Don’t let the performance of the national team and its clubs in UEFA competitions fool you: football is wildly popular in Austria.
In 1904, the nation formed the Austrian Football Association, which would go on to be a founding member of FIFA, while its national cup competition has been played since 1900, and a professional league title has been up for grabs since 1911.
What was 1. Klasse became Austria’s top tier of professional football in 1924, and since then, 15 organisations have gone on to become national champions.
Of those clubs, these are the ones that rank as the biggest football clubs in Austria.
Biggest Clubs in Austrian Football
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SK Rapid Wien
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FK Austria Wien
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FC Red Bull Salzburg
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SK Sturm Graz
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Admira Wacker Wien
In the recent history of the Austrian Bundesliga, the money pumped into Red Bull Salzburg – and the team’s strong approach to scouting and player development – created what looked to be an unbeatable force.
Yet, around this decade-long run at the top, the classically dominant clubs were able to add to their legacies, and a new challenger has been able to emerge in recent years.
All of this plays into the considerations of which teams deserve to be ranked among the biggest clubs in Austrian football, as well as the mark the clubs make in Europe, the global fame of the teams, and their followings.
5) Admira Wacker Wien
Formerly the separate clubs of SK Admira Wien and SC Wacker Wien, Admira Wacker Wien was forged in 1971 as a merger between the two, allowing this current club to inherit all of their past successes and fan bases.
Now based in Maria Enzersdorf, Admira Wacker Wien boasts nine total Austrian league titles, all of which were earned as split teams. Admira claimed eight, and Wacker had one but came second on seven occasions.
At the close of the 2021/22 season, Admira Wacker fell into 2. Liga. Now, they’re in their third season in the second tier, but lead the betting to win the division and most match-ups after a strong first half to 2024/25.
Still, their trophy cabinet features six Austrian Cups alongside their nine top-tier league trophies, enabling Admira Wacker Wien to stand among the biggest clubs in Austrian football.
4) SK Sturm Graz
While SK Sturm Graz were founded in 1909, it’s only recently that the club has risen to prominence. They won back-to-back league titles in 1998 and 1999 before gradually fading from the limelight.
In 2010/11, the club that shares its home ground with Grazer AK stopped RB Salzburg from winning three titles on the bounce, and in 2023/24, they shocked European football by ending the Red Bull-backed team from making it 11 successive championships.
Their rise to the top wasn’t a mere flash in the pan, either. Sturm Graz finished second to Red Bull Salzburg in 2021/22 and 2022/23, and currently lead the way in the football betting outrights to take the title again.
Now, SK Sturm Graz have four league shields shining back at them, as well as seven Austrian Cups. With six of these 11 pieces of silverware coming since 2010, it’s fair to say that Sturm Graz have been one of the country’s top clubs in the modern era.
3) Red Bull Salzburg
In 2005, the Red Bull company purchased SV Austria Salzburg – a club that already had three national league championships to its name. Since then, the cash infused into the club has propelled them to even more success.
The 2006/07 season showed the first return on investment with the club’s first league win in a decade. Three more would be added over the next six seasons, and then came the almighty run of ten titles on the trot.
While there is a divide in the fan base between those who are on board with the success Red Bull has brung and those who’re against the takeover – much like in Leipzig, but to a lesser degree – Salzburg’s now one of Austria’s most prominent and successful teams.
Regulars in UEFA competitions and the continued success of its scouting policy – which brought through the likes of Erling Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai, Benjamin Šeško, Dayot Upamecano, Karim Adeyemi, Konrad Laimer, Hee-chan Hwang, Takumi Minamino, Sadio Mané, and Marcel Sabitzer in recent years – have cemented RB Salzburg, in a relatively short time, as one of the biggest football clubs in Austria.
2) Austria Wien
Vienna has long been the home of the biggest and best clubs in Austria, and thanks to the historic success of the clubs and their ability to stay close to the best of them, two Vienna-based rivals top these rankings.
Narrowly coming up second best is Austria Wien. The 1911-founded Die Veilchen have never been relegated from the top flight of Austrian football – only one of two teams to be able to boast of such a feat.
While regularly finishing in the top four, Austria Wien have only won the league three times since the turn of the millennium, and their last Austrian Cup win arrived in 2008/09.
Still, their overall haul is mightily impressive. Austria Wien have a combined 61 major trophies, with 24 of those being league shields – the last of which was in 2012/13, just before RB Salzburg’s decade of dominance.
1) Rapid Wien
Since their last league title in 2007/08, Rapid Wien have finished second-best to Red Bull Salzburg seven times, consistently proving to be second-best in the Austrian Bundesliga. In the history of the Austrian league, though, Rapid Wien are the best.
Celebrating their 125th anniversary in 2024, Die Grün-Weißen are the other half of the heated Vienna rivalry, constantly trying to one-up Austria Vienna for command of the capital.
The club’s trophy hall is a very large room, indeed. Rapid Wien has 32 league titles, 14 Austrian Cups, and a couple of distinct novelties in the form of the 1938 German Cup and 1940/41 German league title.
With by far the most league wins and a stacked collection of 48 major trophies, Rapid Wien wins this list of the biggest football clubs in Austria. That said, there’s a strong case to be made for Austria Wien and RB Salzburg.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Adobe*
