Wacker take on Tirol mantle

By Thomas Zeh

FC Tirol Innsbruck's celebrations after winning the Austrian title in May 2002 were to prove more than slightly hollow. Obsessed with success in Europe, the Tirol board had embarked on a campaign of spending which saw them create the most powerful squad in Austria but ruin their financial footing in the process.

Bubble bursts
When the Austrian Football Association denied Tirol a professional licence in June 2002, the bubble burst. Some of the board members were charges with tax evasion and embezzlement as the club's debts were reported at €55m - an amount unheard of in the usually conservative world of Austrian football.

New club
However, while the expensively-acquired players rushed to find contracts elsewhere, it was not to be the end of football in Innsbruck. And now, just two seasons after Tirol's apocalypse, their spirit has returned to the Austrian Bundesliga in the form of FC Wacker Tirol.

EURO aim
The renaissance came courtesy of a group of local businessmen led by Gerhard Stocker. "We knew that we had the unique chance for Innsbruck to be a venue for EURO 2008™, but for that to happen we had to lift the club back into the Bundesliga," sporting director Christian Ablinger told uefa.com. "It took us just three weeks to found a new club from scratch, which marched directly from the third division to the Bundesliga."
 
Kraft work
Wacker Tirol were founded upon a partnership with another local side, WSG Wattens, who took responsibility for all of Tirol's youth teams, allowing them to continue playing in their respective leagues while a new coach, Helmut Kraft, was put in charge of first-team affairs at Wacker Tirol.

Major coup
With the new club starting in Austria's amateur third division, the 45-year-old Kraft pulled off a major coup by persuading one-time Tirol stalwarts Alfred Hörtnagel and Robert Wazinger to refuse lucrative offers elsewhere and join his team of untried local amateurs in aiming for the Bundesliga.

Winning momentum
The veteran duo helped Wacker Tirol win promotion from the Regionalliga last summer, and while it seemed that they had lost their impetus in 2003/04 - trailing SV Austria Lustenau by nine points at one stage - once the club hit their stride there was no stopping them.

Decisive goal
With youngsters Hannes Eder and Andreas Schrott showing a maturity well beyond their years to help fashion the meanest defence in their division, Dutchman Sammy Koejoe and Wolfgang Mair provided the goals at the other end, with Mair scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory against BSV Juniors to win the club promotion.

'Total commitment'
For the Austrian press, it was a footballing miracle, but for Wacker Tirol it was a triumph of sensible management. "We did not have better players than other clubs, but here everyone from the cleaners to the players and the directors shows total commitment," Ablinger explained.

'We succeeded'
"We have learned the lesson from FC Tirol's collapse and I hope we can lead the way for other clubs in terms of more transparency and stricter budget control," he added. "The inner circle of the club has never lost faith in our aim and with plenty of hard work, persistence and a fair amount of luck, we succeeded."

Small victory
With many local businesses smarting from the money they lost with Tirol's collapse, finding sponsors remains a tough slog for Wacker Tirol. However, should Wacker Tirol survive in the top flight this season, it will be a victory everyone in Innsbruck will be able to celebrate throughout next summer.