Full name | FC Karnten |
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Founded | 1920 |
Ground | Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt |
Capacity | 32,000 |
League | Austrian Regional League Central |
2007–08 | Red Zac 1st League, 10th |
FC Karnten was an Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt.
In 1927, the team changed its name to SK Austria Klagenfurt. They played successfully in the Kärntner Liga and in 1960 were promoted to the Austrian Regional League Central where they won the 1961–62 championship. Then a member of the Austrian Football Bundesliga (Liga A), Austria Klagenfurt intermittently stayed in first league until their final relegation in 1989. In the 1992–93 season, the club found itself back in the Kärntner Liga.
Though Austria Klagenfurt again gained the promotion to the Regional League Central in 1996, it seemed that the Carinthian Clubs would have to work together in order to send a team to the Bundesliga. This led to cooperation between SK Austria and Villacher SV, who also played in the Regional League, and were based in the nearby town of Villach. In 1997, the clubs changed their name to FC Austria/VSV and were promoted to the First League. In 1999, the clubs formally merged under the name FC Kärnten.
After the hiring of manager Walter Schachner in 2001, the team won the Austrian Cup, the Supercup and became champions of the First League, resulting in promotion to the Bundesliga the following season. The club, under the honorary presidency of Governor Jörg Haider, once again reached the finals of the Austrian Cup and the Supercup in 2003, which they both lost to FK Austria Wien. FC Kärnten played in the Bundesliga for three years until relegation in 2004.