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| Full name | Sportklub Rapid Wien | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites), Hütteldorfer |
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| Founded | 1899 | ||
| Ground | Gerhard Hanappi Stadium (Capacity: 18,400) |
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| Chairman | Rudolf Edlinger | ||
| Manager | Peter Pacult | ||
| League | Austrian Football Bundesliga | ||
| 2008–09 | 2nd | ||
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The Sportklub Rapid Wien (English: Rapid Vienna) is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid is Austria's most successful side with 32 championships to its credit, as well as a German title captured when the country was part of Germany. It is one of the two best known sides in Vienna, the other being Rapid's eternal rival, FK Austria Wien. The Rapid squad is often known as the "Green-Whites" for its team colours or as Hütteldorfer for the location of the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, which is in Hütteldorf, part of the city's 14th district, Penzing.
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History
SK Rapid Wien was founded in 1898 as Erster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club (en:First Workers' Football Club of Vienna). The team's original colours were red and blue, which are still often used in away matches. On 8 January 1899 the club was re-named, taking on its present name of Sportklub Rapid Wien, following the example of Rapide Berlin. In 1904, the team colours were changed to green and white.
One of the best teams in early European football, Rapid became a dominant side during the years between the world wars, when Austria was one of the leading football nations on the continent. After the Anschluss of Austria to Germany in 1938, Rapid played in that country's Gauliga Ostmark along with clubs such as First Vienna and Admira Vienna (playing then as Wacker Wien and Admira Wien). Rapid would be the most successful of these clubs. They won the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's German Cup, in 1938 with a 3–1 victory over FSV Frankfurt, and topped that with a German Championship in 1941 by defeating Schalke 04, the most dominant German club of the era. The team was able to overcome a 3–0 Schalke lead to win the match by a final score of 4–3 through strength and endurance – the traditional virtues of Rapid players known as the Rapidgeist or "Rapid Spirit".
Almost since the club's beginnings, Rapid fans have announced the last fifteen minutes of the game by way of the legendary "Rapidviertelstunde" – rhythmic clapping at home or away no matter what the score. The first mention of the practise goes back to 1913, and in 1919 a newspaper wrote about the fans clapping at the beginning of the "Rapidviertelstunde". Over the decades, there were many instances where Rapid managed to turn around a seemingly hopeless situation by not giving up and, with their fans' support, fighting their way to a win just before the final whistle.
Although Rapid is by far the most popular club in Austria, other teams like Red Bull Salzburg or FK Magna are able to spend significantly more money every year as they are owned by investors/billionaires. Rapid is trying to compensate for this lack of financial funds by supporting young and talented players.
Rapid were involved in a controversial episode in 1984 when they eliminated Celtic from the European Cup Winners Cup last 16. Strikes from Brian McClair (32 mins) Murdo MacLeod (45+5 mins) put Celtic 2-0 ahead at half time. After the interval Tommy Burns (68 mins) scored a controversial third goal to put Celtic 4-3 up on aggregate. With 14 mins left of the match, Rapid conceded a penalty, after Reinhard Kienast punched Burns on the back of the head whilst a corner kick was being taken. Rapid players, opposing the decision, crowded around the referee and linesman, close to the Celtic fans. Rapid defender Rudolf Weinhofer then fell to the ground, not hit by an object thrown from the terracing. TV pictures only showed that a bottle landed several feet away from Weinhofer. After a delay of some 10 minutes, the penalty was taken by Peter Grant, and he struck it wide. The match finished 3–0, giving Celtic a 4–3 win on aggregate. However, Rapid appealed to UEFA for a replay, and both teams were fined. The replay appeal was turned down initially, and Celtic appealed against the fine. In reaction to Celtic's appeal, UEFA granted Rapid a replay and increased Celtic's fine. The replay was held at Old Trafford, Manchester, and Rapid won 1–0 through a Peter Pacult strike.
Stadium
Rapid Wien now plays at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium which was opened on 10 May 1977 in a game against FK Austria.
Honours
Rapid Vienna is also Austria's record titleholder when including Vienna-only titles and titles won in Germany during the time of the Third Reich, winning the Austrian Championship title 32 times to date. Supporters of other teams sometimes argue that the 16 championship wins before the establishment of a nation wide all-Austrian league should not be counted. However, those titles are credited by most observers, since Viennese league play was virtually synonymous with Austrian football at that time. The wins of the German Championship and German Cup were possible due to Austria's annexation by Germany on March 12, 1938.
- Austrian Championship (32): 1912, 1913, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1995-96, 2004-05, 2007-08
- Austrian Cup (14): 1919, 1920, 1927, 1946, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1995
- Austrian Supercup: 1986, 1987, 1988, 2008 (Unofficial edition)
- German Championship: 1941
- German Cup: 1938
- Mitropa Cup: 1930, 1951
- Intertoto Cup: 1992, 1993
- Cup Winners' Cup Runners Up: 1985, 1996
Current squad
As of 31 August 2009
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Retired numbers
5 – 
Peter Schöttel
Notable players
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Managers since 1910
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Team trivia
- SK Rapid Wien won the German Championship in 1941 and the German Cup in 1938.
SK Rapid Wien II Squad
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See also
References
External links
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