 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Hugo Meisl" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Meisl in 1930s | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1881-11-16)16 November 1881 | ||
| Place of birth | Maleschau,Bohemia,Austria-Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 17 February 1937(1937-02-17) (aged 55) | ||
| Place of death | Vienna,Austria | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1912–1914 | Austria-Hungary | ||
| 1912–1913 | Wiener Amateure | ||
| 1919–1937 | Austria | ||
Hugo Meisl (16 November 1881 – 17 February 1937), brother of the journalistWilly Meisl, was the multi-lingualfootball coach of the famous Austrian 'Wunderteam' of the early 1930s, as well as areferee.
Meisl was born to aJewish family inBohemia, starting out as a bank clerk after moving toVienna in 1895 but soon developed an interest in football, playing as awinger for theVienna Cricket and Football-Club.[1] In his early 30s, following a short playing career, he found employment as an administrator with the Austrian Football Association, rising to the position of General Secretary.[2] In the1912 Olympic Games inStockholm, Meisl appeared as a match referee. He had previously refereed the first international match betweenHungary andEngland on 10 June 1908.[3]
Meisl's enthusiasm for the game resulted in the development of a Central European club tournament: theMitropa Cup, the development of theCentral European International Cup and the development of professional League football in Austria in 1924.[4] His interest in football led him to develop friendships throughout Europe most notably withVittorio Pozzo inItaly andHerbert Chapman inEngland. Another English coach,Jimmy Hogan, who worked inVienna, helped Meisl develop a technique for dispensing with aerial passing and placing emphasis on groundwork.
Meisl became coach of the Austrian national side in 1913 alongsideHeinrich Retschury, assuming full control in 1919 and oversaw their rise to prominence in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The 14-match unbeaten run of the Austrian national side from 12 April 1931 until 7 December 1932 placed the Austrians at the forefront of international football; they had routed most of their European rivals. Among their players wasMatthias Sindelar, the man of paper, 'Der Papierene', known for his ability to glide past rough challengers. On 11 February 1934 the Austrians beatItaly inTurin 4-2 (3-0 at half-time) in theCentral European International Cup competition: a defeat that signalled the end of the international career of the Italian captainUmberto Caligaris and rightly made the Austrians one of the strong favourites going into the1934 World Cup.
During that tournament Austria renewed their rivalry with their neighboursHungary in a game that saw one player sent-off, a penalty awarded to Hungary and an injury toJohann Horvath that would rule him out of the semi-final againstItaly. The Italians would win that game, an early goal and desperate defending ensuring the hosts won through to the final. A goal would also separate the sides in the Gold-medal match at the1936 Summer Olympics inBerlin. The second of these games is the only time that Austria have competed in an international final.
Meisl died after suffering a heart attack in 1937.
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
