Rapid Wien U18

Austrian Bundesliga U18
15 Feb 2027
Monday
Process
28 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Laurenz Orgler wants to come home

“I did not go to CSKA 1948 to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rapid Wien and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.

Market

Kevin Laimer steps up from the Rapid Wien academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kevin Laimer has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Rapid Wien

6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Niklas Hedl gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Niklas Hedl is on it.

Squad

“I want to play”: Ange Ahoussou speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

Market

Dani Raba linked with a move away

The name of Dani Raba keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rapid Wien say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Ange Ahoussou asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

Back issues
27 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Furkan Demir says Rapid Wien went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Yusuf Demir’s move to Grodig falls through

The deal that would have taken Yusuf Demir to Grodig has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Rapid Wien with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Boardroom

Rapid Wien close the window on a squad of their own making

5 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Squad

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Altach tell Rapid Wien: Srđan Hrstić is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Eyes on Nicolas Bajlicz again

The phone has started ringing about Nicolas Bajlicz again, and this time the name on the line is Altach. Rapid Wien are listening politely and promising nothing.

The dugout

Ange Ahoussou gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Home is on Bakary Haïdara's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Rapid Wien are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

26 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Terms done: Louis Schaub is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Grodig waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rapid Wien is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Nikolaus Wurmbrand attracts admirers

The name of Nikolaus Wurmbrand has come up in conversations Rapid Wien were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Oliver Strunz’s exile

17 goals in 20 games at Shrewsbury Town — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Rapid Wien updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Squad

Matthias Seidl in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Marko Grujić

Rapid Wien asked and Levski said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Rapid Wien lose Jean Marcelin

48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nenad Cvetković

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nenad Cvetković, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Bendegúz Bolla gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bendegúz Bolla is on it.

In brief

25 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rapid Wien refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Terms done: Yusuf Demir is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Grodig waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rapid Wien is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

The dugout

Paul Gartler: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rapid Wien have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Transfer targets

Marco Sulzner is a medical away from Rapid Wien

The deal with Wolfsberger AC is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien rebuffed over Nikolay Komlichenko

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Moscow have kept their man, and Rapid Wien go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Loan watch

Benjamin Göschl wants to come home

“I did not go to Plymouth Argyle to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rapid Wien and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.

The dugout

When it matters, Matthias Seidl plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

24 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Rapid Wien say no — this time

The offer from Grodig for Louis Schaub was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Jacob Peter Hödl rejects the move

Rapid Wien had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sturm Graz, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Boardroom

Yusuf Demir has agreed to leave Rapid Wien for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

16 goals on loan for Oliver Strunz

18 appearances at Shrewsbury Town and the goals keep coming. Rapid Wien are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

One of our own: Heinz Grillitsch joins the Rapid Wien first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Heinz Grillitsch is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Loan watch

Laurenz Orgler counts the days

“I watch every Rapid Wien game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CSKA 1948 runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien ask about Nikolay Komlichenko

A loan enquiry to Lokomotiv Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

23 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Martin Ndzie says Rapid Wien went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Rapid Wien say no — this time

The offer from Altach for Yusuf Demir was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jonas Auer is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Rapid Wien will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

15 goals on loan for Oliver Strunz

17 appearances at Shrewsbury Town and the goals keep coming. Rapid Wien are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien try to borrow Dejan Radonjić

SV Ried have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Axel Kayombo is in the works

Rapid Wien have made the call to Sturm Graz. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Jacob Peter Hödl is in the works

Rapid Wien have made the call to Sturm Graz. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

22 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ange Ahoussou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Loan watch

12 goals on loan for Oliver Strunz

16 appearances at Shrewsbury Town and the goals keep coming. Rapid Wien are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

Bendegúz Bolla gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bendegúz Bolla is on it.

The dugout

A door opens for Vesel Demaku

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The Furkan Demir talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rapid Wien know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

21 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rapid Wien are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 32 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Benjamin Göschl counts the days

“I watch every Rapid Wien game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Plymouth Argyle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

When it matters, Matthias Seidl plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Ange Ahoussou knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rapid Wien, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Matthias Seidl talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rapid Wien know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

A door opens for Ercan Kara

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Squad

Bakary Haïdara still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Rapid Wien would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

20 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bendegúz Bolla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Loan watch

Laurenz Orgler has seen enough of CSKA 1948

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rapid Wien, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

Rapid Wien promote Kevin Ilsanker from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kevin Ilsanker has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

Jakob Schöller stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jakob Schöller and Rapid Wien agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Loan watch

Oliver Strunz keeps scoring at Shrewsbury Town

14 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

The dugout

When it matters, Niklas Hedl plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Squad

“I want to play”: Ange Ahoussou speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

The dugout

Ange Ahoussou asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

19 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bendegúz Bolla commits to Rapid Wien for another 5 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Martin Ndzie makes the wrong kind of headline

Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

When it matters, Dani Raba plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Loan watch

Oliver Strunz keeps scoring at Shrewsbury Town

13 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

The Dani Raba talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rapid Wien know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Still no ink between Rapid Wien and Bakary Haïdara

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rapid Wien, another week without a signature from Bakary Haïdara.

The dugout

A door opens for Vesel Demaku

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

18 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jonas Auer

Successful dribbles: 53. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Cup progress for Rapid Wien

A 1‑0 win over SV Ried, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Claudy M'Buyi wins it after the whistle should have gone

102 minutes played. Claudy M'Buyi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and SV Ried went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Match

Rapid Wien make it 5 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rapid Wien have 5 straight wins of it.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Bakary Haïdara gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bakary Haïdara has just signed for Rapid Wien, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Rapid Wien

Something was said to Dani Raba and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Player ratings

Bendegúz Bolla takes the honours

Marked 7.91 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rapid Wien had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

17 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Derby delight as Rapid Wien down Austria Wien

Bragging rights belong to Rapid Wien for another year after a 1‑0 win over Austria Wien in front of a full house.

Match

Rapid Wien refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Rapid Wien strike at the death to beat Austria Wien

There were 89 minutes on the clock and Austria Wien had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Rapid Wien did not stop to explain themselves.

Match

Nobody wants to play Rapid Wien right now

4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

A derby belongs to Dani Raba

Beat anybody else and it is three points. Beat them and it is a story a city tells for a decade. Rapid Wien have their man.

Player ratings

Jannes Horn beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bendegúz Bolla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Rapid Wien supporters have found a favourite in Yusuf Demir

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yusuf Demir has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

16 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The derby belongs to Rapid Wien

2‑0 against Red Bull Salzburg, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jannes Horn

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Konrad Baumgartner says Rapid Wien went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Louis Schaub wins the derby

There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Rapid Wien support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.

Match

Nobody wants to play Rapid Wien right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Valentino Arnautovic out for 29 days

The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Valentino Arnautovic, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Looking ahead

Derby week at Rapid Wien

Austria Wien next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.

In brief

15 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Dani Raba's — 9.29

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Rapid Wien see off Altach

Three points for Rapid Wien, 3‑1 the final word against Altach in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Matthias Seidl

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

One of our own: Stefan Ulmer joins the Rapid Wien first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stefan Ulmer is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Player ratings

Tobias Gulliksen in the eights

A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Jannes Horn in the eights

A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Looking ahead

Derby week at Rapid Wien

Red Bull Salzburg next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.

In brief

  • Squad Rapid Wien are still strangers to each other
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Dani Raba has become a man the manager trusts
14 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rapid Wien run riot against Admira Wacker

4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

A brace, and Dani Raba takes the afternoon — 8.94

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dani Raba provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matthias Seidl takes the afternoon — 8.41

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matthias Seidl provided it, and the 8.41 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Matthias Seidl in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Jannes Horn beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bendegúz Bolla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Rapid Wien supporters have found a favourite in Furkan Demir

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Furkan Demir has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

The dugout

Nenad Cvetković gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Talks stall between Rapid Wien and Matthias Seidl

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

13 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Bendegúz Bolla beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Benjamin Göschl wants to come home

“I did not go to Plymouth Argyle to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rapid Wien and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Martin Ndzie

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Lukas Schlager signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lukas Schlager and Rapid Wien agree another 4 years.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Rapid Wien

Something was said to Ercan Kara and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Ercan Kara

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Julian Lindner was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Rapid Wien dressing room was either.

In brief

12 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Tobias Gulliksen runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Rapid Wien come up short against Sturm Graz

Sturm Graz left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Yusuf Demir reaches 100 appearances

100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

The dugout

Vesel Demaku gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Laurenz Orgler wants to come home

“I did not go to CSKA 1948 to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rapid Wien and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Julian Lindner to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

When it matters, Niklas Hedl plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

11 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Tobias Gulliksen beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Whatever happens, Rapid Wien do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Rapid Wien promote Lukas Schlager from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lukas Schlager has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Player ratings

Dani Raba was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

Rapid Wien refuse to lose to SV Ried

A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Squad

Lukas Schlager out for 34 days

The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Lukas Schlager, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Rapid Wien are still strangers to each other

7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

  • The dugout Dani Raba gets picked when it counts
  • Match Rapid Wien share the spoils with SV Ried
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
10 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Matthias Seidl in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Whatever happens, Rapid Wien do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Rapid Wien get the job done against Mattersburg

A 2‑0 win over Mattersburg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Valentino Arnautovic at his very best

Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rapid Wien.

Player ratings

Matthias Seidl runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Matthias Seidl

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Matthias Seidl has come out of that comparison in the side, and Rapid Wien have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Julian Lindner kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

Market

Still no ink between Rapid Wien and Vesel Demaku

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rapid Wien, another week without a signature from Vesel Demaku.

In brief

9 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Rapid Wien tear Grodig apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑1 against Grodig, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

A brace, and Tobias Gulliksen takes the afternoon — 8.52

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tobias Gulliksen provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matthias Seidl takes the afternoon — 8.29

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matthias Seidl provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

8 goals as Rapid Wien and Grodig go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Rapid Wien and Grodig, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

One of their own: Tobias Gulliksen

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Player ratings

Bendegúz Bolla in the eights

A performance of 8.64 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Jannes Horn

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

8 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jannes Horn runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Rapid Wien

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bendegúz Bolla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

Rapid Wien supporters have found a favourite in Furkan Demir

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Furkan Demir has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Loan watch

Laurenz Orgler has seen enough of CSKA 1948

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rapid Wien, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Furkan Demir

7.33, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Rapid Wien had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

When it matters, Niklas Hedl plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Ercan Kara dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Julian Lindner on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

In brief

7 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jannes Horn beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 52. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Looking ahead

Derby week at Rapid Wien

Austria Wien next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.

The dugout

Vesel Demaku gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Dani Raba

A mark of 7.91, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Player ratings

Wrong net for Claudy M'Buyi

A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. Rapid Wien will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.

Squad

Rapid Wien are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Dani Raba gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dani Raba is on it.

In brief

6 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jannes Horn

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien rebuffed over Leon Grgić

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sturm Graz have kept their man, and Rapid Wien go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 24 signed and 7 gone

That is the business done at Rapid Wien until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bendegúz Bolla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Looking ahead

All roads lead to Red Bull Salzburg

The fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes Rapid Wien will be judged on one thing only.

Squad

Ercan Kara is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ercan Kara has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

Market

Still no ink between Rapid Wien and Matthias Seidl

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rapid Wien, another week without a signature from Matthias Seidl.

Squad

The formation has left Vesel Demaku behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Rapid Wien will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

5 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rapid Wien tear Admira Wacker apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Admira Wacker, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Nikolaus Wurmbrand, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.27

A mark of 8.27 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Louis Schaub puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rapid Wien, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien rebuffed over Seedy Jatta

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sturm Graz have kept their man, and Rapid Wien go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Rapid Wien pay Altach $1.7M for a proper upgrade

Altach did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.7M for Vesel Demaku, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.

Transfer targets

No deal for Jacob Peter Hödl at that price

Rapid Wien offered $1.3M; Sturm Graz said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Nikolay Komlichenko rejects the move

Rapid Wien had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiv Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The terraces

Rapid Wien supporters have found a favourite in Nikolaus Wurmbrand

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikolaus Wurmbrand has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

4 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Bendegúz Bolla was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 42. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Rapid Wien spend $3.4M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $3.4M has been paid because Valentino Arnautovic is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Squad

A move Valentino Arnautovic would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Valentino Arnautovic is living that version at Rapid Wien, and it tends to show in the first month.

Transfer targets

Vesel Demaku due for a Rapid Wien medical

Everything agreed with Altach, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Market

Giresunspor come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Rapid Wien did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Yusuf Demir puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rapid Wien, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien rebuffed over Valentino Arnautovic

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mattersburg have kept their man, and Rapid Wien go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

An offer of $1.3M for Jacob Peter Hödl

Rapid Wien have gone to Sturm Graz with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

3 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rapid Wien leave it late against Sturm Graz

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Sturm Graz spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

Player ratings

Both of them Dani Raba's — 8.51

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Transfer targets

An offer of $3.4M for Valentino Arnautovic

Rapid Wien have gone to Mattersburg with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Player ratings

Jannes Horn beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Paolo Rizzi

Rapid Wien asked and Mattersburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

Rapid Wien baulk at the price for Peter Lazaro

Mattersburg wanted more than $1.6M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

Rapid Wien say no — this time

The offer from Huesca for Michael Krmenčík was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Rapid Wien find a way past Sturm Graz

Sturm Graz made Rapid Wien work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

2 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Petter Nosa Dahl was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 36. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Mattersburg come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Rapid Wien did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Terms done: Laurenz Orgler is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and CSKA 1948 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rapid Wien is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Transfer targets

Charlotte Football Club tell Rapid Wien: David Schnegg is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Transfer targets

An offer of $1.4M for Peter Lazaro

Rapid Wien have gone to Mattersburg with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Mirko Kos gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mirko Kos has just signed for Rapid Wien, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and Rapid Wien agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Rapid Wien

Matthias Seidl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Bendegúz Bolla falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

1 Edition

The Rapid Wien Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Jannes Horn was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Transfer targets

An offer of $2.2M for Dani Raba

Rapid Wien have gone to Valencia with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Rapid Wien turn down Wolfsberger AC for Yusuf Demir

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Mirko Kos due for a Rapid Wien medical

Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Niklas Hedl signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Niklas Hedl and Rapid Wien agree another 4 years.

Squad

Matthias Seidl in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rapid Wien this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Rapid Wien training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bendegúz Bolla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rapid Wien against Mattersburg

1‑2 to Mattersburg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Niklas Hedl

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief