LASK


Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK or simply LASK, is an Austrian association football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of Austrian football. The club's colours are black and white. The women's team plays in the second highest division of Austrian women's football.
LASK was founded on 7 August 1908. In 1965, the club became the first team outside Vienna to win the Austrian football championship. This is also its only championship to date. The club currently plays its league fixtures at the Waldstadion in Pasching, but at the 14,000 capacity Linzer Stadion in UEFA competitions.

History

In the winter of 1908, Albert Siems, head of the royal post-office garage at Linz, who had already been a member of an 1899-founded club for heavy athletics, Linzer Athletik Sportklub Siegfried, decided to establish a football club. At that time, the side already played in the black-and-white lengthwise-touched shirts.
The club's first name was Linzer Sportclub. During an extraordinary general meeting on 14 September 1919, the final change of name, to Linzer Athletik Sport-Klub took place, its forerunner setting the example. Nevertheless, the public denomination of the team was largely LASK. The club first appeared in top-flight competition in the Gauliga Ostmark in 1940–41, coming last and being relegated.
LASK achieved its greatest success, in winning the Austrian League in 1965. No club outside Vienna had ever won before. Additionally, the club won the domestic cup that same year.
In 1985-86's UEFA Cup, the side beat European giants Internazionale Milan at home, on 23 October 1985, eventually bowing out 4–1 on aggregate.
In 1995, the official name became LASK Linz, as officials wanted to bring out the city's name as a complement to the LASK designation, which had constituted itself as a brand name. It is one of the few clubs of the country's higher divisions that, since coming in existence, never exhibited a sponsor in the official club name.
In 1996 Werder Bremen was beaten away in the UI Cup.
In 1997, due to public pressure, LASK Linz officially merged with city rivals FC Linz. The club name, colours, chairmen and members remained the same.
At the end of the 90s the club had great ambitions. However, the bank of the president slipped into insolvency and therefore the club also faced big financial problems. The president fled to the Côte d'Azur with a lot of cash and the club was on the verge of bankruptcy with several large debts. The club sold its training facilities and the best players. The result was a relegation to the Second Division but also financial consolidation.
In 2007, after a long time in the second division, they were promoted to the highest division again. They were title contenders until ten rounds before the end, but, due to a dispute about the extension of the coach's contract, they only finished 5th.
Relegation to the 3. Liga in 2012 was accompanied by imminent bankruptcy. The club was taken over by a consortium of local entrepreneurs called "Friends of LASK" in December 2013. By this time the club was on the verge of being shut down. The players received no salary. They could not afford the city stadium, so they moved to a stadium 50km away. It was only because of the tremendous cohesion of the coach and the team that the club was able to keep the championship going at that time.
After promotion to the 2. Liga, which was celebrated in front of 13,000 fans in the Linzer stadium, the club was promoted to the highest division again in the third year after the takeover. During this time the coach Oliver Glasner built up a new team with Vice President Jürgen Werner with an unmistakable style of play.
In 2018, the club were eliminated in qualifying for the Europa league after a 2-1 win in the second leg due to the away goals rule against Besiktas Istanbul.
In 2016, the club moved to Pasching after disagreements with the city council. They are due to return to the rebuilt Linzer stadium in mid-2022.

Logo

In 2017, the club removed the "Linz" part of their name, and returned it to LASK. The merger with FC Linz has long fallen apart, and the club have now removed "Linz" from the name.

Honours

Domestic

League

Austrian League
Austrian Second Division
Austrian Cup

Out on loan

Manager history

SeasonCompetitionRoundCountryClubHomeAwayAggregate
1963–64UEFA Cup Winners' Cup1Dinamo Zagreb1–00–12–2 c
1965–66European CupPRGornik Zabrze1–31–22–5
1969–70Inter-Cities Fairs Cup1Sporting Lisbon2–20–42–6
1977–78UEFA Cup1Újpest FC3–20–73–9
1980–81UEFA Cup1Radnički Niš1–21–42–6
1984–85UEFA Cup1Östers IF1–01–02–0
1984–85UEFA Cup2Dundee United1–21–52–7
1985–86UEFA Cup1Banik Ostrava2–01–03–0
1985–86UEFA Cup2Inter1–00–41–4
1986–87UEFA Cup1Widzew Lodz1–10–11–2
1987–88UEFA Cup1FC Utrecht0–00–20–2
1995UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 6Partick Thistle2–22nd
1995UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 6NK Zagreb0–02nd
1995UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 6Keflavík2–12nd
1995UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 6FC Metz0–12nd
1996UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 2Djurgårdens IF2–01st
1996UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 2B68 Toftir4–01st
1996UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 2Apollon Limassol2–01st
1996UEFA Intertoto CupGroup 2Werder Bremen3–11st
1996UEFA Intertoto CupSemi-finalsRotor Volgograd2–20–52–7
1999–00UEFA Cup1Steaua Bucuresti1–30–21–5
2000UEFA Intertoto Cup1RHapoel Petah-Tikva3–01–14–1
2000UEFA Intertoto Cup2RFC Marila Pribram1–12–33–4
2018–19UEFA Europa League2QRLillestrøm4–02–16–1
2018–19UEFA Europa League3QRBeşiktaş2–10–12–2
UEFA Champions League3QRBasel3–12–15–2
UEFA Champions LeaguePOClub Brugge0–11–21–3
UEFA Europa LeagueGroup DSporting CP3–01–21st
UEFA Europa LeagueGroup DPSV Eindhoven4–10–01st
UEFA Europa LeagueGroup DRosenborg1–02–11st
UEFA Europa LeagueR32AZ2–01–13–1
UEFA Europa LeagueR16Manchester United0–5
2020–21UEFA Europa League3QR