Bundesliga in view, daily newspaper Junge Welt, March 7, 2024

Schubert/ Union ’99 Ultrá Salzburg, the stadium: “SV Austria Salzburg”

Old problem: Austria Salzburg supporters are calling for a “stadium solution now!” on November 5, 2022.

There are local council and mayoral elections in Salzburg on Sunday. In the 2023 state elections, the KPÖ achieved a brilliant 21.5 percent in the city of Salzburg. Top candidate Kay-Michael Dankl is given a good chance of moving into a runoff election for the mayor’s office on Sunday. His competitors: Florian Kreibich, deputy of the previous incumbent Harald Preuner (both ÖVP), and Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ). A sports policy issue has become an important factor: Where should the future venue of SV Austria Salzburg be?

The traditional purple club was founded in 1933, beat Eintracht Frankfurt and Karlsruhe SC on the way to the UEFA Cup final in 1994 and then became Austrian champions three times. Red Bull bought it in 2005, changed the name and colors, whereupon the fan scene re-founded the club in the top division.

Now the jump back into professional football should be successful – but the infrastructure is missing. On Monday evening, the board wrote to the club members: “We have just submitted all documents relating to the admission process (‘license’) for the second Bundesliga on time.” However, the club lacks an adequate venue. The stadium in Maxglan is to be rebuilt, but it will only have space for 2,000 spectators. The alternative stadium is in Steyr, over 100 kilometers away.

When they played against Red Bull in the cup for the first time in September, the alternative stadium in the Salzburg suburb of Grödig was bursting at the seams: 5,000 spectators came, including politicians of all stripes. They were milling about in the VIP club, only Dankl was sitting behind the goal. In a video he drew attention to the stadium problem.

Because there are a lot of votes to be had at Austria: the city has 112,000 eligible voters. Around 65,000 to 70,000 people are expected to cast their votes on Sunday. Therefore, according to current estimates, Austria supporters could make up around ten percent of the result. Moritz Grobovschek, founder of the influential fan club “Tough Guys Salzburg 1992,” also believes this: “Salzburg is a purple city.” The stadium is close to people’s hearts: “It will be a reason for some people to vote, for the future to have a positive influence on Austria.«

Dankl and the KPÖ have long discussed the issue in Austria’s interests: they support a new stadium including living space at the exhibition center. ÖVP candidate Kreibich, on the other hand, would like to stay in the small Maxglan long-term. SPÖ man Auinger wants Austria to play in Grödig. Austria President Claus Salzmann is against a move: “I’m not taking the city club out of Salzburg,” he explained on Tuesday jW. Grödig’s non-party mayor Herbert Schober is also against the project: “If I do that, I will lose the elections,” he is said to have said to Salzmann.

The only long-term future for the fans is a new stadium: “The goal has to be to get back into the Bundesliga. What do you want with Maxglan?” says Alexander Salvatore, lead singer of the “Curva Viola”. jW. He doesn’t want to give any election recommendations: Ultras don’t get involved in politics, he says. He would like to see the future mayor “carefully examine the stadium project.”

The ÖVP recently jumped on the bandwagon: “The biggest Austria supporter in the last few months was Preuner,” says Salzmann. A reaction to the KPÖ: »Without Dankl this would not have become an issue. We have to be very grateful for that,” emphasizes Grobovschek: “If things get tight, Austria’s votes could be a game changer.”

No matter who wins on Sunday, there will be very few Austria fans at the election parties: from 4 p.m. in a bar in Maxglan there will be discussions on how to set the course for the return to professional football economically and structurally. In terms of sport, you are prepared: before the start of the spring season you are in first place. What political support they can count on in the future could already be clear at the start of the meeting. Polling stations close at 4 p.m.