Wednesday, 14 August 2024

AUSTRIA: ATUS Ferlach

Sportanlage Winkelgasse, Ferlach (ATUS Ferlach)

Austria, state: Carinthia = Karinthië

14 VIII 2024 / ATUS Ferlach - ASKÖ Köttmannsdorf 0-2 / Kärntner Liga (= AUT level 4)

Timeline
  • 1921 / Foundation of a sports club in Ferlach, which takes on the name Frei Turnerschaft (FT) Ferlach, which includes a football branch. Not long after, the club changes its name to become Arbeiter- Turn- und Sportverein (ATUS) Ferlach, but it is unknown in which year. From the outset, football was played at a pitch referred to locally as Dollich, because it was situated at the Dollichgasse. As its name makes clear, ATUS Ferlach was a club with a socialist origin – and the club is still a member of socialist sports association ASKÖ (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sport und Körperkultur in Österreich), which is one of three umbrella sports organisations – the other two being the Catholic Sportunion and the non-political ASVÖ.
  • 1953 / With the club’s history in the first sixty odd years of its existence not having been preserved properly, information is available that ATUS Ferlach finished in last place in the 1952-53 Carinthia State League, the highest regional level, dropping back into the 1. Klasse along with SV Feldkirchen.
  • ± 1955 / Having played its home matches in the first thirty odd years of its existence at the Dollich pitch, ATUS Ferlach now purchases a plot of land at Winkelgasse, moving its football activities to the pitch usually referred to nowadays simply as Sportanlage ATUS Ferlach. 
  • 1956 / Champions in the 1. Klasse B, ATUS Ferlach manages a return to the Carinthia State League, holding out at that level for no longer than one or two seasons before dropping back into what has meanwhile been renamed the Unterliga. No further information regarding results are available for the following thirty years, but it is clear that the club never rose to a level higher than Carinthia’s State League.
  • 1961 / Construction of the wooden stand still gracing the pitch at Winkelgasse today. Also in 1961, a second football club is founded in Ferlach, the Roman Catholic DSG (Diözesansportgemeinschaft) Ferlach, which settles at a ground at Unterbergen where it still plays its home matches today.
  • 1962 / Construction of the clubhouse at Winkelgasse (cp. photo 1 below)
  • 1988 / Having played at a lower level in the previous years, ATUS Ferlach now wins a tie-break match against WSG Radentheim (9-2), resulting in the club winning promotion to the Carinthia State League, the fourth level of Austria’s league pyramid.
  • 1991 / After three years at State league level, ATUS Ferlach drops back into the Unterliga.
  • 1993 / ATUS Ferlach manages a return to the Carinthia State League with coach Hans Schweiger. The decisive match at Sportanlage Winkelgasse is attended by 1,500 spectators. Also in or around 1993, the new club canteen, situated at the southern end of the pitch, is inaugurated.
  • 1996 / Finishing rock bottom in the Carinthia State League, 14 points behind ATSV Wolfsberg, the club second from bottom, ATUS Ferlach drops back into the Unterliga. Also in 1996, the club celebrates its 75th anniversary with a gala match against top division club Grazer AK.
  • 2001 / After an absence of five seasons, ATUS Ferlach manages a return to the Carinthia State League.
  • 2003 / Finishing second from bottom in Carinthia’s State League, ATUS Ferlach drops back into the Unterliga along with bottom club FC Welzenegg.
  • 2004 / Bouncing straight back, ATUS Ferlach wins promotion to the Carinthia State League.
  • 2009 / ATUS Ferlach drops back into the Unterliga after a spell in the State League (meanwhile renamed Kärntner Liga or ‘Carinthian League’) of five seasons.
  • 2011 / Winning the title in Unterliga Group East, 3 points ahead of SV Ruden, ATUS Ferlach returns to the Carinthia State League.
  • 2016 / Having managed fourth places in the Carinthia State League in 2014 and 2015, ATUS Ferlach now has the best season in its history; coached by Mario Verdel, the club wins the Carinthia State League title. Although entitled to promotion to the Regional League (Regionalliga), the third level of Austria’s league pyramid, the club chooses to stay in the State League to avoid losing attractive derby games and having to compete at too high a level. Instead, runners-up ATSV Wolfberg, which had finished 3 points behind ATUS, make the leap to the Regional League. At the start of the new season, ATUS Ferlach takes part in the Austrian Cup for the first time, bowing out in R1 against SC Austria Lustenau (1-6).
  • 2017 / In the club’s second consecutive Austrian Cup participation, ATUS Ferlach is eliminated in R1 by FC Gleisdorf 09 (1-3).






























All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

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