Grazer AK

**Grazer AK** (or **GAK**) is a football club which plays in Austria. it was founded in 1902.

## History

The club was founded by a group of students led by medical student Georg August Wagner from Prague. Due to this development the first football match in Austria with the FA rules took place in Graz. 1902 was the official start of the Grazer Athletik-Sport-Club. The club reached the Styrian Championship in 1922, 1924 and between 1926 and 1933 and was Austrian Amateur Champion in 1929, 1932 and 1933. One of the players of GAK was Rudi Hiden, who went to Wiener AC and became goalkeeper of the famous "Austrian Wunderteam". 1944 the matches were stopped due to the Second World War.

1946 the club begun again. 1951 it reached the highest class (Liga A) and, at the end of that season, the 6th position, which was the best of a club outside Vienna. In the following years the Athletics were established in the first class. 1962 and 1968 they where runners-up in the cup-final. Only because the league was reformed the club was relegated to the second division in 1974, but came back one year later. 1981 the Athletics gained first title as professional team when they won the Austrian cup, which also was the first title for a styrian team. From 1990 to 1995 the club was in the second league. They won the cup-title also in 2000, 2002 and were double winners in 2004.

2007 the club collapsed due to 15,2 mil. € debts. They had to go to the third league where they went bankrupt again and had to interrupt playing in october 2012.

2013 they had to start over from the lowest (9th tier) league after being reestablished. Since then the club (named GAC due legal grounds initially) won every championship. For the Season 2017/18, they are in Landesliga Steiermark, 4th tier. In the 2019/20 season they came back to professional football being promoted to the 2nd league. In the 2022/23 season they finished 2nd and missed promotion in the last round.

### Coaching staff

- Ferdinand Feldhofer Headcoach
- Florian Hart Assistant coach
- Andreas Lienhart. Assistant coach
- Joachim Standfest Assistant coach
- Thomas Queder Goalkeeper coach

## Past seasons

Seasons since the re-foundation 2012

|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|Season|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|League|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|Level|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|Place|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|MP|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|W|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|D|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|L|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|GF|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|GA|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|GD|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|Pts|style="background:#ABCDEF;"|Austrian Cup|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2013–14|1. Klasse Mitte A (VIII)|8|1|22|20|2|0|124|12|112|62|not qualified||||||||||||||
|2014–15|Gebietsliga Mitte (VII)|7|1|26|23|1|2|107|29|78|70|not qualified||||||||||||||
|2015–16|Unterliga Mitte (VI)|6|1|26|22|3|1|88|19|69|69|not qualified||||||||||||||
|2016–17|Oberliga Mitte/West (V)|5|1|26|14|9|3|65|29|36|51|not qualified||||||||||||||
|2017–18|Landesliga Steiermark (IV)|4|1|30|21|5|4|61|24|37|68|not qualified||||||||||||||
|2018–19|Regionalliga Mitte (III)|3|1|30|21|5|4|70|28|42|68|Semi-finals||||||||||||||
|2019-20|2. Liga (II)|2|15|30|7|10|13|40|50|-10|31|2nd round||||||||||||||
|2020-21|2. Liga (II)|2|6|30|13|7|10|46|42|4|46|1st round||||||||||||||
|2022-23|2. Liga (II)|2|2|30|17|9|4|52|29|23|61|3rd  round||||||||||||||
|2023–24|2. Liga (II)|2|1|30|21|6|3|57|27|30|69|3rd  round||||||||||||||
|2024–25|Bundesliga (I)|1|10|30|5|13|14|29|46|-17|20|3rd  round||||||||||||||
|colspan="13" align="center"|**Green marks a season followed by promotion**|||||||||||||||||||||||||

## Coaching history in the 21st century

|Start|End|Coach|
| --- | --- | --- |
|3/2000|4/200|Rainer Hörgl|
|4/2000|9/2001|Werner Gregoritsch|
|9/2001|10/2001|Christian Keglevits|
|10/2001|8/2002|Thijs Libregts|
|8/2002|10/2002|Christian Keglevits|
|10/2002|1/2006|Walter Schachner|
|1/2006|6/2007|Lars Søndergaard|
|7/2007|1/2008|Dietmar Pegam|
|1/2008|8/2008|Stojadin Rajković|
|8/2008|1/2010|Gregor Pötscher|
|1/2010|11/2010|Heinz Karner|
|11/2010|6/2011|Peter Stöger|
|7/2011|6/2013|Aleš Čeh|
|7/2012|10/2012|Ante Šimundža|
|7/2013|9/2017|Gernot Plassenegger|
|10/2017|1/2019|David Preiß|
|1/2019|6/2019|Enrico Kulovits|
|7/2019|2/2020|David Preiß|
|2/2020|3/2020|Ralph Spirk/ Alois Hödl|
|3/2020|10/2021|Gernot Plassenegger|
|10/2021|11/2021|Stefan Kammerhofer|
|11/2021|12/2021|Ralph Spirk|
|12/2021|10/2024|Gernot Messner|
|10/2024|03/2025|Rene Poms|
|03/2025||Ferdinand Feldhofer|

## Honours

- **Austrian Champion:**2004
- **Austrian Cup:**1981, 2000, 2002, 2004
- **Austrian Second League Champion:**1975, 1993, 1995,  2024
- **Austrian Champion (amateurs):**1929, 1932, 1933
- **Styrian Champion:**1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933

## Statistics

**List of international games of GAK in UEFA-Cup, Champions League Qualification, Cupwinners' Cup and in Fairs' Cup:**

1962/63:
1. B 1909 Odense (CdCs – 1/8 Finale) 1:1 (H) 3:5 (A)

1964/65:
1. NK Zagreb (MC R1) 0:6 (H) 2:3 (A)

1968/69:
1. Ado Den Haag (CdCs R1) 0:2 (H) 1:4 (A)

1972/73:
1. Panachaiki Patras (UC R1) 0:1 (H) 1:2 (A)

1980/81:
1. Dinamo Tbilisi (CdCs – 1/16 Finale) 2:2 (H) 0:2 (A)

1982/83:
1. Corvinul Hunedoara (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:3 (A)

1996/97:
1. Vojvodina Novi Sad (UC Q2) 2:0 (H) 5:1 (A)
1. Germinal Ekeren (UC R1) 2:0 (H) 1:3 (A)
1. Inter Milan (UC R2) 1:0 (H) 0:1 (4:5 i.E.)(A)

1998/99:
1. VPS Vaasa (UC Q2) 3:0 (H) 0:0 (A)
1. Litex Lovech (UC R1) 2:0 (H) 1:1 (A)
1. AS Monaco (UC R2) 3:3 (H) 0:4 (A)

1999/2000:
1. KÍ Klaksvík (UC Q) 4:0 (H) 5:0 (A)
1. Spartak Trnava (UC R1) 3:0 (H) 1:2 (A)
1. Panathinaikos (UC R2) 2:1 (H) 0:1 (A)

2000/01:
1. FC Kosice (UC R1) 0:0 (H) 3:2 (A)
1. Espanyol Barcelona (UC R2) 1:0 (H) 0:4 (A)

2001/02:
1. HB Tórshavn (UC Q) 4:0 (H) 2:2 (A)
1. FC Utrecht (UC R1) 3:3 (H) 0:3 (A)

2002/03:
1. FC Sheriff Tiraspol (CL Q2) 2:0 (H) 4:1 (A)
1. Lokomotiv Moscow (CL Q3) 0:2 (H) 3:3 (A)
1. Apoel Nicosia (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:2 (A)

2003/04:
1. SK Tirana (CL Q2) 2:1 (H) 5:1 (A)
1. Ajax Amsterdam (CL Q3) 1:1 (H) 1:2 (A)
1. Vålerenga I.F. Fotball (UC R1) 1:1 (H) 0:0 (A)

2004/05:
1. Liverpool F.C. (CL Q3) 0:2 (H) 1:0 (A)
1. Litex Lovech (UC R1) 5:0 (H) 0:1 (A)
1. AJ Auxerre (UC Gruppe F) 0:0 (A)
1. Amica Wronki (UC Gruppe F) 3:1 (H)
1. Rangers F.C. (UC Gruppe F) 0:3 (A)
1. AZ Alkmaar (UC Gruppe F) 2:0 (H)
1. Middlesbrough F.C. (UC 16tel-Finale) 2:2 (H) 1:2 (A)

2005/06:
1. Nistru Otaci (UC Q) 2:0 (A) 1:0 (H)
1. RC Strasbourg (UC R1) 0:2 (H) 0:5 (A)

### Derby Statistics vs. SK Sturm Graz (as of 23.8.2005)

Total (in 1st Austrian League):
- 46 Won
- 42 Drawn
- 42 Lost
(Goals: 174:168)

## Other websites

- Official Homepage

## Infobox (football club)

- **clubname**: Grazer AK
- **image**: GAK 1902 Logo Rund.svg
- **fullname**: Grazer Athletiksport-Klub
- **nickname**: Red Devils, Athletics, Red-Jackets
- **founded**: 1902
- **ground**: Merkur Arena
- **capacity**: 16,364
- **chairman**: Rene Ziesler
- **manager**: Ferdinand Feldhofer
- **captain**: Marco Perchtold
- **league**: Austrian Football Bundesliga
- **season**: 2024-25
- **position**: 10th