Grazer AK

Grazer AK (or GAK) is a football club which plays in Austria. it was founded in 1902.

Grazer AK
GAK 1902 Logo.svg
Full nameGrazer Athletiksport-Klub
Nickname(s)Athletics, Red-Jackets
Founded1902
GroundMerkur Arena
(capacity: 16,364)
ChairmanHarald Rannegger
ManagerGernot Messner
LeagueAustria 2nd League
2020-216th

History

 
Fans celabrating the championship 2004

The club was founded by a group of students led by medical student Georg August Wagner from Prague. Due to this development the first football match in Austria with the FA rules took place in Graz. 1902 was the official start of the Grazer Athletik-Sport-Club. The club reached the Styrian Championship in 1922, 1924 and between 1926 and 1933 and was Austrian Amateur Champion in 1929, 1932 and 1933. One of the players of GAK was Rudi Hiden, who went to Wiener AC and became goalkeeper of the famous "Austrian Wunderteam". 1944 the matches were stopped due to the Second World War.

1946 the club begun again. 1951 it reached the highest class (Liga A) and, at the end of that season, the 6th position, which was the best of a club outside Vienna. In the following years the Athletics were established in the first class. 1962 and 1968 they where runners-up in the cup-final. Only because the league was reformed the club was relegated to the second division in 1974, but came back one year later. 1981 the Athletics gained first title as professional team when they won the Austrian cup, which also was the first title for a styrian team. From 1990 to 1995 the club was in the second league. They won the cup-title also in 2000, 2002 and were double winners in 2004.

2007 the club collapsed due to 15,2 mil. € debts. They had to go to the third league where they went bankrupt again and had to interrupt playing in october 2012.

2013 they had to start over from the lowest (9th tier) league after being reestablished. Since then the club (named GAC due legal grounds initially) won every championship. For the Season 2017/18, they are in Landesliga Steiermark, 4th tier. In the 2019/20 season they came back to professional football being promoted to the 2nd league. In the 2022/23 season they finished 2nd and missed promotion in the last round.

Current squad

As of 28 July 2023
No. Position Player
1   GK Jakob Meierhofer
5   DF Yannick Oberleitner
6   MF Markus Rusek
7   FW Atsushi Zaizen
9   FW Daniel Maderner
10   MF Christian Lichtenberger
11   FW Christian Lichtenberger
13   MF Marco Perchtold
15   DF Lukas Graf
17   MF Thomas Schiestl
19   DF Marco Gantschnig
20   MF Thorsten Schriebl
No. Position Player
21   DF Michael Lang
22   DF Felix Holzhacker
23   MF Paolo Jager
24   DF Felix Köchl
26   MF Benjamin Rosenberger
27   GK Christoph Nicht
30   DF Milos Jovicic
32   MF Martin Murg
33   GK Maximilian Fahler
70   FW Jan Stefanon
99   FW Michael Cheukoua
  DF Sebastian Jost

Coaching staff

Past seasons

Seasons since the re-foundation 2012

Season League Level Place MP W D L GF GA GD Pts Austrian Cup
2013–14 1. Klasse Mitte A (VIII) 8 1 22 20 2 0 124 12 112 62 not qualified
2014–15 Gebietsliga Mitte (VII) 7 1 26 23 1 2 107 29 78 70 not qualified
2015–16 Unterliga Mitte (VI) 6 1 26 22 3 1 88 19 69 69 not qualified
2016–17 Oberliga Mitte/West (V) 5 1 26 14 9 3 65 29 36 51 not qualified
2017–18 Landesliga Steiermark (IV) 4 1 30 21 5 4 61 24 37 68 not qualified
2018–19 Regionalliga Mitte (III) 3 1 30 21 5 4 70 28 42 68 Semi-finals
2019-20 2. Liga (II) 2 15 30 7 10 13 40 50 -10 31 2nd round
2020-21 2. Liga (II) 2 6 30 13 7 10 46 42 4 46 1st round
2022-23 2. Liga (II) 2 2 30 17 9 4 52 29 23 61 3rd round
Green marks a season followed by promotion

Coaching history in the 21st century

[1]

Start End Coach
3/2000 4/200   Rainer Hörgl
4/2000 9/2001   Werner Gregoritsch
9/2001 10/2001   Christian Keglevits
10/2001 8/2002   Thijs Libregts
8/2002 10/2002   Christian Keglevits
10/2002 1/2006   Walter Schachner
1/2006 6/2007   Lars Søndergaard
7/2007 1/2008   Dietmar Pegam
1/2008 8/2008   Stojadin Rajković
8/2008 1/2010   Gregor Pötscher
1/2010 11/2010   Heinz Karner
11/2010 6/2011   Peter Stöger
7/2011 6/2013   Aleš Čeh
7/2012 10/2012   Ante Šimundža
7/2013 9/2017   Gernot Plassenegger
10/2017 1/2019   David Preiß
1/2019 6/2019   Enrico Kulovits
7/2019 2/2020   David Preiß
2/2020 3/2020   Ralph Spirk/ Alois Hödl
3/2020 10/2021   Gernot Plassenegger
10/2021 11/2021   Stefan Kammerhofer
11/2021 12/2021   Ralph Spirk
12/2021   Gernot Messner

Honours

  • Austrian Champion:2004
  • Austrian Cup:1981, 2000, 2002, 2004
  • Austrian Second League Champion:1975, 1993, 1995
  • Austrian Champion (amateurs):1929, 1932, 1933
  • Styrian Champion:1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933

Statistics

List of international games of GAK in UEFA-Cup, Champions League Qualification, Cupwinners' Cup and in Fairs' Cup:

1962/63:

  1. B 1909 Odense (CdCs – 1/8 Finale) 1:1 (H) 3:5 (A)

1964/65:

  1. NK Zagreb (MC R1) 0:6 (H) 2:3 (A)

1968/69:

  1. Ado Den Haag (CdCs R1) 0:2 (H) 1:4 (A)

1972/73:

  1. Panachaiki Patras (UC R1) 0:1 (H) 1:2 (A)

1980/81:

  1. Dinamo Tbilisi (CdCs – 1/16 Finale) 2:2 (H) 0:2 (A)

1982/83:

  1. Corvinul Hunedoara (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:3 (A)

1996/97:

  1. Vojvodina Novi Sad (UC Q2) 2:0 (H) 5:1 (A)
  2. Germinal Ekeren (UC R1) 2:0 (H) 1:3 (A)
  3. Inter Milan (UC R2) 1:0 (H) 0:1 (4:5 i.E.)(A)

1998/99:

  1. VPS Vaasa (UC Q2) 3:0 (H) 0:0 (A)
  2. Litex Lovech (UC R1) 2:0 (H) 1:1 (A)
  3. AS Monaco (UC R2) 3:3 (H) 0:4 (A)

1999/2000:

  1. KÍ Klaksvík (UC Q) 4:0 (H) 5:0 (A)
  2. Spartak Trnava (UC R1) 3:0 (H) 1:2 (A)
  3. Panathinaikos (UC R2) 2:1 (H) 0:1 (A)

2000/01:

  1. FC Kosice (UC R1) 0:0 (H) 3:2 (A)
  2. Espanyol Barcelona (UC R2) 1:0 (H) 0:4 (A)

2001/02:

  1. HB Tórshavn (UC Q) 4:0 (H) 2:2 (A)
  2. FC Utrecht (UC R1) 3:3 (H) 0:3 (A)

2002/03:

  1. FC Sheriff Tiraspol (CL Q2) 2:0 (H) 4:1 (A)
  2. Lokomotiv Moscow (CL Q3) 0:2 (H) 3:3 (A)
  3. Apoel Nicosia (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:2 (A)

2003/04:

  1. SK Tirana (CL Q2) 2:1 (H) 5:1 (A)
  2. Ajax Amsterdam (CL Q3) 1:1 (H) 1:2 (A)
  3. Vålerenga I.F. Fotball (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:0 (A)

2004/05:

  1. Liverpool F.C. (CL Q3) 0:2 (H) 1:0 (A)
  2. Litex Lovech (UC R1) 5:0 (H) 0:1 (A)
  3. AJ Auxerre (UC Gruppe F) 0:0 (A)
  4. Amica Wronki (UC Gruppe F) 3:1 (H)
  5. Rangers F.C. (UC Gruppe F) 0:3 (A)
  6. AZ Alkmaar (UC Gruppe F) 2:0 (H)
  7. Middlesbrough F.C. (UC 16tel-Finale) 2:2 (H) 1:2 (A)

2005/06:

  1. Nistru Otaci (UC Q) 2:0 (A) 1:0 (H)
  2. RC Strasbourg (UC R1) 0:2 (H) 0:5 (A)

Derby Statistics vs. SK Sturm Graz (as of 23.8.2005)

Total (in 1st Austrian League):

  • 46 Won
  • 42 Drawn
  • 42 Lost

(Goals: 174:168)

Grazer AK Media

References

  1. [1] (in German) weltfussball.de. Retrieved 6 February 2022

Other websites