Into the second division

Official: Kuchl kicker makes the leap to professional

Lukas Buchegger celebrates a professional contract.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Western league club Kuchl proves once again that the club is good at developing players. With Lukas Buchegger, another footballer from the wooden community has made the leap into professional soccer. After numerous trial training sessions, he impressed in St. Pölten.

What had already been in the pipeline over the past few weeks is now official: Kuchl's Lukas Buchegger is moving to second division club St. Pölten. The 21-year-old impressed in the trial training sessions and is now fulfilling his professional dream. The Lower Austrians are among the favorites for promotion in the coming season. "We are very happy for him personally. We wish him the very best," emphasizes Kuchl president Josef Forsthuber. Nevertheless, he knows that Buchegger will be missing from coach Thomas Hofer's team in the upcoming Westliga season: "But we wanted to give him the opportunity."

Seidl brothers were also in Kuchl
The transfer of Buchegger to St. Pölten proves how well the "Red Devils" work on player development. Yannic Fötschl was under contract in Kuchl, made the jump to the FAC via Austria this summer and will meet Buchegger there. Simon Seidl moved to the then second-division club Blau-Weiß Linz in the summer of 2022 and is now a permanent fixture in the Bundesliga team. His brother Matthias followed the same path a year earlier. His path is well known: He was part of Ralf Rangnick's team at the EURO in Germany and will also captain his club Rapid Vienna in the coming season. "Our youth development work is working," says Forsthuber happily.

After promotion to the Regionalliga West, Kuchl will start away at Lauterach on August 3. The first home game will take place on August 9 against FC Pinzgau (19).