runners-up
Vienna	Rapid Wien (32) (26), Austria Wien (24) (18), First Vienna (6) (6), Wiener SK (3) (7), Floridsdorfer AC (1) (3), Wiener AF (1) (2), Wiener AC (1) (1), Hakoah Vienna (1) (1), SpC Rudolfshügel (–) (1), Brigittenauer AC (–) (1), FC Wien (–) (1)	69	67
Salzburg	Red Bull Salzburg (17) (7)	17	7
Innsbruck	Wacker Innsbruck (5) (4), Swarovski Tirol (2) (1), Tirol Innsbruck (3) (–)	10	5
Mödling	SK Admira Wien (8) (5), SC Wacker Wien (1) (7), Admira Wacker Wien (–) (1) *	9	13
Graz	Sturm Graz (3) (5), Grazer AK (1) (2)	4	7
Linz	VÖEST Linz (1) (2), LASK Linz (1) (2)	2	4
Ried im Innkreis	SV Ried (–) (1)	–	1

Top Scorers in Bundesliga

Season Player Goals Club 1974–75 Helmut Köglberger 22 LASK 1975–76 Johann Pirkner 21 Austria Wien 1976–77 Hans Krankl 32 Rapid Wien 1977–78 Hans Krankl 41 Rapid Wien 1978–79 Walter Schachner 24 Austria Wien 1979–80 Walter Schachner 34 Austria Wien 1980–81 Gernot Jurtin 20 Sturm Graz 1981–82 Božo Bakota 24 Sturm Graz 1982–83 Hans Krankl 23 Rapid Wien 1983–84 Tibor Nyilasi 26 Austria Wien 1984–85 Toni Polster 24 Austria Wien 1985–86 Toni Polster 33 Austria Wien 1986–87 Toni Polster 39 Austria Wien 1987–88 Zoran Stojadinović 27 Rapid Wien 1988–89 Peter Pacult 26 Swarovski Tirol 1989–90 Gerhard Rodax 35 Admira Wacker 1990–91 Václav Daněk 29 Swarovski Tirol 1991–92 Christoph Westerthaler 17 Swarovski Tirol 1992–93 Václav Daněk 24 Tirol Innsbruck 1993–94 Nikola Jurčević Heimo Pfeifenberger 14 SV Salzburg SV Salzburg 1994–95 Souleyman Sané 20 Tirol Innsbruck 1995–96 Ivica Vastić 22 Sturm Graz 1996–97 René Wagner 21 Rapid Wien 1997–98 Geir Frigård 23 LASK 1998–99 Eduard Glieder 22 SV Salzburg

Season Player Goals Club 1999–2000 Ivica Vastić 32 Sturm Graz 2000–01 Radosław Gilewicz 22 Tirol Innsbruck 2001–02 Ronald Brunmayr 27 Grazer AK 2002–03 Axel Lawarée 21 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 2003–04 Roland Kollmann 27 Grazer AK 2004–05 Christian Mayrleb 21 SV Pasching 2005–06 Sanel Kuljić Roland Linz 15 SV Ried Austria Wien 2006–07 Alexander Zickler 22 Red Bull Salzburg 2007–08 Alexander Zickler 16 Red Bull Salzburg 2008–09 Marc Janko 39 Red Bull Salzburg 2009–10 Steffen Hofmann 20 Rapid Wien 2010–11 Roland Linz Roman Kienast 21 Austria Wien Sturm Graz 2011–12 Jakob Jantscher Stefan Maierhofer 14 Red Bull Salzburg 2012–13 Philipp Hosiner 32 Austria Wien 2013–14 Jonathan Soriano 31 Red Bull Salzburg 2014–15 Jonathan Soriano 31 Red Bull Salzburg 2015–16 Jonathan Soriano 21 Red Bull Salzburg 2016–17 Olarenwaju Kayode 17 Austria Wien 2017–18 Mu'nas Dabbur 22 Red Bull Salzburg 2018–19 Mu'nas Dabbur 20 Red Bull Salzburg 2019–20 Shon Weissman 30 Wolfsberg 2020–21 Patson Daka 27 Red Bull Salzburg 2021–22 Karim Adeyemi Giacomo Vrioni 17 Red Bull Salzburg WSG Tirol 2022–23 Guido Burgstaller 21 Rapid Wien

All-Time Top Scorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Apps	Ratio	Years	Club(s)
1	Hans Krankl	270	361	0.75	1970–1989	Rapid Wien, Wiener SK, First Vienna
2	Ivica Vastić	187	441	0.42	1991–2009	Sturm Graz, Austria Wien, Admira Wacker, LASK, VSE St. Pölten, First Vienna
3	Peter Pacult	186	396	0.47	1980–1996	Rapid Wien, Wacker Innsbruck, Austria Wien, Wiener SK, Blau-Weiß Linz
	Christian Mayrleb	186	494	0.38	1992–2006	Wacker Innsbruck, Austria Wien, Admira Wacker, LASK, Austria Salzburg, SV Pasching
5	Alfred Drabits	155	365	0.42	1978–1991	Austria Wien, Wiener SK, First Vienna
6	Mario Haas	145	451	0.32	1992–2012	Sturm Graz
7	Christoph Westerthaler	131	378	0.35	1983–1997	Wacker Innsbruck, LASK, Vorwärts Steyr
8	Christian Keglevits	129	405	0.32	1979–1993	Rapid Wien, LASK, Austria Salzburg, Wiener SK
9	Walter Knaller	127	333	0.38	1980–1992	Admira Wacker, Blau-Weiß Linz
10	Toni Polster	122	158	0.77	1982–2000	Austria Wien, FC Salzburg

Statistics

UEFA Coefficients

UEFA coefficients are numbers that show how well football clubs from a country perform in European competitions. A higher number means the country's clubs are doing better. This helps decide how many teams from each country can enter European tournaments.

Images for kids

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  In 1941 Rapid Wien won the German championship final against Schalke 04 4–3

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  Gerhard-Hanappi-Stadion, home of Rapid Wien

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  UPC-Arena, home of Sturm Graz

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  Generali Arena, home of Austria Wien

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  Red Bull Arena, home of FC Salzburg

See Also

In Spanish: Bundesliga (Austria) para niños

• Football in Austria
• Austrian Footballer of the Year
• Austrian Cup
• Gauliga Ostmark – the highest division in Austria from 1938 to 1945