(; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as , is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying success in the decade between 1995 and 2005. The other sections are basketball, diving and tennis, which however all act as separate legal entities. The "GAK" football section folded during the 2012–13 Regionalliga Mitte Season in Autumn 2012. It has since been revived and returned to the Austrian Second League in 2019, and four years later won promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga after a seventeen-year hiatus.
History
The beginning The club arose from an informal association of local academics around the medical student Georg August Wagner from Prague, later a professor at Charles University and the Charité in Berlin. Acquainted with football from his hometown, he organised the first public match in present-day Austria on 18 March 1894 in the Graz municipal park. The Grazer Athletik-Sport-Club – modeled after the Wiener AC – was established eight years later on the 72nd birthday of Emperor Francis Joseph.
European football and the golden start to the new millennium Between 1962 and 1983, GAK was involved in European competitions. Their first match was against Odense BK in the Cup Winners Cup in 1962. The club has made regular appearances in European cups ever since, with regular UEFA Cup appearances since the 1980s, but the highlight came on the domestic scene in 1981 when they won the Austrian Cup. The golden years arrived in the first half of the 2000s, when GAK won the Austrian Cup twice more, in 2000 and 2002. Their biggest success was in 2004 where they did the double – they managed to win the cup yet again along with the Austrian title, finishing the league season one point ahead of Austria Wien. Their last appearance in Europe was a disappointing 5–0 away defeat to RC Strasbourg in Round 1 of the UEFA Cup in the 2005–06 season.
Financial troubles and bankruptcy During the 2006–2007 season, 'Grazer AK' went into administration. The club was docked 28 points as a result. In the 2007–2008 season, the club was not allowed to participate in the professional leagues and was relegated to the Austrian Regional League Central. After a second bankruptcy, the club managed to achieve a settlement and accommodation with its creditors in September 2008, ensuring its survival. Soon after, the club started having difficulties again after it could not recover from its relegation to the Regional League and was eventually dissolved in 2012.
New start A phoenix club called Grazer AC was set up by the fans soon after the 2012 dissolution called and started from the bottom tier in the 2013–14 season. At an extraordinary meeting on 14 March 2014, Grazer AC was declared to be a continuation of the original "GAK" in agreement with its umbrella association. After winning every single championship, the club made its return to professional football in the 2019–20 season with promotion to the second tier.
Supporters
The Reds recorded their highest average attendance (9234) in 2003/2004. The average attendance since the forced relegations had settled at around 3500, but the quality of the organized support had risen. The "curve" was in sector 22, before relegation to the Regionalliga in sector 25. Despite relegation to the third tier, several hundred fans attended away games. The ultra fan groups are known as Society Graz 06, Sezione Follia Malata (Part of Society), Rote Armee Graz, Roter Westen and Kommando 23. Parts of the fan scene maintain friendships with Krefeld Pinguine, NK Čelik Zenica and SV Austria Salzburg and FC Zlín and NK Maribor
Graz Derby GAK have an important rivalry with cross-town rivals Sturm Graz, with whom they contest the Graz derby. In 1974, there was significant opposition from both sets of fans against a proposed merger to become FC Graz. Since 1920, excluding the friendly matches (especially before the first official Styrian Cup in 1920), 199 matches have been played between the two, of which there were: 185 encounters in the league (130 at the professional level and 55 at amateur level in the Styrian League); an additional seven encounters in Austrian Cup (including one final that was won by the GAK in 2002); 1 match in the Austrian Supercup; 2 meetings in the Tschammerpokal and 4 games in the Styrian Cup. The first derby took place in 1911 and the most recent on 2 November 2023. The Red Devils have the superior record in the rivalry. On 19 October 2022, a long period without a derby ended when the two clubs met in the last 16 of the ÖFB-Cup.
Past seasons Positions since the team was re-founded at the end of 2012.
Season League Level Place MP W D L GF GA GD Pts 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 First League (II) 2 15 30 7 10 13 40 50 -10 31 Second round 2020–21 First League (II) 2 6 30 13 7 10 46 42 4 46 First round 2021–22 First League (II) 2 7 30 13 7 10 47 39 8 46 First round 2022–23 First League (II) 2 2 30 17 9 4 52 29 23 60 Third round 2023–24 First League (II) 2 1 30 21 6 3 57 27 30 69 Third round 2024–25 Bundesliga (I) 1 11 22 3 7 12 27 45 -18 16 Third round Green marks a season followed by promotion
European competition Results Season Competition Round Opponent Aggregate 1st leg 2nd leg1962–63UEFA Cup Winners CupRound 2 B 1909 Odense 4:6 1:1 (H) 3:5 (A)1964–65Inter-Cities Fairs CupRound 1 NK Zagreb 2:9 2:3 (A) 0:6 (H)1968–69UEFA Cup Winners Cup Round 1 ADO Den Haag 1:6 1:4 (A) 0:2 (H)1973–74UEFA CupRound 1 Panachaiki 1:3 0:1 (H) 1:2 (A)1981–82UEFA Cup Winners Cup Round 1 Dinamo Tbilisi 2:4 0:2 (A) 2:2 (H)1982–83UEFA CupRound 1 Corvinul Hunedoara 1:4 1:1 (H) 0:3 (A)1996–97UEFA CupQualification Vojvodina 7:1 2:0 (H) 5:1 (A)Round 1 Germinal Ekeren (a) 3:3 1:3 (A) 2:0 (H)Round 2 Inter Milan 1:1 (3:5 p) 0:1 (A) 1:0 a.e.t. (3:5 p) (H) 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group stage Silkeborg IF 5:4 2:0 (H) Ebbw Vale 0:0 (A) NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac 1:3 (H) SC Bastia 2:1 (A)1998–99UEFA CupQualifying Round 2 VPS 3:0 0:0 (A) 3:0 (H)Round 1 Litex Lovech 3:1 1:1 (A) 2:0 (H)Round 2 AS Monaco 3:7 3:3 (H) 0:4 (A)1999–00UEFA CupQualifying Round 2 KÍ Klaksvík 9:0 5:0 (A) 4:0 (H)Round 1 FC Spartak Trnava 4:2 3:0 (H) 1:2 (A)Round 2 Panathinaikos (a) 2:2 2:1 (H) 0:1 (A)2000–01UEFA CupRound 1 1. FC Košice 3:2 3:2 (A) 0:0 (H)Round 2 Espanyol 1:4 0:4 (A) 1:0 (H)2001–02UEFA CupQualifikation HB Tórshavn 6:2 2:2 (A) 4:0 (H)Round 2 FC Utrecht 3:6 0:3 (A) 3:3 (H)2002–03UEFA Champions LeagueQualifying Round 2 Sheriff Tiraspol 6:1 4:1 (A) 2:0 (H)Qualifying Round 3 Lokomotiv Moscow 3:5 0:2 (H) 3:3 (A)2002–03UEFA CupRound 1 APOEL 1:3 0:2 (A) 1:1 (H)2003–04UEFA Champions LeagueQualifying Round 2 Tirana 7:2 5:1 (A) 2:1 (H)Qualifying Round 3 Ajax 2:3 1:1 (H) 1:2 (s.g.) (A)2003–04UEFA CupRound 1 Vålerenga IF 1:1 (a) 0:0 (A) 1:1 (H)2004–05UEFA Champions LeagueQualifying Round 3 Liverpool 1:2 0:2 (H) 1:0 (A)2004–05UEFA CupRound 1 Litex Lovech 5:1 5:0 (H) 0:1 (A)Group stage AJ Auxerre 5:40:0 (A) Amica Wronki3:1 (H) Rangers0:3 (A) AZ Alkmaar2:0 (H)1/16 finals Middlesbrough 3:4 2:2 (H) 1:2 (A)2005–06UEFA CupQualifying Round 2 Nistru Otaci 3:0 2:0 (A) 1:0 (H)Round 1 Strasbourg 0:7 0:2 (H) 0:5 (A)
Derby statistics vs. SK Sturm Graz Total in Austrian first tier as of 23 August 2005: 46 Won 42 Drawn 42 Lost (Goals: 174:168)
Current squad
Out on loan
Managerial history
Karl Mütsch (1948–1951) Josef Pojar (1951–1952) Engelbert Smutny (1952) Karl Mütsch (1953–1954) Alfred Pestitschek (1954–1957) János Szép (1957–1960) Ferdinand Fritsch (1960–1962) Juan Schwanner (1962–1963) Friedrich Pimperl (1963–1964) Milan Zeković (1964) Karl Durspekt (1964–1965) Karl Kowanz (1965–1967) Fritz Kominek (1967–1969) Vlado Šimunić (1969–1970) Karl Durspekt (1970–1971) Helmut Senekowitsch (1971–1973) Alfred Günthner (1973–1974) Hans Hipp (1974–1975) Hermann Stessl (1975–1977) Hermann Repitsch (interim) (1977) Gerd Springer (1977–1978) Walter Koleznik (interim) (1978) Václav Halama (1978–1981) Zlatko Čajkovski (1981–1982) August Starek (1982–1984) Helmut Senekowitsch (1984–1985) Gernot Fraydl (1985–1986) Adolf Blutsch (1986–1987) Adi Pinter (1987–1988) Václav Halama (1988–1989) Karl Philipp (1989) Adi Pinter (1989–1990) Heinz Binder (1990) Savo Ekmečić (1990–1992) Milan Miklavič (1992–1993) Hans Ulrich Thomale (1993–1996) Ljupko Petrović (1996) Hans Peter Schaller (1996) August Starek (1996–1997) Klaus Augenthaler (1997–2000) Rainer Hörgl (2000) Werner Gregoritsch (2000–2001) Christian Keglevits (2001) Thijs Libregts (2001–2002) Christian Keglevits (2002) Walter Schachner (2002–2006) Lars Søndergaard (2006–2007) Dietmar Pegam (2007) Stojadin Rajković (2008) Gregor Pötscher (2008–2010) Heinz Karner (2010) Peter Stöger (2010–2011) Aleš Čeh (2011–2012) Ante Šimundža (2012) David Preiß (9 October 2017 – 25 February 2020) Gernot Plassnegger (2020–2021) Gernot Messner (2021–2024) René Poms (2024–2025) Ferdinand Feldhofer (2025–present)
Honours
Austrian Bundesliga (I) Winners (1): 2003–04 Runners-up (2): 2002–03, 2004–05 Austrian Cup Winners (4): 1980–81, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04 Runners-up (2): 1961–62, 1967–68 Austrian Supercup Winners (2): 2000, 2002 Runners-up (1): 2004 Austrian First League (II) Winners (4): 1974–75, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2023–24 Austrian Regionalliga Mitte (III) Winners (2): 2011–12, 2018–19 Landesliga Steiermark (IV) Winners (1): 2017–18 Oberliga Mitte/West (V) Winners (1): 2016–17 Unterliga Mitte (VI) Winners (1): 2015–16 Gebietsliga Mitte (VII) Winners (1): 2014–15 1. Klasse Mitte A (VIII) Winners (1): 2013–14
References
External links