CLASS PLAYERS THEN AND NOW
— Unknown | 05/01/1935 —

A few days ago, Hungarian newspapers published footballer rankings, which are only mentioned because Austria's players came off well. For the sake of curiosity, the line-ups of the best European, respectively continental selection teams shall be communicated, which, according to the Budapest coffee house strategists, could be constructed from the following international greats: European team: Hibbs (England); Goodall (England), Rosetta (Italy); Szalay (Hungary), Monti (Italy), Nausch (Austria); Guaita (Italy), Bican (Austria), Meazza, Ferrari (Italy), Bastin (England).

Another Hungarian newspaper is more modest and is content with nominating the best Continentals. It comes to the following conclusion: Plánička (Czechoslovakia); Sesta (Austria), Monzeglio (Italy); Wagner (Austria), Sárosi (Hungary), Nausch (Austria); Zischek (Austria), Svoboda (Czechoslovakia), Sindelar (Austria), Ferrari (Italy), Reguzzoni (Italy). 

Of course, rankings in football do not even have an academic value, since players' performances, unlike those of track and field athletes, swimmers, etc., cannot be checked with a stopwatch or measured like a discus throw or long jump. If this were possible, opinions would often not diverge as widely as they actually do when assessing the abilities of footballers.

We will now try to list those domestic and foreign players who were or are recognised as class players in Vienna, partly because of their technical and tactical talent, partly because of their special fighting qualities and efficiency. Let us start with the goalkeepers.

The most famous predecessors of Franzl, Hiden, Platzer and Raftl were Pekarna, Brager, Nauß, Aigner, Blhat, Feigl, Edi tannhäuser, Jokl, Ostricek and the Hungarian Fabian. Pekarna was a goalkeeper phenomenon. Prager was the type of fatl-blooded goalkeeper whose phlegm, however, often drove his supporters to despair. Franz was the first Viennese goalkeeper to extend his sphere of action to the edge of the penalty area, often further out, and his great successes led the experts to the view that a really great goalkeeper must be a good footballer rather than a ball catcher living on the goal line. Of the foreign goalkeepers, Plánička, Zamora, Combi, Ceresoli, Gianni and Háda are recognised in Vienna as masters of their trade. Among the former greats, the Hungarians Zsák, Domonkos, Plattkó, the Germans Stuhlfauth and Lohrmann and the Swede Lindberg made the greatest impact.

THE DEFENDERS.

Vienna has few top-class defenders at present, though Sesta, Pavlicek, Rainer and Janda are among the continental elite. Schramseis, Tandler and Pepi Blum are difficult to replace. The best representatives of the old defenders' guard were Leuthe, Fischer, Urban, Popovich, Dietrich and Tekusch I., to name the most popular. Of the foreigners, the Hungarians Rumbold, Payer, the Englishman Crompton, the Italian Caligaris and the Uruguayan Nasazzi were the most respected in Vienna. Among our present opponents, Rosetta, Minelli, Haringer, Hagen, Sternberg, Mandl and Ženíšek can be called the best.

THE HALF-BACKS.

The most outstanding types of the old guard were Cimera, Tekusch II., Nitsch, Geyer and Karl Kurz as wing half-backs and Braunsteiner, Brandstetter, Dr. Fischl, Kurpiel, Kvitek and Resch as centre half-backs. At present, the best representatives of the half-back play are Wagner, Nausch and the all-round talent Luef for the wings; Smistik, Hofmann and Hummenberger for the centre. From abroad, Bíró, Blum (Hungary), Kolenatý and Červený (Czechoslovakia) should be mentioned as the best wing half-backs from the old days. Káďa is still considered the most outstanding foreign centre-half, although Percy Smith and Wedlock have also given unforgettable performances here. After them, the Hungarians Károly, Dori Kürschner, Guttmann, the German Kalb and, among the active players, Čambal and the Hungarian Sárosi should be mentioned.

THE OUTSIDE FORWARDS.

The choice of top-class outside forwards is currently far fewer than in earlier times. The team players with us today are Zischek, with some limitations Vogl II., Viertl, Brosenbauer and Billwein. Vogl I. is unfortunately only a shadow compared to earlier times. Especially on the left wing, there is a great need for players. Where are the times when a Wesely, Wieser or "Schloime" Fischer "made" the selection of the federation captain difficult? Andres, Taurer, Heinzl and so on were also once full team players. On the right wing, Müller, Hussak, Little, Wondrak, Cutti, Hierländer, Danis, Seidl, Edi Bauer, not to speak of the indestructible Siegl. The foreign countries also once had top-class wingers en masse, of whom we would only like to recall the Czechoslovakians Baumruk, Maly, the Hungarians Kohut, Csibi Braun, Dr. Borbás, Szabó, Tóth, the Englishmen Vizard and Meredith etc. In the Hungarians Nemes, Ernö Schwarz and the Egyptian Anwar, the Viennese championship competition also had excellent wingers. Of the current attractive foreign wingers in Vienna, Junek, Guaita, Constantini, Reguzzoni, Crooks, Bastin, Markos and Tänzer should be mentioned.

FORWARDS OF THE INSIDE TRIO.

A distinction should be made here between conductors and goal-scorers, although there were and are also such players of the inside trio who combine both qualities. The most successful conductors in Vienna, who virtually set a precedent or contributed most to the refinement of the Viennese style, were Studnicka and Kuthan and, among the foreigners, Kálmán Konrád, Schaffer and Karel Koželuh. Kannhäuser, Swatosch, Gschweidl, Sindelar, Haftl, Hiltl, Kaburek, Horvath, Häusler, Stoiber, Stroh and Bican can be described as their preferred pupils. One who should not and cannot be forgotten was the ball artist Fischera, who has one of his best copies in Müller. The Viennese public has seen top-class foreign football strategists in Buchan, David Jack, Woodward (England), Pilát, Vaník (Czechoslovakia), Pöttinger, Seiderer, Rohr (Germany), Abegglen II. (Switzerland), Rydell (Sweden), Ferrari, Meazza (Italy) and the Hungarians Pataki, Orth. The former forwards Merz, Neumann, Hofbauer, Necas, Winkler (Schrapnell-Ferdl), Uridil, Gansl, Eisenhoffer, Weselik, Schwarz and the "youngsters" Schall, Walzhofer, Binder, Adelbrecht, Durspekt and Donnenfeld distinguished themselves less by tactical skills than by effective play. The most successful foreign goal-scorers on Viennese soil were the Czechoslovakians Košek, Bělka, Janda, Dvořáček, the Hungarians Schlosser, Bodnár, Takács II., Molnár, the Germans Franz, Träg, the Italian Baloncieri and the Uruguayan Scarone. Of the foreigners still active, Puč, Svoboda (Czechoslovakia), Piola, Serantoni (Italy), the Swiss Abegglen III., the Scots McPhail, Marshall and the Germans Conen and Szepan are badly remembered by our goalkeepers.

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Isaque Argolo: This was a column that was not signed by anyone. I must emphasize that to comment and mention so many players of such class, in the way that was commented, one must have a very vast knowledge, a football knowledge that was not normal for the time.