Make some noise, the Gorgie Boys, are going to Europe.
Hearts will participate in Q2 of the Champions League, and we have been paired with Austrians...
Sturm Graz
Founded: 1909
Location: Graz
Ground: Merkur Arena – 16,364 capacity
League: Austrian Bundesliga
Honours:
· 5 top flight titles
· 7 Austrian Cups
· 3 Austrian Supercups
European record: P168
Best European performances:
· Cup Winners’ Cup – Quarter Final, 75/76
· UEFA Cup – Quarter Final, 83/84
· Champions League – Group Stage/League Phase, 5 times
· Europa League – group Stage/League Phase, 6 times
2025/26:
Like other potential opponents Fenerbahce, and indeed Hearts, it was so near yet so far for Sturm Graz domestically. Despite going into the Bundesliga split top of the table, come the end The Blacks would finish in second place, two points behind winners LASK.
Having won the previous season’s Bundesliga, Sturm Graz went straight into the Champions League play-off round for 25/26, only to meet the formidable Bodo/Glimt, who would emerge 6-2 victors on aggregate.
Europa League league phase football followed, where they met both Rangers and Celtic (more on that later), and the Austrians could only muster a 26th place finish, two points outwith the knockout phase qualifying spots.
Former Sturm Graz and Austria midfielder Jurgen Samuel lasted half the season in the dugout before being replaced by Fabio Ingolitsch, who moved from fellow Bundesliga side Rheindorf Altach.
Georgian midfielder Otar Kiteishvili was top dog in front of goal, the 30-year-old struck 16 times to take Sturm Graz to the verge of the title. As well as Georgia, the squad features internationalists from Slovenia, Poland, Cameroon and multiple Austrian U21 caps.
They will say goodbye to Costa Rica and Bosnia caps Jeyland Mitchell and Jusuf Gazibegovic, whose loan deals from Feyenoord and Cologne respectively end, as does Scottish striker Rory Wilson’s, and he goes back to Aston Villa.
Three new arrivals have been teed up, however, with Austrian Simon Seidl (CM) joining from Blau Weiss Linz and TSV Hartberg duo Jurgen Heil (RM) and Amma Helac (GK) arriving in the summer, as is former Partizan Belgrade centre back Petar Petrovic, who will join from Serbian Superliga side FK Javor Matis.
Sturm Graz vs Scotland:
Sturm Graz have locked horns with Scottish sides on six occasions in the past. The first was way back in the 2000/01 Champions League group stages. A 2-0 win at home over Rangers was followed up with 5-0 loss at Ibrox. Two years later they faced Livingston in R1 of the UEFA Cup. Although Sturm Graz recorded a 5-2 win on Austrian soil, they were beaten 4-3 in the return leg in West Lothian. Last season’s Europa League league phase saw them meet both Rangers and Celtic, with mixed results. A 2-1 home win over Rangers was offset by a 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park.
Hearts vs Austria:
You have to go back to 1988 for the only meeting between Hearts and an Austrian side; Austria Vienna, or FK Austria Wien auf Deutsch. R2 of the UEFA Cup was the setting, and after a 0-0 Tynecastle stalemate, the Jambos upset the odds to come away with a 1-0 win in Vienna, thanks to the late Mike Galloway’s second-half header.
Austrian connections:
You may be surprised to learn that two players have represented both clubs. Greek defender Tasos Avolnitis spent six months on loan at Sturm Graz in 2016 before plying his trade in Gorgie for six months from January 2017. He would return to Graz in 2020 for a longer spell, this time 18-months. At the age of 36, Tasos is still pulling on his boots back in his homeland with second tier side Panionios.
Kosovo winger Donis Avidjaj enjoyed 18 months on loan in Graz, straddling the 14/15 and 15/16 seasons. He arrived at Tynecastle in January 2020 but was blighted by injuries and could only manage three appearances in maroon.
Widening the scope to Austrians who have played for Hearts, the obvious place to start is current first team star Michael Steinwender, who has played 47 times and scored two goals. Equally as obvious is Thomas Flogel, the Scottish Cup-winning legend of 1998. A real utility player, ‘Tam’ made 164 appearances during his five-years in Gorgie and earned a recall to the Austrian national side, where he managed to win a total of 37 caps. Another fresh-in-the-memory Austrian is Peter Haring. A real fans’ favourite, he had to overcome serious injuries during his six-years in Edinburgh but still made 129 appearances. Perhaps one which has escaped the memory is David Witteveen. The striker joined Hearts in the summer of 2009 but managed only one goal that season before spending time on loan at Greenock Morton, Dundee and Stirling Albion, ultimately returning to Austria in July 2011.
