1920s: Men's football as a mass phenomenon

In April 1923, a main topic of conversation in Vienna was Austria’s win over Italy in the international football match. Far more than the 80,000 people allowed in the stadium wanted to see the match, the natural slope on the Hohe Warte Stadium began to sink, and numerous fans were injured. Within a few years, football had become a commercialised mass phenomenon, allowing big clubs and top players to earn well. Increased leisure time, coupled with a revolutionary momentum had the working class streaming en mass to football, one of the few affordable pleasures.

As of 1924, a professional football business came into existence in Austria - Austria meaning Vienna in this context. The national team and the few big clubs – Admira and Rapid, Vienna and the Amateure (from 1926: Austria) – became spectator magnets, and the games of the Mitropa Cup competition were the highlight not only of the respective sporting season. The media reported on the games by the pageful. Football inspired the bourgeoisie, the working class and intellectuals alike; and in the form of the Hakoah and SK Slovan sport clubs, it also included the Jewish and Czech populations. But one thing remained very clear: football was male.