National football team

Football team returns to its birthplace

Bernt Schidler, Teubi Günther, Rudi Wohland, Hugo Galster (from left).(Bild: zVg)

Austria's first football match took place in Salzburg. Rudi Wohland looks back in an interview with the "Krone". On Sunday, the national team will face Serbia in the city of Mozart.

The next football highlight awaits Salzburg on Sunday. In the new football center in Liefering, Austria welcomes Serbia for the first European Championship preliminary round home game. But anyone who thinks that this is the first international match in the city of Mozart is way off the mark. Salzburg is actually something like the birthplace of the Austrian national football team.

Almost exactly 42 years ago to the day, the first international match took place on home soil on the Salzach, and not just anywhere, but in the Lehen stadium. "It was pretty full back then," recalls Rudi Wohland. Salzburg's "Mr. Football" himself was on the pitch against Australia, just like Hugo Galster, Teubi Günther and Bernt Schidler. After that, he left his mark on the sport for years.

Salzburg's "Mr. Football" Rudi Wohland (with Mario Sischka) was present at the first international match.(Bild: zVg)

It all started out of fun and interest. "At the beginning of the 80s, we started meeting up and just playing." Over the years, this developed into a club, the Salzburg Lions. They won their first championship, the very first Austrian Bowl, in 1984. "We had David Hintzsche as quarterback back then, he won us the title and he also coached us." There was only an official coach after the first championship. He was American and knew the game, but the job offer was still rather unusual. "I went to the army base in Berchtesgaden and asked if anyone wanted to coach us," Wohland grinned. It actually worked out: "One of them said yes, then arrived with a team of six trainers. After he saw that we weren't as professional as overseas, he left quite quickly."

Further rooted
A second title was to follow in 1989. Wohland is particularly proud of the career of his protégé Mario Sischka. "He made it all the way to Frankfurt in the NFL Europe back then," the former team player's eyes gleam. He is still deeply rooted in Salzburg football today and attends almost every Ducks game in Liefering with his colleagues.