Ernst Happel

Personal information
Ernst Happel
Full name	Ernst Franz Hermann Happel
Date of birth	November 29, 1925(1925-11-29)
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Date of death	14 November 1992 (aged 66)
Place of death	Innsbruck, Austria
Playing position	defender
Youth clubs
1938-1942	Rapid Wien
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1942-1954 1955-1956 1956-1959	Rapid Wien RC Paris Rapid Wien	177 0(8) 042 0(9) 063 (17)
National team
1947-1958	Austria	051 0(5)
Teams managed
1962-1968 1968-1973 1973-1975 1975-1978 1978 1979-1981 1981-1987 1987-1991 1991-1992	ADO Den Haag Feyenoord Sevilla FC Club Brugge Netherlands Standard Liège Hamburger SV FC Tirol Austria
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (November 29 1925 – November 14 1992) was an Austrian football player and coach.

He is regarded as one of the most successful managers ever, winning both league and domestic cup titles in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Austria as well as winning the European Cup twice and a runners-up medal at the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

1 Playing career
- 1.1 Club level
- 1.2 International level
2 Managerial career
3 Death and legacy
4 Honours (as a player)
5 External links
6 References

Playing career

Club level

Happel started his professional career at Rapid Wien, where he made his Bundesliga debut at 17 years of age. Forming a solid defensive partnership with Max Merkel, he played 14 years for Rapid, from 1943 till 1954 and 1956 till 1959, winning the Austrian Championship title 6 times. He was chosen in Rapid's Team of the Century in 1999.^[1]

The 2 years in between Happel played for Racing Club de Paris in France.

International level

He made his debut for Austria in September 1947 against Hungary and was a participant at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, where he helped them reach the 3rd place, and at the 1958 World Cup.

His last international was a September 1958 match against Yugoslavia. He earned 51 caps, scoring 5 goals.^[2]

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Happel went on to become one of the greatest coaches of all time. He won the league title in four different countries. He also took two different clubs to gold in the European Champions' Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) and Holland to second place in the 1978 World Cup. His first club was ADO Den Haag in 1962, with whom he won the Dutch Cup in 1968. After Den Haag he coached Feyenoord, with whom he won the Dutch championship in 1971, as well as the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1970.

At the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Happel was coach of the Dutch national team and reached the final against the Argentine national team. Always a man of few words, Happel's pre-match pep talk is said to have consisted of just one sentence: "Gentlemen, two points."

During his career as coach Happel worked for several clubs, including Sevilla, Club Brugge (winning the Belgian Championship title several times) and Hamburg (1981-1987, German champions in 1982 and 1983, German Cup winner 1987).

In 1983 he won the European Cup again, 13 years after the triumph with Feyenoord Rotterdam, this time with Hamburg. He is the only coach in the history of the European Cup (now called UEFA Champions League), besides Ottmar Hitzfeld, to win the title with two different clubs.

In 1987 Happel returned to Austria as coach of FC Swarovski Tirol. With FC Tirol he won the Austrian Championship title 2 times (1989 and 1990) before becoming coach of the Austrian national team in 1992.

Death and legacy

He died of cancer in 1992 aged 66. After his death the biggest football stadium in Austria, the Praterstadion in Vienna, was renamed Ernst Happel Stadion. The stadium was one of the venues selected for the 2008 European Championship co-hosted by Austra and Switzerland and on 30 June, Spain defeated Germany in that stadium during the final to take their second title.

Happel was the mentor of Nikos "Kalos ta paidia" Alefantos.

Honours (as a player)

Austrian Football Bundesliga (6):
- 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1957
Austrian Cup (1):
- 1946
Zentropa Cup (1):
- 1951

External links

Player profile - Rapid Archive
Career stats - National Football Teams

References

↑ Team of the Century - Rapid Archive
↑ Appearances for Austrian National Team - RSSSF

Sporting positions
Preceded by Nereo Rocco (ITA)	European Cup Winning Coach 1969 – 1970	Succeeded by Rinus Michels (NED)
Preceded by Tony Barton (ENG)	European Cup Winning Coach 1982 – 1983	Succeeded by Joe Fagan (ENG)
Preceded by Jaak De Wit (BEL)	Club Brugge Coach 1974 – 1978	Succeeded by Andreas Beres (HUN)

Austria squad – 1954 FIFA World Cup Third Place

1 Schmied • 2 Hanappi • 3 Happel • 4 Barschandt • 5 Ocwirk • 6 Koller • 7 R. Körner • 8 Schleger • 9 Wagner • 10 Probst • 11 A. Körner • 12 Stotz • 13 Kollmann • 14 Giesser • 15 Pelikan • 16 Zeman • 17 Teinitzer • 18 Riegler • 19 Dienst • 20 Halla • 21 Stojaspal • 22 Haummer • Coach: Nausch

Austria squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup

1 Szanwald • 2 Halla • 3 Happel • 4 Swoboda • 5 Hanappi • 6 Koller • 7 Horak • 8 P. Kozlicek • 9 Buzek • 10 Körner • 11 Senekowitsch • 12 Schmied • 13 Schleger • 14 Hamerl • 15 Kollmann • 16 Stotz • 17 E. Kozlicek • 18 Barschandt • 19 Dienst • 20 Ninaus • 21 Puschnik • 22 Engelmeier • Coach: Argauer

ADO Den Haag – Managers

Merkel (1954–55) • Loof (1955–62) • Happel (1962–69) • Jezek (1969–72) • Teunissen (1972–74) • Boškov (1974–76) • Malatinský (1976–78) • De Visser (1978–80) • Kraay (1980–81) • Van der Hart (1981–83) • Baan (1983–86) • Van de Meent (1986–88) • Adriaanse (1988–92) • De Ruiter (1992–94) • Schoenmaker (1994–95) • Verlangen (1995–96) • Wotte (1996–98) • Hoekstra (1998–99) • Israel (2001–04) • Adelaar (2004–06) • Vloet (2007–08) Wetzel (2008–)

Netherlands squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup Runners-up

1 Schrijvers • 2 Poortvliet • 3 Schoenaker • 4 van Kraay • 5 Krol • 6 Jansen • 7 Wildschut • 8 Jongbloed • 9 Haan • 10 R. van de Kerkhof • 11 W. van de Kerkhof • 12 Rensenbrink • 13 Neeskens • 14 Boskamp • 15 Hovenkamp • 16 Rep • 17 Rijsbergen • 18 Nanninga • 19 Doesburg • 20 Suurbier • 21 Lubse • 22 Brandts • Coach: Happel

Netherlands national football team – Managers

van Hasselt (1905–08) • Chadwick (1908–13) • Hogan (1910) • Bradshaw (1913) • Hunter (1914) • Reynolds (1919) • Warburton (1919–23) • Waites (1921) • Glendenning (1923) • Townley (1924) • Bollington (1924) • Glendenning (1925–40) • Kaufman (1946) • Carver (1947–48) • Sneddon (1948) • Kaufman (1949) • van der Leck (1949–54) • Kaufman (1954–55) • Donenfeld (1955) • Merkel (1955–56) • Müller (1956) • Donenfeld (1956–57) • Hardwick (1957) • Schwartz (1957–64) • Neville (1964–66) • Keßler (1966–70) • Fadrhonc (1970–74) • Michels (1974) • Knobel (1974–76) • Zwartkruis (1976–77) • Happel (1977–78) • Zwartkruis (1978–81) • Baan (1981) • Rijvers (1981) • Baan (1981) • Rijvers (1981–84) • Michels (1984–85) • Beenhakker (1985–86) • Michels (1986–88) • Libregts (1988–90) • de Ruiter (1990) • Beenhakker (1990) • Michels (1990–92) • Advocaat (1992–95) • Hiddink (1995–98) • Rab (1997) • Rijkaard (1998–2000) • van Gaal (2000–02) • Advocaat (2002–04) • van Basten (2004–08) • van Marwijk (2008–)

Feyenoord – Managers

Julian (1921–22) • Waits (1924–25) • Geneugelijk (a.i.) (1925–26) • Hall (1926–29) • Lamb (1929–30) • Kruys (a.i.) (1930–31) • Donaghy (1931–35) • Dombi (1935–39) • Hall (1939–40) • Koelman (1940–41) • Kaufman (a.i.) (1940) • Huizenaar (1940–41) • van Dijke (1941–42) • Pijl (1942–46) • Koonings (1946–50) • Topping (1950–51) • Dombi (1951–55) • de Wolf (a.i.) (1955–56) • van der Leck (1956–58) • Piet de Wolf (a.i.) (1958–59) • Sobotka (1959–61) • Fuchs (19) • Höfling (1963–64) • Kment (1964–67) • Peeters (1967–69) • Happel (1969–73) • Zonderland (a.i.) (1973) • Coerver (1973–75) • Brzezanczyk (1975–76) • Zonderland (a.i.) (1976) • Boškov (1976–78) • Ježek (1978–82) • Westerhof (a.i.) (1982) • Kraay (1982–83) • Fafié (a.i.) (1983) • Libregts (1983–84) • Fafié (1984–86) • Israël (1986–88) • Jacobs (1988–89) • Verbeek and Bengtsson (1989–91) • Jansen (a.i.) (1991) • Dorjee (1991–92) • Jansen (a.i.) (1992) • van Hanegem (1992–95) • Meijer (a.i.) (1995) • Haan (1995–97) • Meijer and Metgod (dual a.i.) (1997) • Beenhakker (1997–2000) • van Stee (a.i.) (2000) • van Marwijk (2000–04) • Gullit (2004–05) • Koeman (2005–07) • Beenhakker (a.i.) (2007) • van Marwijk (2007–08) • Verbeek (2008–)

Hamburger SV – Managers

Tauchert (1945–1949) • Knöpfle (1946–1954) • Wilke & Mahlmann (1954–1967) • Mahlmann (1956–1962) • Wilke (1962–1964) • Gawliczek (1964–1966) • Schneider (1966–1967) • Koch (1967–1969) • Knöpfle (1969–1970) • Ochs (1970–1973) • Klötzer (1973–1977) • Gutendorf (1977) • Özcan (1977–1978) • Zebec (1978–1980) • Ristić (1981) • Happel (1981–1987) • Skoblar (1987) • Reimann (1987–1990) • Schock (1990–1992) • Coordes (1992) • Möhlmann (1992–1995) • Magath (1995–1997) • Schehr (1997) • Pagelsdorf (1997–2001) • Hieronymus (2001) • Jara (2001–2003) • Toppmöller (2003–2004) • Doll (2004–2007) • Stevens (2007–2008) • Jol (2008–)