Lower house starts

Spring awakens on Tyrol’s soccer pitches

The Wacker fans create a great atmosphere on the pitches.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The Regionalliga West kicked things off last week. Now - with the exception of the 2nd division - the Tyrolean lower house is also picking up speed again, with goals, points, heroes and dramas. Stories that only soccer can write. A few clubs have their sights firmly set on the title and promotion.

Spring arrived on Wednesday with sunshine and temperatures of almost 20 degrees Celsius. The forecast for the weekend is not so good. However, after the long winter break, Tyrol's large soccer family is longing for the kick-off in the lower house. The "Krone" took a short trip through the leagues.

The realist 
In the Tyrol regional league, Volders was the big surprise as the winter king. "It will be difficult to maintain this position. We also won games luckily," said coach Michael Streiter. Völs (7th) and Telfs (8th) are still fighting for a place in the top six play-off in the remaining four rounds of the basic round.

Michael Streiter is the star on the coach's bench.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer / Kronenzeitung)

The "duty-conscious"
 For the Black & Greens from Innsbruck, the title in the Tyrolean League is a must. Coach Sebastian Siller is well aware of this. "When you're at Wacker, you're always under pressure. But that's why we're at Wacker." There are 14 legionnaires from eleven nations in the multi-cultural squad.

Siller's predecessor Akif Güclü took over Hall after taking time out in the winter. "I really like it, I'm fanatical." The withdrawal of Silz/Mötz to the Tyrolean regional league costs the third promotion place. "That's a big blow," said Güclü.

The new coaches

• TIROLER LIGA: Hall: Akif Güclü. Oberland West: Simon Melmer. Umhausen: Rene Reinstadler.
• LANDESLIGA EAST: Schwoich: Christian Müllauer. Kolsass/Weer: Stefan Schmied.
• LANDESLIGA WEST: Reutte: Predrag Bukaria. Thaur: Thomas Mayr. Innsbruck-West: Hans Glabonjat.
• GEBIETSLIGA WEST: Seefeld: Himmet Erdogan. Axams/Grinzens: Miroslav Rikanovic. Rietz/Stams: Michael Kerschbaum.
• 1. KLASSE WEST: Wacker Innsbruck II: Christian Kellner. Nassereith: Marinko Mamic.
• 1st CLASSEAST: Ellmau: Marko Busic.
• 2nd CLASS WEST: Grins: Gerald Scherl/Emrah Can.

The fireman
Hans Glabonjat stepped in as fireman once again after a year's break to save Innsbruck West from relegation from the Landesliga West and develop young players. "It's an exciting task."

The unerring
In the Landesliga Ost, Absam wants to start with a clear victory against a rival. "We have the title as our clear goal," said coach Ahmet Duran: "The game in Thiersee is about to point the way."