Wattener Sportgemeinschaft Tirol (lit.'Wattens' Sports Community Tyrol'), commonly known as WSG Tirol, is a professional association football club based in the town of Wattens, Tyrol, Austria, that competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the Austrian football league system. Founded in 1930, it is affiliated to the Tirol Football Association. The team plays its home matches at Tivoli Stadion Tirol, where it has been based since 2019. In the 1969–70 season they played in the Nationalliga, the highest division in Austrian football at this time.

WSG Tirol
Full nameWattener Sportgemeinschaft Tirol
Founded1930; 94 years ago (1930)[1]
GroundTivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Capacity16,008
PresidentDiana Langes-Swarovski
ManagerThomas Silberberger
LeagueAustrian Bundesliga
2022–23Austrian Bundesliga, 9th of 12
WebsiteClub website
Current season

History edit

The club was formed in 1930 and has been known as SC Wattens (1930–53), SV Wattens (1953–71), and WSG Wattens (1984–2019). Its most successful period was in 1968–71, when it competed in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between 1971 and 1984 it merged with FC Wacker Innsbruck to form SSW Innsbruck (the merged team went on to win the Bundesliga five times and reached the quarter-finals of the 1977-78 European Cup). In this period the club retained its identity with distinct youth teams. From 1984, WSG Wattens have played in the Austrian Regional League West and the second tier First League.[2] In 2019, they were promoted to the Bundesliga.[3] After promotion, the club announced that their name would be changed to WSG Swarowski Tirol. In 2021 however, Swarovski ended its sponsorship and its name was removed from the club's name as well as from the business.[4]

 
Historical chart of Wattens league performance

Stadium edit

WSG Tirol play their home matches in Gernot Langes Stadion, Wattens. The stadium's capacity is 5500.[5] The team’s average home attendance for the 2010–11 season was 289.[6] The stadium is also occasionally used for international matches, such as a 2010 friendly between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.[7]

In 2013 the stadium was renamed in Gernot Langes stadium in honour of the 70th birthday of the longtime president Gernot Langes.[8]

The stadium does not currently meet Bundesliga suitability criteria and therefore redevelopment work has been planned to create a modern, 6,000 capacity stadium by the summer of 2023. During this period, the club will use the Tivoli Stadium in Innsbruck.

Achievements edit

Current squad edit

As of 17 January 2024[9]

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 Paul Schermer
3 DF   AUT David Gugganig
4 MF   AUT Valentino Müller
5 DF   AUT Felix Bacher
6 DF   AUT Lukas Sulzbacher
7 FW   AUT Luca Kronberger (on loan from Sturm Graz)
8 FW   MLI Mahamadou Diarra
9 FW   SVN Nik Prelec (on loan from Cagliari)
10 MF   DEN Bror Blume
11 FW   POL Aleksander Buksa (on loan from Genoa)
13 GK   AUT Benjamin Ozegovic
14 MF   AUT Alexander Ranacher
17 MF   AUT Johannes Naschberger
18 FW   AUT Denis Tomic
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW   AUT Justin Forst
20 MF   AUT Cem Üstündag
21 FW   AUT Yannick Vötter
22 DF   AUT Osarenren Okungbowa
23 MF   AUT Stefan Skrbo
25 GK   GER Ferdinand Oswald
26 DF   CRO Dominik Štumberger
27 DF   AUT David Jaunegg
28 MF   AUT Thomas Geris
30 MF   AUT Matthäus Taferner
40 GK   CZE Adam Stejskal
44 DF   GER Kofi Schulz
98 MF   SVN Sandi Ogrinec

Club Officials edit

Position Staff
Manager   Thomas Silberberger
Assistant Manager   Martin Švejnoha
Goalkeeper Coach   Hermann Steinlechner
Athletic and Rehabilitation Coach   Andreas Gerg
Video Analyst   Sebastian Ungerank
Team Doctor   Gregor Unterberger
  Clemens Burgstaller
Physiotherapist   Anja Pölzl
  Patrick Grassnig
Team Manager   Stefan Köck
Kitman   Matthias Peters
Busdriver   Servet Sisman

Manager history edit

Logos edit


See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Club website official data (German)". Regionalliga.at. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Austria Final League Tables (First and Second Level)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  3. ^ Geiler, Christoph (2 June 2019). "Aufsteiger Wattens: Eine graue Maus mit Potenzial". kurier.at (in German).
  4. ^ "Alles Logo bei der WSG". WSG Tirol. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. ^ "WSG Wattens club profile". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Austrian Regional League West 2010–11 season attendance statistics". Regionalliga.at. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Nigeria World Cup warm-up venues confirmed". BBC Sport. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  8. ^ Website of WSG Wattens (German)
  9. ^ "Kader" [Squad] (in German). WSG Tirol. Retrieved 26 August 2022.

External links edit