Wolfsberger AC

(Redirected from WAC St. Andra)

Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC entered a cooperation with SK St. Andrä, competing under the name WAC/St. Andrä during that period. The team is currently called RZ Pellets WAC for sponsorship reasons.

Wolfsberger AC
Full nameRiegler & Zechmeister Pellets Wolfsberger Athletik Club
Nickname(s)RZ Pellets WAC
Founded1931; 93 years ago (1931)
GroundLavanttal-Arena, Wolfsberg
Capacity7,300
OwnerDietmar Riegler and Otto Zechmeister
ChairmanDietmar Riegler
ManagerDietmar Kühbauer
LeagueAustrian Bundesliga
2023–24Austrian Bundesliga, 7th of 12
Websitehttps://www.rzpelletswac.at/
Current season

After having played the majority of its existence in the lower leagues, Wolfsberger AC finished their 2011–12 season as champions of the 2011–12 Austrian Football First League (now known as the "Second League", or "2. Liga") and earned promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history, in which they finished fifth at the end of the 2012–13 Austrian Football Bundesliga.

Wolfsberg finished third in the 2018–19 Austrian Football Bundesliga which qualified them for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage. They finished in fourth place in Group J of the UEFA Europa League in the 2019–20 season.

History

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Wolfsberger AC was founded by Adolf Ptazcowsky, Karl Weber, Hermann Maierhofer, Franz Hafner and Michael Schlacher in 1931. After spending the first thirty-seven years of its existence on lower tiers of the Austrian league pyramid, the club eventually achieved promotion to the Austrian Regional League, which was on the second tier of the pyramid at that time, in 1968. WAC stayed at this level, with one exception during the 1977–78 season, for the next seventeen years, establishing themselves as a mid-table side.

At the end of the 1984–85 season, Wolfsberger AC eventually dropped back to the third level. The club returned for two further second-level appearances during the 1988–89 and 1990–91 seasons, but was immediately relegated each time. In 1994, the club was a founding member of the reactivated Regional League as the third tier of the pyramid. After being in the promotion race for the first few years in the new league, strength of the club gradually declined and eventually led to relegation at the end of the 2001–02 season.

 
Historical chart of Worfsberger AC league performance

In 2007, WAC and neighbours SK St. Andrä decided to enter a cooperation. While both clubs remained as separate entities, they closely worked together on almost all aspects: "Central areas of both clubs like administration, management, economy, marketing, gastronomy, as well as the athletic section as the core (both the senior and junior teams) will be centrally administered from the newly created offices of WAC/St. Andrä at Wolfsberg."[citation needed] Since SK St. Andrä were playing at the Regional League, the team began at this level, from which it was promoted to the First League in 2010. At the end of the 2011–12 season, the cooperation secured promotion to the Bundesliga with one round of matches to go. Soon afterwards, the cooperation was dissolved; Wolfsberger AC thus competed as an independent club on the highest level of Austrian football for the first time in their history.

After their first year in the highest class they came in 5th. After the season manager Nenad Bjelica left the club and became manager of FK Austria Wien, the champion of the 2012–13 season. Slobodan Grubor replaced him but after weak performances in the new season he was replaced by Dietmar Kühbauer.

The team became known as 'RZ Pellets WAC' from the 2014–15 season, due to sponsorship.[1]

Wolfsberger AC qualified to the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage for first time in their history, after finishing third in the 2018–19 Austrian Football Bundesliga.[2] They were knocked in the last 32 after losing 8–1 on aggregate to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.[3]

Honours

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Domestic

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League

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European record

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Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 2Q   Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2–0 1–0 3–0
3Q   Borussia Dortmund 0–1 0–5 0–6
2019–20 UEFA Europa League Group J   Roma 1–1 2–2 4th out of 4
  Borussia Mönchengladbach 0–1 4–0
  İstanbul Başakşehir 0–3 0–1
2020–21 UEFA Europa League Group K   CSKA Moscow 1–1 1–0 2nd out of 4
  Dinamo Zagreb 0–3 0–1
  Feyenoord 1–0 4–1
R32   Tottenham Hotspur 1–4 0–4 1–8
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 3Q   Gżira United 0–0 4–0 4–0
PO   Molde 0–4 1–0 1–4

Current squad

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As of 3 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   AUT Lukas Gütlbauer
2 DF   SRB Boris Matić
3 DF   AUT Jonathan Scherzer
5 DF   CIV Cheick Mamadou Diabaté
7 MF   AUT Angelo Gattermayer
8 DF   AUT Simon Piesinger
9 FW   CIV Sankara Karamoko
10 FW   AUT Thomas Sabitzer
11 MF   AUT Thierno Ballo
12 GK   AUT Nikolas Polster
14 MF   AUT Pascal Müller
15 FW   AUT Michael Morgenstern
17 MF   GHA David Atanga
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   GEO Sandro Altunashvili
20 MF   SRB Dejan Zukić
21 GK   AUT David Skubl
22 DF   AUT Dominik Baumgartner
27 MF   NGA Chibuike Nwaiwu
31 DF   AUT Maximilian Ullmann
32 FW   AUT Markus Pink
34 MF   GHA Emmanuel Agyemang
37 DF   AUT Nicolas Wimmer
44 MF   AUT Ervin Omić
47 FW   SVN Erik Kojzek
77 MF   AUT Maximilian Scharfetter
97 MF   BIH Adis Jašić

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   AUT Tobias Gruber (on loan to SKU Amstetten) until 30 June 2025

Club officials

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Position Staff
President   Dietmar Riegler
Vice-president   Christian Puff
Manager   Dietmar Kühbauer
Assistant Manager   Manfred Nastl
First-Team Coach   Hannes Jochum
First-Team Goalkeeper Coach   Mario Krassnitzer
Fitness Coach   Hannes Sauerschnig
Athletic Coach   Marcel Kuster
Video Analyst   Christoph Schricker
Team Doctor   Anton Rossmann
  Torsten Lenart
  Bernhard Tatschl
Physiotherapist   Joseph Rainer
Masseur   Sasa Rodic
Marketing Staff   Michael Paier
Team Manager   Hannes Jochum
Manager   Markus Perchthaler
Sports Coordinator   Roman Stary

Managers

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References

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  1. ^ "Getting to know: WAC RZ Pellets | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". ChelseaFC.
  2. ^ "Nach historischem Erfolg: WAC sucht Coach und Stadion". SPOX (in German). 27 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Alli impresses as Spurs cruise through". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ m.b.H., STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft. "WAC setzt Trainer Kühbauer vor die Tür". Retrieved 4 September 2016.
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