Rapid: Where violence and charity are compatible

Prophesied in September Peter Pacultthat Rapid Until March, until the points are divided, it will hardly be possible to dislodge him from the top. An opinion that many shared with Rapid’s last champion (2008). Five months and two coaching changes later, the record-breaking, titleless record champions, sixth in the league, are under pressure and are under special observation because of their unresolved fan problems.

Contrary to earlier times when Hans Krankl Even wearing an Ultras cap, they didn’t stay silent about fan excesses. Like he let too Andreas Herzog, Stefan MaierhoferPacult and other former Rapid players publicly know after the recent derby scandal that things are changing quickly and that the club has to adopt a zero-tolerance policy. One that is expected by the police and lawyers on the club’s side. Unlike England, where in the Premier League there are tougher punishments for hooligans in addition to personalized tickets and, as a result, no more riots, the ringleaders in this country usually go unscathed. While Rapid has already paid a fine of two million and the damage to football’s image can hardly be measured in euros.

Loose wheel nuts

Franz Binder Jr., the former Rapid manager (who died in 2023) and son of the Rapid record shooter, had vehemently demanded in writing and verbally that fans should not be allowed to form a club within the club. The next day he found his car with loose nuts on four wheels. Crime or coincidence?

The author experienced how fanaticism can degenerate in August 2010 when he received anonymous death threats simply because the KURIER had called the behavior of “fans” in the Weimann case disgusting.

Andreas Weimann was seriously injured during his first Europa League appearance for Aston Villa in Hütteldorf, after which he was lying on a stretcher and had beer poured over him, spat on and insulted from the west stand. The same Weimann who moved from Rapid’s youth team to England when he was 16. And who is now a 34-year-old team candidate for Rapid. Looking back without anger.

He probably knows that the roughest green shells have a soft core. Or how else can it be explained that the Block West, which is not just made up of wealthy people, collected 121,000 euros for Viennese in need at Christmas. The donors do not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the violent mob.