SC Rheindorf Altach facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Rheindorf Altach

Full name	Sportclub Rheindorf Altach
Founded	26 December 1929; 95 years ago (1929-12-26)
Ground	CASHPOINT Arena
Ground Capacity	8,500
President	Peter Pfanner
Head coach	Fabio Ingolitsch
League	Austrian Bundesliga
2023–24	Austrian Bundesliga, 10th of 12
Home colours Away colours

Sportclub Rheindorf Altach, also known as Rheindorf Altach, SCR Altach or simply SCRA, is an Austrian association football club based in Altach, Vorarlberg. It plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club is currently also known as CASHPOINT SCR Altach due to sponsorship of Austrian sports betting company Cashpoint.

History

Foundation and early history

Historical chart of SCR Altach league performance

The club was founded on 26 December 1929 as the football section of the gymnastics and sports club Turnerbund Altach. In 1930, they started to compete in the Vorarlberger B-Klasse as FA Turnerbund Altach, but the club temporarily ceased to exist in 1937 and was not reorganised until the foundation of the Sportvereinigung Altach sports society on 1 March 1946. The sports society ceased to exist in 1949, with its football section becoming independent on 5 March 1949 and renaming itself to Sportclub Rheindorf Altach.

First successes (1986–2003)

In 1986, Rheindorf Altach were able to assert themselves for the first time in the Landesliga Vorarlberg and were promoted to the third-tier Regionalliga West. They were able to quickly establish themselves among the leading clubs and after a second-place finish in 1989, they reached the Second League for the first time in club history by winning the title in 1991, clearly ahead of Salzburger AK 1914. As bottom of the table, the club were embroiled in a relegation playoff fight, and in the end suffered relegation by one point. It was not until 1997 that they managed to return as Regionalliga champions, but again relegated in the 1997–98 season by one point. In 2003, the club were in the Second League once again, and avoided a third direct relegation by beating FC Lustenau 07 by a total score of 6–4.

Reaching the Bundesliga (2004–2014)

After surviving in the Second League in the 2003–04 season, the club managed to establish themselves in the second division and was eventually promoted to the first-division Bundesliga after finishing first in the Second League in the 2005–06 season, securing the promotion with a 1–0 win over Austria Lustenau in the penultimate match of the season. Rheindorf Altach stayed in top level until relegation in 2008–09 season. They finished the Second League as third place in 2009–10, as 2nd in 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons. They finally promoted to top level in 2013–14 season.

Into Europe (2014–2017)

They finished the 2014–15 Bundesliga season in third place. With 59 points, they outperformed Grazer AK as the highest finishing promoted team in Bundesliga history. The club also qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, something no club from the region of Vorarlberg had ever achieved before. After two wins against Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães with 6–2 aggregate score, Altach advanced to the play-off round. There, after a 1–0 loss at home in the first leg and a goalless draw in the second leg, Altach failed to advance against Belenenses. In the second year after promotion, Altach finished the 2015–16 Bundesliga season in eighth place with 40 points. The double burden at the beginning of the season with the Europa League and numerous injuries meant that the team struggled and were threatened by relegation until the end of the season. The 2016–17 season had its ups and downs. The club sensationally ended 2016 as Winterkönig. In November, manager Damir Canadi moved to Rapid Wien. Under his successor Martin Scherb, Altach finished the spring as the second-worst team, eventually finishing fourth. Red Bull Salzburg's cup win over Rapid Wien, however, ensured that Rheindorf Altach once again made the Europa League qualifiers the following season.

In the first qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Altach beat Georgian club Chikhura Sachkhere by 2–1 on aggregate. They also advanced through the second and third round, winning 4–1 on aggregate over Belarusian club Dynamo Brest and Belgian club Gent, respectively. In the play-off round, they narrowly failed to beat Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv with an overall score of 3–2.

Relegation battles (2017–present)

The 2017–18 season got off to a moderate start under new coach Klaus Schmidt. After a total of 31 total competitive matches in the autumn, they finished 2017 in seventh place. They eventually finished the season in eighth place, and Schmidt was dismissed at the end of the season. His successor for the 2018–19 season was Werner Grabherr, who had already managed the club twice as a caretaker. He struggled as full-time coach, however, and in March 2019 he was fired with the club bottom of the league table. After two weeks with Wolfgang Luisser as interim coach, former Rheindorf Altach player Alex Pastoor took over at the end of the month. Under the Dutchman, the Vorarlberg side stabilised again and finally managed to stay in the league at the end of the season, eight points ahead of relegated Wacker Innsbruck. In the 2019–20 season, they were in mid-table for the entire season and finished the season in eighth place, which meant they were eligible to play-offs for European football, although they were eliminated in the first round by Austria Wien. In the 2020–21 season, they were again in a relegation battle throughout the season, and in February 2021, Pastoor was released with Altach bottom of the league table. Altach coaching legend Damir Canadi took over the club for a second time. Under his guidance, the team managed to stay in the league, ten points ahead of relegated SKN St. Pölten. At the beginning of the 2021–22 season, however, Altach would also struggle under Canadi, and during the winter break he was released from his position. Altach's failure this time was mainly due to a poor goal tally. At the winter break, they had only scored ten goals and thus had the worst performing attack in the league, while Admira had the second-worst offence with 21 goals. In addition it came forward in December 2021 that key players Atdhe Nuhiu and Jan Zwischenbrugger had rallied against manager Canadi, initially without his knowledge, and had tried to change the team tactics internally. Former Switzerland international Ludovic Magnin was appointed new head coach on 30 December 2021. Altach finished the 2021–22 season in 11th place, securing survival with a one-point lead above the relegation zone. At the end of the season, Magnin activated a release clause in his contract and left the club to join Lausanne-Sport.

For the 2022–23 season, Miroslav Klose was appointed as head coach. After 24 competitive matches, Klose was dismissed and replaced by Klaus Schmidt, who had previously coached the club. Schmidt secured the team's top-flight status on the penultimate matchday, but he left the club voluntarily at the end of the season. Joachim Standfest, previously the assistant coach, took over as head coach for the 2023–24 season and led the team to a 10th-place finish.

Stadium

From 1950 to 1990, Rheindorf Altach played at the Sportplatz Riedle. Since the opening of Stadion Schnabelholz in June 1990, Sportplatz Riedle has only been used as a training ground for the youth academy. As a result of promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga, the stadium was further expanded, and in winter 2007 a new west stand was built and the capacity increased to 8,500 spectators with 3,000 seats, with the name being changed to Cashpoint Arena for sponsorship reasons. In the summer of 2015, further investments were made in the stadium. The pitch was expanded to international standard, and the field now measures 105 metres long by 68 metres wide and is provided with undersoil-heating. Furthermore, the floodlight system was upgraded, and the final expansion of the west stand added around 500 covered seats. Further plans envisage a new construction of the south stand including a roof. In the future, European games will no longer be played in Innsbruck as before, but in Altach.

The Altach fans' stand with a tifo before a match against Sturm Graz. (2022)

European competition history

Overall record

Accurate as of 8 August 2018

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

• Q = Qualification
• PO = Play-Off
• QF = Quarter-final
• SF = Semi-final

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Vitória S.C.	2–1	4–1	6–2
		PO	Belenenses	0–1	0–0	0–1
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Chikhura Sachkhere	1–1	1–0	2–1
		2Q	Dinamo Brest	1–1	3–0	4–1
		3Q	Gent	3–1	1–1	4–2
		PO	Maccabi Tel Aviv	0–1	2–2	2–3

Affiliated clubs

The following clubs are currently affiliated with Rheindorf Altach:

• AKA Hypo Vorarlberg (regional youth academy)

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Dejan Stojanović 4 DF Filip Milojević 5 DF Lukas Gugganig 6 MF Vesel Demaku 7 MF Luca Kronberger 8 MF Mike-Steven Bähre 10 FW Lincoln 11 FW Sofian Bahloul 12 DF Leonardo Lukačević 14 FW Lukas Fridrikas 15 DF Paul Koller 16 FW Damian Maksimović 17 FW Oliver Strunz (on loan from Rapid Wien) 18 DF Felix Oberwaditzer

No. Position Player 19 MF Diego Madritsch 20 FW Gustavo 21 GK Ammar Helac 22 DF Pascal Estrada 23 MF Lukas Jäger (captain) 24 MF Salif Tietietta 25 DF Sandro Ingolitsch 27 MF Christian Gebauer 28 DF Samuel Mischitz 29 DF Mohamed Ouédraogo 30 MF Lukas Fadinger 33 GK Paul Piffer 37 MF Dijon Kameri (on loan from Red Bull Salzburg)

Out on loan

No. Position Player FW Ousmane Diawara (at KuPS until 31 December 2024) FW Anteo Fetahu (at SW Bregenz until 30 June 2025)

No. Position Player FW Djawal Kaiba (at SW Bregenz until 30 June 2025)

Club staff

Position	Staff
President	Peter Pfanner
Vice-president	Werner Gunz
Honorary president	Johannes Engl Karlheinz Kopf
Chief executive officer	Christoph Längle
Sporting director	Roland Kirchler
Head coach	Fabio Ingolitsch
Assistant coach	Louis Mahop Atdhe Nuhiu Ahmet Cil
Goalkeeping coach	Ramazan Özcan
Fitness coach	Rudolf Gussnig
Athletic coach	Dario Müller
Chief scout	Marc-André Kriegl
Club doctor	Dieter Moosmann
Physiotherapists	Sebastian Halder Julien Bernhart Dominik Müller
Team manager	Mario Mayer Oliver Jakob

Managerial history

See also

In Spanish: SC Rheindorf Altach para niños