Karl Rappan

**Karl Rappan** (born September 26, 1905 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary; † January 2, 1996 in Bern) was an Austrian football player and coach. He played as forward. As a club coach in Switzerland, he won the championship title nine times and the cup eight times with Servette FC, Grasshopper Club Zurich and Lausanne-Sport. He coached the Switzerland national football team at World Cup finals three times (1938, 1954, 1962).

Later he was the initiator of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Sometimes it was referred tonas _Rappan Cup_.

## Career

Karl Rappan gained his first senior experience at SV Donau. Then he went on to SC Wacker Wien in the 1924/25 season . In the 1928/29 season, Rappan played for FK Austria Wien  alongside Matthias Sindelar. After one season he moved to SK Rapid Wien. He played alongside Ferdinand Wesely and Franz Weselik. Rappan won the championship with Rapid.

The former employee in a Viennese textile company was transferred to Geneva for work in 1931. There he joined Servette FC as a footballer. For the team he was player-coach from 1932 till 1935. In 1935 he accepted the offer of Grasshopper Club Zürich and became coach. Till 1948 he reached five championships (1937, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1945) and seven cup successes (1937, 1938, 1940 to 1943, 1946). His time with the “Hoppers” was accompanied by two additional seasons with the national team: 1937 to 1938 and 1942 to 1949. For the 1948/49 season, Rappan returned to Geneva and took over Servette for the second time. After one year with FC Zurich he managed FC Lausanne-Sport. With this team he won his ninth championship title in the 1964/65 season and reached the cup final in 1966/67. As his last club activity, Rappan briefly held the position of technical director at Rapid Wien in his hometown in 1969.

## International statistics

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="1"|Austria|1927|2|1|

- _Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rappan goal._

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|10 April 1927|Hohe Warte,   Vienna,   Austria||2-0|6-0|Friendly match||||||||

## Manager

Rappan was four times manager of the Switzerland national football team. He was manager at three world championships (1938, 1954, 1962). In 1970 Rappan became director of the Swiss Football Association.

As a club coach in Switzerland, he won the championship title nine times and the cup eight times with Servette FC, Grasshopper Club Zurich and Lausanne-Sports.

## Honours

- as player
- Austrian football champion ː1930
- 2 matches and 1 goal for the Austrian national football teamː1927
- Swiss champion ː1933, 1934 (as playing coach for Servette Genf)
- as manager
- Grasshopper Club Zürichː
    - Championː 1937, 1939, 1942,1943, 1945
    - Swiss Cupː 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942,1943, 1946
- Servette Genfː
    - Championː 1950
    - Swiss Cupː 1949
- FC Lausanne-Sport
    - Championː 1965
̺

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Karl Rappan
- **image**: 1934-35 Karl Rappan.jpg
- **caption**: Karl Rappan 1935
- **birth place**: Vienna, Austria-Hungary
- **death place**: Bern, Switzerland
- **position**: Forward
- **years1**: 1922-1924
- **years2**: 1924-1928
- **years3**: 1928-1929
- **years4**: 1929-1931
- **years5**: 1931-1935
- **clubs1**: SV Donau Wien
- **clubs2**: SC Wacker Wien
- **clubs3**: FK Austria Wien
- **clubs4**: SK Rapid Wien
- **clubs5**: Servette FC, Servette Genf
- **nationalyears1**: 1927
- **nationalteam1**: Austria national football team, Austria
- **nationalcaps1**: 2
- **nationalgoals1**: 1
- **manageryears1**: 1931-1935
- **managerclubs1**: Servette Genf (playing coach)
- **manageryears2**: 1935-1948
- **managerclubs2**: Grasshopper Club Zürich
- **manageryears3**: 1937-1938
- **managerclubs3**: Switzerland national football team, Switzerland
- **manageryears4**: 1942-1949
- **managerclubs4**: Switzerland
- **manageryears5**: 1948-1957
- **managerclubs5**: Servette Genf
- **manageryears6**: 1953-1954
- **managerclubs6**: Switzerland
- **manageryears7**: 1958-1959
- **managerclubs7**: FC Zürich
- **manageryears8**: 1960-1963
- **managerclubs8**: Switzerland
- **manageryears9**: 1964-1968
- **managerclubs9**: FC Lausanne-Sport