Sportklub Rapid (German pronunciation:[ʁaˈpiːd]), commonly known asRapid Wien orRapid Vienna inEnglish, is anAustrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city ofVienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, as well as a German championship in1941 duringNazi rule, although its cross-city arch rivalFK Austria Vienna has won more combined league and cup titles. Rapid twice reached the final of theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 and 1996, losing on both occasions.
The club is often known asDie Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites) for its team colours or asHütteldorfer, in reference to the location of theGerhard Hanappi Stadium, which is inHütteldorf, part of the city's 14th district inPenzing.
The club was founded in 1897 asErster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club (First Viennese Workers' Football Club). The team's original colours were red and blue, which are still often used in away matches. On 8 January 1899, the club was (thanks to Wilhelm Goldschmidt[1]), taking on its present name ofSportklub Rapid, following the example ofRapide Berlin.Wien orVienna are commonly added when referring to the club but are not part of the official name. In 1904, the team colours were changed to green and white. The club won Austria's first ever national championship in1911–12 by a single point,[2] and retained the title the following season.[3]
Rapid became a dominant force during the years between the world wars, an era in which Austria was one of the leading football nations on the continent. It won its first hat-trick of titles from 1919 to 1921.[4] After theannexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, Rapid joined the German football system, playing in the regional first divisionGauliga Ostmark along with clubs such asWacker Wien andAdmira Vienna. Rapid would be the most successful of these clubs. They won the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today'sDFB-Pokal, in 1938 with a 3–1 victory overFSV Frankfurt, and followed that with aGerman Championship in 1941 by defeatingSchalke 04, the most dominant German club of the era. The team was able to overcome a 3–0 Schalke lead to win the match 4–3.
As the winners of the1954–55 season, Rapid were Austria's entrant for theinaugural European Cup in the following season. They were drawn in the first round againstPSV and opened with a 6–1 home victory, withAlfred Körner scoring a hat-trick. Despite losing the away leg 1–0, the club still advanced to a quarter-final, where they started with a 1–1 home draw againstMilan before being defeated 7–2 in the away match at theSan Siro to lose 8–3 on aggregate.[5]
Rapid's best performance in the European Cup came in the1960–61 season when they reached the semi-final before being eliminated by eventual winnersBenfica, 4–1 on aggregate. Previously, in the quarter-final the club required a replay to eliminate East German clubAue from the tournament after a 3–3 aggregate draw. The away goals rule would have seen Aue advance without needing the replay, held at theSt Jakob Park in neutralBasel.[6]
The club was involved in a controversial episode in 1984 when they eliminatedCeltic from the last 16 of theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup. Celtic were leading 4–3 on aggregate with 14 minutes left in the match when Rapid conceded a penalty. As the Rapid players protested to the match officials, their defenderRudolf Weinhofer then fell to the ground and claimed to have been hit by a bottle thrown from the stands. However, television images clearly showed that a bottle was thrown onto the pitch and did not hit Weinhofer. The match finished 4–3, but Rapid appealed toUEFA for a replay, and both teams were fined. The replay appeal was turned down initially, but Rapid appealed for a second time. On this occasion, Rapid's fine was doubled but UEFA also stipulated the match be replayed 160 kilometres (100 mi) from Celtic's ground. The game was held on 12 December 1984 atOld Trafford,Manchester, and Rapid won 1–0 through aPeter Pacult strike.[7]
In 2015, the Rapid youth team took part[10] in the third season of theFootball for Friendship international children's social program, the final events of which were held in Berlin.[11]
Almost since the club's beginnings, Rapid fans have announced the last 15 minutes of the match by way of the traditional "Rapid-Viertelstunde" – rhythmic clapping at home or away regardless of the score. The first mention of the practice goes back to 1913, and on 21 April 1918 a newspaper wrote about the fans clapping at the beginning of the "Rapid-Viertelstunde". Over the decades, there have been many instances where the team managed to turn around a losing position by not giving up and, with their fans' support, fighting their way to a win just before the final whistle.
Friendship corner in the Fan Shop of the1. FC Nürnberg with trikots of Rapid Wien.
The biggestfan club is Ultras Rapid, which was founded in 1988. Other important fan clubs are theultras group Tornados Rapid and Spirits Rapid and thehooligan firm Alte Garde Dritte Halbzeit.
The active supporters are situated in the Block West stand, which has a capacity of 8,500 spectators. The old Block West in the now demolishedGerhard-Hanappi-Stadion had about 2,700 seats.
The fan-base of Rapid is connected, in a friendly way, with the supporters of the German clubNürnberg, the Croatian clubDinamo Zagreb, the Italian clubVenezia, the Hungarian clubFerencváros and the Greek clubPanathinaikos. As Rapid, Ferencváros and Panathinaikos also play in green the alliance is nicknamed the "Green Brothers"
Rapid played at theGerhard Hanappi Stadium - which was opened on 10 May 1977 with aVienna derby match againstAustria Wien - until the 2013–14 season. The stadium bore the name of its architectGerhard Hanappi, who also played for Rapid from 1950 to 1965. Prior to 1980, when it was renamed in his honour, it was known as theWeststadion (Western Stadium), due to its geographical location in the city.
In June 2014, it was announced that a new stadium, theAllianz Stadion, will be built in place of the old Gerhard Hanappi Stadium.[12] During its construction, Rapid played its home games in theErnst Happel Stadion.
A 2010 Wien derby match between Rapid Wien andAustria Wien.
Rapid Wien contest theVienna derby with their local Vienna rivalFK Austria Wien. The two clubs are amongst the most supported and successful football teams in the entire country, and are the only Austrian clubs to have never been relegated. Both teams originate fromHietzing, the 13th district in the west of the city, but have since moved into different districts. While Austria Wien is seen as a middle-class club, Rapid traditionally hold the support of the capital's working class. The two clubs first met in a league championship match on 8 September 1911, a 4–1 victory for Rapid.[15] The fixture is the most-played derby in European football after theOld Firm inGlasgow betweenRangers andCeltic.
Rapid Wien is Austria's record titleholder, lifting the trophy a total of 32 times, and the club also won a German Championship and German Cup while part of that country's football competition from 1938 to 1945 following theannexation of Austria by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Players with most appearances are Peter Schöttel (436), Steffen Hofmann (434), and Michael Konsel (395). The top three scorers are Josef Uridil (score rate 1.198), Franz Binder (1.103), Robert Dienst (1.080).
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