Karl Decker

Karl Decker (September 5, 1921 - September 27, 2005) was an Austrian footballer and football coach. He played most of his time for First Vienna FC as a midfielder.

Karl Decker

Karl Decker – Memorial in Austria
Personal information
Date of birth	5 September 1921
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Date of death	27 September 2005(2005-09-27) (aged 84)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder/Inside forward
Youth career
1934	Ottakringer SC
1934–1937	Schwarz-Weiß Wien
1937	Weiße Elf Penzing
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1937–1952	First Vienna FC	226	(244)
1952–1954	SK Sturm Graz	36	(22)
1954–1956	FC Sochaux-Montbéliard	37	(15)
1956–1958	FC Grenchen	1	(0)
National team
1942	Germany	8	(7)
1945–1952	Austria	25	(19)
Teams managed
1951–1952	First Vienna
1952–1954	Sturm Graz
1956–1958	FC Grenchen
1958–1964	Austria
1964–1965	Wiener Sport-Club
1966–1968	Wiener Sport-Club
1968–1970	SK Rapid Wien
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

He started with minor clubs in Vienna and came to First Vienna FC in 1937. He played in this team until 1952. During the time Nazi Germany controlled Austria, he and his team were very successful.

Decker played eight times for the German national football team. After World War II, he played 25 matches for the Austrian team between 1945 and 1952. In 1944 and 1950, he was the top scorer in the league. He also played for S.K. Sturm Graz (Austria), Sochaux (France) and FC Grenchen (Switzerland).

International statistics

Germany

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Germany	1942	8	7
Total		8	7

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Decker goal.

List of international goals scored by Karl Decker

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	20 January 1942	Kranjceviceva , Zagreb, Croatia	Croatia	2-0	2-0	Friendly match
2	1 February 1942	Praterstadion, Vienna , Germany	Switzerland	1-0	1-2	Friendly match
3	12 April 1942	Olympiastadion, Berlin , Germany	Spain	1-0	1-1	Friendly match
4	19 July 1942	Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1-0	3-0	Friendly match
5				3-0
6	16 August 1942	Stadion Polonii im. Edwarda Szymkowiaka, Beuthen, Germany	Romania	2-1	2-2	Friendly match
7	22 November 1942	Tehelné pole , Bratislava, Germany	Slovakia	5-2	5-2	Friendly match

Austria

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Austria	1945	3	4
	1946	5	2
	1947	2	0
	1949	5	8
	1950	7	4
	1951	1	0
	1952	2	1
Total		25	19

Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Decker goal.

List of international goals scored by Karl Decker

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	20 August 1945	Üllöi út, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	2-4	2-5	Friendly match
2	6 December 1945	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	France	1-1	4-1	Friendly match
3				2-1
4				4-1
5	14 April 1946	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Hungary	1-1	3-2	Friendly match
6				3-2
7	20 March 1949	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Turkey	1-0	1-0	Friendly match
8	25 September 1949	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Czechoslovakia	1-0	3-1	Gerö-Cup
9				3-1
12	25 September 1949	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Hungary	1-0	3-4	Friendly match
13				3-3
10	13 November 1949	J.N.A. Stadion, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	1-0	5-2	Friendly match
11				2-0
14				4-2
15	19 March 1950	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Switzerland	3-0	3-3	Gerö-Cup
16	14 May 1950	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Hungary	2-1	5-3	Friendly match
17				4-3
18	8 October 1950	Praterstadion, Vienna , Austria	Yugoslavia	1-0	7-2	Friendly match
19	22 June 1952	Stade des Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland	Switzerland	1-0	1-1	Friendly match

Coach

He was coach of Sturm Graz (1952–1954), FC Grenchen (1956–1958) and SK Rapid Wien (1968–1970). With Rapid, he reached the quarter finals of the European Champions Cup and won in the third round against Real Madrid. In the quarterfinals, they lost against Manchester United.

Between 1958 and 1964, he was coach of the Austrian national football team. In this time, the team was very successful. They won against Scotland (4:1), USSR (3:1 and 1:0), Spain (3:0 in front of 90.726 visitors, the record crowd in Austria), Italy (2:1), England (3:1) and Hungary (2:1 and 2:1). They qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile but the ÖFB did not have enough money to send the team to the competition. The Decker era was one of the best for Austria's national football team.