FC Red Bull Salzburg
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| Red Bull Salzburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | FC Red Bull Salzburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Die Bullen (The Bulls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1933 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Wals Siezenheim Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 16,850 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Rudi Theierl |
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| Manager |  Giovanni Trapattoni |
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| League | Austrian Bundesliga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Austrian Bundesliga, 2nd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FC Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian football (soccer) club, based in Salzburg. Its home ground is the Wals Siezenheim Stadium.
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[edit] History
FC Red Bull Salzburg was founded on September 13, 1933, as SV Austria Salzburg. In 1978 the name was changed to SV Casino Salzburg and in 1997 to SV Wüstenrot Salzburg. Red Bull bought the club on April 6, 2005. Famous players who played for the club include Oliver Bierhoff, Thomas Häßler, and Toni Polster.
[edit] The Red Bull takeover
After the takeover, Red Bull changed the club's name, management and staff, declaring "this is a new club with no history". Red Bull initially claimed on the club website that the club was founded in 2005, but was ordered to remove this claim by the Austrian FA. Although the official colors in the statutes are still violet and white, no trace of violet can be found in the club's new logo and the team plays in the new colors red and white. This complete re-branding of the team is very similar to Red Bull's treatment of its two Formula One racing teams, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. However, Red Bull would not completely follow this precedent when it acquired the MetroStars club in Major League Soccer in the USA; while it rebranded the team Red Bull New York, it chose to recognize the MetroStars' history.
The traditional supporters tried to resist the radical changes and formed their own movement in order to regain some of the tradition. Several fanclubs throughout Europe voiced their support in what they saw as a fight against the growing commercialisation of football.
But after five months of protests, and talks between the club owner and the traditional fans, no compromise was reached. Thus, on September 15, 2005, the "violet" supporters stated that the talks had finally failed and they would end their efforts.
This gave rise to two separate fan groups : the "Red-Whites", who support the Red Bull club and its management, and the "Violet-Whites", who wanted to preserve the 72-year-old tradition, but refused to support the rebranded club, and ultimately formed a new club, SV Austria Salzburg.
[edit] Recent history
In May of 2006 Red Bull announced on its website that it had hired veteran coach Giovanni Trapattoni as new coach together with his ex-player Lothar Matthäus as co-trainer. The pair initially denied having reached a deal, but officially signed on May 23, 2006.
[edit] Achievements
The former SV Casino Salzburg was a three times national champion: 1994, 1995 and 1997. They participated several times in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. In 1994 the club reached the final of the UEFA Cup, they faced Internazionale and lost a very thrilling game 2-0 on aggregate.
If one accepts Red Bull Salzburg's claim that the club has no history prior to June 2005, the club's only honour so far is being Austrian league runners-up in 2005-06.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Transfers
Manager Giovanni Trapattoni was not happy with Salzburg's midfield and wanted to step up the defensive lines at the back. So he started to chase Javad Nekounam but lost in a competition to sign him against Hertha BSC Berlin and CA Osasuna. Giovanni Trapattoni was largely disappointed with Nekounam's decision and could only afford Niko Kovac of Hertha Berlin so he signed him. Trapattoni is still unhappy with his new midfield. Salzburg are also said to be interested in signing Ali Karimi, although Karimi has stated he wouldn't like to play in the Austrian Bundesliga.
[edit] Famous players
- Wolfgang Feiersinger
- Heimo Pfeifenberger
- Oliver Bierhoff
- Thomas Häßler
- Richard Kitzbichler
- Hans Krankl
- Toni Polster
- Markus Schopp
[edit] External links
- (German) Official website
- (English) Initiative Violett-Weiß — a supporters' organisation opposed to the takeover
- (English) Franchising in Austria — Article on Red Bull's takeover of the club on the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association website
- (English) "Modern Football and the Death of History" — Football Supporters' Federation article on the Red Bull takeover.
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