- Ernst Ocwirk
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Ernst Ocwirk Personal information Full name Ernst Ocwirk Date of birth 7 March 1926 Place of birth Vienna, Austria Date of death 23 January 1980 (aged 53) Place of death Klein-Pöchlarn, Austria Playing position Central Midfielder Youth career FC Stadlau Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1942–1947 Floridsdorfer AC 1947–1956 Austria Wien 212 (30) 1956–1961 Sampdoria 154 (37) 1961–1963 Austria Wien 21 (8) National team 1945–1962 Austria 62 (6) Teams managed 1962–1965 Sampdoria 1965–1970 Austria Wien 1970–1971 1. FC Köln 1971–1973 Admira/Wacker * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Ernst Ocwirk (7 March 1926 – 23 January 1980) was an Austrian football player and coach. He is considered one of the greatest Austrian footballers of all time.
He spent the majority of his playing and coaching years between Austria and Italy, being both player and manager for the clubs FK Austria Vienna and Serie A's UC Sampdoria. He also went on to become a member of the Austria national team, which he led to a third place finish at the 1954 World Cup as its captain.
Nicknamed Clockwork by the British for his midfield consistency, he is often cited as the last of the old-fashioned attacking centre-halves; he was known for his aesthetic and technical style of playing, his heading ability and his passing range. The fans loved him for his modest and fair personality. The international media of the era saw Ocwirk as "the best centerhalf in the world".
Contents
Club career
Born in Vienna, Ocwirk began his career as a centre-forward. He joined his first club, the local FC Stadlau, in 1938. He then played for Floridsdorfer AC, where he was spotted by former Austrian international Josef Smistik, who moved Ocwirk to centre-half. Smistik tried to bring him to his former team, Rapid Vienna, but it was rivals FK Austria who won the race for his services and, in 1947, signed him.
In a decade at Austria Vienna, Ocwirk became one of the most prominent players for the club, helping them to win five Austrian League championships and three domestic cups.
Brought to Sampdoria by Alberto Ravano, he was the second Austrian footballer ever to play in Serie A after Engelbert König had done it in the 1940s. He also remained the last Austrian in Serie A until 1980, when Herbert Prohaska played for Internazionale. Ocwirk would play five seasons at the Genova club, of which he became the captain. In 1961, he returned to FK Austria to play the final season of his career, winning the "double" in 1961/62.
Ocwirk was chosen in Austria's Team of the Century in 2001.
National team
Ocwirk won 62 caps and scored six goals for his country.[1] He made his debut for his country in 1947 before appearing at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
By 1953 the stopper centre-back had taken over, so Ocwirk was selected as a wing-half for a Rest-of-the-World team which drew 4-4 with England to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Football Association. His international successes earned him the honour of twice being named captain of the "FIFA World team".
At the 1954 World Cup, Ocwirk captained Austria and played in all five of his team matches, helping it achieve its best ever World Cup finish, third place. The centre-half scored two goals during the tournament: the one that gave Austria the lead after trailing 0-3 in the memorable quarter-final against hosts Switzerland, and the 3-1 in the third place match against reigning champions Uruguay.[2]
Coaching
Immediately after retiring from playing, Ocwirk became a manager, and Sampdoria was the first team he coached, from 1962 to 1965. He also managed German side 1. FC Köln one year, taking them to the final of the DFB Cup.
Death and legacy
Ocwirk's grave at Vienna's Zentralfriedhof
In January 1980, at the age of 53, he died of multiple sclerosis, in Klein-Pöchlarn, Lower Austria. His death occurred on the same date that Matthias Sindelar died 41 years before.
A friendly tournament was played in July 1981 in homage to Ernst Ocwirk at Wiener Stadion. The participants were FK Austria Wien, SK Rapid Wien, Ferencvárosi TC and Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich won the tournament.
Honours
- Austrian Football Bundesliga (5):
- 1949, 1950, 1953, 1962, 1963
- Austrian Cup (3):
- 1948, 1949, 1962
External links
- FIFA
- Profile - FK Austria
- Player profile - Austria Archive
- UEFA
- Career stats - National Football Teams
References
- ^ Appearances for Austrian National Team - RSSSF
- ^ Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
Austria squad – 1954 FIFA World Cup Third Place 
U.C. Sampdoria – managers Galluzzi (1946–47) · Baloncieri (1947–50) · Galluzzi (1950) · Foni (1950–51) · Foni (1951–52) · Poggi (1952) · Fiorentini (1952–53) · Tabanelli (1953–55) · Czeizler (1955–56) · Rava (1956–57) · Amoretti (1957) · Dodgin, Sr. (1957–58) · Baloncieri (1958) · Monzeglio (1958–61) · Lerici (1961–63) · Ocwirk (1963–65) · Baldini (1965–66) · Bernardini (1966–71) · Herrera (1971–73) · Vincenzi (1973–74) · Corsini (1974–75) · Bersellini (1975–77) · Canali (1977–78) · Giorgis (1978–79) · Toneatto (1979–80) · Riccomini (1980–81) · Ulivieri (1981–84) · Bersellini (1984–86) · Boškov (1986–92) · Eriksson (1992–97) · Luis Menotti (1997) · Boškov (1997–98) · Spalletti (1998) · Platt (1998–99) · Spalletti (1999) · Ventura (1999–2000) · Cagni (2000–01) · Bellotto (2001–02) · Novellino (2002–07) · Mazzarri (2007–09) · Delneri (2009–10) · Di Carlo (2010–11) · Cavasin (2011) · Atzori (2011) · Iachini (2011–)
1. FC Köln – managers C (caretaker manager)Flink (1948) · Schneider (1952–53) · Winkler (1953–54) · Baluses (1954–55) · Weisweiler (1955–58) · Szabo (1958–59) · Pfau (1959–61) · Čajkovski (1961–63) · Knöpfle (1963–64) · Multhaup (1966–68) · Merkle (1968–70) · Ocwirk (1970–71) · Lóránt (1971–72) · Herings (1972) · Schlott (1972–73) · Čajkovski (1973–75) · Stollenwerk (1976) · Weisweiler (1976–80) · Heddergott (1980) · Herings (1980) · Michels (1980–83) · Löhr (1983–86) · Keßler (1986) · Daum (1986–90) · Rutemöller (1990–91) · Lattek (1991) · Linssen (1991) · Berger (1991–93) · Jerat (1993) · Olsen (1993–95) · Engels (1995–96) · Neururer (1996–97) · Köstner (1997–98) · Schuster (1998–99) · Lienen (1999–2002) · John (2002) · Funkel (2002–03) · Luhukay (2003) · Koller (2003–04) · Stevens (2004–05) · Rapolder (2005–06) · Latour (2006) · Gehrke (2006) · Daum (2006–09) · Soldo (2009–10) · Schaefer (2010–11) · Finke (2011c) · Solbakken (2011–)
Awards Preceded by
Walter ZemanAustrian Sportsman of the Year
1951Succeeded by
Othmar SchneiderCategories:- 1926 births
- 1980 deaths
- Sportspeople from Vienna
- Austrian footballers
- Austria international footballers
- Austrian expatriate footballers
- Olympic footballers of Austria
- Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- 1954 FIFA World Cup players
- FK Austria Wien players
- U.C. Sampdoria players
- Austrian Football Bundesliga players
- Serie A footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Austrian football managers
- FK Austria Wien managers
- Burials at the Zentralfriedhof
- 1. FC Köln managers
- Austrian Football Bundesliga (5):
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