SK Rapid Wien

Sportklub Rapid, commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club based in Vienna, the capital city of Austria. The team has a rich history and has won the most Austrian championship titles, with a total of 32 wins. Their first title came in the season of 1911–12, showing their long-standing success in the sport.

During a difficult time when Nazi rule affected many things, Rapid Wien also achieved a German championship in 1941. Even though their main rival, FK Austria Vienna, has won more combined league and cup titles, both teams share the special honor of never being relegated from the top league.

Rapid Wien has also made notable appearances in European competitions. They reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup twice, in 1985 and 1996, though they did not win on either occasion. More recently, in the 2024–25 season, they reached the quarter-finals of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League, where they were eliminated by Djurgårdens IF.

The team is often called Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites) because of their green and white colors. Another nickname, Hütteldorfer, comes from the location of their home ground, the Allianz Stadion, which is situated in Hütteldorf, a part of Vienna’s 14th district in Penzing.

History

The club started in 1897 as the First Viennese Workers' Football Club. Its original colors were red and blue, which are still used sometimes when playing away. On January 8, 1899, it changed its name to Sportklub Rapid, inspired by Rapide Berlin. "Wien" or "Vienna" is often added when talking about the club but isn’t part of the official name. In 1904, the team colors changed to green and white. The club won Austria’s first national championship in the 1911–12 season by just one point and kept the title the next season.

Between the world wars, Rapid became a very successful team. It won three titles in a row from 1919 to 1921. After Austria joined Germany in 1938, Rapid played in the German football leagues. The team won the Tschammerpokal, an early version of today’s DFB-Pokal, in 1938 by beating FSV Frankfurt 3–1. They also won the German Championship in 1941 by defeating Schalke 04, coming back from a 3–0 deficit to win 4–3.

After World War II, Rapid represented Austria in the first European Cup in the 1955–56 season. They advanced to the quarter-final but lost to Milan. Their best European performance was reaching the semi-final in the 1960–61 season, where they lost to Benfica.

In 1984, Rapid had a controversial match against Celtic in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Despite protests and a disputed incident, the match result stood. Rapid reached its first European final in 1985, losing to Everton, and another final in 1996, losing to Paris Saint-Germain.

Rapid last appeared in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2005–06 season after winning against F91 Dudelange and Lokomotiv Moscow. They finished last in their group.

In the 2007-08 season, Rapid won the Austrian league for the 32nd time, more than any other club in Austria. In 2015, Rapid’s youth team joined the Football for Friendship international children’s program, with events held in Berlin.

Woman's section

In 2022, club members started a petition to create a women's team, and it was approved. Katja Gürtler became the first coach in August 2023. The team began playing in the third level of Austrian women's football in the 2024/25 season.

In their first season, the team won every game and also took the regional cup. They secured a place in the second division for the 2025/26 season.

Club culture

Rapid Viertelstunde

Since the club started, fans have a special tradition called the "Rapid-Viertelstunde". With about 15 minutes left in the match, fans clap their hands in rhythm, whether they are at home or away and no matter the score. This tradition began around 1913, and a newspaper wrote about it in 1918. Many times, the team has turned around a losing game with this support just before the end.

Fans

The largest group of fans is called Ultras Rapid, started in 1988. Other important groups are Tornados Rapid, Spirits Rapid, and Alte Garde Dritte Halbzeit. These fans sit in the Block West stand, which can hold 8,500 people. Rapid fans also have friendly connections with supporters of Nürnberg in Germany, Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Venezia in Italy, Ferencváros in Hungary, and Panathinaikos in Greece. Because these teams all wear green, they are called the "Green Brothers".

Stadium

Rapid played at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium until the 2013–14 season. This stadium opened on May 10, 1977, with a match against Austria Wien. It was first called the Weststadion but later was named after its architect, Gerhard Hanappi, who also played for Rapid.

In 2014, a new stadium called the Allianz Stadion was built to replace the old one. While it was being built, Rapid played at the Ernst Happel Stadion. The new stadium was officially opened on July 16, 2016, when Rapid played against Chelsea in a friendly match and won 2–0.

Rivalries

Main article: Vienna derby

Rapid Wien has a big rivalry with another team from Vienna called FK Austria Wien. They play a special match called the Vienna derby, which is very popular in Austria. Both teams are very successful and have never dropped down from the top league. They started playing each other in 1911, and their matches are some of the most watched in European football, second only to the Old Firm derby in Glasgow between Rangers and Celtic.

Honours

Domestic

Rapid Wien has won the most championship titles in Austria, with a total of 32 wins. The club also won a German Championship and a German Cup during the time when Austria was part of Germany from 1938 to 1945, after Austria was joined with Germany in March 1938.

•   record

Continental Finals

Cup Winners' Cup

• Runners-up: 1984–85, 1995–96

Type	Competition	Titles	Seasons
International	Mitropa Cup	2	1930, 1951
Domestic	Austrian Bundesliga	32	1911–12, 1912–13, 1915–16, 1916–17, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1922–23, 1928–29, 1929–30 , 1934–35, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56 , 1956–57, 1959–60, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1995–96 , 2004–05, 2007–08
	German Championship	1	1941
	Austrian Cup	14	1918–19, 1919–20, 1926–27, 1945–46, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1994–95
	German Cup	1	1938
	Austrian Supercup	4	1986, 1987, 1988, 2008

Players

Current squad

As of 5 February 2025

Note: Flags show which country's team a player can join, as decided by FIFA eligibility rules. Some players can belong to more than one country outside of these rules. Players might also have more than one nationality that is not decided by FIFA.

Out on loan

Note: Flags show which country's team a player can join, as decided by FIFA eligibility rules. Some players can belong to more than one country outside of these rules. Players might also have more than one nationality that is not decided by FIFA.

SK Rapid II

As of 1 March 2026

Note: Flags show which country's team a player can join, as decided by FIFA eligibility rules. Some players can belong to more than one country outside of these rules. Players might also have more than one nationality that is not decided by FIFA.

Notable former players

The players who have played the most games for the team are Peter Schöttel (436 games), Steffen Hofmann (434 games), and Michael Konsel (395 games). The top three players who scored the most goals are Josef Uridil (scoring 1.198 goals per game), Franz Binder (1.103), and Robert Dienst (1.080).

Nation	Name	Years	A	Position	G	SR
AUT	Richard Kuthan	1911–1926, 1927-1929	244	Striker	164	0.672
AUT	Josef Uridil	1918–1925, 1926-1927	106	Striker	127	1.198
AUT	Edi Bauer	1911–1926	188	Striker	133	0.707
AUT	Ferdinand Wesely	1920–1931	206	Striker	121	0.587
AUT	Robert Dienst	1948–1962	284	Striker	307	1.080
AUT	Franz Weselik	1923–1934	175	Striker	160	0.914
AUT	Rudolf Flögel	1958–1972	332	Striker	145	0.436
AUT	Matthias Kaburek	1928–1936, 1939-1945	158	Striker	138	0.873
AUT	Johann Riegler	1948–1961	272	Striker	160	0.588
AUT	Peter Schöttel	1986–2002	436	Defender	4	0.009
AUT	Michael Konsel	1985–1997	395	Goalkeeper
AUT	Hans Krankl	1970–1978, 1981–1986	350	Striker	267	0.763
AUT	Gerhard Hanappi	1950–1965	333	Midfielder	114	0.342
AUT	Reinhard Kienast	1978–1992	393	Midfielder	61	0.155
AUT	Heribert Weber	1978–1989	315	Defender	39	0.124
AUT	Helge Payer	2001–2012	298	Goalkeeper
AUT	Franz Binder	1938–1948	242	Striker	267	1.103
AUT	Ernst Happel	1942–1954, 1956–1959	240	Defender	25	0.104
AUT	Walter Zeman	1945–1961	235	Goalkeeper
AUT	Robert Körner	1942–1958	212	Striker	80	0.377
AUT	Alfred Körner	1942–1959	286	Striker	157	0.548
AUT	Andi Herzog	1986–1992, 2002–2003	174	Attacking midfielder	37	0.213
AUT	Andreas Ivanschitz	2000–2005	147	Attacking midfielder	25	0.170
AUT	Leopold Grausam	1963–1970	142	Forward	58	0.408
AUT	Roman Wallner	1999–2004	134	Forward	42	0.313
AUT	Florian Kainz	2014–2016	98	Midfielder	15	0.153
AUT	György Garics	2001–2006	99	Full-back	3	0.030
AUT	Erwin Hoffer	2006–2009	85	Forward	41	0.482
AUT	Guido Burgstaller	2011–2014, 2022–2025	158	Forward	58	0.367
ALB	Hamdi Salihi	2009–2012	67	Forward	36	0.537
BEL	Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo	2017–2019	56	Left-back	3	0.054
BLR	Alyaksandr Myatlitski	1991–1993	58	Defender	9	0.155
BRA	Joelinton	2016–2018	60	Midfielder	15	0.250
BUL	Trifon Ivanov	1995–1997	53	Defender	7	0.132
CAN	Ante Jazić	2001–2004	107	Left-back	1	0.009
CRO	Zlatko Kranjčar	1983–1990	210	Striker	106	0.505
CRO	Mario Bazina	2006–2008	72	Midfielder	18	0.250
CRO	Nikica Jelavić	2008–2010	71	Forward	27	0.380
CZE	René Wagner	1996–2004	220	Forward	75	0.341
CZE	Ladislav Maier	1998–2005	161	Goalkeeper
CZE	Antonín Panenka	1981–1985	127	Attacking midfielder	63	0.496
CZE	Marek Kincl	2004–2007	92	Striker	27	0.278
CZE	Radek Bejbl	2005–2007	59	Defensive midfielder	3	0.051
DEN	Johnny Bjerregaard	1966–1972	151	Striker	96	0.636
FIN	Mako Heikkinen	2007–2013	173	Defensive midfielder	4	0.023
GEO	Giorgi Kvilitaia	2016–2018	55	Striker	17	0.309
GER	Steffen Hofmann	2002–2005, 2006–2018	434	Midfielder	98	0.226
GER	Oliver Freund	1997–2002	126	Midfielder	6	0.048
GER	Jens Dowe	1999–2001	60	Attacking midfielder	7	0.117
GRE	Thanos Petsos	2013–2016, 2017–2018	92	Defensive midfielder	5	0.054
GRE	Taxiarchis Fountas	2019–2022	68	Forward	35	0.515
KOS	Atdhe Nuhiu	2010–2013	59	Forward	13	0.220
MNE	Branko Bošković	2007–2010	104	Attacking midfielder	19	0.183
NED	Gaston Taument	2005–2008	61	Winger	4	0.066
NOR	Jan Åge Fjørtoft	1989–1993	129	Centre forward	63	0.488
POL	Krzysztof Ratajczyk	1996–2001	142	Defender	1	0.007
POL	Maciej Śliwowski	1993–1996	71	Forward	21	0.296
SVK	Marek Penksa	1996–2000	110	Midfielder	18	0.164
SVK	Ján Novota	2011–2017	96	Goalkeeper
SVK	Peter Hlinka	2004–2007	93	Midfielder	11	0.118
SVK	Jozef Valachovič	2004–2007	71	Defender	7	0.099
TJK	Sergei Mandreko	1992–1997	107	Midfielder	16	0.150
USA	Terrence Boyd	2012–2014	59	Forward	28	0.475
YUG	Petar Bručić	1982–1987	118	Midfielder	6	0.051
YUG	Dejan Savićević	1999–2001	44	Midfielder	18	0.409

Club staff

Position	Name
President	Alexander Wrabetz
Vice-president	Nikolaus Rosenauer
Sports coordinator	Steffen Hofmann
Sporting director	Markus Katzer
Manager	Johannes Hoff Thorup
Assistant managers	Alan Gürkan Arac Luka Pavlović Joe Shulberg
Goalkeeper coach	Jürgen Macho
Fitness coach	Martin Hiden
Athletic coach	Tony Prünster Julian Helml Alexander Steinbichler
Match analyst	Daniel Schmitt
Club doctor	Thomas Balzer Patrick Bitzinger Wojtek Burzec Lukas Brandner Manuel Rosenthaler Wolfgang Skalsky
Physiotherapist	Gerald Kemmer
Kit Manager	Dragiša Vukadinović

Coaching history

SK Rapid Wien has had many coaches over the years from different countries. The club began with Dionys Schönecker from Austria in 1910, and through the years, it has seen coaches like Edi Bauer, Leopold Nitsch, and many others. Some coaches have served for short periods, while others have stayed longer.

The team has had coaches from Austria, England, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Denmark. Notable coaches include Hans Pesser, Robert Körner, Hans Krankl, Josef Hickersberger, and Peter Schöttel, among others. The coaching history shows a rich mix of leadership styles and experiences from various parts of Europe.