Austria is a land-locked country in Western Europe, bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Austria has a population of 8.47 million people and the capital is Vienna. The history of football in Austria started in the late 19th century with the rising popularity of the new sport. In 1894 the first football team of the country was formed with the creation of the First Vienna Football Club. From this nucleus, the Austrian football federation was established in 1904. The Austrian Football Association (Österreichischer Fußball-Bund) is the governing body of football in Austria and is based in Vienna. The ÖFB oversees all aspects of football in the country including Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austrian national team, as well as its female equivalent. The organisation was founded in 1904 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1905 and to UEFA in 1954 The Austrian Football Bundesliga (Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga) is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA. The Austrian Bundesliga began in the 1974–75 season and most championships have been won by the two main Viennese clubs FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien. | At present it is composed of two divisions – the Bundesliga and First League (Erste Liga) - which both have 10 teams. There is relegation and promotion between the two leagues. The third tiers are the regional leagues (Regionalliga), which are split into three geographical divisions: the East (Regionalliga Ost), which comprises teams from Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland; the Central (Regionalliga Mitte), featuring teams from Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria, and East Tyrol; and the West (Regionalliga West), competed for by teams from Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. The fourth tier is the state league (Landesliga), with the 2. Landesliga as the fifth tier in some states. The Austrian Cup (ÖFB-Cup) is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the Österreichischer Fußball-Bund (ÖFB). It has been held since 1919, with the exception of the time of the Anschluss between 1939 and 1945 and the period between 1950 and 1958 when the competition was deemed of little interest. FK Austria Wien have won the competition on a regular basis followed by SK Rapid Wien. |
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