F.C. Red Bull Salzburg is a football club from Salzburg that plays in the Austrian Bundesliga. The club was known as SV Austria Salzburg until 2005, when the club was bought by the Red Bull Company. They renamed the club and changed the colours from the traditional violet to red and white. Also, the company's logo was added. The club runs two academies in Ghana and in Brazil. Their home stadium is the Red Bull Arena which was opened in 2003 and was renovated for the 2008 Euro.
History
SV Austria Salzburg
The club was formed on September 13, 1933 by the unification of the cities two clubs: FC Rapid Salzburg and FC Hertha Salzburg.
In 1952-53 they reached the A-Liga for the first time, the highest division of Austrian football then, beating Kapfenberger SV in the play-offs. They played there for 3 seasons but were relegated in 1959. To stay in the league they signed Erich Probst, who was the second best scorer in the FIFA World Cup 1954. In 20 matches he scored 14 goals, which helped Salzburg stay in the league. He was also the first player of SV Austria who played for the Austrian national football team.
The next years were characterized by ups and downs. The first success was being second in the league in the 1971-72 season. This year was also their first year of playing in the UEFA Cup. The same year they made the Lehener Stadion their homeground. Two years later, in 1974, they reached the Austrian Cup final for the first time. However, the lost to FK Austria Wien 3-2 on global.
The best years of the club were between 1990 and 1997. In these years, the club reached the championship three times, played in the UEFA Champions League and played in the 1994 UEFA Cup final versus Inter Milan. They won their first Austrian Bundesliga title the same year, and the next year too. Their first Champions League in 1994 saw them reach the group stage, however, they were eliminated after finishing in third place out of four. In 2005 the Red Bull Company bought the club because the owners were having problems with money. Some traditional fans left the club and started a new club under the old name SV Austria Salzburg. Ever since 2005, the club has been named FC Red Bull Salzburg.
FC Red Bull Salzburg
In 2005 the Red Bull Company bought the club because the owners were having problems with money. Some traditional fans left the club and started a new club under the old name SV Austria Salzburg. Ever since 2005, the club has been named FC Red Bull Salzburg. One of the aims of the new owners was to form a team which can play in the UEFA Champions League regularly. This was not reached but the new club was nevertheless successful. In the national league they reached four titles and were four times second. In 2008, they beat FC Banants of Armenia 10-0 on aggregate as part of qualification for the 2008-09 Europa League. In the 2009-10 Europa League the club won their group with 6 victories over Villarreal CF, SS Lazio and Levski Sofia. In the Round of 32 they lost versus Standard Lüttich. Also the next two Euro League group stages were reached. In the 2011–12 Europa League they got second in the group stage behind Athletic Bilbao. Although they lost 1-8 on aggregate to Metalist Kharkiv in the Round of 32, they beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 in the group stages.
In the 2013–14 season the team was very successful: They came in first place in the league and got to the round of 16 of the Europa League. In the Europa League, the club won all 6 of their group stage matches. Then they beat AFC Ajax 6-1 on aggregate in the round of 32, but unfortunately lost 1-2 to Basel in the round of 16. In the 2017–18 Europa League, Salzburg reached the semi-finals where they lost to Olympique de Marseille 2-3 on aggregate. They had also beaten Lazio, Borussia Dortmund, and Real Sociedad.
In the 2019-20 season Salzburg reached for the first time the Championsleague group stage. They played versus Liverpool F.C., S.S.C. Napoli and K.R.C. Genk. They reached the 3rd place with seven points. In the following round of 32 in the Euroleague they lost versus Eintracht Frankfurt 3:6. The next season they had to play a playoff-match versus Maccabi Tel-Aviv. With a 5:2 Salzburg qualified for the group stage and played against FC Bayern München, Atletico Madrid and Lok Moskau. As 3rd they played in the Euroleague versus Villareal but lost. In the 2021-22 season they were qualified versus Brøndby IF (4:2). In the group stage they played versus Sevilla F.C., Lille OSC and VfL Wolfsburg. As 2nd they were qualified for the Round of 16 for the first time in club history. There they lost versus FC Bayern München. (Home:1-1, Away: 1-7)
In the Championsleague group stage 2022-23 they played versus Chelsea, AC Milan and Dinamo Zagreb. They reached the 3rd place and played in the Europa Leage play off versus the later finalist AS Roma (1-0, 0-2). In the league they reached the 10th championtitel in a row. So they were qualified again for the UEFA Champions League. In the Cup they lost in the quarterfinals versus SK Sturm Graz. This team was also a hard opponent in the league.
On 19 July 2023 it was offialy announced that sporting director Christoph Freund left the club after 17 years and moved to FC Bayern München. [1] On 28 July Jaissle was released from office because of negotiations with the Saudi club Al-Ahli SFC shortly before the start of the championship. In a press conference on July 31, 2023, Gerhard Struber was introduced as the new head coach. He received a two-year contract. He was a coach at the Red Bull Football Academy and at FC Liefering for eight years earlier. He has already worked once for Salzburg as an assistant coach. His contract was terminated in April 2024. [2] Onur Cinel, the coach of FC Liefering, took over the coaching position until the end of the season. After 10 titels in a row RB Salzburg finished at the second place.
On 15 May 2024 it was announced that Pepijn Lijnders will be coach for the next three seasons. He was a former assistance coach for Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool FC. [3]The team was only in fifth place in the league at the winter break, ten points behind league leaders SK Sturm Graz. As a result, Lijnders was dismissed in December 2024. [4] With an average points of 1.64, he had the worst points average of all 14 Red Bull coaches at that time.
FC Red Bull Salzburg (women)
With the 2023/24 season, FC Red Bull Salzburg will enter women's football .As first step, a U16 team will start championship at Bergheim. There will be a cooperation with FC Bergheim because there were good structures and several years of experience in women's football. [5]
On 4 August 2023 the girls played their first official match versus LASK. The score was 5:0. A U20 team was formed in the 2024-25 season. The team plays in the Future league. In December 2024, it was announced that from the 2025/26 season, the women's division of FC Bergheim would compete in the Austrian Bundesliga as FC Red Bull Salzburg Women. [6]
Supporters
After the Red Bull take over of SV Austria Salzburg some group of fans were unhappy because the new club has other colours and did not accept the history of the club. After some negotiations these fans left the club and founded a new one under the name SV (Sportverein) Austria Salzburg. The new club is playing in the Regionalliga West
In the meantime Red Bull Salzburg has 67 official fan clubs all over Austria.[7]
Social media
On Social Media the club has over one million followers.
The Red Bull Football and Icehockey Academy is the training center for the junior teams of FC Red Bull Salzburg and the EC Red Bull Salzburg. It was built from 2012 to 2014.It has training opportunities for 200 footballers and 200 icehockey players. You can find six football field and one indoor field.[13] 120 footballers are in the boarding school. The Academy is connected with five schools. The principle of the Academy is 51% education and 49% sport.[13]
The Academy has 8 youth teams (from U7 to U14) and three Academy teams (U15, U16, U18) which are playing in the Toto Jugendliga.