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The Sportklub Rapid Wien (English: Rapid Vienna) is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. It is one of the two best known sides in Vienna, the other being Rapid's eternal rival, FK Austria Wien. The Rapid squad is often known as the "Green-Whites" for its team colours or as Hütteldorfer for the location of the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, which is in Hütteldorf, part of the city's 14th district, Penzing. In English, they are referred to as Rapid Vienna.
[edit] History
SK Rapid Wien was founded in 1898 as Erster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club (en:First Workers' Football Club of Vienna). The team's original colours were red and blue, which are still often used in away matches. On January 8, 1899 the club was re-named, taking on its present name of Sportklub Rapid Wien, following the example of Rapide Berlin. In 1904, the team colours were changed to green and white.
The 1. Arbeiter FC in 1898.
One of the best teams in early European football, Rapid became a dominant side during the years between the world wars, when Austria was one of the leading football nations on the continent. After the Anschluss of Austria to Germany in 1938, Rapid played in that country's Gauliga Ostmark along with clubs such as First Vienna and Admira Vienna (playing then as Wacker Wien and Admira Wien). Rapid would be the most successful of these clubs. They won the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's German Cup, in 1938 with a 3-1 victory over FSV Frankfurt, and topped that with a German Championship in 1941 by defeating Schalke 04, the most dominant German club of the era. The team was able to overcome a 3-0 Schalke lead to win the match by a final score of 4-3 through strength and endurance – the traditional virtues of Rapid players known as the Rapidgeist or "Rapid Spirit".
The Rudolfsheim Stadium, home of Rapid from 1904 to 1910.
Almost since the club's beginnings, Rapid fans have announced the last fifteen minutes of the game by way of the legendary "Rapidviertelstunde" – rhythmic clapping at home or away no matter what the score. The first mention of the practise goes back to 1913, and in 1919 a newspaper wrote about the fans clapping at the beginning of the "Rapidviertelstunde". Over the decades, there were many instances where Rapid managed to turn around a seemingly hopeless situation by not giving up and, with their fans' support, fighting their way to a win just before the final whistle.
Although Rapid is by far the most popular club in Austria, other teams like Red Bull Salzburg or FK Austria Magna are able to spend significantly more money every year as they are owned by investors/billionaires. Rapid is trying to compensate for this lack of financial funds by supporting young and talented players.
[edit] Stadium
SK Rapid Wien's stadium is Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, which is located in Hütteldorf, part of the Penzing district of Vienna. In its earliest days Rapid played on a military exercise field, until the opening of a new stadium in Rudolfsheim in 1903. But the field there was unsuitable because it was sloped, and with the club's rising popularity, a new stadium was needed: in 1912, the legendary "Pfarrwiese" was built, just in time for the first Austrian Championship. In 1977, Rapid moved to the new "West-Stadion", which was later renamed Gerhard Hanappi-Stadion after its architect and popular and successful former Rapid player Gerhard Hanappi.
Steffen Hofmann celebrating the championship 2008.
[edit] Honours
Rapid Vienna is also Austria's record titleholder, winning the Austrian Championship title 32 times to date. Supporters of other teams sometimes argue that the 16 championship wins before the establishment of a nation wide all-Austrian league should not be counted. However, those titles are credited by most observers, since Viennese league play was virtually synonymous with Austrian football at that time. The wins of the German Championship and German Cup were possible due to Austria's annexation by Germany on March 12, 1938.
- Austrian Championship (32): 1912, 1913, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1996, 2005, 2008
- Austrian Cup (14): 1919, 1920, 1927, 1946, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1995
- Austrian Supercup: 1986, 1987, 1988
- German Championship: 1941
[edit] Current squad
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| Rapid Vienna Possible Lineup for 07/08 Season. |
[edit] Notable players
[edit] Retired numbers
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5 – 
Peter Schöttel
[edit] Managers since 1910
- Dionys Schönecker 1910 - 1925
- Stanley Willmott 1925 - 1926
- Edi Bauer 1926 - 1936
- Leopold Nitsch 1936 - 1945
- Hans Pesser 1945 - 1953
- Josef Uridil 1953 - 1954
- Viktor Hierländer 1954 - 1955
- Alois Beranek 1955 - 1956
- Franz Wagner 1956
- Max Merkel 1956 - 1958
- Rudolf Kumhofer 1958 - 1959
- Robert Körner 1959 - 1966
- Rudolf Vytlacil 1966 - 1968
- Karl Decker 1968 - 1970
- Karl Rappan 1969 - 1970
- Gerd Springer 1970 - 1972
- Robert Körner 1972
- Ernst Hlozek 1972 - 1975
- Josef Pecanka 1975
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[edit] Team trivia
- SK Rapid Wien won the German Championship in 1941 and the German Cup in 1938.
[edit] Competitions
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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