SK Rapid Wien - History

History

The club 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 renamed, 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 force 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 was part of German football competition, playing in the regional first division Gauliga Ostmark along with clubs such as Wacker Wien and Admira Vienna. 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 followed 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 the team 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.

The club was involved in a controversial episode in 1984 when they eliminated Celtic from the European Cup Winners Cup last 16. Strikes from Brian McClair (32 minutes) and Murdo MacLeod (45+5 minutes) put Celtic 2–0 ahead at half time. After the interval Tommy Burns (68 minutes) scored a controversial third goal to put Celtic 4–3 up on aggregate. With 14 minutes left in the match, Rapid conceded a penalty, after Reinhard Kienast punched Burns on the back of the head while 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, and claimed to have been hit by a bottle thrown from the stands. Television images clearly showed that the bottle which was thrown onto the pitch did not hit the player. 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, the Austrians appealed to UEFA for a replay, and both teams were fined. The replay appeal was turned down initially, but Rapid appealed for a second time. On this occasion, Rapid's fine was doubled but UEFA also stipulated that the game be replayed 100 miles away from Celtic Park. The game was held on 12 December 1984 at Old Trafford, Manchester and Rapid won 1–0 through a Peter Pacult strike.