Women's football in Austria before the Second World War

Women's football in Austria before the Second World War gives an overview of women's football in Austria before the Second World war.

Photos of female footballers can be found as early as 1905. Women have been involved in football since then but without media attention. ^[1]In 1923, the newspaper Der Montag invited women to trial training sessions. 160 female players responded to the call. Although this initiative soon faded, there are still references to women playing football in the 1920s. In Vienna, the First Viennese Women's Football Club Diana was founded in 1924. It existed only a short time.

Women footballers regularly faced misogynistic prejudices from journalists and officials. They rejected their sport for supposedly moral reasons or deemed women physically unsuitable. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB), implementing a FIFA directive, prohibited its member clubs from renting their pitches to women's teams. ^[2] Only three pitches were available for women's soccer:Tschechisches-Herz-Platz, Donaufelder-Platz and Schafbergplatz. ^[3] Officials from men's clubs were forbidden from being involved with women's teams.

In 1934, the sports newspaper "Sport-Telegraf" once again announced the founding of women's football clubs. The first was called 1. Damen-Fußball-Club "Kolossal" (Ladies' Football Club "Colossal"). They were renamed DFC Wien. They trained under the guidance of professional cyclist Ferry Dusika. The first match took place in October. Matthias Sindelar kicked off the game in front of over 3,000 spectators. Other clubs named themselves after their counterparts, such as Austria or Rapid, but also Vindobona or Tempo. ^[4]

Despite all prejudices the Damen Fußballunion (DFU) was founded in 1935. Franz Holzer, the coach of DFC Wien, became chairman, and Edith Klinger, the founder of the 1st Vienna DFC, later renamed DFC Tempo, became his deputy. ^[5] From it women's football clubs emerged as branch clubs. In 1936, the DFU also organized its first championship, which was won by the Damenfußballclub (DFC) Austria. At this time Austria was the only country in the world with its own women's championship. ^[6]At the end of September 1936, the successful club also became the first Austrian women's team to play abroad. They played against the women's football team "Sparta" in Brno.^[7] DFC Austria was able to defend its title in the following championship in 1937. An attempt to establish a corresponding women's national team failed. With the National Socialist occupation of Austria in March 1938, women's football was finally forbidden. The championship season of 1938 could not be completed.

Media coverage shows that only a few newspapers reported on women's football regularly and in detail. All the others reported negatively, or, much more frequently, not at all. Even between 1935 and 1938, most newspapers didn't consider women's football worthy of reporting. Only the Illustrierte Kronenzeitung reported on it in detail. She presented match reports and announced meetings. She also criticized the Austrian Football Association's (ÖFB) attitudeon towards women's soccer. ^[8]

• DFC Hertha Wien withdrew in September 1936. Their place and results were taken over by DFC Austria Wien 1b.
• DFC Lichtental was renamed DFC Vienna in November 1936.
• DFC Schwarzweiß withdrew in September 1936. Their place was taken over by DFC Lichtental 1b. This club was renamed DFC Vienna 1b in November 1936.
• The venues were limited to a few locations in Vienna and other federal states. The Austrian Football Association did not provide the women with any sports fields.

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The following teams wanted to participate in the championship. The competition was banned by the National Socialists in August 1938. It is unknown whether any matches had already taken place by then. ^[35]