Austrian Football Bundesliga

The Bundesliga, also called the Admiral Bundesliga because of sponsorship, is the top league for association football in Austria. It decides who becomes the Austrian national football champions and which teams will play in European competitions organized by UEFA.

The Austrian Bundesliga started in the 1974–75 season and became its own registered association on 1 December 1991. The two most successful teams are from Vienna: Austria Wien, with 24 championship titles, and Rapid Wien, with 32 titles. As of now, the current champions are SK Sturm Graz. Phillip Thonhauser serves as the president of the Austrian Bundesliga.

History

1900–1938

Football has been played in Austria since around 1890. In the early 1900s, a cup competition began in Vienna, which was actually played like a league. In 1911, Austria’s first football championship started. This competition was organized by the Lower Austrian Football Federation, and teams competed to become the Lower Austrian National Champion. By 1924, the league became professional and changed its name to the First League. In 1929, an amateur championship began, with clubs from Vienna not allowed to join. In 1937–38, teams from all Austrian states were allowed to join the National League for the first time.

1938–1945

Main article: Gauliga Ostmark

In 1938, when Austria was taken over by Germany, the Austrian National League ended early. Many teams stopped playing, and some players left the country. The Austrian league was merged into Germany’s sports system. Professionalism in sports was banned, and new rules were forced on teams. Some teams were banned, and others were renamed. The top league in what had been Austria became an amateur league called the Gauliga Ostmark. After World War II, Austria’s teams were no longer part of the German league.

1945–1974

After World War II, the league started again, only in Vienna at first. In 1949, a new league called the Staatsliga A was created, allowing teams from all of Austria to compete for the national championship. Organizing this league was difficult, with disagreements between amateur and professional teams. In 1965, the Austrian Football Association took control of the top league again. In 1974, the Bundesliga was introduced, with the Nationalliga remaining as the second division.

1974 to current

The Bundesliga began in the 1974–75 season, organizing the top two divisions in Austria. In 1976, the Nationalliga was renamed the Bundesliga – Second Division, while the top league became the Bundesliga – First Division. Over the years, the number of teams and league formats changed several times. In 1991, the Austrian Football Bundesliga became its own association. Starting with the 2018-19 season, the league grew from 10 teams to 12 teams.

Tasks and legal form

Since 1991, the Bundesliga has been its own organization, running the top two leagues in Austria. These leagues have names from their sponsors; since 2014, the Bundesliga has been sponsored by Tipico. The Bundesliga also manages youth leagues for younger teams and works with clubs to support professional football in Austria. It is a non-profit organization, with teams and boards working together to make decisions.

Scopes of responsibility of the senates

The "senates" are groups that help organize the league. The first senate handles suspensions and championship games. The second senate solves financial disagreements, the third senate handles all financial matters, and the fourth senate is the group of referees. The fifth senate checks if clubs can afford to play and gives out playing licenses for the professional leagues.

Bundesliga

In the Bundesliga, twelve teams play each other twice — once at home and once away. After this regular season, the teams split into two groups. The top six teams compete for the championship, while the bottom six play to stay in the league. Points from the regular season are halved before these rounds begin. Each team plays five other teams in their group twice. The team that finishes first in the top group becomes the Bundesliga champion. The team that finishes last in the bottom group moves down to a lower league, and the best team from that lower league moves up.

If two teams have the same number of points, there are specific rules to decide their rankings, like comparing their head-to-head games, goal differences, and goals scored.

The Bundesliga champion gets to play in the UEFA Champions League. The runner-up enters the UEFA Champions League at a later stage. The third-place team and the winner of the Europa Conference League Playoffs join the UEFA Europa League. The winner of the Austrian Cup also qualifies for the UEFA Europa League. If the Bundesliga champion also wins the Austrian Cup, the fourth-place team goes to the UEFA Europa League instead.

Current clubs

Here are the teams playing in the 2024–25 Austrian Football Bundesliga:

• Austria
• Sturm
  Grazer AK
• LASK
• Hartberg
• Rapid
• Salzburg
• WSG Tirol
• BWL
• Wolfsberger AC
• Altach
• Klagenfurt

The teams are shown on a map of Austria.

Seasons by club

This is a list of all the clubs that have played in the Austrian Football Bundesliga since it started in 1974, up until the 2025–26 season. Teams that are playing now are shown in bold.

• 52 seasons: FK Austria Wien, SK Rapid Wien, SK Sturm Graz (2026)
• 47 seasons: FC Red Bull Salzburg (2026)
• 41 seasons: Admira Wacker Mödling (2022)
• 35 seasons: FC Wacker Innsbruck/ FC Swarovski Tirol/ FC Tirol Innsbruck/FC Wacker Innsbruck (2019)
• 35 seasons: LASK (2026)
• 29 seasons: Grazer AK (2026)
• 24 seasons: SV Ried (2026)
• 18 seasons: VÖEST Linz/VOEST Linz/FC Stahl Linz/FC Linz (1997)
• 15 seasons: Wiener Sport-Club (1994), SV Mattersburg (2020), FC Kärnten/SK Austria Klagenfurt (2025), SC Rheindorf Altach (2026)
• 14 seasons: Wolfsberger AC (2026)
• 12 seasons: First Vienna FC (1992)
• 11 seasons: VSE Sankt Pölten/SKN St. Pölten (2021)
• 9 seasons: SK Vorwärts Steyr (1999)
• 8 seasons: ASKÖ Pasching/SK Austria Kärnten (2010), TSV Hartberg (2026)
• 7 seasons: SC Eisenstadt (1987), WSG Tirol (2026)
• 6 seasons: Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz (2005)
• 5 seasons: 1. Wiener Neustadter SC (2015), SC Austria Lustenau (2024)
• 4 seasons: DSV Leoben (1992), VfB Mödling (1995), Kapfenberger SV (2012)
• 3 seasons: Kremser SC (1992), SV Grödig (2016), FC Blau-Weiß Linz (2026)
• 2 seasons: SC Neusiedl am See 1919 (1984), FC Union Wels (1984), Favoritner AC (1985)
• 1 season: 1. Simmeringer SC (1983), FC St. Veit (1984), SV Spittal (1985), Salzburger AK 1914 (1986)

List of champions

Main article: List of Austrian football champions

Performance

The Austrian Bundesliga has seen many clubs win over the years. Some teams from Innsbruck, Tirol, have changed names and structures but are linked together in history. A notable change happened in 2005 when a company bought a team and gave it a new name and colors. This led to the creation of a new club.

Merger activities have also shaped some clubs. For example, Admira Wacker Mödling came from joining several teams together over time.

Notes:

• † All teams are defunct clubs from Innsbruck, Tirol. Wacker Innsbruck (1915–99), Swarovski Tirol (1986–92) and Tirol Innsbruck (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 Mödling was formed after the merger of SK Admira Wien and SC Wacker Wien in 1971, under the name of Admira Wacker Wien, the merge with VfB Mödling in 1997 and the merge with SK Schwadorf in 2008. The new team play in Mödling.

Top scorers in Bundesliga

All-time top scorers

As of 31 July 2023

Statistics

UEFA coefficients

See also: UEFA coefficient

This part of the article shows how the Austrian football league compares to other European leagues using special numbers called coefficients.