Football in Austria

Football is a popular sport in Austria, second only to alpine skiing. The Austrian Football Association, the "ÖFB" ("Österreichischer Fußball-Bund"), was founded in 1904 and has been a member of FIFA since then.

Competitions

League system

The Bundesliga is the highest national league-club competition in Austria. It has ten teams. The second tier is the First Division ("Erste Liga"), which as of the 2006/7 season has twelve teams (up from ten the previous season). The third tiers are the regional leagues ("Regionalliga"), which are split into three geographical divisions: the East ("Regionalliga Ost"), which comprises teams from Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland; the Central ("Regionalliga Mitte"), featuring teams from Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria, and East-Tyrol; and the West ("Regionalliga West"), competed by teams from Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. The fourth tier is the state league ("Landesliga"), with the 2. Landesliga as the fifth tier in some states. Most states have 7 or 8 official tiers, but in some states (i.E. Vienna) unofficial tiers exist under the normal tiers. They are not organized by the ÖFB, but theoretically the champions of these tiers can promote to the offcial ÖFB-tiers.

Austrian Cup

European competition

The league champions go into qualification of UEFA Champions League; the runners-up go into the UEFA Cup qualification.

See also

* Austria national football team
* Austrian Bundesliga