LASK

LASK

Full name	Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub
Nickname(s)	Die Schwarz-Weißen (The Black-Whites), Die Laskler, Landstraßler, Athletiker
Founded	7 August 1908 (1908-08-07) as Athletiksportklub Siegfried
Ground	Raiffeisen Arena
Capacity	19,080
Owner	LASK GmbH
President	Siegmund Gruber
Head coach	Markus Schopp
League	Austrian Bundesliga
2023–24	Austrian Bundesliga, 3rd of 12
Website	http://www.lask.at/home/
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (German pronunciation: [lask] ), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of Austrian football. The club's colours are black and white. The women's team plays in the second highest division of Austrian women's football.

It is one of the few clubs of the country's higher divisions that, since coming into existence, never exhibited a sponsor in the official club name.

In 1965, the club became the first team outside Vienna to win the Austrian football championship, with this being its only league title to date. The club currently plays its home games at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

History

Historical chart of LASK league performance

In the winter of 1908, Albert Siems, head of the royal post-office garage at Linz, who had already been a member of an 1899-founded club for heavy athletics, Linzer Athletik Sportklub Siegfried, decided to establish a football club. At that time, the side already played in the black-and-white lengthwise-touched shirts.

The club's first name was Linzer Sportclub. During an extraordinary general meeting on 14 September 1919, the final change of name, to Linzer Athletik Sport-Klub (short form Linzer ASK) took place, its forerunner setting the example. Nevertheless, the public denomination of the team was largely LASK. The club first appeared in top-flight competition in the Gauliga Ostmark in 1940–41, coming last and being relegated. In 1949–50, LASK was promoted, becoming professional for the first time in its history. However, years in the top flight were tough, and the club was involved in a relegation battle most of the time, until it was finally relegated in 1953–54.

In 1957–58, LASK won the second division and was promoted again. In 1961–62, the club finished runner up to Austria Wien, their best position in history up to that time, and in 1962–63 they played their first cup final, losing 1–0 to Austria Wien. Two years later, LASK achieved its greatest success, winning the Austrian League in 1965. No club outside Vienna had ever won before. Additionally, the club won the Austrian cup that same year, completing a domestic double and becoming one of the only Austrian clubs to do so. In 1967, the club reached the cup final again, losing again to Austria Wien on a coin toss after extra time was played. Three years later the club reached the cup final again, losing to Wacker Innsbruck. The club spent most of the 70s in mid table, but were relegated in 1977–78, although achieving immediate promotion for the 1980–81 season.

In the 1985–86 UEFA Cup, the side beat European giants Internazionale Milan at home (1–0), on 23 October 1985, eventually bowing out 4–1 on aggregate (second round).

In 1995, the club slipped into a financial crisis, and filed for bankruptcy. The president fled to Ivory Coast with large chunks of money, leaving the club with severe debt, and forcing the sale of several key players. In May 1997, the club merged with city rivals FC Linz, and the new official name became LASK Linz, as officials wanted to bring out the city's name as a complement to the LASK designation, which had constituted itself as a brand name. The club name, colours, chairmen and members remained the same, effectively saving the club from dissolving. However, this merger angered many people, who believed that FC Linz were a more successful club than LASK. Curiously, just ten days before the merger, FC Linz beat LASK 3–0 in the city derby. For the next few years, the players that LASK took from FC Linz made a big part of the starting lineup.

Despite the financial struggles, the club still managed to steer away from relegation and qualify for the 1996 Intertoto Cup. In the Intertoto Cup, LASK had a great participation, finishing first in its group with no losses, with notable wins over Werder Bremen (3–1) and Djurgårdens (2–0). In the semi-finals, the club was eliminated 7–2 on aggregate by Rotor Volgograd. In the 1998–99 season they reached their fourth Austrian cup final, losing to Sturm Graz on penalties.

In 2000–01, the club was relegated, and at one point was close to being relegated to the third division. In August 2004, the club suffered an 8–0 home defeat to FC Kärnten. In 2007, after six years in the second division, they were promoted to the highest division again. However, just four years later, the club was relegated back to the second division, followed by relegation to the 3. Liga in 2012 due to a license withdrawal caused by bankruptcy. The club was taken over by a consortium of local entrepreneurs called "Friends of LASK" in December 2013. By this time the club was on the verge of being shut down, and the players received no salary. They could not afford the city stadium, so they moved to a stadium 50 km away. It was only because of the tremendous cohesion of the coach and the team that the club was able to keep the championship going at that time.

In the first season after the takeover, LASK finished first in the Regionalliga Central Division, and qualified for the promotion playoffs, but lost 5–0 on aggregate to FC Liefering and had to stay another season in the third division.

Promotion to the 2. Liga was secured on 5 June 2014 after a 2–1 victory on aggregate over Parndorf 1919 in front of 13,000 fans at the Linzer Stadion. On 21 April 2017, the club returned to the Bundesliga with six rounds to go after a 3–0 victory over Liefering. During this time, head coach Oliver Glasner and Vice President Jürgen Werner constructed a team with an unmistakable style of play.

In 2016, the club moved to Pasching after disagreements with the city council. In 2018, the club returned to the European competitions, but they were eliminated from the Europa league qualifiers after a 2–1 win against Beşiktaş in the second leg due to the away goals rule.

In the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, LASK had an excellent campaign, topping their group which consisted of European champions Sporting Lisbon and PSV Eindhoven. LASK began their campaign with a 1–0 win over Rosenborg, and later beat PSV 4–1, concluding their group stage campaign with a 3–0 home victory against Sporting on 12 December 2019. In the round of 32, LASK faced Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. The first leg finished 1–1, but in the second leg LASK had a stellar performance, winning 2–0 and qualifying to the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Manchester United with a 7–1 aggregate score. Although LASK were eliminated with a large score margin, this was their best European campaign and the club gained attention as an underdog after their victories against PSV and Sporting

On 24 February 2023, LASK officially opened their new stadium called Raiffeisen Arena in a victory against Austria Lustenau.

Logos

• 
  Logo of the Linz Sports Club (LSK) 1908–1919 on the jerseys.
• 
  Old logo until 2017
• 
  Old logo (2017–2023)
• 
  New logo since May 2023

In 2017, the club removed the "Linz" part of their name and returned it to LASK. The merger with FC Linz has long fallen apart and the club have now removed "Linz" from the name.

Players

Current squad

As of 14 August 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUT	Tobias Lawal
2	DF	USA	George Bello
3	DF	FIN	Tomas Galvez (on loan from Manchester City)
4	DF	UKR	Maksym Talovyerov
5	DF	GER	Philipp Ziereis
6	MF	NED	Melayro Bogarde
7	MF	AUT	Rene Renner
8	FW	NGA	Moses Usor
9	FW	CRO	Marin Ljubičić
10	MF	AUT	Robert Žulj (captain)
14	MF	KOS	Valon Berisha
16	DF	PAN	Andrés Andrade
17	DF	GER	Jerome Boateng
18	MF	SRB	Branko Jovičić

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	FW	FRA	Lenny Pintor
20	DF	POR	Tomás Tavares (on loan from Spartak Moscow)
21	MF	AUT	Ivan Ljubić
22	DF	MNE	Filip Stojković
23	FW	GHA	Ibrahim Mustapha
25	FW	FRA	Alexis Tibidi
26	DF	CRO	Hrvoje Smolčić (on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt)
27	FW	AUT	Maximilian Entrup
28	GK	AUT	Jörg Siebenhandl
29	FW	AUT	Florian Flecker
30	MF	AUT	Sascha Horvath
43	GK	AUT	Clemens Steinbauer
44	FW	FRA	Adil Taoui

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	MKD	Metodi Maksimov (at Aalesund until 31 December 2024)
—	FW	AUT	Elias Havel (at TSV Hartberg until 30 June 2025)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	AUT	Lukas Jungwirth (at Admira Wacker until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	GER	Lucas Copado (at Energie Cottbus until 30 June 2025)

Club officials

Position	Staff
President	Siegmund Gruber
Vice Presidents	Christoph Königslehner Barbara Niedermayr
Chief Financial Officer	Hans Jürgen Jandrasits
Sporting Director	Radovan Vujanović
Head Coach	Thomas Darazs
Assistant Head Coach	Maximilian Ritscher
First-Team Coach	Manfred Nastl
Goalkeeper Coach	Philip Großalber
Athletic Coach	Jan Kollmann
Video Analyst	Daniel Rozsa
Sports Coordinator	Dino Buric
Senior Team Doctor	Mag. Dr. Rainer Hochgatterer
Team Doctor	Dr. David Haslhofer Dr. Matthias Kirchmayr
Physiotherapist	Ivan Porobija Julia Berger Elisabeth Kasbauer
Masseur	Michael Spreitzer Vernes Sijak
Head of Physical Condition and Rehabilitation	Divan Augustyn
Kitman	Michael Foissner
Bus Driver	Gerhard Gruber
Team Manager	Thomas Gebauer

Historical list of coaches

As of 10 June 2023

• Georg Braun (1946–1952)
• Walter Alt (1950–1953)
• Ernst Sabeditsch (1953–1955)
• Josef Epp (1958–1960)
• Pál Csernai (1960–1962)
• Karl Schlechta (1962–1964)
• František Bufka (1965–1968)
• Vojtech Skyva (1969–1970)
• Wilhelm Kment (1970–1972)
• Otto Barić (1972–1974)
• Felix Latzke (1974–1976)
• Wilhelm Huberts (1976–1978)
• Wolfgang Gayer (1978)
• Laszlo Simko (1978)
• Adolf Blutsch (1978–1983)
• Johann Kondert (1983–1987)
• Adolf Blutsch (1987)
• Ernst Hložek (1987–1988)
• Ernst Knorrek (1988)
• Lothar Buchmann (1989)
• Adam Kensy (1989)
• Aleksander Mandziara (1989–1990)
• Erwin Spiegel (1990)
• Adolf Blutsch (1990)
• Ernst Weber (1990)
• Erwin Spiegel (1990–91)
• Helmut Senekowitsch (1991–1993)
• Dietmar Constantini (1993)
• Walter Skocik (1993–1995)
• Günter Kronsteiner (1995–1996)
• Max Hagmayr (1996)
• Friedel Rausch (1996–1997)
• Per Brogeland (1997–1998)
• Adam Kensy (1998, caretaker)
• Otto Barić (1998–1999)
• Marinko Koljanin (1999–2000)
• Johann Kondert (2000–2001)
• František Cipro (2001)
• Johann Kondert (2001)
• Dieter Mirnegg (2001–2002)
• Norbert Barisits (2003–2004)
• Klaus Lindenberger (2004)
• Werner Gregoritsch (2004–2006)
• Karl Daxbacher (2006–2008)
• Andrej Panadić (2008)
• Klaus Lindenberger (2008–2009)
• Hans Krankl (2009)
• Matthias Hamann (2009–2010)
• Helmut Kraft (2010)
• Georg Zellhofer (2010–2011)
• Walter Schachner (2011–2012)
• Karl Daxbacher (2012–2015)
• Martin Hiden (2015)
• Alfred Olzinger (2015)
• Oliver Glasner (2015–2019)
• Valérien Ismaël (2019–2020)
• Dominik Thalhammer (2020–2021)
• Andreas Wieland (2021–2022)
• Dietmar Kühbauer (2022–2023)
• Thomas Sageder (2023–2024)
• Thomas Darazs (2024–present)

Honours

League

• Austrian League
  • Winners (1): 1964–65
  • Runners-up: 1961–62, 2018–19
• Austrian Second Division
  • Winners (5): 1957–58, 1978–79, 1993–94, 2006–07, 2016–17

Cups

• Austrian Cup
  • Winners (1): 1964–65
  • Runners-up: 1962–63, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1998–99, 2020–21

European competition history

As of match played 24 October 2024

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1963–64	European Cup Winners' Cup	1		Dinamo Zagreb	1–0	0–1	2–2 c (po 1–1 (a.e.t.))
1965–66	European Cup	PR		Górnik Zabrze	1–3	1–2	2–5
1969–70	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1		Sporting CP	2–2	0–4	2–6
1977–78	UEFA Cup	1		Újpest	3–2	0–7	3–9
1980–81	UEFA Cup	1		Radnički Niš	1–2	1–4	2–6
1984–85	UEFA Cup	1		Östers IF	1–0	1–0	2–0
		2		Dundee United	1–2	1–5	2–7
1985–86	UEFA Cup	1		Baník Ostrava	2–0	1–0	3–0
		2		Inter Milan	1–0	0–4	1–4
1986–87	UEFA Cup	1		Widzew Łódź	1–1	0–1	1–2
1987–88	UEFA Cup	1		Utrecht	0–0	0–2	0–2
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group 6		Partick Thistle	2–2	—	2nd
				NK Zagreb	—	0–0
				Keflavík	2–1	—
				Metz	—	0–1
1996	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group 2		Djurgårdens IF	2–0	—	1st
				B68 Toftir	—	4–0
				Apollon Limassol	2–0	—
				Werder Bremen	—	3–1
		Semi-finals		Rotor Volgograd	2–2	0–5	2–7
1999–2000	UEFA Cup	1		Steaua București	1–3	0–2	1–5
2000	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Hapoel Petah-Tikva	3–0	1–1	4–1
		2R		FC Marila Pribram	1–1	2–3	3–4
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	2QR		Lillestrøm	4–0	2–1	6–1
		3QR		Beşiktaş	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2019–20	UEFA Champions League	3QR		Basel	3–1	2–1	5–2
		PO		Club Brugge	0–1	1–2	1–3
	UEFA Europa League	Group D		Sporting CP	3–0	1–2	1st
				PSV Eindhoven	4–1	0–0
				Rosenborg	1–0	2–1
		R32		AZ	2–0	1–1	3–1
		R16		Manchester United	0–5	1–2	1–7
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	3QR		DAC Dunajská Streda	7−0	—	—
		PO		Sporting CP	—	4−1	—
		Group J		Tottenham Hotspur	3–3	0–3	3rd
				Ludogorets Razgrad	4–3	3–1
				Antwerp	0–2	1–0
2021–22	UEFA Europa Conference League	3QR		Vojvodina	6–1	1–0	7–1
		PO		St Johnstone	1–1	2–0	3–1
		Group A		Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–1	1–0	1st
				Alashkert	2–0	3–0
				HJK	3–0	2–0
		R16		Slavia Prague	4–3	1–4	5–7
2023–24	UEFA Europa League	PO		Zrinjski Mostar	2–1	1–1	3–2
		Group E		Liverpool	1–3	0–4	4th
				Union Saint-Gilloise	3–0	1–2
				Toulouse	1–2	0–1
2024–25	UEFA Europa League	PO		FCSB	1–1	0–1	1–2
	UEFA Conference League	League phase		Djurgårdens	2–2	—
				Olimpija Ljubljana	—	0–2
				Cercle Brugge		—
				Borac Banja Luka	—
				Fiorentina	—
				Víkingur Reykjavik		—

UEFA Club Ranking

UEFA coefficient

As of 8 November 2024

Rank	Team	Points
67	Molde	28.500
68	SC Freiburg	28.000
69	LASK	27.500
70	Lyon	26.000
71	Dynamo Kyiv	23.500

External links

• Official website (in German)
• UEFA.com club profile
• EUFO.de club profile
• Weltfussball.de club profile (in German)
• Squad at FootballSquads
• NationalFootballTeams data
• LASK Linz at Football-Lineups.com
• Unofficial weblog about LASK (in German)