Footballers hope for more fan volume
Sports
Since this season, the American footballers of the Salzburg Ducks have been in the top Austrian league. They are hoping for a new venue in Salzburg- Liefering to ensure that the fan noise at their home games is befitting their status. Because now in Maxglan it is often said to be “quiet”.
“On average, a good 600 fans come to the Salzburg Ducks’ home games at the moment, more when the weather is nice,” says club chairwoman Christine Gappmayer. The Ducks are currently using the football home ground of Austria Salzburg in the Maxglan district, the Max Aicher Stadium.
But this venue is not a permanent solution. According to Ducks chairwoman Gappmayer, exuberant football parties are not welcomed or heard at the stadium neighbors. Loud home fans are part of the American football game: “When our defense is in place, the visitors make noise so that the opponent’s quarterback doesn’t hear anything. Of course, that only partially works for us because you’re never allowed to be as loud as in America.” The Ducks home games have always been on Sunday afternoons this season. There is a large housing estate in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
“All the football flair” in a new home
However, Gappmayer is hoping for an improvement in this situation in the foreseeable future: “If we have our own home base in Liefering – which is now being planned for next year – then you can experience all this football flair even better. There’s always something going on at a football game, it’s an event for the whole family.”
First win of the season last Sunday
In terms of sport, the Ducks have now arrived in the Austria Football League (AFL): Last Sunday there was a 35:20 win against the traditional Grazer Giants club: “Every game can be a lucky bag. It has been shown that climbers in the AFL win, that teams that have been in the AFL for years have struggled,” says Chairwoman Gappmayer. “We’ve lost three times this season, really close – once with 20 seconds to go, unlucky against the Vienna Vikings. The fact that we even have a chance against such big teams shows us that we are on the right track.”
The promoted team from Salzburg still had to learn the hard way in the first games of the season against the top teams that have been playing in the AFL for years: “They are perhaps more hardened. A player has the ball – and then the ball is not hit so vehemently from Division 1 or 2,” said Gappmayer. “The (top teams, note) have been training for years. That was an experience for us where you say: We have to get better at that.” The next opportunity to do so is next Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the home game against the Steelsharks Traun.