LASK
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| Full name | Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Die Schwarz-Weißen (The Black-Whites), Die Laskler | |||
| Founded | 7 August 1908asAthletiksportklub Siegfried | |||
| Ground | Raiffeisen Arena | |||
| Capacity | 19,080 | |||
| Owner | LASK GmbH | |||
| President | Siegmund Gruber | |||
| Head coach | Thomas Darazs | |||
| League | Austrian Bundesliga | |||
| 2023–24 | Austrian Bundesliga, 3rd of 12 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub,commonly known asLASK Linz(German pronunciation:[lasklɪnts]),Linzer ASK,or simplyLASK,is anAustrianprofessionalfootball clubbased inUpper-Austrianstate capitalLinz.It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in theAustrian 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 outsideViennato win the Austrian football championship, with this being its only league title to date. The club currently plays its home games at theRaiffeisen ArenainLinz.
History[edit]
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 wasLinzer Sportclub.During an extraordinary general meeting on 14 September 1919, the final change of name, toLinzer Athletik Sport-Klub(short formLinzer 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 theGauliga Ostmarkin 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 toAustria Wien,their best position in history up to that time, and in1962–63they played their first cup final, losing 1–0 to Austria Wien. Two years later, LASK achieved its greatest success, winning theAustrian Leaguein1965.No club outside Vienna had ever won before. Additionally, the club won theAustrian cupthat 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 toWacker Innsbruck.The club spent most of the 70s in mid table, but were relegated in1977–78,although achieving immediate promotion for the1980–81 season.
In the1985–86 UEFA Cup,the side beat European giantsInternazionale Milanat 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 toIvory Coastwith 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 rivalsFC Linz,and the new official name becameLASK 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.[1]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.[1]
Despite the financial struggles, the club still managed to steer away from relegation and qualify for the1996 Intertoto Cup.In the Intertoto Cup, LASK had a great participation, finishing first in its group with no losses, with notable wins overWerder Bremen(3–1) andDjurgårdens(2–0). In the semi-finals, the club was eliminated 7–2 on aggregate byRotor Volgograd.In the 1998–99 season they reached their fourth Austrian cup final, losing toSturm Grazon 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 toFC 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 the3. Ligain 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 toFC Lieferingand had to stay another season in the third division.
Promotion to the2. Liga wassecured on 5 June 2014 after a 2–1 victory on aggregate overParndorf 1919in front of 13,000 fans at theLinzer 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 coachOliver Glasnerand Vice PresidentJürgen Wernerconstructed a team with an unmistakable style of play.
In 2016, the club moved toPaschingafter disagreements with the city council. In 2018, the club returned to the European competitions, but they were eliminated from theEuropa league qualifiersafter a 2–1 win againstBeşiktaşin the second leg due to the away goals rule.
In the2019–20 UEFA Europa League,LASK had an excellent campaign, topping their group which consisted of European championsSporting LisbonandPSV Eindhoven.LASK began their campaign with a 1–0 win overRosenborg,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 clubAZ 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 byManchester Unitedwith a 7–1 aggregate score.[2]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 calledRaiffeisen Arenain a victory againstAustria Lustenau.
Logos[edit]
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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.[3][4]
Players[edit]
Current squad[edit]
- As of 7 July, 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules.Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan[edit]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules.Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials[edit]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| President |  Siegmund Gruber
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| Vice Presidents | Christoph KönigslehnerBarbara Niedermayr
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| Chief Financial Officer | Hans Jürgen Jandrasits
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| Sporting Director |  Radovan Vujanović
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| Head Coach | Thomas Darazs
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| Assistant Head Coach | Maximilian Ritscher
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| First-Team Coach | Manfred Nastl
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| Goalkeeper Coach | Philip Großalber
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| Athletic Coach | Jan Kollmann
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| Video Analyst | Daniel Rozsa
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| Sports Coordinator |  Dino Buric
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| Senior Team Doctor | Mag. Dr. Rainer Hochgatterer
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| Team Doctor | Dr. David HaslhoferDr. Matthias Kirchmayr
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| Physiotherapist | Ivan PorobijaJulia BergerElisabeth Kasbauer
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| Masseur | Michael Spreitzer Vernes Sijak
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| Head of Physical Condition and Rehabilitation |  Divan Augustyn
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| Kitman | Michael Foissner
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| Bus Driver | Gerhard Gruber
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| Team Manager | Thomas Gebauer
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Historical list of coaches[edit]
- As of 10 June 2023[5]
- 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–present)
Honours[edit]
League[edit]
Cups[edit]
European competition history[edit]
- As of match played 1 December 2023
References[edit]
- ^ab"20 Jahre Fusion: Als der FC Linz begraben wurde"[20 years of merger: When FC Linz was buried].nachrichten.at(in German). 19 May 2017.Retrieved7 November2023.
- ^"Man. United 2–1 LASK".UEFA.5 August 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 26 November 2020.Retrieved25 October2020.
- ^"Zurück in die Zukunft: Neues Wappen für den LASK".Nachrichten.at. 4 May 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 6 June 2019.Retrieved30 August2019.
- ^"LASK bekommt neues Wappen"(in German). Skysportaustria.at. 4 May 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 6 June 2019.Retrieved30 August2019.
- ^"LASK Linz" Manager history ".worldfootball.net.Archivedfrom the original on 1 July 2016.Retrieved10 June2023.
- ^"LASK Linz – Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news".Soccerway.29 August 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2018.Retrieved30 August2019.
External links[edit]
- Official website(in German)
- UEFA.com club profile
- EUFO.de club profile
- Weltfussball.de club profile(in German)
- Squad at FootballSquads
- NationalFootballTeams data
- LASK Linz at Football-Lineups.com
- Unofficial weblog about LASK(in German)
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