# 2021–22 FC Admira Wacker Mödling season

The 2021–22 season was the 117th season in the existence of Admira Wacker Mödling and the club's tenth consecutive season in the top flight of Austrian football. In addition to the domestic league, Admira Wacker Mödling participated in this season's edition of the Austrian Cup. Due to a 2017 sponsorship agreement with the Würzburg-based online printing company Flyeralarm, which secured the club's naming rights, Admira Wacker Mödling was officially known as FC Flyeralarm Admira throughout the season.
Despite finishing 11th in the regular season, six points clear of last-place Rheindorf Altach, Admira Wacker struggled in the relegation round, failing to win any of their final five matches. Their relegation was confirmed on the final matchday following a 3–1 defeat to LASK.

## Background

Admira Wacker has been a member of the Austrian Bundesliga since their promotion from the 2. Liga in 2011. The club faced challenges following the league's restructuring in the 2018–19 season, which expanded the league from 10 to 12 teams and introduced a split into championship and relegation rounds after 22 matches. Consequently, Admira often finished in the bottom half of the table, narrowly avoiding relegation on multiple occasions.
The 2021–22 season marked the club's tenth consecutive year in the Bundesliga. The previous season was tumultuous, with several coaching changes. Zvonimir Soldo resigned in September 2020, just months after his appointment in February. He was succeeded by Damir Burić, who was dismissed in April 2021, leaving the team only two points above last place, held by SKN St. Pölten. Klaus Schmidt returned as head coach, having previously led the team to safety in the 2019–20 season. Ultimately, the Südstädter finished the 2020–21 season second-to-last, six points clear of relegation.

## Coach and player changes
### Out

On 20 May 2021, the day before Admira's final league match against SC Rheindorf Altach, it was announced that head coach Schmidt's contract would not be renewed, ending his tenure at the club. Several players also left during the off-season: Erwin Hoffer, Marcus Maier, Lukas Rath, Pascal Petlach and Christian Gartner did not have their contracts extended, while David Atanga, Max Breunig, and Max Sax returned to their parent clubs following loan spells. Additionally, Christoph Haas, Julian Turi, and Nicolas Zdichynec joined SV Ried on permanent deals, Tomislav Tomić made a free transfer back to Olimpija Ljubljana, and Andrew Wooten joined VfL Osnabrück.
Several players departed during the January 2022 transfer window. Luca Kronberger and Miloš Spasić had secured moves in December to Sturm Graz and Kavala, respectively. In January, Marco Hausjell and Niko Datković transferred to Würzburger Kickers and Mirandés, while Stephan Auer joined First Vienna FC on a free transfer. In February, Marco Kadlec moved to FC Juniors OÖ.
Another Admira player who made first-team appearances in the 2021–22 season, Patrick, was loaned to Azerbaijani club Gabala in January on an 18-month deal.

### In

Schmidt was succeeded as head coach by former Austrian international Andi Herzog, who signed a multi-year contract with the club on 24 May. Admira's first player signings came shortly after Herzog's arrival, with striker Marlon Mustapha the first announced on 10 June on loan from 1. FSV Mainz 05. The Südstädter added two other players on loan during the off-season, with Ilay Elmkies joining from TSG Hoffenheim and Philipp Schmiedl from Sønderjyske. Adding to their defensive ranks, Admira brought back Stephan Zwierschitz, returning to the club from Austria Wien on 24 June, as well as Yannick Brugger from Eintracht Frankfurt on a free on 5 July. Four days later, Admira signed Brazilian striker Patrick on a free transfer from second-tier side SV Horn. On transfer deadline day, 1 September, Admira brought back their second former player from Austria Wien, with Thomas Ebner on a one-year deal with an option for an additional season.
During the January transfer window, with Admira only three points above the relegation spot, several players were brought in. The signing of midfielder Jan Vodháněl was already secured in November 2021, with right-back Sámuel Major, and striker Stefano Surdanovic joining the club on 5 January and 3 February, respectively.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Admira played a series of friendlies to prepare for the upcoming season. On 19 June 2021, they defeated SV Horn 4–0 at home at BSFZ-Arena. A week later, on 26 June, they were beaten 4–0 by Slovan Bratislava in Bad Blumau. The team then secured wins against lower-division sides, beating SC Kalsdorf 6–1 on 30 June and Gleisdorf 09 6–0 on 1 July 2021. The team then hosted Russian club CSKA Moscow on 9 July, where they lost 1–0. On 20 July, the team played a final pre-season match against Wiener Viktoria, securing a 1–0 victory with a penalty goal by René Hellermann. This match marked the first use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system at the BSFZ-Arena, with VAR playing a decisive role in awarding the penalty. Their final friendly of the year occurred on 11 August, with the team losing 5–1 at home to seven-time Qatari champions Al-Duhail.
| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 19 June 2021 | SV Horn | H | 4–0 | Ganda 33', Bauer '45, Hausjell '55, Wooten 62' | 0 |
| 26 June 2021 | Slovan Bratislava | A | 0–4 | | 0 |
| 30 June 2021 | SC Kalsdorf | A | 6–1 | Kerschbaum 12', Kadlec '26, Zwierschitz '53, Elmkies 63' (pen.), Ristanic '87, Hellermann '90 | 100 |
| 1 July 2021 | Gleisdorf 09 | A | 6–0 | Ganda (2) 4', 10', Badji '11, Starkl '61, Ristanic '78, Koller '88 | 0 |
| 9 July 2021 | CSKA Moscow | H | 0–1 | | 0 |
| 20 July 2021 | Wiener Viktoria | H | 1–0 | Hellermann '74 (pen.) | 200 |
| 11 August 2021 | Al-Duhail | H | 1–5 | Charly '16 | 0 |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Austrian Bundesliga | 24 July 2021 | 20 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 12th place (relegated) | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 018.75 |
| Austrian Cup | 16 July 2021 | 23 September 2021 | Second round | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 020.59 |
Source: Austrian Bundesliga

### Austrian Bundesliga
#### League tables

Austrian Bundesliga regular season table :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 8 | LASK | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 28 | 29 | −1 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 9 | WSG Tirol | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 23 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 10 | Hartberg | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 22 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 11 | Admira Wacker Mödling | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 20 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 12 | Rheindorf Altach | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 10 | 38 | −28 | 13 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
Austrian Bundesliga relegation round table :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | WAT | LIN | ALT | RIE | HAR | ADM |
| 1 | WSG Tirol | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 28 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | — | 4–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 |
| 2 | LASK | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 26 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 6–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Rheindorf Altach | 32 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 24 | 49 | −25 | 22 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| 4 | Ried | 32 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 40 | 54 | −14 | 22 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Hartberg | 32 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 22 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 |
| 6 | Admira Wacker Mödling (R) | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 21 | Relegation to Austrian Football Second League | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–3 | — |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 20 May 2022. Source: Austrian Football Bundesliga
Results by matchday :
| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | W | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | L | D | L | D | L | D | L | D | L | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | L | D | D | L | L |
| Position | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 |

#### Matches
##### Regular season

The league fixtures were announced on 22 June 2021.
| Matchday | Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance | League position |
| 1 | 24 July 2021 | WSG Tirol | A | 1–1 | Vorsager 90+4' | 890 | 5th |
| 2 | 31 July 2021 | Austria Klagenfurt | H | 4–0 | Zwierschitz 67', Babuşcu 70', 77', Aiwu 90+2' | 1,497 | 2nd |
| 3 | 7 August 2021 | Ried | A | 1–2 | Mustapha '72 | 3,138 | 5th |
| 4 | 14 August 2021 | Red Bull Salzburg | H | 0–1 | | 3,049 | 7th |
| 5 | 21 August 2021 | Wolfsberger AC | A | 0–3 | | 2,069 | 11th |
| 6 | 29 August 2021 | Sturm Graz | H | 1–1 | Kerschbaum 70' | 2,590 | 10th |
| 7 | 11 September 2021 | Rapid Wien | A | 2–1 | Kerschbaum 51', Zwierschitz 86' | 15,979 | 6th |
| 8 | 18 September 2021 | TSV Hartberg | H | 1–1 | Ganda 17' | 1,427 | 5th |
| 9 | 26 September 2021 | LASK | A | 1–3 | Kerschbaum 33' (pen.) | 4,126 | 8th |
| 10 | 2 October 2021 | Rheindorf Altach | H | 2–0 | Ebner 9', Mustapha 52' | 1,450 | 6th |
| 11 | 16 October 2021 | Austria Wien | A | 2–2 | Ganda 14', Patrick 74' | 8,251 | 6th |
| 12 | 23 October 2021 | WSG Tirol | H | 0–1 | | 1,300 | 8th |
| 13 | 30 October 2021 | Austria Klagenfurt | A | 3–3 | Hausjell 11', Kerschbaum 32' (pen.), 82' (pen.) | 4,111 | 8th |
| 14 | 6 November 2021 | Ried | H | 1–2 | Mustapha 19' | 1,553 | 9th |
| 15 | 20 November 2021 | Red Bull Salzburg | A | 0–0 | | 5,821 | 10th |
| 16 | 27 November 2021 | Wolfsberger AC | H | 0–1 | | 0 | 10th |
| 17 | 4 December 2021 | Sturm Graz | A | 1–1 | Vorsager 38' | 0 | 11th |
| 18 | 12 December 2021 | Rapid Wien | H | 1–2 | Zwierschitz 18' | 2,600 | 11th |
| 19 | 13 February 2022 | TSV Hartberg | A | 1–1 | Vodháněl 44' | 1,637 | 11th |
| 20 | 19 February 2022 | LASK | H | 0–3 | | 1,300 | 11th |
| 21 | 26 February 2022 | Rheindorf Altach | A | 2–0 | Kerschbaum 8', Mustapha 49' | 2,703 | 10th |
| 22 | 6 March 2022 | Austria Wien | H | 1–2 | Vorsager 7' | 5,100 | 11th |

##### Relegation round

| Matchday | Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance | League position |
| 23 | 12 March 2022 | Ried | H | 2–0 | Kerschbaum 11' (pen.), 72' (pen.) | 1,000 | 9th |
| 24 | 19 March 2022 | WSG Tirol | A | 0–0 | | 1,145 | 9th |

### Austrian Cup
## Player details

Admira Wacker played 34 matches during the 2021–22 season, comprising 32 league games and two Austrian Cup fixtures. Andreas Leitner was the only player to appear in every match, playing every minute of the season. Throughout all competitions, the team utilised 29 different players, with 16 players contributing to a combined total of 40 goals.
List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Austrian Bundesliga | Austrian Bundesliga | Austrian Cup | Austrian Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | AUT | Andreas Leitner | 34 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | AUT | Philipp Schmiedl | 22 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | AUT | Sebastian Bauer | 26 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | AUT | Lukas Malicsek | 31 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | AUT | Stephan Zwierschitz | 32 | 4 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | GER | Yannick Brugger | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | AUT | Emanuel Aiwu | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | BRA | Luan | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | AUT | Leonardo Lukačević | 30 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 84 | DF | GER | Matthias Ostrzolek | 23 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 93 | DF | CRO | Niko Datković | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | AUT | Roman Kerschbaum | 28 | 10 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | ISR | Ilay Elmkies | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | AUT | Joseph Ganda | 23 | 2 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | AUT | Stephan Auer | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | CZE | Jan Vodháněl | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | AUT | Wilhelm Vorsager | 29 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | AUT | Filip Ristanic | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | AUT | Thomas Ebner | 24 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 39 | MF | AUT | Onurhan Babuşcu | 12 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | HUN | Sámuel Major | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 86 | MF | SRB | Stefano Surdanovic | 14 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | AUT | Dominik Starkl | 17 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | AUT | Marlon Mustapha | 28 | 7 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | FW | AUT | Marco Hausjell | 9 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | BUL | Vladimir Nikolov | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | FW | AUT | Luca Kronberger | 19 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 74 | FW | AUT | Angelo Gattermayer | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 98 | FW | BRA | Patrick | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |