# LASK

Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (German pronunciation: ), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of Austrian football. The club's colours are black and white. The women's team plays in the second highest division of Austrian women's football.
It is one of the few clubs of the country's higher divisions that, since coming into existence, never exhibited a sponsor in the official club name.
In 1965, the club became the first team outside Vienna to win the Austrian football championship, with this being its only league title to date. The club currently plays its home games at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

## History

In the winter of 1908, Albert Siems, head of the royal post-office garage at Linz, who had already been a member of an 1899-founded club for heavy athletics, Linzer Athletik Sportklub Siegfried, decided to establish a football club. At that time, the side already played in the black-and-white lengthwise-touched shirts.
The club's first name was Linzer Sportclub. During an extraordinary general meeting on 14 September 1919, the final change of name, to Linzer Athletik Sport-Klub (short form Linzer ASK) took place, its forerunner setting the example. Nevertheless, the public denomination of the team was largely LASK. The club first appeared in top-flight competition in the Gauliga Ostmark in 1940–41, coming last and being relegated. In 1949–50, LASK was promoted, becoming professional for the first time in its history. However, years in the top flight were tough, and the club was involved in a relegation battle most of the time, until it was finally relegated in 1953–54.
In 1957–58, LASK won the second division and was promoted again. In 1961–62, the club finished runner up to Austria Wien, their best position in history up to that time, and in 1962–63 they played their first cup final, losing 1–0 to Austria Wien. Two years later, LASK achieved its greatest success, winning the Austrian League in 1965. No club outside Vienna had ever won before. Additionally, the club won the Austrian cup that same year, completing a domestic double and becoming one of the only Austrian clubs to do so. In 1967, the club reached the cup final again, losing again to Austria Wien on a coin toss after extra time was played. Three years later the club reached the cup final again, losing to Wacker Innsbruck. The club spent most of the 70s in mid table, but were relegated in 1977–78, although achieving immediate promotion for the 1980–81 season.
In the 1985–86 UEFA Cup, the side beat European giants Internazionale Milan at home (1–0), on 23 October 1985, eventually bowing out 4–1 on aggregate (second round).
In 1995, the club slipped into a financial crisis, and filed for bankruptcy. The president fled to Ivory Coast with large chunks of money, leaving the club with severe debt, and forcing the sale of several key players. In May 1997, the club merged with city rivals FC Linz, and the new official name became LASK Linz, as officials wanted to bring out the city's name as a complement to the LASK designation, which had constituted itself as a brand name. The club name, colours, chairmen and members remained the same, effectively saving the club from dissolving. However, this merger angered many people, who believed that FC Linz were a more successful club than LASK. Curiously, just ten days before the merger, FC Linz beat LASK 3–0 in the city derby. For the next few years, the players that LASK took from FC Linz made a big part of the starting lineup.
Despite the financial struggles, the club still managed to steer away from relegation and qualify for the 1996 Intertoto Cup. In the Intertoto Cup, LASK had a great participation, finishing first in its group with no losses, with notable wins over Werder Bremen (3–1) and Djurgården (2–0). In the semi-finals, the club was eliminated 7–2 on aggregate by Rotor Volgograd. In the 1998–99 season they reached their fourth Austrian cup final, losing to Sturm Graz on penalties.
In 2000–01, the club was relegated, and at one point was close to being relegated to the third division. In August 2004, the club suffered an 8–0 home defeat to FC Kärnten. In 2007, after six years in the second division, they were promoted to the highest division again. However, just four years later, the club was relegated back to the second division, followed by relegation to the 3. Liga in 2012 due to a license withdrawal caused by bankruptcy. The club was taken over by a consortium of local entrepreneurs called "Friends of LASK" in December 2013. By this time the club was on the verge of being shut down, and the players received no salary. They could not afford the city stadium, so they moved to a stadium 50 km away. It was only because of the tremendous cohesion of the coach and the team that the club was able to keep the championship going at that time.
In the first season after the takeover, LASK finished first in the Regionalliga Central Division, and qualified for the promotion playoffs, but lost 5–0 on aggregate to FC Liefering and had to stay another season in the third division.
Promotion to the 2. Liga was secured on 5 June 2014 after a 2–1 victory on aggregate over Parndorf 1919 in front of 13,000 fans at the Linzer Stadion. On 21 April 2017, the club returned to the Bundesliga with six rounds to go after a 3–0 victory over Liefering. During this time, head coach Oliver Glasner and Vice President Jürgen Werner constructed a team with an unmistakable style of play.
In 2016, the club moved to Pasching after disagreements with the city council. In 2018, the club returned to the European competitions, but they were eliminated from the Europa league qualifiers after a 2–1 win against Beşiktaş in the second leg due to the away goals rule.
In the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, LASK had an excellent campaign, topping their group which consisted of European champions Sporting Lisbon and PSV Eindhoven. LASK began their campaign with a 1–0 win over Rosenborg, and later beat PSV 4–1, concluding their group stage campaign with a 3–0 home victory against Sporting on 12 December 2019. In the round of 32, LASK faced Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. The first leg finished 1–1, but in the second leg LASK had a stellar performance, winning 2–0 and qualifying to the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Manchester United with a 7–1 aggregate score. Although LASK were eliminated with a large score margin, this was their best European campaign and the club gained attention as an underdog after their victories against PSV and Sporting
On 24 February 2023, LASK officially opened their new stadium called Raiffeisen Arena in a victory against Austria Lustenau.

## Logos

* Logo of the Linz Sports Club (LSK) 1908–1919 on the jerseys.
* Old logo until 2017
* Old logo (2017–2023)
* New logo since May 2023
In 2017, the club removed the "Linz" part of their name and returned it to LASK. The merger with FC Linz has long fallen apart and the club have now removed "Linz" from the name.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 6 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUT | Tobias Lawal |
| 2 | DF | USA | George Bello |
| 5 | DF | GER | Philipp Ziereis |
| 6 | MF | NED | Melayro Bogarde |
| 7 | FW | USA | Samuel Adeniran |
| 8 | MF | NGA | Moses Usor |
| 9 | MF | CZE | Kryštof Daněk (on loan from Sparta Prague) |
| 10 | MF | AUT | Robert Žulj (captain) |
| 11 | FW | AUT | Maximilian Entrup |
| 14 | MF | KOS | Valon Berisha |
| 15 | MF | MLI | Mohamed Sanogo |
| 16 | DF | PAN | Andrés Andrade |
| 17 | DF | GER | Jérôme Boateng |
| 18 | MF | SRB | Branko Jovičić |
| 19 | FW | FRA | Lenny Pintor |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | AUT | Ivan Ljubić |
| 22 | DF | MNE | Filip Stojković |
| 23 | FW | GHA | Ibrahim Mustapha |
| 25 | FW | FRA | Alexis Tibidi |
| 26 | DF | CRO | Hrvoje Smolčić (on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt) |
| 27 | FW | AUT | Christoph Lang |
| 29 | FW | AUT | Florian Flecker |
| 30 | MF | AUT | Sascha Horvath |
| 32 | MF | MLI | Ismaila Coulibaly |
| 33 | GK | AUT | Tobias Schützenauer |
| 36 | GK | AUT | Lukas Jungwirth (cooperation player with Admira Wacker) |
| 43 | GK | AUT | Clemens Steinbauer |
| 44 | FW | FRA | Adil Taoui |
| 46 | DF | AUT | Armin Midzić |

### Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | MKD | Metodi Maksimov |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | AUT | Gabriel Zirngast (at SKU Amstetten until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | AUT | Elias Havel (at TSV Hartberg until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | GER | Lucas Copado (at Energie Cottbus until 30 June 2025) |

## Club officials

| Position | Staff |
| President | Siegmund Gruber |
| Vice Presidents | Christoph Königslehner Barbara Niedermayr |
| Chief Financial Officer | Hans Jürgen Jandrasits |
| Sporting Director | Markus Schopp |
| Head Coach | Markus Schopp |
| Assistant Head Coach | Maximilian Ritscher |
| First-Team Coach | Manfred Nastl |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Philip Großalber |
| Athletic Coach | Jan Kollmann |
| Video Analyst | Daniel Rozsa |
| Sports Coordinator | Dino Buric |
| Senior Team Doctor | Mag. Dr. Rainer Hochgatterer |
| Team Doctor | Dr. David Haslhofer Dr. Matthias Kirchmayr |
| Physiotherapist | Ivan Porobija Julia Berger Elisabeth Kasbauer |
| Masseur | Michael Spreitzer Vernes Sijak |
| Head of Physical Condition and Rehabilitation | Divan Augustyn |
| Kitman | Michael Foissner |
| Bus Driver | Gerhard Gruber |
| Team Manager | Thomas Gebauer |

## Historical list of coaches

    As of 12 January 2025
* Georg Braun (1946–1952)
* Walter Alt (1950–1953)
* Ernst Sabeditsch (1953–1955)
* Josef Epp (1958–1960)
* Pál Csernai (1960–1962)
* Karl Schlechta (1962–1964)
* František Bufka (1965–1968)
* Vojtech Skyva (1969–1970)
* Wilhelm Kment (1970–1972)
* Otto Barić (1972–1974)
* Felix Latzke (1974–1976)
* Wilhelm Huberts (1976–1978)
* Wolfgang Gayer (1978)
* Laszlo Simko (1978)
* Adolf Blutsch (1978–1983)
* Johann Kondert (1983–1987)
* Adolf Blutsch (1987)
* Ernst Hložek (1987–1988)
* Ernst Knorrek (1988)
* Lothar Buchmann (1989)
* Adam Kensy (1989)
* Aleksander Mandziara (1989–1990)
* Erwin Spiegel (1990)
* Adolf Blutsch (1990)
* Ernst Weber (1990)
* Erwin Spiegel (1990–91)
* Helmut Senekowitsch (1991–1993)
* Dietmar Constantini (1993)
* Walter Skocik (1993–1995)
* Günter Kronsteiner (1995–1996)
* Max Hagmayr (1996)
* Friedel Rausch (1996–1997)
* Per Brogeland (1997–1998)
* Adam Kensy (1998, caretaker)
* Otto Barić (1998–1999)
* Marinko Koljanin (1999–2000)
* Johann Kondert (2000–2001)
* František Cipro (2001)
* Johann Kondert (2001)
* Dieter Mirnegg (2001–2002)
* Norbert Barisits (2003–2004)
* Klaus Lindenberger (2004)
* Werner Gregoritsch (2004–2006)
* Karl Daxbacher (2006–2008)
* Andrej Panadić (2008)
* Klaus Lindenberger (2008–2009)
* Hans Krankl (2009)
* Matthias Hamann (2009–2010)
* Helmut Kraft (2010)
* Georg Zellhofer (2010–2011)
* Walter Schachner (2011–2012)
* Karl Daxbacher (2012–2015)
* Martin Hiden (2015)
* Alfred Olzinger (2015)
* Oliver Glasner (2015–2019)
* Valérien Ismaël (2019–2020)
* Dominik Thalhammer (2020–2021)
* Andreas Wieland (2021–2022)
* Dietmar Kühbauer (2022–2023)
* Thomas Sageder (2023–2024)
* Thomas Darazs (2024–2024)
* Markus Schopp (2024-present)

## Honours
### League

* Austrian League
** Winners (1): 1964–65
** Runners-up: 1961–62, 2018–19
* Austrian Second Division
** Winners (5): 1957–58, 1978–79, 1993–94, 2006–07, 2016–17

### Cups

* Austrian Cup
** Winners (1): 1964–65
** Runners-up: 1962–63, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1998–99, 2020–21

## European competition history

    As of match played 24 October 2024
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1963–64 | European Cup Winners' Cup | 1 | Dinamo Zagreb | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 c (po 1–1 (a.e.t.)) |
| 1965–66 | European Cup | PR | Górnik Zabrze | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–5 |
| 1969–70 | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | 1 | Sporting CP | 2–2 | 0–4 | 2–6 |
| 1977–78 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Újpest | 3–2 | 0–7 | 3–9 |
| 1980–81 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Radnički Niš | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–6 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Östers IF | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 2 | Dundee United | 1–2 | 1–5 | 2–7 |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Baník Ostrava | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 2 | Inter Milan | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 |
| 1986–87 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Widzew Łódź | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 1987–88 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Utrecht | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| 1995 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 6 | Partick Thistle | 2–2 | — | 2nd |
| 1995 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 6 | NK Zagreb | — | 0–0 | 2nd |
| 1995 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 6 | Keflavík | 2–1 | — | 2nd |
| 1995 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 6 | Metz | — | 0–1 | 2nd |
| 1996 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 2 | Djurgårdens IF | 2–0 | — | 1st |
| 1996 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 2 | B68 Toftir | — | 4–0 | 1st |
| 1996 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 2 | Apollon Limassol | 2–0 | — | 1st |
| 1996 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Group 2 | Werder Bremen | — | 3–1 | 1st |
| 1996 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Semi-finals | Rotor Volgograd | 2–2 | 0–5 | 2–7 |
| 1999–2000 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Steaua București | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 |
| 2000 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | Hapoel Petah-Tikva | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| 2000 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 2R | FC Marila Pribram | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–4 |
| 2018–19 | UEFA Europa League | 2QR | Lillestrøm | 4–0 | 2–1 | 6–1 |
| 2018–19 | UEFA Europa League | 3QR | Beşiktaş | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 (a) |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Champions League | 3QR | Basel | 3–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Champions League | PO | Club Brugge | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | Group D | Sporting CP | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1st |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | Group D | PSV Eindhoven | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1st |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | Group D | Rosenborg | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1st |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | R32 | AZ | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | R16 | Manchester United | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–7 |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | 3QR | DAC Dunajská Streda | 7−0 | — | — |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | PO | Sporting CP | — | 4−1 | — |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | Group J | Tottenham Hotspur | 3–3 | 0–3 | 3rd |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | Group J | Ludogorets Razgrad | 4–3 | 3–1 | 3rd |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | Group J | Antwerp | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3rd |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 3QR | Vojvodina | 6–1 | 1–0 | 7–1 |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | PO | St Johnstone | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | Group A | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | Group A | Alashkert | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1st |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | Group A | HJK | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | R16 | Slavia Prague | 4–3 | 1–4 | 5–7 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa League | PO | Zrinjski Mostar | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa League | Group E | Liverpool | 1–3 | 0–4 | 4th |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa League | Group E | Union Saint-Gilloise | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4th |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa League | Group E | Toulouse | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Europa League | PO | FCSB | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Djurgården | 2–2 | — | 35th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Olimpija Ljubljana | — | 0–2 | 35th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Cercle Brugge | 0–0 | — | 35th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Borac Banja Luka | — | 1–2 | 35th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Fiorentina | — | 0–7 | 35th |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | League phase | Víkingur Reykjavik | 1–1 | — | 35th |

### UEFA Club Ranking

UEFA coefficient
    As of 12 January 2025
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 67 | Sparta Prague | 29.500 |
| 68 | FC Midtjylland | 28.500 |
| 69 | LASK | 28.000 |
| 70 | SC Freiburg | 28.000 |
| 71 | Djurgårdens IF | 26.000 |