Karl Decker

**Karl Decker ** (September 5, 1921 - September 27, 2005) was an Austrian footballer and football coach. He played most of his time for First Vienna FC as a midfielder.

## Career

He started with minor clubs in Vienna and came to First Vienna FC in 1937. He played in this team until 1952. During the time Nazi Germany controlled Austria, he and his team were very successful.

Decker played eight times for the German national football team. After World War II, he played 25 matches for the Austrian team between 1945 and 1952. In 1944 and 1950, he was the top scorer in the league. He also played for S.K. Sturm Graz (Austria), Sochaux (France) and  FC Grenchen (Switzerland).

## International statistics

- Germany
|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="1"|Germany|1942|8|7|

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

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|20 January 1942|Kranjceviceva,  Zagreb, Croatia||2-0|2-0|Friendly match||||||||
|2|1 February 1942|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Germany||1-0|1-2|Friendly match||||||||
|3|12 April 1942|Olympiastadion,  Berlin ,   Germany||1-0|1-1|Friendly match||||||||
|4|19 July 1942|Bulgaria||1-0|3-0|Friendly match||||||||
|5|3-0|||||||||||||
|6|16 August 1942|Stadion Polonii im. Edwarda Szymkowiaka,  Beuthen, Germany||2-1|2-2|Friendly match||||||||
|7|22 November 1942|Tehelné pole,  Bratislava, Germany||5-2|5-2|Friendly match||||||||
- Austria

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="7"|Austria|1945|3|4|
|1946|5|2|||
|1947|2|0|||
|1949|5|8|||
|1950|7|4|||
|1951|1|0|||
|1952|2|1|||

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

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|20 August 1945|Üllöi út,  Budapest, Hungary||2-4|2-5|Friendly match||||||||
|2|6 December 1945|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-1|4-1|Friendly match||||||||
|3|2-1|||||||||||||
|4|4-1|||||||||||||
|5|14 April 1946|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-1|3-2|Friendly match||||||||
|6|3-2|||||||||||||
|7|20 March 1949|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-0|1-0|Friendly match||||||||
|8|25 September 1949|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-0|3-1|Gerö-Cup||||||||
|9|3-1|||||||||||||
|12|25 September 1949|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-0|3-4|Friendly match||||||||
|13|3-3|||||||||||||
|10|13 November 1949|J.N.A. Stadion,   Belgrade,   Yugoslavia||1-0|5-2|Friendly match||||||||
|11|2-0|||||||||||||
|14|4-2|||||||||||||
|15|19 March 1950|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||3-0|3-3|Gerö-Cup||||||||
|16|14 May 1950|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||2-1|5-3|Friendly match||||||||
|17|4-3|||||||||||||
|18|8 October 1950|Praterstadion,  Vienna ,   Austria||1-0|7-2|Friendly match||||||||
|19|22 June 1952|Stade des Charmilles,   Geneva,  Switzerland||1-0|1-1|Friendly match||||||||

## Coach

He was coach of Sturm Graz (1952–1954), FC Grenchen (1956–1958) and SK Rapid Wien (1968–1970). With Rapid, he reached the quarter finals of the European Champions Cup and won in the third round against Real Madrid. In the quarterfinals, they lost against Manchester United.

Between 1958 and 1964, he was coach of the Austrian national football team. In this time, the team was very successful. They won against Scotland (4:1), USSR (3:1 and 1:0), Spain (3:0 in front of 90.726 visitors, the record crowd in Austria), Italy (2:1), England (3:1) and Hungary (2:1 and 2:1).  They qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile but the ÖFB did not have enough money to send the team to the competition. The Decker era was one of the best for Austria's national football team.

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Karl Decker
- **image**: Karl Decker.jpg
- **caption**: Karl Decker – Memorial in Austria
- **birth date**: 5 September 1921
- **birth place**: Vienna, Austria
- **position**: Midfielder (football), Attacking midfielder/Inside forward
- **youthyears1**: 1934
- **youthclubs1**: Ottakringer SC
- **youthyears2**: 1934–1937
- **youthclubs2**: Schwarz-Weiß Wien
- **youthyears3**: 1937
- **youthclubs3**: Weiße Elf Penzing
- **years1**: 1937–1952
- **clubs1**: First Vienna FC
- **caps1**: 226
- **goals1**: 244
- **years2**: 1952–1954
- **clubs2**: SK Sturm Graz
- **caps2**: 36
- **goals2**: 22
- **years3**: 1954–1956
- **clubs3**: FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
- **caps3**: 37
- **goals3**: 15
- **years4**: 1956–1958
- **clubs4**: FC Grenchen
- **caps4**: 1
- **goals4**: 0
- **nationalyears1**: 1942
- **nationalteam1**: Germany national football team, Germany
- **nationalcaps1**: 8
- **nationalgoals1**: 7
- **nationalyears2**: 1945–1952
- **nationalteam2**: Austria national football team, Austria
- **nationalcaps2**: 25
- **nationalgoals2**: 19
- **manageryears1**: 1951–1952
- **managerclubs1**: First Vienna FC, First Vienna
- **manageryears2**: 1952–1954
- **managerclubs2**: SK Sturm Graz, Sturm Graz
- **manageryears3**: 1956–1958
- **managerclubs3**: FC Grenchen
- **manageryears4**: 1958–1964
- **managerclubs4**: Austria national football team, Austria
- **manageryears5**: 1964–1965
- **managerclubs5**: Wiener Sport-Club
- **manageryears6**: 1966–1968
- **managerclubs6**: Wiener Sport-Club
- **manageryears7**: 1968–1970
- **managerclubs7**: SK Rapid Wien