Ernst Happel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernst Happel (November 29, 1925 – November 14, 1992) was an Austrian football player and coach.
[edit] Player
Happel was capped 51 times for the Austrian national team, where he reached the 3rd place at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland. On the club level he played 14 years for Rapid Vienna, from 1943 till 1954 and 1956 till 1959, winning the Austrian Championship title 7 times. The 2 years in between Happel played for Racing Club de Paris in France.
[edit] Coach
After retiring as a player, Happel worked as a football coach. His first club was ADO Den Haag in 1962, where he won the Dutch Cup in 1968. After Den Haag he coached Feyenoord, where he won the Dutch championship in 1971, as well as the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1970.
At the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Happel was coach of the Dutch national team and reached the final against the Argentine national team. Always a man of few words, Happel's pre-match pep talk is said to have consisted of just one sentence: "Gentlemen, two points."
During his career as coach Happel worked for several clubs, including Sevilla, Club Brugge (winning the Belgian Championship title several times) and Hamburg (1981 - 1987, German champions in 1982 and 1983, German Cup winner 1987).
In 1983 he won the European Cup again, 13 years after the triumph with Feyenoord Rotterdam, this time with Hamburg. He is the only coach in the history of the European Cup (now called UEFA Champions League), besides Ottmar Hitzfeld, to win the title with two different clubs.
In 1987 Happel returned to Austria as coach of FC Swarovski Tirol. With FC Tirol he won the Austrian Championship title 2 times (1989 and 1990) before becoming coach of the Austrian national team in 1992.
After his death the biggest football stadium in Austria, the Praterstadion in Vienna, was renamed Ernst Happel Stadion. He died of cancer in 1992 aged 66.
| Preceded by Nereo Rocco |
European Cup Winning Coach 1969-70 |
Succeeded by Rinus Michels |
| Preceded by Tony Barton |
European Cup Winning Coach 1982-83 |
Succeeded by Joe Fagan |
| Preceded by Jaak De Wit |
Club Brugge Coach 1974-1978 |
Succeeded by Andreas Beres |
| Football in Austria |  |
|---|---|
| Football Association • National team • Bundesliga • First Division • Regional Leagues (East • Central • West) • Landesliga • Austrian Cup • Supercup • Clubs • Champions • Footballers • Managers • Stadiums • Derbies |
Categories: 1925 births | 1992 deaths | Austrian footballers | Austrian football managers | SK Rapid Wien players | RC Paris players | FIFA World Cup 1954 players | FIFA World Cup 1958 players | FIFA World Cup 1978 managers | Netherlands national football team managers | Club Brugge K.V. managers | Feyenoord Rotterdam
