Extreme Football Tourism: AUSTRIA: Krems-Steiner SC (1923-1924) / Kremser SC (1924-)

Sepp-Doll-Stadion, Krems an der Donau (Kremser SC, formerly Krems-Steiner SC)

Austria, state: Lower Austria

May 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1919 / Foundation of two football clubs in Krems an der Donau, the socialist Eisenbahnersportverein (ESV) Vorwärts Krems and, later that same year, 1. Kremser Sport-Club (SC). The latter joins the Lower Austrian Football Association. Vorwärts is destined for an existence in the lower divisions in Lower Austria, although having a spell in the Lower Austrian State League, the fourth level of Austria’s football pyramid, in the 1970s.
1920 / Stressing its origin as a club founded in the town of Stein, just to the west of Krems, 1. Kremser SC adapts its name to become Krems-Steiner SC.
1921 / Works get underway on the construction of a stadium for Krems-Steiner SC on an open field to the south-west of Krems’ public park, previously occupied by emergency barracks for the Austro-Hungarian army.
1923 / Inauguration of the Kremser Stadion. It is unclear where Krems-Steiner SC played in the four years previous to its move to this ground – and it is also unclear if ESV Vorwärts Krems became their groundsharers from the outset; it is clear that this club plays its football at the ground today.
1924 / Krems-Steiner SC changes its name to become Kremser SC.
1930 / Kremser SC wins the title in Division North of the Lower Austrian State League, going on to defeat Division South winner SC Bruck an der Mur (actually a club not from Lower Austria, but from Styria) to crown itself champion of Lower Austria. Subsequently, the club wins a set of play-off against the champions of the other states of Austria, eventually also seeing off FA Turnerbund Lustenau – the precursor of SC Austria Lustenau – in the final (8-5 aggr.), thus clinching the title of amateur football champions of Austria (with two professional divisions existing at the time).
1931 / Kremser SC wins the Lower Austrian State League for the second time.
1933 / Kremser SC wins the Lower Austrian State League for the third time.
1936 / Kremser SC wins the Lower Austrian Statal Cup.
1946 / Following the years of German occupation of Austria, during which Kremser SC played in the Bezirksliga Ost, the club is placed in Lower Austria’s Division 1 West.
1947 / Kremser SC descends into Division 2 West.
1950 / Kremser SC wins promotion to the reinstated Lower Austrian State League along with SC Siebenhirten and ÖMV Strasshof.
1954 / Winning the title in Lower Austria’s State League, 4 points ahead of closest followers SVgg Rottendorf, Kremser SC accedes to the Staatsliga B, the second tier of Austria’s football pyramid, for the first time. In its first season at this level, the club admirably holds its own, finishing in fifth place.
1956 / Runners-up in Staatsliga B, 2 points behind champions Wiener AC, Kremser SC qualifies for a promotion play-off against Schwarz-Weiss Bregenz, the winner of the Arlbergliga, winning the encounter (4-2 aggr.) to accede to Staatsliga A, the top flight of the Austrian football pyramid, for the first time in club history. In the following season, the club finishes in a respectable ninth position – with the home game against record champions SK Rapid drawing a record crowd of over 10,000 to the Kremser Stadion.
1959 / Repeating its result of two years before, Kremser SC finishes in ninth place in Staatsliga A.
1960 / Finishing in twelfth place in Staatsliga A, 1 point ahead of WSV Donauwitz which descends into Staatsliga B along with bottom club SK Admira Wien, Kremser SC has to play a promotion-relegation play-off against FC Dornbirn 1913, the champion of that year’s Arlbergliga, losing the encounter (6-5 aggr.) and thus descending into the Regionalliga, the second tier of the Austrian football pyramid following the abolition of Staatsliga B.
1966 / Finishing fourteenth and last in Regionalliga East, Kremser SC drops back into Lower Austria’s State League, i.e. the third tier of Austria’s football pyramid.
1969 / The Kremser Stadion hosts the fourth edition of the International Fire Brigade Games.
1974 / Champions in Lower Austria’s State League, 3 points ahead of closest followers ASV Hohenau, Kremser SC manages a return to Regionalliga East, which meanwhile has become the third tier of the Austrian football pyramid.
1976 / Clinching the title in Regionalliga East, 6 points ahead of closest rivals Floridsdorfer AC, Kremser AC wins promotion to the Second Division.
1977 / Finishing second-last in the Second Division, Kremser SC drops back into the Regionalliga after just one season, along with Wolfsberger AC and Salzburger AK 1914.
1983 / Winning the title in Lower Austria’s State League, which had replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier of Austria’s football pyramid three years previously, Kremser SC qualifies for a promotion play-off against SV Neuburg, winning the encounter comprehensively (10-1 aggr.) to return to the Second Division after an absence of six years.
1985 / Kremser SC, officially called SC Sparkasse Krems for sponsorship reasons at the time, finishes in third place in the Second Division, only 3 points behind champions Salzburger AK 1914.
± 1986 / In a thorough renovation of the Kremser Stadion, the runway track around the pitch is removed, while new open terraces are built on three sides – with the main stand with its wooden seats remaining in place.
1988 / Kremser SC wins the regular Second Division season, but fails to accede to the Bundesliga in the promotion-relegation play-offs. Also in 1988, the club sensationally wins the Austrian cup, defeating powerhouse FC Swarovski Tirol on away goals in the final (3-3 aggr.) – no doubt the biggest success in club history. The club goes on to lose the Super Cup against SK Rapid after a penalty shoot-out (1-1 A.E.T.), while being eliminated in R1 of the Cup Winners’ Cup by East Germany’s FC Carl-Zeiss Jena (5-1 aggr.). For the 1988-89 season, legendary Austrian international striker Hans Krankl, 35 years old by then, joins Kremser SC from Wiener SC, but he just manages 5 matches (1 goal) before moving to SV Austria Salzburg the following year. Moreover, in 1988, the Kremser Stadion is officially renamed the Sepp-Doll-Stadion in memory of a former club chairman.
1989 / Kremser SC wins the regular Second Division season, going on to finish in fourth place in the promotion-relegation play-offs against seven other teams, including the bottom four of the Bundesliga, thus gaining promotion to the top flight of Austrian football after an absence of 29 seasons.
1990 / Striker Mario Kempes, part of Argentina’s squad which won the 1978 World Cup, joins Kremser SC from derby rivals VSE Sankt Pölten. Kempes goes on to play two seasons in Krems, scoring 7 goals in 39 matches before hanging up his boots in 1992 at the age of 38.
1992 / Having avoided the drop in the two previous seasons, Kremser SC now finishes in tenth place in the regular Bundesliga season, going on to finish in seventh place (of eight teams) in the promotion-relegation play-offs, leading to the club descending into the Second Division along with First Vienna FC 1894 and Donauwitzer SV Alpine.
1994 / With only two wins in the entire season, Kremser SC finishes bottom of the table in the Second Division, thus descending into the Regionalliga along with Favoritner AC and WSG Swarovski Wattens.
1995 / Finishing second-last in the Regionalliga East, Kremser SC suffers its second relegation in a row, dropping back into the State League, the fourth tier of Austria’s football pyramid, along with SC Eisenstadt, SR Donaufeld, and bottom club FC Stadlau.
2000 / Inauguration of Kremser SC’s
2001 / Winning the title in Lower Austria’s State League, Kremser SC manages a return to Regionalliga East.
2002 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Regionalliga East, Kremser SC avoids the drop by just 1 point at the expense of SC Zwettl.
2007 / Having spent several seasons in mid-table security in Regionalliga East, Kremser SC now finishes in fourteenth place, 5 points short of security, thus descending back to the State League level along with VfB Admira Wacker Mödling Amateure and SC Ritzing.
2009 / In one of the low points in club history, Kremser SC drops out of Lower Austria’s State League, descending into the Second State League (West).
2013 / The main stand of the Sepp-Doll-Stadion is equipped with plastic seats.
2014 / Winning the title in Lower Austria’s Second State League (West), Kremser SC manages a return to the fourth tier of the football pyramid. Also, in 2013 and 2014, the club manages a spell of 42 matches without defeat, thereby breaking Wiener SC’s 55-year-old record of 41 matches without defeat in one of Austria’s top-four divisions.
2015 / Officially taking on the name SC Steinertor Krems for sponsorship reasons, Kremser SC finishes in second place in Lower Austria’s State League behind champions ASK Ebreichsdorf. Moreover, the club wins Lower Austria’s Statal Cup for the first time since 1936.
2022 / Runners-up in Lower Austria’s State League, Kremser SC play a promotion-relegation play-off against SV Donau, winning the encounter due to a Kurt Starkl goal in added-on time – and thus returning to Regionalliga East after an absence of fifteen years.