Josef Hickersberger

Josef Hickersberger (born 27 April 1948 in Amstetten, Austria) is a former Austrian footballer. He played as a midfielder. He is now a football manager. He was twice coach of the Austrian national football team.

Josef Hickersberger

Hickersberger in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1948-04-27) 27 April 1948
Place of birth	Amstetten, Austria
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1960–1966	ASK Amstetten
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1966–1972	Austria Wien	112	(28)
1972–1976	Kickers Offenbach	118	(28)
1976–1978	Fortuna Düsseldorf	59	(5)
1978–1980	SSW Innsbruck	35	(6)
1980–1982	Rapid Wien	48	(4)
Total		372	(71)
National team
1968–1978	Austria	39	(5)
Teams managed
1988–1990	Austria
1991–1992	Fortuna Düsseldorf
1993–1994	Austria Wien
1995–1997	Al Ahli
1996	Bahrain
1997–1999	El Mokawloon SC
1999–2000	Al-Shaab CSC
2000–2001	Al Wasl FC
2001–2002	Al-Ittihad (QAT)
2002–2005	Rapid Wien
2006–2008	Austria
2008–2010	Al-Wahda FC (Abu Dhabi)
2010	Bahrain
2010–2012	Al-Wahda FC (Abu Dhabi)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Player

He started playing professional football in 1966 for FK Austria Wien. After six seasons he went to Germany playing for Kickers Offenbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Coming back to Austria he played for Wacker Innsbruck and later for SK Rapid Wien. After finishing as a professional he played for the amateur squads of Badener AC, UFC Pama, SV Forchtenstein and WSV Traisen. In Traisen he had his first time as coach. He played 372 matches in the leagues of Austria and Germany scoring 71 goals.

He played 39 matches for the Austrian national football team and scored five goals. His first match was against Romania. His last match was the 3–2 win versus Germany during the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

Manager

He was the coach of the Austrian national football team during the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 UEFA European Championship. After losing a qualifying match versus the Faroe Islands he resigned and coached Fortuna Düsseldorf and Austria Wien. The years between 1994 and 2004 he spent in the Arabian region coaching various club teams and national teams. In 2002 he went back to Austria and became coach of SK Rapid Wien. In this time Rapid won the first championship since 1995. The team also qualified for the UEFA Champions League. In 2006 he became again coach of the Austrian soccer team and played in the EURO 2008. After the event he resigned and went back to Arabia.

Honours

As a player

• Austrian Football Bundesliga (3):
  • 1969, 1970, 1982
• Austrian Cup (3):
  • 1969, 1971, 1979
• Member of the squad for the FIFA World Cup 1978

As a manager

• Austrian Cup (1):
  • 1994
• Bahraini Premier League (1):
  • 1996
• Qatari League (1):
  • 2002
• Austrian Football Bundesliga (1):
  • 2005