Extreme Football Tourism: AUSTRIA: Fussballsektion Zwettl (1945-1947) / SC Zwettl (1947-2008) / SC Zwettl (B) (2008-)

Zwettltal-Stadion, Zwettl (B ground of SC Zwettl, formerly Fussballsektion Zwettl / A ground of SC Zwettl)

Austria, state: Lower-Austria

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1939 / The first attempt is made at founding a football club in Zwettl, with Karl Prinz, Fritz Hampl, Karl Gründer, Johann Prinz, and projected coach Leopold Schilcher being among the group of people trying to get a club off the ground. Due to the club not finding a pitch, however, the plans do not come to fruition. Later that year, with the outbreak of World War II, many potential football players in Zwettl are called up by the Wehrmacht – and, in those circumstances, the foundation of a club is delayed.
1945 / After World War II, with the Austrian Republic being founded anew, the time has finally arrived for the foundation of a sports club in Zwettl, with handball and football being the two chosen sports. The football branch of the club, Fussballsektion Zwettl, is founded by Leopold Schilcher and Johann Bachinger. The club’s first chairman is the local pharmacist, Josef Schüller. Joining the Lower-Austrian Football Association (NÖFV), Fussballsektion Zwettl is placed in Gruppe Waldviertel for the 1945-46 season. The club’s ground is situated in the Zwettl valley, in fact the location of the modern-day Zwettltal-Stadion, although the original pitch was laid out in 1945 at a 45-degree angle compared to the current situation.
1947 / Fussballsektion Zwettl is absorbed into Sportclub (SC) Zwettl, a sports club with branches for football, handball, table-tennis, chess, motor sports, and winter sports.
1948 / Achieving its first tangible success, SC Zwettl clinches the title in NÖFV’s 2. Division Waltviertel, thus winning promotion to the 1. Division Waldviertel.
1951 / Champions in the 1. Division Waldviertel, 1 point ahead of runners-up USC Litschau, SC Zwettl wins promotion to the NÖFV 2. Liga North-West. The spell at this level is short-lived, though, with the club dropping back after just one season in 1952.
1955 / As runners-up in the 1. Division Waldviertel, finishing 1 point behind champions SC Amaliendorf, SC Zwettl manages a return to the NÖFV 2. Liga North-West. Yet again, though, the club is unable to hold its own at this level, dropping back again in 1956. In the following years, the club drops back further into the 2. Division Waldviertel.
1965 / Clinching the title in the 2. Division Waldviertel, 5 points ahead of closest followers SV Hoheneich, SC Zwettl manages a return to the NÖFV 1. Division Waldviertel.
1966 / A start is made on the reconstruction of the ground in the Zwettl Valley, with the works being overseen by a local architect, Georg Feßl.
1970 / Inauguration of the new Zwettltal-Stadion, with the pitch being laid out in the direction, which it still has today. A small covered stand has been added to the set-up, while the pitch is now surrounded by a proper set of fencing.
1974 / Following a severe flooding, with the Zwettl River ravaging the ground, the stadium has to undergo a thorough renovation. While the works are ongoing, SC Zwettl has to groundshare with USC Schweiggers.
1978 / Champions in the 1. Division Waldviertel, 5 points ahead of closest rivals SCU Nondorf, SC Zwettl accedes to the NÖFV Unterliga Nordwest-Waldviertel, the seventh tier of Austria’s league pyramid.
1980 / Winning the title in the NÖFV Unterliga Nordwest-Waldviertel, 1 point ahead of ASV Schrems, SC Zwettl wins promotion to the Oberliga West – which, due to a reorganisation of Austria’s league system, is now the fifth level of the league pyramid.
1981 / In a nailbiter finish, SC Zwettl manages to win the title in its first season in the Oberliga West, obtaining an equal number of points as SC Amaliendorf, but with a slightly better goal difference (+31 vs. +30). As such, the club wins its second consecutive promotion, acceding to the 2. Lower-Austrian State League (2. Niederösterreichische Landesliga), the fourth tier of Austria’s football pyramid, for the first time.
1982 / A severe flooding of the Zwettl River ravages the Zwettltal-Stadion once again.
1983 / Clinching the title in the 2. Lower-Austrian State League, 7 points ahead of closest rivals ASK Ybbs, SC Zwettl wins promotion to the 1. Lower-Austrian State League, the third tier of the Austrian football pyramid, for the first time.
1984 / SC Zwettl wins the Lower-Austrian State Cup.
1985 / Finishing in third place in the 1. Lower-Austrian State League, SC Zwettl wins promotion to the Regionalliga Ost (Eastern Regional League) along with VfB Mödling, VS St. Pölten, SC Tulln, and 1. Wiener Neustädter SC; after a reshuffle of the league pyramid, the Regional League is now the third division of Austrian football. Also in 1985, following the completion of the works started after the 1982 flooding, the thoroughly renovated Zwettltal-Stadion is inaugurated with a gala match against Austrian champions FK Austria (Memphis) Wien on the occasion of SC Zwettl’s fortieth anniversary (att. 3,000). In the renovation works, the stand dating back to 1970 has been replaced by a much bigger construction, offering a place to some 800 spectators – this is the stand still gracing the ground today.
1987 / In the best season in club history, SC Zwettl finishes as runners-up in the Regionalliga Ost, 8 points behind champions VSE St. Pölten, which is the only club to win promotion to the 2. Division.
1994 / A new clubhouse is added to the set-up at the Zwettltal-Stadion.
1996 / Having played in the Regionalliga Ost for eleven seasons, SC Zwettl now finishes in fourteenth place in that division, thus dropping back into the 1. Lower-Austrian State League along with Floridsdorfer AC (FAC), SV Sigleß, and bottom club ISS Admira Landhaus.
1999 / Champions in the 1. Lower-Austrian State League, 3 points ahead of closest rivals (and former top flight club) Kremser SC, SC Zwettl manages a return to the Regionalliga Ost.
2002 / In the Regionalliga Ost, SC Zwettl finishes in second-last place, falling 1 point short of Kremser SC, which stays up in this division. As such, SC Zwettl descends into the State League along with bottom club ASK Baumgarten. In August 2002, the Zwettltal-Stadion is completely destructed following a horrible flooding of the Zwettl River. It takes more than a year before the ground is ready for use again.
2005 / Coached by Helmut Lamatsch, SC Zwettl conquers the title in the 1. Lower-Austrian State League, finishing 1 point ahead of closest followers ASK Schwadorf. As such, the club commences its third spell in the Regionalliga Ost, the Austrian third division.
2006 / Following two more floodings in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006, Zwettl’s town-council takes the decision to build SC Zwettl a new stadium in a safer environment, in the hills of Edelhof, some 4km to the east of Zwettl proper. Gerhard Mitterberger’s architectural firm is commissioned to design a clubhouse and a stand for the new stadium. The project is partly financed by the Lower-Austrian Football Association.
2008 / On August 1st, 2008, the Sportanlage Edelhof is officially inaugurated. The new ground sports a covered stand integrated into the clubhouse, offering a seat to some 600 spectators – with total capacity of the ground estimated at 2,000. While first team football moves to this new ground, the Zwettltal-Stadion in Zwettl proper has remained in use for lower team football and training sessions until the present day.
2024 / In mid-September 2024, mere weeks after I visited the ground (pictures below), another disastrous flooding ravaged the Zwettltal-Stadion.