Stories of Hope Part 1: FC Pinzgau Saalfelden (Austria)
- Zachary Lerman
- Aug 17, 2020
- 2 min read
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an extremely tough environment for the global football community as many clubs have either disbanded professional teams or disappeared completely. The current political and economic situation at times looks bleak in the global football community as large clubs continue to become wealthier while many other smaller clubs are barely making ends meet. This is inherently unsustainable and has the potential to ruin the beautiful ecosystem of the game we love so dearly across the world.
So given these tough and unprecedented times we are in. Here are a few clubs that are shining examples of why this game is so inspiring to so many. Each of these clubs is a ray of sunshine because in some sense they represent the values we as football fans hold so dear: community, brotherhood, humility, & resilience.
We start in Saalfelden in the state of Salzburg in Austria.
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Sitting in the lush hills of the state of Salzburg sits the town of Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer, which only has 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for its cross country skiing paths as the town is located 700 km above sea level. In this beautiful resort town sits the club, FC Pinzgau Saalfelden. The third tier club was founded in 2007 out of a merger between 1. Saalfeldner SK and ESV Saalfelden, two local clubs in the area. The former club (1. Saalfeldner SK) was a club of business people and the latter club (ESV Saalfelden), making the merger somewhat unlikely. The club's current home Saalfelden Arena is on the former ground of ESV Saalfelden.
Saalfelden Arena, the current home of FC Pinzgau
The club in 2007 was founded by Chrisitan Herzog, Siegi Kainz, & Herbert Bründlinger who are ready to take the club to loftier ambitions of professionalization and Champions League football in the future.
These three American investors each with start up experience have created a fan ownership model where fans have a direct impact on the decisions made at the club that include key operational decisions. It is completely unique the fan ownership model and it is completely collaborative unlike many clubs around the world, which are run from corporations, a handful of rich investors, the state, or the municipality. As stated in article about FC Pinzgau from These Football Times, “It feels very personal and grassroots – the opposite of corporate. Being in on the start of a journey full of possibility with potential joy and heartache is super exciting. As they say, why follow a club when you can own one?".
FCPS is still in its infancy stages as a club as it has just recently earned third division status in Austria. Through this sustainable model there is reason for optimism as the club looks to take the next stage toward professionalization and potentially European football.
The club continues to sell shares and for as little as $500 you can be apart of running a club in a democratic and collaborative environment with others who love the game from around the world.
It is stories like these that continue to give us hope in an age where football, a game of humble beginnings has been corporatized and the spirit at times feels lost.
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