On Thursday, November 2nd, the second largest city of Austria, Graz, will see its second soccer derby in the last 16 years, in the Austrian cup tournament. Sturm Graz, currently leaders of the Austrian Bundesliga and Europa League starters, face GAK (Graz Athletic Sports Club), the city's oldest club, its first one to win a national title, and currently on the verge of returning to the 1st tier.
This episode hits close to home: 20 years ago, in elementary school, I attended my first Sturm Graz game. Sturm was fighting relegation that season. My dad, a life long fan, took me. I went in as a neutral, and went out mesmerized - not only by the game, but even more so by what went on in the stands, the sights, the smells, the language and the social and cultural prism in the old, crammed Sturm ground. Last Fall, the first derby in 15 years was on, again in the cup. I was in Austria at the time, and gathered at Sturm’s old ground before the game, with thousands of fellow supporters and one of today's guests. You can find some photos here. (We won the actual derby 1-0 )
Two guests will help me walk through the history of both clubs, especially the drama and bankruptcies of the last 20 years, the culture and vibe that each club has, the rivalry, and also what they share in common. Fabio Schaupp is a soccer professional. A lifelong GAK fan and former player, he is currently the sporting director of Austrian 3rd league team FC Weiz. Peter K. Wagner is the chief editor of Graz’s street newspaper, the Megaphon, also a football journalist, and a lifelong fan of Sturm. Together, they produce a wonderful and funny and insightful weekly podcast on the vibe of the Austrian 1st league.
HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Graz Derby 2022, fans in action (Youtube)
Sturm Fans compilation (Youtube)
GAK Fans in the 3rd league (Youtube)
Graz Derby statistics, German Wikipedia
Graz Tourism: book your soccer vacation now ;)
The Guardian (2016), “Why Avant Garde Graz is Vienna’s Cooler Little Sister”
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Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind
Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/