Austrian Football Bundesliga
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Organising body | Österreichische Fußball Bundesliga |
---|---|
Founded | 1974 |
Country | Austria |
Confederation | UEFA |
Number of clubs | 12 (since 2018–19) |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | 2. Liga |
Domestic cup(s) | Austrian Cup |
International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League |
Current champions | Sturm Graz (4th title) (2023–24) |
Most championships | Rapid Wien (32 titles) |
Top goalscorer | Hans Krankl (270) |
TV partners | Domestic ORF Sky Sport Austria International OneFootball (Selected international markets) |
Website | www.bundesliga.at |
Current: 2024–25 Austrian Bundesliga |
The Bundesliga (
The Austrian Bundesliga, which began in the 1974–75 season, has been a separate registered association since 1 December 1991. It has been won the most by the two Viennese giants Austria Wien, who were national champions 24 times, and Rapid Wien, who won the national title 32 times. The current champions are SK Sturm Graz. Phillip Thonhauser is president of the Austrian Bundesliga. The Austrian Football Bundesliga is currently known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons.
History
1900–1938
Football has been played in Austria since around 1890. 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, the Neues Wiener Tagblatt Pokal. This cup was actually played in league format.[1] The efforts to create a football league succeeded in

1938–1945
Austria's
1945–1974
The league returned to a Vienna-only format in 1945, briefly named 1. Klasse once more before changing to just Liga in 1946. Only upon the introduction of the all-Austrian Staatsliga 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 the Viennese league from the football federation, and to the establishment of its own competition on 30 June 1949. At the statutory Presidential Election Council of the Austrian Football Association only a few days later a surprising turn took place – upon the request of Lower Austria, the introduction of the Staatsliga was finally and unanimously confirmed. The organisation was in the hands of the Fußballstaatsliga Österreich, created for this purpose.[7] A Staatsliga B, the second division of national league football, was formed in 1950. This league, however, was disbanded again in 1959, whereby the Staatsliga A dropped the A 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 the Nationalliga.[9] On 21 April 1974, against the vote of the Vorarlberg association, the introduction of the Bundesliga was decided. The Nationalliga remained as the second division, for now.[10]


1974 to current
In the 1974–75 season the Bundesliga was introduced which, still led by the Austrian Football Association, aligned both of the highest divisions in Austria. In 1976, the Nationalliga was renamed to Bundesliga – Second Division while the Bundesliga was now called Bundesliga – 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 the
Tasks and legal form
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,
Scopes of responsibility of the senates
The 'senates' are organising committees which consist of honorary and committee-members independent of the clubs. The first senate is responsible for
Bundesliga
Format
In the Bundesliga, twelve teams play a double round-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.
Tiebreakers
In the event of two teams having the same number of points, tiebreakers to determine league position are as follows:
- Head-to-Head Match Statistics (Number of points, Goal difference, goals scored) If several teams are equal on points, an internal table of all head-to-head matches will be created.
- Higher Goal Difference
- Higher Number of Goals Scored
- Higher Number of Victories
- Higher Number of Away Victories
- Higher Number of Goals Scored in Away Games[15]
Qualification for European Competitions
- The Bundesliga champion qualifies for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League
- The Runner-Up enters the UEFA Champions League in the 2nd Qualifying Round (League Path)
- The 3rd Place team enters the UEFA Europa League in the 2nd Qualifying Round
- The winner of the Europa Conference League Playoffs qualifies for the 2nd Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League
The winner of the Austrian Cup competition qualifies for the Playoff Round of the UEFA Europa League. In the event that the Bundesliga champion is also the Austrian Cup winner, the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga enters the UEFA 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 |
Seasons by club
This is the complete list of the clubs that have taken part in at least one Austrian Football Bundesliga season, founded in 1974, until the 2024–25 season. Teams that currently play are indicated in bold.
- 51 season: FK Austria Wien, SK Rapid Wien, SK Sturm Graz (2025)
- 46 season: FC Red Bull Salzburg (2025)
- 41 season: Admira Wacker Mödling(2022)
- 35 season: FC Wacker Innsbruck/ FC Swarovski Tirol/ FC Tirol Innsbruck/FC Wacker Innsbruck (2019)
- 34 season: LASK (2025)
- 28 season: Grazer AK (2025)
- 23 season: SV Ried (2023)
- 18 season: FC Linz(1997)
- 15 season: Wiener Sport-Club (1994), SV Mattersburg (2020), FC Kärnten/ SK Austria Klagenfurt (2025)
- 14 season: SC Rheindorf Altach (2025)
- 13 season: Wolfsberger AC (2025)
- 12 season: First Vienna FC (1992)
- 11 season: VSE Sankt Pölten/SKN St. Pölten(2021)
- 9 season: SK Vorwärts Steyr (1999)
- 8 season: ASKÖ Pasching/SK Austria Kärnten (2010)
- 7 season: SC Eisenstadt (1987), TSV Hartberg (2025)
- 6 season: Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz (2005), WSG Tirol (2025)
- 5 season: 1. Wiener Neustadter SC (2015), SC Austria Lustenau(2024)
- 4 season: VfB Mödling (1995), Kapfenberger SV(2012)
- 3 season: Kremser SC (1992), SV Grödig (2016)
- 2 season: FC Union Wels (1984), Favoritner AC (1985), FC Blau-Weiß Linz(2025)
- 1 season: SV Spittal (1985), Salzburger AK 1914(1986)
List of champions
Performance
Performance by club
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Seasons |
---|---|---|---|
Rapid Wien ![]() ![]() ![]() |
32
|
29
|
2007–08
|
Austria Wien ![]() ![]() |
24
|
19
|
|
Red Bull Salzburg ‡ ![]() |
17
|
7
|
1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 |
Wacker Innsbruck (5) (4) ![]() Swarovski Tirol (2) (1) Tirol Innsbruck (3) (–) † |
10
|
5
|
2001–02
|
Admira Wacker Wien (–) (1) *
|
9
|
13
|
1926–27, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1946–47, 1965–66 |
First Vienna | 6
|
6
|
1930–31, 1932–33, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1954–55 |
Sturm Graz | 4
|
6
|
1997–98, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2023–24 |
Wiener SC | 3
|
7
|
|
Floridsdorfer AC | 1
|
3
|
1917–18
|
Wiener AF | 1
|
2
|
1913–14
|
LASK | 1
|
2
|
1964–65 |
VÖEST Linz
|
1
|
2
|
1973–74 |
Grazer AK | 1
|
2
|
2003–04 |
Wiener AC | 1
|
1
|
1914–15
|
Hakoah Vienna | 1
|
1
|
1924–25
|
SpC Rudolfshügel | –
|
1
|
– |
Brigittenauer AC | –
|
1
|
– |
FC Wien | –
|
1
|
– |
SV Ried | –
|
1
|
– |
Notes:
- † All teams are defunct clubs from (1993–02). They are considered to be the continuation of the each other.
- ‡ The Red Bull company bought the club on 6 April 2005 and rebranded it. Prior to 2005 the team was known as SV Austria Salzburg or Casino Salzburg. They also changed the colours from white-violet to red-white. The Violet-Whites ultimately formed a new club, Austria Salzburg.
- Admira Wacker Wien, the merge with VfB Mödling in 1997 and the merge with SK Schwadorf in 2008. The new team play in Mödling.
Performance by city
City | Clubs | Winners | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|
Rapid Wien (32) (26), Austria Wien (24) (18), 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
|
67
| |
Red Bull Salzburg (17) (7) ‡ | 17
|
7
| |
Wacker Innsbruck (5) (4), Swarovski Tirol (2) (1), Tirol Innsbruck (3) (–) † | 10
|
5
| |
Admira Wacker Wien (–) (1) *
|
9
|
13
| |
Sturm Graz (3) (5), Grazer AK (1) (2) | 4
|
7
| |
LASK Linz (1) (2)
|
2
|
4
| |
SV Ried (–) (1) | –
|
1
|
Top scorers in Bundesliga
All-time top scorers
- As of 31 July 2023[16]
Rank | Name | Goals | Apps | Ratio | Years | Club(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
270 | 361 | 0.75 | 1970–1989 | Rapid Wien, Wiener SK, First Vienna |
2 | ![]() |
187 | 441 | 0.42 | 1991–2009 | |
3 | ![]() |
186 | 396 | 0.47 | 1980–1996 | Rapid Wien, Wacker Innsbruck, Austria Wien, Wiener SK, Blau-Weiß Linz |
![]() |
186 | 494 | 0.38 | 1992–2006 | ||
5 | ![]() |
155 | 365 | 0.42 | 1978–1991 | Austria Wien, Wiener SK, First Vienna |
6 | ![]() |
145 | 451 | 0.32 | 1992–2012 | Sturm Graz |
7 | ![]() |
131 | 378 | 0.35 | 1983–1997 | Wacker Innsbruck, LASK, Vorwärts Steyr |
8 | ![]() |
129 | 405 | 0.32 | 1979–1993 | Rapid Wien, LASK, Austria Salzburg, Wiener SK |
9 | ![]() |
127 | 333 | 0.38 | 1980–1992 | Admira Wacker, Blau-Weiß Linz
|
10 | ![]() |
122 | 158 | 0.77 | 1982–2000 | Austria Wien, FC Salzburg |
Statistics
UEFA coefficients
The following data indicates Austrian coefficient rankings between European football leagues.[17]
![]() | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
UEFA League Ranking as of 15 March 2019:[18]
|
UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of 8 July 2021:[19]
|
See also
- Football in Austria
- Austrian Footballer of the Year
- Austrian Cup
- Gauliga Ostmark – the highest division in Austria from 1938 to 1945
Notes
- ^ upper stand remains closed during league matches
References
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 2, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 21, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 25, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 33, accessed: 16 April 2009
- ^ Kastler 1972, S. 56f
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 34, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 45, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 55, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 62, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 70, accessed: 16 April 2009
- DSFS, published: 1996, page: 73, accessed: 16 April 2009
- ^ Austrian Football Bundesliga tables & results (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 9 October 2015
- ^ "SportsBusiness Daily". M.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ Announcement of renewal of Tipico Sponsorship, "With Tipico to the new Austrian Bundesliga era," tipico-group.com, 29 March 2018 (accessed: 8 April 2018).
- ^ a b "Bundesliga.at - Tabelle" [Bundesliga.at - Table] (in German). Austrian Football Bundesliga. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ "All time record goalscorer in Austria Bundesliga". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ "UEFA European Cup Coefficients Database". Bert Kassies. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2019 – kassiesA – Xs4all". Kassiesa.home.xs411.nl. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
External links
- Official website (in German)
- Bundesliga site (in German) (archived 15 April 2009)
- League321.com – Austrian football league tables, records & statistics database (in English).
- Austria – List of Champions on RSSSF