 | |
| Organising body | Österreichische Fußball Bundesliga |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) |
| Country | Austria |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of clubs | 12 (since2018–19) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | 2. Liga |
| Domestic cup | Austrian Cup |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League |
| Current champions | Sturm Graz (5th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Rapid Wien (32 titles) |
| Top scorer | Hans Krankl (270) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Domestic ORF Sky Sport Austria International OneFootball (Selected international markets) |
| Website | www.bundesliga.at |
| Current:2025–26 Austrian Bundesliga | |
TheBundesliga (German:Bundesliga[ˈbʊndəsˌliːɡa], "Federal League"), also known asAdmiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professionalassociation football league inAustria and the highest level of theAustrian football league system. The competition decides the Austriannational football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run byUEFA.
The Austrian Bundesliga, which began in the1974–75 season, has been a separate registered association since 1 December 1991. It has been won the most by the two Viennese giantsAustria Wien, who were national champions 24 times, andRapid Wien, who won the national title 32 times. The current champions areSK Sturm Graz. Phillip Thonhauser is president of the Austrian Bundesliga. The Austrian Football Bundesliga is currently known asAdmiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons.
Football has been played in Austria since around1890. Around the turn of the twentieth century two attempts were made to start a national championship. From 1900 onwards, a cup competition was played in Vienna, theNeues Wiener Tagblatt Pokal. This cup was actually played in league format.[1]The efforts to create a football league succeeded in1911, with the introduction of thefirst Austrian football championship. The competition for this championship, the1. Klasse (First Class), was created and organised by theNiederösterreichischer Fußball-Verband (theLower Austrian Football Federation), and the participants played for the title ofNiederösterreichische Landesmeister (Lower Austrian National Champion). From 1924, the league was considered professional and changed its name toI. Liga (First League).[2]In 1929, an all-Austrian amateur championship was first played, won byGrazer AK. Clubs from the professional league in Vienna were not part of this competition.[3] Teams from the otherstates of Austria were first allowed to join the highest division with the introduction of theNationalliga (National League) in the season of1937–38.[4]
Austria'sannexation byGermany in 1938 brought the Austrian Nationalliga to an early end. Numerous teams were disbanded and some players fled out of the country. The Austrian Nationalliga was integrated into the system of theNSRL, the Sports office of the Third Reich as theGau XVII section underGaufachwart Hans Janisch. Despised byNazis as unworthy of a true German, professionalism in sports was outlawed in May 1938. "Innovations" like theHitler salute were introduced as compulsory before and after every game. Teams, likeHakoah Wien were banned and others, likeAustria Wien were first closed and then renamed. Finally, the operation of the junior teams was handed over to the localHitlerjugend units.[5]The new highest league in what had been Austria, theGauliga Ostmark, was an amateur league and covered the whole of the former country exceptTyrol andVorarlberg, which were added to theBavarian league system.[6] The league champions now qualified for theGerman football championship, whichRapid Wien won in 1941. From 1941, the league was renamedGauliga Donau-Alpenland to further eradicate the memory of Austria as an independent country.Following Nazi Germany's defeat inWorld War II and the disbandment of the NSRL, Austria's teams were excluded again from the German league.
The league returned to a Vienna-only format in 1945, briefly named1. Klasse once more before changing to justLiga in 1946.Only upon the introduction of the all-AustrianStaatsliga A in 1949 did teams from the whole federal territory finally play for the Austrian Championship. However, the road to organising the Staatsliga proved difficult. A conflict between the representatives of the amateur and the professional aspects of the sport led to the separation of theViennese league from the football federation, and to the establishment of its own competition on 30 June 1949. At the statutory Presidential Election Council of theAustrian Football Association only a few days later a surprising turn took place – upon the request of Lower Austria, the introduction of theStaatsliga was finally and unanimously confirmed. The organisation was in the hands of the Fußballstaatsliga Österreich, created for this purpose.[7] AStaatsliga B, the second division of national league football, was formed in 1950. This league, however, was disbanded again in 1959, whereby theStaatsliga A dropped theA from its name, the need for differentiating having been gone.[8]In 1965, however, the Austrian Football Association again took over the organisation of the top division, with the (second) introduction of theNationalliga.[9]On 21 April 1974, against the vote of the Vorarlberg association, the introduction of theBundesliga was decided. TheNationalliga remained as the second division, for now.[10]
In the1974–75 season the Bundesliga was introduced which, still led by the Austrian Football Association, aligned both of the highest divisions in Austria. In 1976, theNationalliga was renamed toBundesliga – Second Division while theBundesliga was now calledBundesliga – First Division.[11]From 1974 to 1982 the league operated with ten clubs with each club playing the other four times during the season. From 1982 to 1985 it played with sixteen clubs with each club playing the others twice. The league's modus was changed in 1985 to a twelve team league which played a home -and away round in autumn. The top eight clubs then advanced to the championship round (Officially:Oberes Play-off) who again played each other twice. The bottom four of the autumn round played the top four of theFirst League to determine the four teams to play in the Bundesliga in the following season. This modus was used for the next eight seasons until 1993 when the league returned to the ten team format it originally operated in.[12]26 years after dissolution of the independent Staatsliga on 17 November 1991, the Austrian Football Bundesliga was reconstituted as a federation and admitted on 1 December 1991 to the Austrian Football Association as its 10th member.Beginning with the 2018-19 season the league expanded from its current 10 teams to 12 teams.[13]
Since 1991 the Bundesliga has carried its own responsibility as a separate association, and organises the championships of the two highest divisions in Austria. Both are named after their sponsors; since 2014 the Bundesliga is named after sports-betting company,Tipico.[14] The second division, called the"Erste Liga" or "First League," is sponsored bySky Go. In addition the Bundesliga is responsible for the Toto Jugendliga, leagues for under 15/17/19 teams of professional clubs and academies. The Bundesliga also represents professional football in Austria, in co-operation with the football clubs themselves.The Bundesliga is legally a non-profit organisation. The twenty teams of the Tipico Bundesliga and the Sky Go Erste Liga constitute the members of the Bundesliga. The Bundesliga is represented by an acting executive committee, which supports a supervisory board. Each association of the two professional leagues is represented in presidential conferences; these have advisory function in all affairs concerning the Bundesliga.
The 'senates' are organising committees which consist of honorary and committee-members independent of the clubs. The first senate is responsible forsuspensions and for the running of championship games. The second senate functions as an arbitration board for financial disagreements, the third senate is responsible for all financial concerns and the fourth senate is the panel of referees for the Bundesliga.The evaluation of a club's economic competency which is required in order to obtain a playing licence for the two professional leagues takes place at the fifth senate, the Bundesligalicence committee.
In the Bundesliga, twelve teams play a doubleround-robin schedule, with each team playing every other once at home and away during the regular season. The league table is then separated into two parts, with the teams ranked first through sixth continuing into the Championship Round, and the remaining teams ranked seventh to twelfth competing in the Relegation Round. The points obtained during the regular season are then halved (and rounded down) before the start of the two playoffs. Each group of six teams play another double round robin schedule, with one home and one away game against each of their five opponents. At the end of the season, the team finishing top of the Championship Round is crowned champion of the Bundesliga. The team finishing in last place in the table in the Relegation Round is demoted to the Admiral 2. Liga, the champion of which is promoted in their place. Teams in the Admiral Bundesliga first division thus play 32 games in a league season between August and May.
In the event of two teams having the same number of points, tiebreakers to determine league position are as follows:
The winner of theAustrian Cup competition qualifies for the Playoff Round of theUEFA Europa League. In the event that the Bundesliga champion is also the Austrian Cup winner, the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga enters theUEFA Europa League in the 2nd Qualifying Round, and the 3rd Place team enters in the Playoff Round.[15]
Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria Klagenfurt | Klagenfurt | Wörthersee Stadion | 29,863 |
| Austria Wien | Vienna | Generali Arena | 17,656 |
| Blau-Weiß Linz | Linz | Hofmann Personal Stadion | 5,595 |
| Grazer AK | Graz | Merkur-Arena | 16,364 |
| LASK | Linz | Raiffeisen Arena | 19,080 |
| Rapid Wien | Vienna | Allianz Stadion | 28,000 |
| Red Bull Salzburg | Wals-Siezenheim | Red Bull Arena | 17,218 (30,188)[a] |
| Rheindorf Altach | Altach | Stadion Schnabelholz | 8,500 |
| Sturm Graz | Graz | Merkur-Arena | 16,364 |
| TSV Hartberg | Hartberg | Profertil Arena Hartberg | 4,635 |
| Wolfsberger AC | Wolfsberg | Lavanttal-Arena | 7,300 |
| WSG Tirol | Innsbruck | Tivoli Stadion Tirol | 16,008 |
This is the complete list of the clubs that have taken part in at least oneAustrian Football Bundesliga season, founded in 1974, until the 2024–25 season. Teams that currently play are indicated in bold.
Notes:
| City | Clubs | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Wien (32) (29),Austria Wien (24) (19),First Vienna (6) (6),Wiener SK (3) (7),Floridsdorfer AC (1) (3),Wiener AF (1) (2),Wiener AC (1) (1),Hakoah Vienna (1) (1), SpC Rudolfshügel (–) (1), Brigittenauer AC (–) (1), FC Wien (–) (1) | 69 | 71 | |
| Red Bull Salzburg (17) (8) ‡ | 17 | 8 | |
| Wacker Innsbruck (5) (4),Swarovski Tirol (2) (1),Tirol Innsbruck (3) (–) † | 10 | 5 | |
| SK Admira Wien (8) (5),SC Wacker Wien (1) (7),Admira Wacker Wien (–) (1) * | 9 | 13 | |
| Sturm Graz (5) (8),Grazer AK (1) (2) | 6 | 10 | |
| VÖEST Linz (1) (2),LASK Linz (1) (2) | 2 | 4 | |
| SV Ried (–) (1) | – | 1 |
| Rank | Name | Goals | Apps | Ratio | Years | Club(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hans Krankl | 270 | 361 | 0.75 | 1970–1989 | Rapid Wien,Wiener SK,First Vienna |
| 2 | Ivica Vastić | 187 | 441 | 0.42 | 1991–2009 | Sturm Graz,Austria Wien,Admira Wacker,LASK,VSE St. Pölten,First Vienna |
| 3 | Peter Pacult | 186 | 396 | 0.47 | 1980–1996 | Rapid Wien,Wacker Innsbruck,Austria Wien,Wiener SK,Blau-Weiß Linz |
| Christian Mayrleb | 186 | 494 | 0.38 | 1992–2006 | Wacker Innsbruck,Austria Wien,Admira Wacker,LASK,Austria Salzburg,SV Pasching | |
| 5 | Alfred Drabits | 155 | 365 | 0.42 | 1978–1991 | Austria Wien,Wiener SK,First Vienna |
| 6 | Mario Haas | 145 | 451 | 0.32 | 1992–2012 | Sturm Graz |
| 7 | Christoph Westerthaler | 131 | 378 | 0.35 | 1983–1997 | Wacker Innsbruck,LASK,Vorwärts Steyr |
| 8 | Christian Keglevits | 129 | 405 | 0.32 | 1979–1993 | Rapid Wien,LASK,Austria Salzburg,Wiener SK |
| 9 | Walter Knaller | 127 | 333 | 0.38 | 1980–1992 | Admira Wacker,Blau-Weiß Linz |
| 10 | Toni Polster | 122 | 158 | 0.77 | 1982–2000 | Austria Wien,FC Salzburg |
The following data indicatesAustrian coefficient rankings between European football leagues.[17]
 | This graph was using thelegacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to thenew Chart extension. |
UEFA League Ranking as of 15 March 2019:[18]
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UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of 8 July 2021:[19]
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