The Hills Are Alive: Football In Austria

Hello and welcome back to Outside The Box, the thinking man's football blog. 

We've been away for a while, it's been a hectic few weeks at OTB Towers but now we're back with plenty of football goodness to keep you occupied through the remainder of the winter. 

If you're a fan of football podcasts then you should make a point of listening to 'The Other Bundesliga', a show dedicated to football in Austria. Luckily, a few weeks ago I was able to speak to Simon Clark from the podcast and get an insight to football and it's profile in the country. Here's what Simon had to say. 

How high is the profile of football in Austria? Does the game compete with any other sports in terms of popularity and exposure? 

'It's high. By attendance and press coverage it is the biggest sport in the country. However, to no surprise, winter sports are a very big deal here with famous skiers, ski jumpers and winter athletes being among the famous in the country. In fact, the Austrian Sports Personality of the Year has only had two footballers win the award in the last 30 years (David Alaba and Toni Polster) and until he retired this year you could argue that champion skier Marcel Hirscher was the most popular athlete in the country along with Alaba. Ice Hockey is also a big deal here but I think football wins out overall.' 

Who are the main teams in the Austrian Bundesliga? Who are the most successful and best supported? 

'You'd have to start with Red Bull Salzburg who are the perennial champions and had a fantastic showing in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season. They are currently Austria's most successful club with seven of the last eight Austrian Bundesliga titles heading to Salzburg.

At the moment, LASK are their closest rivals in the title race (only two points behind at the time of writing) and have had an historic campaign in the Europa League, they are currently enjoying their best season since 1965 (their only Austrian title). The two biggest clubs historically and in terms of support are both in Vienna. with Rapid Vienna and Austria Vienna boasting 32 and 34 titles respectively with Rapid undoubtedly the best supported club in the country. Other notable clubs currently include Sturm Graz and Wolfsberger AC.' 

What is the public opinion of the Austrian national team? 

'I'd argue it's mixed at the moment. Despite qualifying for a second consecutive European Championship, expectations are much lower for Euro 2020 than they were for Euro 2016 when Austria had the second best qualification campaign overall.

Franco Foda, the Austria manager, is a pragmatist and his football doesn't inspire much joy. We'll see how this works in their friendly against England in June and in the summer at Euro 2020.' 

How do ticket prices compare against other countries? Does the fan experience differ? 

'I feel that the fan experience in Austria is highly dependent on the club. If you want a big time atmosphere, you'd go to Rapid Vienna. The fan experience in general is similar to that in Germany, with many fans mingling before games in local establishments and beer flowing everywhere, you can also drink on the terraces which is great. It's really nice and only for the big derby games do you feel any intensity. 

Ticket prices are fairly competitive I think. For the standard of football it is about right.' 

Are there any grounds that you would recommend as a 'must visit' for groundhoppers? 

'Well there are plenty of unique grounds across the country! My personal favourite is Wiener Sport Club's Sportklub-Platz. Imagine an English lower league ground right in the middle of a Viennese neighbourhood, it's great! Staying in Vienna, First Vienna's Hohe Warte Stadiuon is cool with a lot of history while Rapid Vienna's Allianz Stadion is ideal if you want to see a big game. 

Across the country, Klagenfurt's Worthersee Stadion is the best stadium in the country in my opinion. I've not visited it yet but Innsbruck's Tivoli Stadion has incredible views of the Alps and even more niche, Leobendorf has a castle right next to it.' 

Finally, how well exposed are other major leagues from Europe (eg: the Premier League or Serie A) in Austria? 

'We all live in Vienna so the access to foreign leagues is very easy. You'll find that most Austrians will support either a Premier League club or a German Bundesliga club (most likely Bayern Munich!!) even if they don't support an Austrian side. You can find most games from all the major leagues on in pubs across Vienna or at home via Sky Sports or DAZN.' 

That brings our chat with Simon to a close, we'd like to thank him for taking the time to speak to us (even if it has taken us a while to get it uploaded!!). For more from The Other Bundesliga then search them out on your podcast platfom of choice. You can also find them on Twitter @OtherBundesliga and they also have a Facebook page. 

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We'll be back next week with some more football chatter. Until then, take care.