SK Sturm Graz

SK Sturm Graz
Full name	Sportklub Puntigamer Sturm Graz
Nickname(s)	die Schwoazn, Blackies
Founded	1909; 115 years ago
Ground	UPC-Arena
Capacity	15,400
Chairman	Gerald Stockenhuber
Manager	Franco Foda
League	Austrian Bundesliga
2010–11	1st (champions)
Home colours	Away colours

SK Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909 and the club colours are black and white.

So far, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian Football Championship three times (1998, 1999 and 2011) and participated several times in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League under the management of Ivica Osim.

History

Foundation

SK Sturm Graz was founded in 1909, as a working men's team (as opposed to their town neighbours Grazer AK, founded in 1902). From 1921 to 1949 Sturm won the styrian championship 11 times. When Austria was a part of the german Reich, the club first appeared in top-flight competition in the Gauliga Ostmark in 1942–43, coming last and being relegated. 1949 Sturm entered the the national league as first not Vienna-based team.

1981– First Success

The first great success of the club was celebrated under manager Otto Baric, when the club finished runners-up in the league in the 1980/81 season. A year later, the club battled through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, beaten only by Nottingham Forest through a dubious penalty in extra-time.

1992 – The Start of a new Era

In December 1992, Hannes Kartnig was installed as President, naming his close friend Heinz Schilcher as new manager. At the time, Sturm were languishing under enormous debts, a chronic lack of money and a general sporting malaise. Sturm qualified for the newly-formed Zehnerliga, and Kartnig and Schilcher decided the best course of action would be to abstain from big-name signings, and opt instead for a new start using young players from the club's youth setup. In 1993 Milan Djuricic became manager, and together with his "kindergarten" team managed to stay up.

1994 to 2002 – Osim and European Football

In 1994, the Bosnian Ivica Osim took control of the up-to-now unsuccessful Sturm; this proved to be a crucial turning-point in the club's history. Osim succeeded in producing an effective and powerful team using the young and inexperienced players at his disposal, strengthened with a few experienced leading players. The team's first success was as runners-up in the league in 1995; a year later, they won their first title, beating Admira Wacker in the cup-final, but wobbling in the league to finish runners-up yet again.

In 1998, SK Sturm Graz won their first Austrian Bundesliga title, pulling away from the field early on and winning the title with seven games in hand. Sturm set two records during this season; they remained unbeaten in their first twelve matches, and then for another nineteen matches later in the season. At the end of the season they amassed 81 points, an Austrian record total, winning the title with 19 points ahead of Rapid Vienna. This season also saw the development of the "magic triangle" of Mario Haas, Hannes Reinmayr and Ivica Vastic.

1999 saw SK Sturm Graz retain the title, securing the treble as they did so (league, cup and super cup), in addition to appearing in the qualification for the Champions League. Here, however, a scoreless draw with Spartak Moscow proved to be the only success. The 1999/2000 season saw Sturm in the Champions League for a second time, finishing third in their group. FC Tirol wrested the title from Sturm's grasp, but the runners-up spot achieved was sufficient for a third trip into the Champions League.

Sensationally, Sturm Graz won their Champions League Group D (against Galatasaray, Rangers and AS Monaco FC), reaching the second round for the first time. The league campaign was less successful – a fourth place finish, the worst under Osim.

After their Champions League exploits, several key players out of the twelve who later left were not suitably replaced. Worse still, this hasty squad redevelopment devoured almost all the profit made from the European campaign. Only a small fraction of the money was invested in youth development, to establish an academy. Despite this, the newly assembled team again finished in second place in the league, but failed at the qualification hurdle for the Champions League. This, together with increasing criticism from the President precipitated the departure of Osim after eight years at the helm.

2002 to 2009 – Consolidation

Franco Foda and Gilbert Gress (7 defeats in 9 games) both enjoyed short and fruitless stints as coach, before former sweeper Michael Petrovic took control in autumn 2003. He presided over a gradual introduction of young talent, securing the team's place in the top flight in both 2004 and 2005, finishing in seventh spot.

Since 2005 Sturm Graz has been facing financial problems and on September 1, 2006 a petition of bankruptcy was filed by the tax authorities. Because of the financial situation Sturm was forced to use young players, who were soon sold to reconsole the club.

2009 to present day – New successes

After a 4th rank in 2009, the Blackies qualified for the group stage of the Europe League 2009/2010. Their opponents were Galatasaray, Panathinaikos and Dinamo Bucureşti. 2010 the Blackies won the ÖFB-Cup in Klagenfurt in front of 25.000 own Fans against SC Wiener Neustadt. That was the highest number of Fans ever travelling to a match in a different state.

2010/2011 Sturm sensationally won the Austrian Championship, after the favorited teams had come to stumble. But the 2010/2011 season had already started with a highlight: Sturm Graz played against Juventus Turin in the Europe League qualifying.

2011/2012 Sturm entered the Champions League qualifying as a seeded team in the 2nd round.

Stadium

The traditional home of the team for many years was the Gruabn, which held over 12,000 people – almost exclusively standing – and which achieved cult status with many fans. The stadium was characterised by its narrow playing field, and the proximity of the fans to the players. From 1997 till 2005, Gruabn was used just as a training ground and for youth and amateur matches; in 2005 the ground was sold to the town of Graz to relieve the club's financial difficulties. 1997 was the move to the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, shared between Sturm and their local rivals, Grazer AK. Since February 2006 the stadium is called UPC-Arena.

Achievements

Austrian Football Bundesliga

Champions (3): 1998, 1999, 2011
Runners-up (5): 1981, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002

ÖFB-Cup

Winners (4): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2010
Runners-up (4): 1948, 1975, 1998, 2002

Austrian Supercup

Winners (3): 1996, 1998, 1999
Runners-up (2): 1997, 2002

Austrian Amateur Champions (1): 1934
Styrian Regional Champions (11): 1921, 1923, 1925, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
Styrian Cup Winners (9): 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
UEFA Champions League (3 participations): 1998, 1999, 2000 (2nd Group Stage)
UEFA Cup (11 participations): 1970/71, 1974/75, 1978/79, 1981/82, 1983/84 (Quarter Final), 1988/89, 1991/92, 1995/96, 1999, 2002
UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2008 (Winners)

European records

As of July 14, 2011.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
1970–71	UEFA Cup	1R	Ilves Tampere	3–0	2–4
		2R	Arsenal FC	1–0	0–2
1974–75	UEFA Cup	1R	Royal Antwerp FC	2–1	0–1
1975–76	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Slavia Sofia	3–1	0–1
		2R	Szombathelyi Haladás	2–0	1–1
		QF	Eintracht Frankfurt	0–2	0–1
1978–79	UEFA Cup	1R	Borussia Mönchengladbach	1–2	1–5
1981–82	UEFA Cup	1R	CSKA Moskva	1–0	1–2
		2R	IFK Göteborg	2–2	2–3
1983–84	UEFA Cup	1R	Sportul Studenţesc	0–0	2–1
		2R	Hellas Verona	0–0	2–2
		3R	Lokomotive Leipzig	2–0	0–1
		QF	Nottingham Forest	1–1 (AET)	0–1
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1R	Servette Genève	0–0	0–1
1991–92	UEFA Cup	1R	FC Utrecht	0–1	1–3
1995–96	UEFA Cup	QUAL	Slavia Praha	0–1	1–1
1996–97	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Sparta Prague	2–2	1–1
1997–98	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	APOEL Nicosia	3–0	1–0
		2R	AEK Athens	1–0	0–2
1998–99	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Újpest FC	4–0	3–2
		Group C	Spartak Moskva	0–2	0–0
		Group C	Inter Milano	0–2	0–1
		Group C	Real Madrid	1–5	1–6
1999–00	UEFA Champions League	3QR	Servette Genève	2–1	2–2
		Group D, Preliminary	Olympique Marseille	3–2	0–2
		Group D, Preliminary	Manchester United F.C.	0–3	1–2
		Group D, Preliminary	Croatia Zagreb	1–0	0–3
1999–00	UEFA Cup	3R	Parma AC	3–3 (AET)	1–2
2000–01	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Hapoel Tel Aviv	3–0	2–1
		3QR	Feyenoord	2–1	1–1
		Group D, Preliminary	Rangers	2–0	0–5
		Group D, Preliminary	Galatasaray	3–0	2–2
		Group D, Preliminary	AS Monaco	2–0	0–5
		Group A	Valencia CF	0–5	0–2
		Group A	Manchester United F.C.	0–2	0–3
		Group A	Panathinaikos	2–0	2–1
2001	UEFA Intertoto Cup	2R	Lausanne Sports	0–1	3–3
2002–03	UEFA Champions League	3QR	Maccabi Haifa	3–3	0–2
2002–03	UEFA Cup	1R	Livingston	5–2	3–4
		2R	Levski Sofia	1–0	0–1 (p 8-7)
		3R	Lazio Roma	1–3	1–0
2005	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R	FC Rànger's	5–0	1–1
		2R	VfL Wolfsburg	1–3	2–2
2008	UEFA Intertoto Cup	2R	Shakhter Soligorsk	2–0	0–0
		3R	Honved Budapest	0–0	2–1
2008–09	UEFA Cup	2QR	FC Zürich	1–1 (p 2-4)	1–1
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2Q	NK Široki Brijeg	2–1	1–1
		3Q	Petrovac	5–0	2–1
		Play Off	Metalist Kharkiv	1–1	1–0
		Group F	Dinamo Bucureşti	0–1	1–2
		Group F	Galatasaray	1–0	1–1
		Group F	Panathinaikos	0–1	0–1
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Dinamo Tbilisi	2–0	1–1
		Play Off	Juventus FC	1:2	0:1
2011–12	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Videoton	2–0

Current squad

As of July 12, 2011

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUT	Christian Gratzei
2	DF	GEO	George Popkhadze
4	DF	AUT	Dominic Pürcher
5	DF	AUT	Ferdinand Feldhofer
6	MF	AUT	Manuel Weber
7	FW	AUT	Mario Haas
8	MF	AUT	Andreas Hölzl
9	MF	AUT	Haris Bukva
10	MF	BIH	Samir Muratović
11	FW	HUN	Imre Szabics
13	DF	AUT	Thomas Burgstaller
14	MF	AUT	Florian Kainz


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	DF	AUT	Martin Ehrenreich
18	DF	AUT	Joachim Standfest
20	MF	AUT	Matthias Koch
21	MF	AUT	Dean Maric
22	GK	CRO	Silvije Čavlina
24	FW	AUT	Roman Kienast
26	FW	AUT	Marvin Weinberger
27	MF	AUT	Christian Klem
29	MF	GER	Sandro Foda
33	MF	AUT	Patrick Wolf
34	GK	AUT	Alexander Schachner

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player

Famous players

Template:Famous players

Manager History

Otto Barić (1980–82)
Robert Pflug (1984)
Hermann Stessl (1984–85)
Otto Barić (1988–89)
August Starek (1989–91)
Robert Pflug (1991–92)
Ladislav Jurkemik (1992–93)
Milan Đuričić (1993–94)
Ivica Osim (1994-02)
Franco Foda (2002–03)
Gilbert Gress (2003)
Mihailo Petrović (2003–06)
Franco Foda (2006–)

Club Management

Administration

President: Gerald Stockenhuber

Coaching Staff

Coach: Franco Foda
Asst. Coach: Thomas Gerstner
Goalkeeping Coach: Kazimierz Sidorczuk
Youth and Amateur Team Coach: Christian Peintinger

External links

Template:UEFA Champions League

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v t e Austrian Football Bundesliga · 2024–25
clubs	Austria Klagenfurt Austria Wien Blau-Weiß Linz Grazer AK Hartberg LASK Rapid Wien Red Bull Salzburg Rheindorf Altach Sturm Graz Wolfsberger AC WSG Tirol
stadiums	Josko Arena Allianz Stadion Cashpoint Arena Generali-Arena Lavanttal-Arena Merkur-Arena Profertil Arena Hartberg Raiffeisen Arena Red Bull Arena Tivoli Stadion Tirol Wörthersee Stadion

v t e Top division football seasons in Austria
1911 to 1938	1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
Gauliga (1938 to 1945)	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45
1945 to 1974	1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74
Bundesliga (1974 to current)	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25