Ernst Happel, one of the big names in football and Innsbruck. Ernst Happel was born on November 19, 1925 and died on November 14 in Innsbruck. Ernst Happel coached FC Swarovski Tirol from 1987 to 1991. vfrom January 1992 until his death in November 1992 the Austrian national team.

INNSBRUCK. In the game against Germany four days after his death (0:00 on November 18 at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg, where assistant coach Dietmar Constantini was tasked with temporarily looking after the Austrian team), his cap was on for the 90 minutes coaching bench. One of the many moments that remind us of the great personality of Ernst Happel. From 1942 to 1959 he was a player at SK Rapid Wien and RC Paris. From 1947 to 1958 he played for the Austrian national team. From 1962 Happel was employed as a coach at various clubs.

master trainer

In 1987, Happel took over as coach at FC Swarovski Tirol. “Happel mainly did cardio and strength training three times a day. But it paid off,” the team won the championship title in 1989 and 1990 as well as the 1989 cup. The British period players and features can tell a variety of anecdotes about the extraordinary personality.

In midsummer, coach Happel’s players had to do their rounds in long-sleeved tracksuits. When asked by an Innsbruck player why this was the case, Happel simply replied: “Because I say so”.

Heinz Feichtner explains on meinbezirk.at:

“At FC Tirol, as a travel companion, I made acquaintance at the first away game with coach Happel, he had the mineral water placed at the table in the dining room removed because the players had to eat the soup first, dry cakes were also prescribed for dessert, which not everyone wanted !

Happel once eliminated the player Heinz Peischl from training because he had come with a bandage and was therefore not fit.” The “grantler” was a world-class expert in his knowledge of football. As a coach, he won a total of 18 titles with six teams in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria from 1958, earning him the honorary title of “World Champion”.

Legendary own goal

In 1954 Ernst Happel traveled to Switzerland with the national team. On the way there, the team will play a test match in Innsbruck against an Arlberg team. At first, coach Frühwirth only lets the B team run up. But loud protests and beer bottles misused as projectiles by the Tyrolean audience force Frühwirth to send his stars onto the field. The national team quickly takes a 15-0 lead when Happel shoots a wonderful own goal from a distance of 20 meters while turning. Later he justifies himself that he just wanted to try a “turning shot”.

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