Rudi Strittich

Rudi Strittich
Personal information
Full name	Rudolf Strittich
Date of birth	3 March 1922
Date of death	11 July 2010 (aged 88)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1936–1946	Vorwärts Steyr
1946–1950	First Vienna
1950–1951	USC Triestina
1951	Samarios
1952–1953	First Vienna
1953–1955	Besançon RC
International career‡
1946–1949	Austria
Managerial career
1955–1956	Sturm Graz
1957–1958	Basel
1959–1960	Apollon Kalamarias
1961–1962	Esbjerg fB
1962–1963	Vorwärts Steyr
1964	Viborg FF
1965–1967	Esbjerg fB
1968–1969	Aalborg BK
1970–1975	Denmark
1976	Real Murcia
1976–1979	Esbjerg fB
1980	Austria Salzburg
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 August 2008; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 August 2008

Rudi Strittich (3 March 1922 – 11 July 2010) was an Austrian football coach and former player.

Club career

Strittich debuted for Vorwärts Steyr, and later played for First Vienna FC. While with First Vienna, he went on a tour of the Middle East and upon returning was arrested along with two other players for smuggling narcotics into Austria. Strittich was imprisoned for three months and banned from football for one year by the Austrian Football Association.^[2]

Unable to play football in Austria, Strittich was recruited by Béla Guttmann to play for Italian club USC Triestina. The Austrian FA would not clear him to play, so he joined Colombian side Samarios, where he could play because the Colombian Football Federation was not at the time affiliated to FIFA.^[2]

Upon returning to Austria, Strittich learned that his ban was still in effect, as the Austrian FA ruled that he did serve the ban while playing in Colombia. He moved to Switzerland and trained with the youth side of Young Fellows Zürich. Next, he briefly returned to Vienna, and was sold to French side Besançon RC after just six months. He suffered a back injury in France, and would retire from playing soon after.^[2]

International career

He made his debut for Austria in December 1946 against Hungary and earned 4 caps, scoring one goal.

Coaching career

After retiring as a football player Strittich worked as a coach for Sturm Graz in his home country. However, his greatest success as a coach came in Denmark, where he made Esbjerg fB champions in 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1979. He was also coach of the Denmark national football team from 1970 to 1975.