This was the first league-type competition played in Austria (or rather Vienna). The trophy was founded by the "Neue Wiener Tagblatt", the newspaper with the highest circulation in the Habsburg Monarchy.
It can be considered a fore-runner of the Austrian (Viennese) league championship started in 1911.
In the same period (the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century), the Challenge Cup was played.
Season Winners Runners-Up 1900/01 Wiener AC Vienna Cricket FC 1901/02 Wiener AC First Vienna FC 1902/03 Wiener AC First Vienna FC 1903/04 abandoned Development of 1st Class membership since 1904.
Another championship was organised by the federation in 1906/07 but abandoned at the end of 1906. In other seasons, clubs from the first class traditionally played each other twice in every half-season but no final classification was made and no obligation existed to fulfill all fixtures (opposition against fixtures (which prevented the ad hoc organisation of lucrative friendly matches for the big clubs) in fact caused the failure of the officially organised leagues). Matches were often abandoned, e.g. in 1904/05. There also were various conflicts between the clubs, in particular between the Wiener AC and the strongest other clubs, which led to a boycott of WAC in 1908 and was only resolved in 1910.
1. Klasse A
Note that home/away issues are not reflected in the scorelines as these
are not possible to settle in general.
[Sep 23, 1900]
Cricketer 2-0 FC 98
[Sep 30]
Cricketer 1-5 Vienna
[NB: abandoned in 82' at 1-5 due to withdrawal Cricketer; final 8 minutes
played on Dec 23 (no more goals)]
[Oct 7, 1900]
WAC 3-1 Vienna
[Oct 14, 1900]
Vienna 2-1 FC 98
[Harry, Gelly; max]
[Oct 21, 1900]
WAC 3-0 Cricketer
[NB: abandoned in 75' at 3-0 due to darkness; final 15 minutes played
on Dec 23 (no more goals)]
[Oct 28, 1900]
WAC 1-0 FC 98
[Nov 4, 1900]
Vienna 1-3 Cricketer
[half-time 1-0; in 75' Vienna player Eckstein was sent off with the score
at 1-2 (first player expulsion in Austria); the match was continued and
finished 1-3 but Vienna protested for having had to play with 10 men; on
Dec 23 the final 15 minutes were replayed, starting at 1-2, and finished
2-2; until Jun 2, 1901, the match was listed in the table as 2-2, but then
the original score of 1-3 was ratified following a protest by Cricketer]
[Nov 11, 1900]
FC 98 0-4 Cricketer
[Nov 15, 1900]
Vienna 2-2 WAC
[Nov 25, 1900]
Cricketer 0-1 WAC
[Hofmann]
[Dec 9, 1900]
WAC 6-1 FC 98
[Dec 16]
FC 98 1-1 Vienna
Table at Dec 23, 1900 (with Vienna-Cricketer, Nov 4/Dec 23, as 2-2)
1.WAC 6 5 1 0 16- 4 11
2.Vienna 6 2 3 1 13-10 7
3.Cricketer 6 2 1 3 9-11 5
4.FC 1898 6 0 1 5 3-16 1
[Mar 17,1901]
WAC 1-2 FC 98
[Mar 25, 1901]
Cricketer 2-2 Vienna
[Mar 31, 1901]
Cricketer 0-0 FC 98
[May 5, 1901]
Vienna 4-0 FC 98
[May 12, 1901]
WAC 3-0 FC 98
[NB: FC 98 played with 9 players]
[May 16, 1901]
Cricketer 2-1 FC 98
[May 19, 1901]
Vienna 8-0 FC 98
[May 26, 1901]
Vienna 4-2 WAC
[half-time 0-1]
[May 27, 1901]
Cricketer 2-1 Vienna
[Jun 2, 1901]
Cricketer 4-2 WAC
[NB: after this match Cricketer regained the point from their 3-1 win
(2-2 draw) against Vienna Nov 4 (Dec 23)]
[Jun 9, 1901]
WAC 1-0 Vienna
[Jun 16, 1901]
WAC 1-1 Cricketer
[out of anger over WAC's equaliser not being disallowed, Cricketer
refused to enter the next tournament]
Final Table (with Vienna-Cricketer 1-3 as per Jun 2):
1.WAC 12 7 2 3 26-15 16 Champions
2.Cricketer 12 6 3 3 21-17 14
3.Vienna 12 5 3 4 31-18 13
4.FC 1898 12 1 2 9 6-34 4
NB: Victoria also belonged to the 1. Klasse A but did not participate in
the 1900/01 season. They apparently entered the 2. Klasse in the
spring of 1901 and were demoted to the 2. Klasse for 1901/02.
2. Klasse A
Participants (qualified after matches with teams which were then to build
the 2. Klasse B):
Graphia (Landstraße)
Rapid
Olympia
Vorwärts (Hernals)
Währinger Bicycle-Club
Known Results:
[Sep 30, 1900]
Graphia 6-2 WBC
[Oct 7, 1900]
Graphia 2-0 Olympia
[Oct 28, 1900]
Rapid 7-1 Olympia
Vorwärts 3-1 Graphia
Table early November:
1.Graphia 6 3 2 1 14-10 8
2.Vorwärts 4 2 2 0 7- 4 6
3.Rapid 4 2 1 1 15- 5 5
4.Währinger BC 3 1 0 2 11-10 2
5.Olympia 5 0 0 5 4-22 0
NB: odd number of draws; 1 more loss than win.
Olympia withdrew at this stage
[Nov 25, 1900]
Vorwärts 2-0 Rapid
[abandoned in 65' at 2-0 due to darkness, final 25 minutes played
on Dec 23 (no more goals)]
[reported matches, dates unknown]
Rapid 4-0 Olympia
Rapid 3-3 Graphia [Rapid walked off after a 4th goal for them was
disallowed; points awarded to Graphia]
NB: in spring 1901 suddenly also Union, Victoria, Austria and
Hietzinger SC play in the 2nd class; possibly a final
tournament between clubs from the 2. Klasse A and B was
played, or Union and Victoria took over the fixtures of
Währinger BC and Olympia.
Further known results:
[Mar 17, 1901]
Graphia 10-0 Hietzinger SC
Union 3-0 Austria
Rapid 4-1 Victoria
[Mar 24, 1901]
Vorwärts 1-0 Graphia
Union 3-0 Rapid
[Jun 2, 1901]
Vorwärts 2-0 Rapid
Final Table:
1.Vorwärts 13 Promoted
2.Graphia 10 Promoted
3.Rapid 7
4.Union 6
5.Victoria 2
NB: assuming all clubs were to play 8 matches, the points totals
suggest one match was not played or awarded a loss to both clubs.
2. Klasse B
Participants: the remaining 7 (from 17) clubs who belonged to the
'Fussball-Union'.
1. Klasse
Note that home/away issues are not reflected in the scorelines as these
are not possible to settle in general.
[Sep 15, 1901]
Graphia 1-1 Vorwärts
[half-time 1-0; Vorwärts played with 9 players]
[Sep 22, 1901]
FC 98 1-1 Vorwärts
[half-time 0-0]
[Oct 6, 1901]
Vienna 6-0 Graphia
[half-time 4-0]
[Oct 13]
Vienna 2-0 Vorwärts
[Willy 15, Eckstein 70]
[Oct 27, 1901]
Vienna abd WAC
[abandoned in 78' at 0-0 due to darkness]
[Nov 3, 1901]
WAC 1-1 FC 98
[half-time 1-0]
[Nov 10, 1901]
Vienna abd FC 98
[abandoned in 70' at 1-1 due to darkness; half-time 0-1]
WAC 2-1 Vorwärts
[abandoned in 86' due to darkness; result stood; half-time 1-1]
[Nov 15, 1901]
Vienna 0-0 WAC
[remaining 12'; this type of continued matches were known as
"Abschnitzelmatches"]
[Nov 17, 1901]
Graphia 0-4 FC 98
[abandoned in 69' at 0-4; match supposed to continued until at least
early May 1902 but apparently never played and result stood]
[Nov 24, 1901]
WAC 9-0 Graphia
[half-time 2-0]
[Mar 2, 1902]
Vienna 1-1 FC 98
[remaining 20']
Table after fall season (March 2, 1902):
1.Vienna 4 2 2 0 9- 1 6 [goal average 9.00]
2.WAC 4 2 2 0 12- 2 6 [goal average 6.00]
3.FC 98 4 1 3 0 7- 3 5
4.Vorwärts 4 0 2 2 3- 6 2
5.Graphia 4 0 1 3 1-20 1
NB: includes the match Graphia vs FC 98, abandoned in November and apparently
never continued.
[Mar 16, 1902]
WAC abd FC 98
[FC 98 withdrew after half-time break; match apparently
re-scheduled for May 17]
[Mar 23, 1902]
Vienna 1-0 Graphia
[Lenschefski; half-time 0-0]
[Apr 6, 1902]
WAC 2-0 Vienna
[half-time 1-0]
[Apr 13, 1902]
FC 98 3-0 Vorwärts
[half-time 0-0]
[Apr 20, 1902]
Vienna 6-0 Vorwärts
[half-time 1-0]
[May 4, 1902]
Vienna 6-1 FC 98
[half-time 3-1]
Vorwärts 0-0 Graphia
[May 8, 1902]
WAC 5-0 Graphia
[match apparently only ratified on Jun 8]
[May 17, 1902]
WAC awd FC 98
[FC 98 dns, awarded to WAC, at the same day a friendly match
between both teams was played!]
[May 19, 1902]
WAC awd Vorwärts
[not played, points eventually given to WAC]
[date unknown]
FC 98 awd Graphia
[FC 98 dns, apparently awarded to Graphia]
Table on Jun 13, 1902, according to Wiener Tagblatt:
1.Vienna 8 5 2 1 22- 4 12
2.WAC 6 4 2 0 19- 2 14 [includes points unplayed matches]
3.FC 98 6 2 3 1 11- 7 7 [goals against erroneous (should be 9)]
4.Vorwärts 7 0 3 4 3-15 3
5.Graphia 7 0 2 5 1-26 2
Final Table:
1.WAC 8 6 2 0 19- 2 14 Champions
2.Vienna 8 5 2 1 22- 4 12
3.FC 98 8 2 3 3 11- 9 7
4.Graphia 8 1 2 5 1-26 4
5.Vorwärts 8 0 3 5 3-15 3
Final Table according to [Hub 00]:
1.WAC 8 6 2 0 19- 2 14 Champions
2.Vienna 8 5 2 1 22- 4 12
3.Graphia 8 2 2 4 1-26 6
4.FC 98 8 1 3 4 11- 9 5
5.Vorwärts 8 0 3 5 3-15 3
NB: this appears to suggest that the points of the Graphia vs FC 98
match (0-4 in November) were later awarded to Graphia, but no
newspaper report on this can be found.
As Cricketer entered again for the 1902/03 season, no teams were promoted.
Vorwärts (from Hernals) merged with Deutsche Jungmannschaft Währing into
Deutscher Sport-Verein, apparently in early spring 1903 and finished the
1902/03 season under that name.
2. Klasse A
Known Results:
Rapid 0-0 Austria
Union 7-0 Rapid
Rapid 4-1 Viktoria
Rapid 0-3 Union
Viktoria 0-4 Rapid
Austria 2-2 Rapid
Final Table:
1.SC Union 6 5 0 1 17- 6 10
2.RS Austria 6 2 3 1 16- 8 7
3.Rapid 6 2 2 2 10-13 6
4.Viktoria 6 0 1 5 6-22 1
2. Klasse B
Table reported in November 1901:
1.Vienna II 4 3 1 0 20- 2 7
2.Hellas 4 3 0 1 11- 3 6
3.FC 98 II 3 1 1 1 6- 4 3
4.DJm. Währing 3 1 0 2 2-11 2 [Deutsche Jungmannschaft Währing ]
5.Mödling 3 0 0 3 1-16 0
NB: clearly one loss is missing in this table, possibly for Währing or Mödling.
[Dec 29, exhibition match]
1. Klasse 4-0 2. Klasse
1. Klasse
Note that home/away issues are not reflected in the scorelines as these
are not possible to settle in general.
[Sep 14, 1902]
WAC 5-1 Graphia
[half-time 2-1]
[Sep 21, 1902]
FC 98 5-2 Vorwärts
[half-time 3-0]
[Oct 5, 1902]
Vienna 4-1 Vorwärts
[half-time 3-0]
[Oct 19, 1902]
Cricketer 4-1 FC 98 [points awarded to FC 98]
[as Cricket players had not registered properly, the points were
later (between Nov 1 and 22) awarded to FC 98 while the score-line
remained valid]
[Oct 19, 1902]
Vorwärts 1-2 Graphia
[half-time 1-1]
[Oct 26, 1902]
Vienna 5-3 Graphia
[half-time 1-0]
[Nov 1, 1902]
Vienna 2-1 WAC
[half-time 2-1; 1-0 scored in 15th minute]
[Nov 15, 1902]
Cricketer abd WAC [abandoned at 1-4 in 2nd half]
[half-time 1-3; match abandoned in 2nd half after Cricketer walked off;
the referee said that if Cricketer would have continued, their player
Hoffmann would have been sent off; result stood]
[Nov 15, 1902]
Graphia 2-2 FC 98 [abandoned at 2-2 in 87' due to darkness]
[it is not known whether the result stood or the final 3 minutes were
played later; in any case, the match finished 2-2]
[Nov 16, 1902]
Cricketer 2-5 Vienna [abandoned at 2-5 in 2nd half due to darkness]
[apparently the result of 2-5 stood without the match having been finished]
[Nov 23, 1902]
WAC 6-0 FC 98
[half-time 4-0]
[Nov 30, 1902]
Vienna 1-1 FC 98
[half-time 1-0]
Table on Dec 1, 1902 (winter break)
1.Vienna 5 4 1 0 17- 8 9
2.WAC 4 3 0 1 16- 4 6
3.FC 98 5 2 2 1 9-15 6
4.Graphia 3 1 1 2 8-13 3
5.Cricketer 3 0 0 3 7-10 0
6.Vorwärts 3 0 0 3 4-11 0
During the winter, FC Vorwärts and Deutsche Jungmannschaft Währing
merged into Deutscher SV.
[Mar 22, 1903]
Cricketer 2-0 Graphia
[half-time 1-0; 2-0 by Bugno; also counted for Challenge Cup]
[Mar 25, 1903]
Graphia 3-1 Vienna
[half-time 3-0; Vienna protested as Graphia player Kohn was registered
under the pseudonym John at the Fußball-Union; as playing under
pseudonym was not uncommon in these days, their protest (which if
accepted would have won Vienna the championship) was rejected.]
[Apr 7, 1903]
Cricketer withdrew because two matches they had won were awarded
against them by the federation.
[Apr 26, 1903]
FC 98 3-2 Graphia
[May 3, 1903]
Vienna 4-0 DSV
[May 10, 1903]
Vienna 2-2 WAC
[May 21, 1903]
WAC 8-0 Graphia
[May 31, 1903]
WAC 10-1 FC 98
[Jun 7, 1903]
WAC awd D. SV [awarded to WAC]
[Deutscher SV could not field enough players; instead a friendly match
was played which WAC won 7-0]
[Jun 28, 1903]
D. SV awd WAC [awarded to WAC]
[Deutscher SV did not play because of too small chances to be successful]
NB: three other matches remained unplayed;
FC 98 awd Vienna [awarded to Vienna]
D. SV awd FC 98 [awarded loss to both]
Graphia awd D. SV [awarded loss to both]
Final Table:
1.WAC 8 6 1 1 32- 6 13 Champions
2.Vienna 8 5 2 1 19-11 12
3.FC 98 8 2 2 4 12-23 6
4.Graphia 8 2 1 5 13-25 5
5.Deutscher SV 8 0 0 8 4-15 0 Relegation Play-off
-.Cricketer withdrew
NB: FC 98 were apparently disbanded after the season.
2. Klasse
Known Results:
Union 1-3 Rapid
Austria 1-2 Rapid
Rapid 12-0 Hellas
Wieden 1-2 Rapid
Rapid 3-0 Viktoria
Final Ranking
1.Rapid 5 5 0 0 22- 3 10 Promotion Play-off
Viktoria Wien
RS Austria
SC Hellas
Union
Wieden
NB: http://rapidarchiv.at/ lists Deutsche Jungmannschaft Währing
instead of Wieden (given by [ÖFB 64]), which appears unlikely
given the merger with Vorwärts.
Promotion/Relegation Playoff [Jun 21]
Rapid 3-0 Deutscher SV
[early 1903 (1st match in new year), exhibition match]
1. Klasse 7-0 2. Klasse
[Oct 18, 1903] WAC 2-0 Vienna [Oct 25, 1903] Graphia 5-0 Deutscher SV [Nov 15, 1903] WAC 15-2 Rapid [apparent later results] Rapid 2-1 Cricketer Vienna 2-2 Rapid [Jan 17, 1904] Vienna and Cricketer left the Fußball-Union and joined the ÖFV. [Jan 24, 1904] At a board meeting, the dissolution of the Fußball-Union was rejected. Championship abandoned. After Vienna and Cricketer left the Fußball-Union, Olympia followed and no further matches were played.
One match between Vienna and Cricketer was abandoned after 80 minutes with the score at 1-2, the remaining 10 minutes were later played but again ended prematurely due to a fight over a debated goal.
In the fall of 1906 a new attempt to organise a league championship in
Vienna was started, this time organised by the ÖFV rather than the
Fußball-Union (and the Tagblatt), with 8 participants:
WAC
Vienna
Cricketer
Rapid
Wiener SV
Graphia
Viktoria
1.Schwechater SC
Known Result:
[Nov 18]
Vienna 4-0 WAC [played at Cricketer]
Table:
1.WAC 6 5 1 0 26- 8 11
2.Cricketer 7 5 1 1 23-10 11
3.Vienna 6 5 0 1 14- 8 10
4.Rapid 7 3 1 3 19- 9 7
5.Wiener SV 7 2 2 3 13-16 6
6.Graphia 7 1 2 4 6-17 4
7.Viktoria 7 1 1 5 9-23 3
8.ASC Schwechat 7 1 0 6 10-29 2
At the end of the year, WAC, Vienna and Cricketer withdrew, and the
championship was abandoned. As replacement a cup tournament was played
in the spring and summer of 1907.
Source: Fussball in Österreich
Round 1
[Jun 9]
FC Ostmark 0-7 Wiener Kicker
Orion Wien 4-1 Taubstummen FC
Favoritner Sparta lt SK Favorit Wien
Floridsdorfer AC bt Rudolfsheimer Sport
RSC Austria lt SC Rudolfshügel
[Jun 16]
Rennweger SV 0-10 1. Simmeringer SC
Phönix Wien 1-5 SK Slovan Wien
byes: Rapid Wien, Red Star Wien, First Vienna FC, AC Viktoria Wien, Wiener Sportclub
Round 2
[Jun 16]
SK Favorit Wien 2-1 Wiener Kicker [aet]
Floridsdorfer AC n/p SC Rudolfshügel [both qualified]
Orion Wien lt Red Star Wien
[Jun 23]
1.Simmeringer SC 2-5 SK Slovan Wien
byes: Rapid Wien, First Vienna FC, AC Viktoria Wien, Wiener Sportclub
NB: Wiener Sportclub withdrew; both
Quarterfinals [Jun 29]
Rapid Wien 0-2 Floridsdorfer AC
First Vienna FC 3-0 SK Slovan Wien
AC Viktoria Wien 6-2 SK Favorit Wien
Red Star Wien 1-3 SC Rudolfshügel
Semifinals
[Jun 30]
First Vienna FC 3-0 AC Viktoria Wien
Floridsdorfer AC abd SC Rudolfshügel [abandoned at 0-0 due to darkness]
[Jul 7]
Floridsdorfer AC 1-0 SC Rudolfshügel
Final [Jul 21]
First Vienna FC 1-0 Floridsdorfer AC
NB: Wiener SV merged with Cyclisten-Club into Wiener Sport-Club (WSC) on
February 25, 1907; Graphia merged with Schwechater SC into SC Germania.
25 clubs from the 2. Klasse temporarily left the ÖFV, in protest against
their minimal representation in the federation's board (all clubs from the
1. Klasse had a vote, while all clubs from the 2. Klasse together only had
two). They founded the 'Vereinigung Wiener Ballspielklubs', which fell
apart quickly due to disagreements.
On Sep 25, 1907, Rudolfshügel were admitted into 1. Klasse, after they were recognised to have won the 2. Klasse in the previous season. 2. Klasse A Reported Table: 1.SC Red Star Wien 16 15 0 1 - 30 2.1. Simmeringer SC 15 9 2 4 - 20 3.1. Floridsdorfer AC 13 8 2 3 - 18 4.SC Phönix 15 7 2 6 - 16 5.SC Sturmvogel 16 6 3 7 - 15 6.FGK Wiener Kicker 12 3 4 5 - 10 7.SK Favorit Wien 14 4 2 8 - 10 8.SK Slovan Viden 15 3 1 11 - 7 9.Wiener FC Ostmark 14 1 0 13 - 2 NB: two more losses than wins, possibly due to awarded match. 2. Klasse B Participants included: Admira Wien Favoritner Sparta Hertha Wien International Wien Ravenna Wien Rennweger SV SC Austria Wien
On Nov 7, 1908, Floridsdorfer Athletiksport-Club (FAC) were admitted
into 1. Klasse.
As Wiener AC refused to grant the customary two matches (one home, one away)
per half-season to the other 1. Klasse clubs (they did not play Sport-Club,
Vienna and Cricketer in fall 1908 and were only willing to play one match
against the other clubs per half-season), these organised a boycott against
WAC, instigated by Sport-Club, Cricketer and Vienna and joined by Rudolfshügel,
Viktoria, Germania and FAC; Rapid also refused to play WAC but did not
formally enter the anti-WAC-coalition (which stipulated heavy penalties
for member clubs breaking the boycott). On May 17, 1909, Germania Schwechat
broke the boycott and played WAC; they lost 0-4 and were forced by the
other member clubs of the anti-WAC-coalition to pay the stipulated penalty;
as Germania did not have sufficient money, the club was dissolved (and
refounded several years later).
During the season several 2. Klasse clubs attended a congress organised
by the Ceský Svaz Fotballový (CSF) aiming at forming an international
federation in opposition to FIFA (in 1908, Bohemia lost its provisional
FIFA membership, as Bohemia was part of the Habsburg monarchy for which
the ÖFV was considered the sole representative football body).
The congress was also attended by representatives from English amateurs
(AFA) as well as participants from France, Switzerland and Italy, leading,
in March 1909, to the foundation of the UIAFA in Paris, but the Viennese
clubs involved, among others: Nußdorfer AC, Blue star, Hertha, Rennweg,
Red Star, later Slovan, Hakoah, Admira ('1. Groß-Jedlersdorfer Sportklub
Admira') [Sch 25], all returned to the ÖFV.
[2nd class match]
Rennweg 4-0 Simmering
Rennweg remained in 2. Klasse.
The conflict between WAC and the other clubs was ended after WAC guaranteed Sport-Club, Cricketer and Vienna 3 matches per (full) season. To celebrate this, a reconciliation tournament was organised around Easter 1910: Semifinals WAC 2-1 Wiener SC Cricketer 4-0 Vienna Final WAC 1-0 Cricketer A cup tournament was organised by the ÖFV for the clubs from the 2. Klasse and the reserve teams of those from the 1. Klasse. Final Hertha 2-3 Cricketer Reserves 1.FC Klagenfurt entered the 2. Klasse of the ÖFV in 1910.
[Sep 21, 1910] At the end of the 1909/10 season, almost the entire first team of the WAC (only Neumann and Studnicka remained) left the club and founded the Wiener Assoziationsfootball Club (with the intention of having it also abbreviated WAC); the public parsed the syllables differently and called the new club Wiener Assoziations Footballclub (abbreviated WAF) from the start. On Sep 21, 1910, WAF were admitted into 1. Klasse. During the fall season, WAF and Wiener Sport-Club were the best sides; a 'decisive match' (Entscheidungsspiel) ended 2-2 and was replayed in spring 1911; WAF won the replay 3-1. [end of 1910] Simmering admitted into 1. Klasse. [March 29, 1911] On October 29, 1910 almost the entire first team of Cricketer left the club and founded a new club called 'Wiener Cricketer'; after the objection of the original club against this name, the denomination was changed to Wiener Amateur Sportverein on March 29, 1911 and the club were admitted into 1. Klasse; in 1925 (after the introduction of professional football in Austria) the name was changed to FK Austria Wien; the club officially lists March 15, 1911 as foundation date. [begin of summer 1911] Hertha were declared members of 1. Klasse (presumably as 2. Klasse winners, after the title was taken away from Rennweg), before the start of the first official championship 1911/12. Rennweg (Rennweger SV) won the 2. Klasse championship but had all their matches awarded 0-3 losses following a protest against the size of their pitch, which turned out to be 1 metre short of regulation size. The club therefore finished last and entered a relegation playoff.
After the abandonment of the 1903/04 league competition, first class membership was decided by the federation (the Österreichische Fussball-Union until March 1904, when Vienna and Cricketer left the Union, and the Österreichische Fussball-Verband (who took over the system) since).
Traditionally all teams from the first class met each other twice in every half-season (fall and spring) but without pre-determined fixtures or playing out a league competition. (This led to a major conflict in the fall of 1908.)
Development of First Class Membership (new clubs in italics)
1903/04: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Graphia, Rapid, Deutscher SV.
1904/05: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Graphia, Rapid, Wiener Sportvereinigung,
Viktoria Wien, Deutscher FC Prag; Sparta Praha joined November 1904.
1905/06: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Graphia, Rapid, Wiener Sportvereinigung,
Viktoria Wien, Deutscher FC Prag, Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha; in 1906
all Czech clubs left and joined the Ceský Svaz Fotballový (CSF).
1906/07: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Graphia, Rapid, Wiener Sportvereinigung,
Viktoria Wien, Deutscher FC Prag, 1.Schwechater SC, Grazer AK.
1907/08: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Rapid, Wiener Sport-Club, Viktoria Wien,
Deutscher FC Prag, Germania Schwechat, Grazer AK, Rudolfshügel.
NB: Wiener SV merged with Cyclisten-Club into Wiener Sport-Club (WSC) on
February 25, 1907; Graphia merged with Schwechater SC into SC Germania.
1908/09: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Rapid, Wiener Sport-Club, Viktoria Wien,
Deutscher FC Prag, Germania Schwechat, Grazer AK, Rudolfshügel,
Floridsdorfer AC.
1909/10: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Rapid, Wiener Sport-Club, Viktoria Wien,
Deutscher FC Prag, Germania Schwechat, Grazer AK, Rudolfshügel,
Floridsdorfer AC, Teplitzer FK.
1910/11: WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Rapid, Wiener Sport-Club, Viktoria Wien,
Deutscher FC Prag, Grazer AK, Rudolfshügel, Floridsdorfer AC,
Teplitzer FK; WAF, 1.Simmeringer SC, Wiener Amateur Sportverein
and Hertha were admitted during the season. In the summer of 1911
also Cracovia were admitted.
1911/12: start of first official championship with as participants:
WAC, Vienna, Cricketer, Rapid, Wiener Sport-Club, Viktoria Wien,
Rudolfshügel, Floridsdorfer AC, WAF, 1.Simmeringer SC, Wiener Amateur
Sportverein and Hertha. (Viktoria merged with Cricketer during the
winter of 1911/12 and had their results until then annulled.)
(Note that these 12 constitute all Viennese members of the 1. Klasse.)
Ten other clubs entered the 2. Klasse:
Wacker, Ober-Sankt Veit, Wiener Sportfreunde, Red Star, Vorwärts 06,
Donaustadt, Blue Star, Südmark, Wiener Bewegungsspieler, Nußdorfer AC.
Thanks to Peter Kungler (peter dot kungler at roche dot com) for correcting the 1901/02 final table
Sources: [DSF 95], [Gös 93], [Grü 00], [Hub 00], [Kob 99], [Mar 97], [ÖFB 64], [Pil 04], [Sch 25], [Sch 51], [Sch 94], [Vie 19], http://rapidarchiv.at/, http://www.fussballabzeichen.at/, https://austria-forum.org/af/AustriaWiki/Rennweger SV 1901, Wiener Zeitung
Prepared and maintained by Ambrosius Kutschera, Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Ambrosius Kutschera, Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 27 Jun 2024
(C) Copyright Ambrosius Kutschera,
Hans Schöggl, Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2002/24
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