The Austrian Football Association (; ÖFB) is the governing body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It organises the football league,

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

, the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

and the

Austria national football team The Austria national football team () represents Austria in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 Mar ...

, as well as its female equivalent. It is based in the capital,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Since 1905, it has been a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

member, and since 1954, a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

member. Since 7 April 2002, Friedrich Stickler, the director of executive committee of the Austrian lottery, has been the president of the Austrian Football Association. Supporting him is its president, Kurt Ehrenberger,

Frank Stronach Frank Stronach (born 6 September 1932) is an Austro-Canadian billionaire businessman and politician. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, Granite Real Estate ...

, Gerhard Kapl, and Leo Windtner. In 2004, it was announced there are 285,000 players (both sexes) in Austria playing for 2,309 teams in the federation, although many more players play informally or for non-recognised teams. Thus the federation is the largest sporting organisation the country. Football is, perhaps with the exception of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

, the most popular sport in Austria. Football possesses a large value, and has a rich history and tradition in Austria.

History

In 1894, the First Vienna Football Club, the first football team in Austria, were founded in Vienna. From this nucleus, the Austrian Football Association was established in 1904. One year after the establishment, Austria became a member of the international football federation

and hosted the fifth FIFA congress in 1908. In 1913, they supervised the Galicja national team, which was directly subordinate to the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...

. The milestones of the federation and past football history were the years 1930 to 1933, 1950 to 1954 and then 1958 as well as 1978, 1982, 1990 and 1998 with the participation of Austria at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Hugo Meisl Hugo Meisl (16 November 1881 – 17 February 1937), brother of the journalist Willy Meisl, was the multi-lingual football coach of the famous Austrian ' Wunderteam' of the early 1930s, as well as a referee. Background Meisl was born to a Jewi ...

was one of the best-known personalities in the early years of the Austrian Football Association, becoming general-secretary and national team coach in 1927. At the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, his team won silver after losing 2–1 to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Austria's only international final. Meisl's team, nicknamed the ''Wunderteam'', remained unbeaten from 12 April 1931 to 23 October 1932 in 14 successive matches. The highlights of this series were the 6–0 (Berlin) and 5–0 (Vienna) victories against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The 1950s saw more achievements with their well-known football greats such as

Ernst Ocwirk Ernst Ocwirk (7 March 1926 – 23 January 1980) was an Austrian association football, football player and coach. A former midfielder, he is regarded as one of the greatest Austrian men's footballers of all time. He spent the majority of his pla ...

(twice captain of the FIFA World Selection Team),

Ernst Happel Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager. Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Bel ...

Gerhard Hanappi Gerhard Hanappi (16 February 1929 – 23 August 1980) was an Austrian football midfielder who is often regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers. He is also the father of political economist Hardy Hanappi. Club career A versatile mid ...

and

Walter Zeman Walter Zeman (1 May 1927 - 8 August 1991) was an Austrian football goalkeeper and an integral part of the second Austrian ''Wunderteam'' of the 1950s. Zeman began his youth career at local club SV Wienerberger, but he soon moved on to FC Vienn ...

. The

FIFA World Cup 1954 The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland ...

ranks among being most successful in Austrian Football Association history. Twenty years after being in 4th place in the

FIFA World Cup 1934 The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in whi ...

held in Italy, Austria returned to the circle of the best teams again.

Regional associations

Burgenland Football Association The Burgenland Football Association (, BFV) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs of the Austrian state Burgenland. The BFV was founded in 1923 and has its headquarters in Eisenstadt. The BFV is one of 8 regional organizations of the ...

(German: Burgenländischer Fußball-Verband - BFV) in 1923 *

Carinthia Football Association Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main Ridge, near the Pl ...

(German: Kärntner Fussballverband) *

Lower Austrian Football Association The Lower Austrian Football Association (German: Niederösterreichischer Fussballverband; NÖFV) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs of the Austrian state Lower Austria. The NÖFV was founded in 1911 and has its headquarters in Sank ...

(German: Niederösterreichischer Fußball-Verband - NÖFV) in 1911 * Upper Austrian Football Association (German: Oberösterreichischer Fußball-Verband - OFV) in 1919 * Salzburg Football Association (German: Salzburger Fußball-Verband - SFV) in 1921 * Styria Football Association (German: Steirischer Fußballverband - StFV) in 1923 * Tirol Football Association (German: Tiroler Fussballverband - TFV) in 1919 * Vorarlberg Football Association (German:Vorarlberger Fussballverband - VFV) in 1920 * Vienna Football Association (German: Wiener Fußball-Verband - WFV) in 1923

Former regional associations

(, ZPPN) in the

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...

in 1911–1920 centered in Lemberg (today

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

), transferred to the

centered in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

as the ''Lwow District (okrug)'' * German Alpine Football Association () in 1911 centered in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

* Austrian Union of Sports Workers and Soldiers ()

Former associations of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

* Football Association of German Prague () in the city of Prag in 1900 to 1904 and merged to the German Football Union *

Hungarian Football Federation The Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) (, ) is the governing body of football and futsal in Hungary. It organizes the Hungarian league and the Hungary national team. The MLSZ is responsible for the Hungarian football league system, the men's a ...

in 1901 as a separate Hungarian association of the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

* Bohemian Football Union in 1901 * Austrian Football Union in 1904 *

in 1911 * German Football Association for Moravia and Silesia in 1913

Presidents

* 1904–1906: Heinrich Strehblow * 1906–1907: Ignaz Abeles * 1907–1914: Adolf Wallner * 1914–1922: Ignaz Abeles * 1922–1926: Karl Volkert * 1926–1938: Richard Eberstaller * 1945–1955:

Josef Gerö Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura and is the only company in Japan spec ...

* 1955–1969: * 1970–1976: Heinz Gerö * 1976–1982: * 1982–1984: Herbert Raggautz and Heinz Gerö (interim) * 1984–2002: Josef "Beppo" Mauhart * 2002–2008: Friedrich Stickler * 2008–2009: Kurt Ehrenberger (interim) * 2009–2021: Leo Windtner * 2021–2023: Gerhard Milletich * 2023–present: Klaus Mitterdorfer

Current sponsorships

* Uniqa * Admiral * Puma * Magenta * Tipp3 *

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

Kronen Zeitung The ''Kronen Zeitung'' (), commonly known as the ''Krone'', is Austria's largest newspaper. It is known for being Eurosceptic. History The first issue of the ''Kronen Zeitung'' appeared on 2 January 1900. Gustav Davis, a former army officer, ...

* Geomix *

Raiffeisen Bank International Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is a key entity of the decentralized Raiffeisen Banking Group in Austria, acting both as the latter's domestic central financial entity and as the holding company for all the group's operations outside of Aus ...

* Stiegl *

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

References

External links

*
Austria
at FIFA.com (archived) {{Authority control

Football in Austria Futsal in Austria

Foo The terms foobar (), foo, bar, baz, qux, quux, and others are used as metasyntactic variables and placeholder names in computer programming or computer-related documentation. - Etymology of "Foo" They have been used to name entities such as Var ...

1904 establishments in Austria Sports organizations established in 1904 Football in Austria-Hungary Organisations based in Vienna Sport in Vienna Association football governing bodies in Europe