SKN St. Pölten

Football club
SKN St. Pölten
Club crest
Full nameSportklub Niederösterreich St. Pölten
FoundedJune 2000; 23 years ago (2000-06)
GroundNV Arena
Capacity8,000
ChairmanHelmut Schwarzl
ManagerPhilipp Semlic
LeagueAustrian Football Second League
2021–22Austrian Football Second League, 8th
WebsiteClub website
Home colours
Away colours
Current season

Sportklub Niederösterreich St. Pölten is an Austrian football club from Sankt Pölten, capital of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. St. Pölten currently play in the Austrian Football Second League, the second tier of the Austrian football league system.[1]

History

Historical chart of league performance of SKN St. Pölten and their predecessor

SKN St. Pölten were formed after the dissolution of their unofficial predecessor FCN St. Pölten (formerly VSE St. Pölten) in June 2000. The new club took over all FCN St. Pölten infrastructure, including the stadium and the Bundesliga junior center. Although the normal rules state that new clubs must start in the lowest possible division, due to the acquisition of the Academy system, SKN St. Pölten were allowed to participate in the 2nd League West, the fifth level of Austrian football.

In their first season in existence (the 2000–01 season), the team won the 2nd League championship, and were therefore promoted to the fourth tier. In the 2001–02 season, SKN St. Pölten won their second successive title and hence were promoted into the Regional League East. In the same year, they also appeared in the final of the Lower Austria Cup, but were beaten by Theresienfeld.

In the 2002–03 season, the team finished twelfth, but improved the following year to finish in fourth. In the 2004–05 season the club attained sixth place in the league and had a run in the ÖFB Cup which included victories over SV Wörgl (3–0), SW Bregenz (2–1) and a sensational 5–1 victory against Austria Salzburg in the third round. In the quarter-finals, St. Pölten, were soundly beaten by Austria Wien 6–0.

St. Pölten finally achieved their third promotion in the 2007–08 season, going 24 games unbeaten during one period of the season. They have since remained in the Austrian Football First League, finishing four times in 5th (2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2014–15) and three times in 4th (2009–2010, 2012–13, 2013–14).

During the 2013–14 season the club reached the final of the Austrian Cup for the first time in their history. In the final, St. Pölten played Red Bull Salzburg but failed to repeat their stunning third round victory from 2002–03, losing 4–2. However, they qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League as Red Bull Salzburg had already qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League by virtue of winning the Austrian Football Bundesliga. In the second qualifying round they played Botev Plovdiv of Bulgaria, winning 3–2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 2–1. In the third qualifying round they played PSV Eindhoven, losing 2–4 on aggregate, thus ending their first foray into a continental competition.

St. Pölten achieved promotion into the Austrian Bundesliga by winning the First League in 2015–16.

Honours

European record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2Q Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv 2–0 1–2 3–2
3Q Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 2–3 0–1 2–4
Notes
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round

Current squad

As of 3 February 2024[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Germany GER Stefan Thesker
3 DF Austria AUT Thomas Alexiev
4 DF Austria AUT Sebastian Bauer
5 DF Ivory Coast CIV Souleymane Kone
6 MF Austria AUT Andree Neumayer
7 FW Republic of the Congo CGO Kévin Monzialo
8 MF Austria AUT Christoph Messerer
9 FW Austria AUT Bernd Gschweidl
10 MF Austria AUT Marcel Ritzmaier
11 MF Germany GER Marc Stendera
14 FW Japan JPN Rio Nitta
15 DF Austria AUT Christian Ramsebner
16 MF Austria AUT Nicolas Wisak
17 MF Austria AUT Johannes Tartarotti
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Austria AUT Benedict Scharner
19 DF Austria AUT David Riegler
20 MF Austria AUT Daniel Schütz
23 DF Luxembourg LUX Dirk Carlson
24 FW Austria AUT Dario Tadić
25 MF Austria AUT Thomas Salamon
26 GK Austria AUT Thomas Turner
27 GK Austria AUT Pirmin Strasser
37 MF Austria AUT Julian Keiblinger
66 DF Switzerland SUI Yannick Scheidegger
70 DF Germany GER Gerhard Dombaxi
77 MF Austria AUT Din Barlov
GK Austria AUT Felix Gschossmann (on loan from Blau-Weiß Linz)

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Austria AUT Stefan Nutz (long-term injury)

Youth work

SKN St. Pölten currently has ten youth teams between for children from the age of 7 to 15, with a total of 150 children and youths. In addition to the junior teams, the club have a second team (SKN II), who play their games in the Mid Western League, with the squad mostly consisting of squad players under the age of 18.

Sponsors

Under the sponsorship of the furniture store Leiner, the club was known as Leiner SKN St. Pölten until 2005. With the introduction of staff24 GmbH, the club changed its name in 2006 to SKN staff24 St. Pölten.

Coaching staff

Position Name
Manager Austria Stephan Helm
Assistant coaches Austria Emanuel Pogatetz
Goalkeeper coaches Austria Christoph Eglseer
Athletic coaches Austria Christian Balga

Manager history

As of 24 June 2020[3]

References

  1. ^ SKN St Pölten – News, Squad, Results & Fixtures – Soccerway
  2. ^ "Kader - Profis". SKN St. Pölten. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  3. ^ "SKN St. Pölten » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 27 May 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SKN St. Pölten.
  • Official website (in German)
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