Wiener AC
Wiener Athletiksport Club, also known as Wiener AC or WAC, is an Austrian sports club in Vienna. It is particularly noted for its hockey team, which was established in 1900.
Its football team won the Austrian championships, and was runner-up in the Mitropa Cup.
Football
Early years
The football section of the club was founded on 14 October 1897. By 1904, it had won the Challenge Cup and the Wiener Tagblatt-Pokal three times each. They were the most important trophies in Austrian football at the time.
In September 1910, most of the first team left the club to found a new club, Wiener AF. Despite this, Wiener AC finished fourth in the Austrian football championship 1910–11, although the new club finished higher.
Championship 1915
The club won the Austrian football championship 1914–15, in which the ten clubs only played each other once each. Wiener AF finished in second place.
Cup finals
In 1928, the club reached the Austrian Cup final, losing 2–1 to SK Admira Wien.
In the 1930–31 season, Wiener AC won the Austrian Cup, which was played in a league format as the Wiener Winter Cup. As the winner of this competition, the club was qualified for the Mitropa Cup.
The club reached the final of the Mitropa Cup 1931, but lost both legs of the final to First Vienna FC. from 1942 to 1945, the club played in the Gauliga Ostmark (I).
In 1959, the club again won the Austrian Cup, beating SK Rapid Wien 2–0 in the final.
Following relegation from the top level of Austrian football, the club formed a joint team with FK Austria Wien, which was called FK Austria/WAC Wien until Austria decided to revert to their own club's traditional name.
In 1983, the club reactivated its football section, and it was taken over in 2002 by its sponsor, which changed its name to FK Rad Friendly Systems and then to FC Fireball United.
The club still has a football section, but it no longer competes in competitions.
Notable players
- Rudi Hiden
- Max Leuthe
- Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Leading goalscorers
- Johann Studnicka (Austrian League leading goalscorer in 1913 with 13 goals)
- Johann Neumann (Austrian League leading goalscorer in 1913 with 13 goals and 1914 with 25 goals)
- Leopold Deutsch (Austrian League leading goalscorer in 1915 with 12 goals)
- Friedrich "Fritz" Cejka (Austrian League leading goalscorer in 1960 with 28 goals)
- Hans Pirkner (Austrian League leading goalscorer in 1976 with 28 goals) in the joint team with Austria Wien
Honours
- Challenge-Cup winners: 1901, 1903, 1904
- Tagblatt-Pokal winners: 1900, 1901, 1902
- Austrian champions: 1915
- Austrian Cup winners: 1931, 1959
- Mitropa Cup finalists: 1931
In 1938, the Austrian Cup was won by Sportclub Schwarz-Rot Wien, which split off from Wiener AC and rejoined a few years later.
Seasons in the top league in Austria
38 seasons: 1912–21, 1923, 1925–36, 1943–44, 1946–48, 1954 und 1957–65
In addition, the Wiener AC competed in all three seasons from 1901 to 1903 in the Tagblatt Pokal, which was a forerunner of the Austrian football championship.
Hockey
Men
- 19 times national field hockey champions
- 15 times national indoor hockey champions
The club has competed 30 times in the European Hockey Cup, which is more than any other Austrian club.
Wiener AC finished third on two occasions in the European Champions League in indoor hockey.
Women
- 16 times national field hockey champions
- 7 times national indoor hockey champions
Basketball
The club won the Austrian Basketball Championship in 1947, the first year in which it was held.
Other sports
The club also organises tennis, beach volleyball, wellness and bridge, and has an open air swimming pool and a sauna.