Suddenly professional

Voitsberger from the 1st division to the 2nd Bundesliga

Voitsberg is a force to be reckoned with in the second division.(Bild: zVg/Dominik Blümel)

Five years ago, Christoph Strommer was still playing for Mooskirchen in the 1st division, today (18) he could play his seventh consecutive second division game against Lafnitz. The 22-year-old spoke to the "Krone" about his biggest supporter, the path to "Liga zwa" and why his best moment as a footballer was in front of the television.

A good five months ago, the jubilation in Voitsberg knew no bounds. After winning the provincial league crown in the previous season, the march through to the 2nd division was perfect with just four rounds to go. "We were in an incredible flow, somehow nobody was thinking, we just played - and almost always won," Strommer remembers the past season today in a completely renovated Voitsberg stadium.

The trained full-back would never have thought that he would one day be sitting here as a professional - the ink was still dry under his professional contract on the day of the championship celebrations: "I owe a lot to my mom in particular, who always cooks healthy meals for me, but I didn't actually realize it until the end, not even when the first second league game was coming up. It was only when I was lying in bed the evening after the game that I slowly realized what had actually just happened."

Christoph Strommer(Bild: zVg/Dominik Blümel)

Still active in the first division at the age of 17, the 22-year-old is particularly full of praise for his coach at the time: "Walther Eccher let me play in the top division for the first time and that's when the journey began, and I'm still grateful to him for that today." A journey that, as he says himself, led him to the regional league too early and therefore back to the national league, where he became a regular player. "Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take two steps forward," the defender is honest with himself. The fact that he is now mixing up the 2nd division in Voitsberg of all places, less than ten minutes from his home town, is no coincidence: "In Frauental, I found out from a teammate that Voitsberg was still looking for a defender. I knew this was my chance, so I simply called the coach myself and recommended myself. I signed the next day."

A decision that the Ligister has never regretted: "I remember when we sat together in the canteen last year and watched the pre-decisive game against Hertha Wels. Wels were behind and in the 80th minute our groundsman came around the corner with a huge box full of championship jerseys and started handing them out. It was an incredible feeling." When asked when he will be playing in the Bundesliga, "Strommi" can only laugh: "I don't know, but if I do, it will be with ASK Voitsberg!" But for that to happen, the first three-pointer of the season must come against Lafnitz on Friday!

Dominik Blümel/Kronen Zeitung