Peter Stöger to take over as Rapid Manager

For the preparations ahead of the coming season, SK Rapid can certainly count on an experienced head coach, as Peter Stöger has now signed a deal which sees him take the reins in Hütteldorf until the summer of 2027.

The 59-year-old from Vienna is one of Austria's highest-profile coaches and, as a player himself, was one of the main protagonists of our successful ‘95/’96 season, in which SK Rapid won the league title for the 30th time and also reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final. In total, he made 111 appearances in competitive matches wearing Green & White, scoring 22 goals.

As coach and sporting director, he won two league titles (2006; 2013) and the ÖFB Cup (2005, 2006) with city rivals FK Austria Wien. With the oldest football club in the country, First Vienna FC, he won the Regionalliga Ost in 2009 and the 65-time ÖFB team player also became an internationally sought-after coach in Germany. With 1. FC Köln, he succeeded in winning promotion to the German Bundesliga in 2014. Peter Stöger was in charge of the cathedral city club for around four and a half years (from July 2013 to December 2017) and led the team back to European football for the first time in two and a half decades with a 5th place finish in the 2016/17 Bundesliga standings. The Vienna native remains the longest serving coach at the club from the carnival city!

Just one week after his last day with Cologne, Peter Stöger took over the then struggling Borussia Dortmund and ultimately led the Black & Yellows from 8th to 4th place in the table and back into UEFA’s premier club competition. His last coaching position for the time being was at Ferencváros in Budapest (a stint which included participation in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League) and for the last two seasons he was the sporting director at Admira Wacker. Now he makes his return to the bigger stage, taking over as the Rapid manager.

Peter Stöger will be officially presented on Monday, 2 June 2025, at a press conference in the Media Centre at the Allianz Stadium from 10:30 a.m. Until then, the full focus will be on the upcoming play-off matches, for which the team will still be managed by Stefan Kulovits.

Quotes on the club’s latest appointment:

President Alexander Wrabetz had the following to say, regarding the coaching decision: "I would like to welcome Peter Stöger to our team and am very much looking forward to working with him. As the Executive Committee, we have followed the recommendation of our Managing Director of Sport Markus Katzer with conviction. It is also important for me to thank all other potential coaching candidates for the discussions held with Markus Katzer. There were highly suitable personalities from home and abroad and, contrary to media reports which suggested otherwise, the decision was only made internally a few days ago." The Rapid President added: "Our common goal was always to have the new head coach in place by the end of this season and in place before the start of preparations in June. It is pleasing that this has now been achieved ahead of schedule following a well-organised and structured process. I was also able to gain a positive impression of our future coach in all areas during initial personal discussions. Peter Stöger's experience is impressive and his outlined plans for our team, whose undoubted strengths he wants to further develop, as well as his great motivation for this task were very convincing," said the 65-year-old Viennese.

New coach Peter Stöger’s initial statement: "I am very pleased to be able to take on this important role as of June. Of course, I have followed Rapid very closely and attentively over the last few years. I am convinced that we have a squad with great quality, and the academy and second team also have many players with potential to reach higher levels. Until the last game of the season, however, the focus should be entirely placed upon the important games for a place in European football, so I ask for your understanding that I will only comment on topics relating to my future activities on Monday, after the play-off second leg."

Managing Director of Sport Markus Katzer stated: "I am delighted that we will have one of the most experienced and, in my opinion, best coaches in Austria at our side in the future with Peter Stöger. He was one of our absolute top candidates from the outset, but it was nonetheless important to me and to all of us to speak to many qualified and interesting coaches who could be considered for this difficult task at SK Rapid. Peter Stöger is an experienced personality who knows national and international football inside out. Thanks to his past as a player at Rapid and his sensationally successful coaching stint at 1. FC Köln, he also knows very well how to deal with all the opportunities - but also the risks - at football clubs with a highly emotional environment such as ours. I am convinced that Peter Stöger will be a real asset to us, both on a sporting and personal level, and I look forward to our collaboration with great confidence."

Managing Director of SK Rapid Steffen Hofmann concluded: "Peter Stöger is one of the most high-profile personalities in Austrian football. His career to date as a coach and in sports management shows that he is a top man. I have always found him to be a fair sportsman, his CV and his always respectful behaviour towards his own team, but also towards the respective opponents, reminds me a little of Josef Hickersberger, who, as you know, I hold in extremely high regard as a coach and person. I am confident that my fellow managing director Markus Katzer has made a very good choice with the support of the Executive Committee and I look forward to working with Peter."