Underdog Stories / Football history

What happened to Austria Salzburg after Red Bull's takeover?

What happened to Austria Salzburg after the Red Bull takeover? Fans rebuilt the violet club from the seventh tier and won their way back to the 2. Liga.

By Brett Hanson · Underdog Podcasts · August 5, 2026

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In 2005, Red Bull made the fans of Austria Salzburg an offer. The captain could wear a violet armband. The kit maker's small logo could be violet. The goalkeeper could wear violet socks. The talks broke down over that offer, which the club's traditionalists took as an insult.

So what happened to Austria Salzburg after Red Bull's takeover? The old club was bought and rebranded, and its violet and white became red and white. Many supporters refused to follow. They re-founded SV Austria Salzburg on 7 October 2005 and started in the seventh tier in 2006. After a bankruptcy and a refused licence, they won promotion to the 2. Liga on 7 June 2025.

Chris Horwedel tells the story on Why We Love This Club, in the episode "SV Austria Salzburg — The Club Whose Supporters Refused to Change Color". His neat summary is that the club's achievement is that nobody confuses the two Salzburgs.

Why did Austria Salzburg fans walk away from Red Bull?

Not because of a sponsor. Chris points out the club had already played as Casino Salzburg and Wüstenrot Salzburg, and fans and media kept calling it Austria Salzburg anyway. Austrian clubs rename themselves all the time.

The scale was different. Red Bull bought Salzburg Sport AG on 6 April 2005. The bylaws were changed so Red Bull alone could appoint the club's board. Then came the line that fans still quote. The owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, declared "this is a new club with no history". The club website claimed a 2005 founding date until the Austrian Football Association ordered the claim removed.

The fans tried talking first. The Violet-White Initiative negotiated with club officials and peacefully occupied the pitch during a friendly. Mateschitz's reply, as reported by When Saturday Comes, was that he couldn't play with a purple bull if the brand was called Red Bull. The club also called the campaigners "hooligans" and handed them cardboard glasses with violet lenses. I can't think of a better way to lose an argument.

On 18 September 2005, about 1,500 violet-white fans walked out of a home game against Austria Vienna and never came back.

What happened to Austria Salzburg after the takeover? Back to the seventh tier

The first plan was to share. The violet traditionalists teamed up with a struggling fourth-division side, PSV/Schwarz-Weiss Salzburg. That fell apart in a boardroom fight, and the supporters set up their own club, following the examples of AFC Wimbledon and FC United.

The new SV Austria Salzburg started at the bottom, in the seventh tier, with a 6-0 win over Lieferinger SV. Meanwhile Red Bull was spending big. By its second season the budget had been raised to €40m and Giovanni Trapattoni was hired, and a Champions League qualifier side contained no Austrians at all.

The violets answered by winning. Four titles in a row took them to the third tier, the Regionalliga West, by 2010. Chris stresses who did the work. Everything from the boardroom to the turnstiles was shared among fans. They sold tickets, fixed the ground, organised travel and raised money. Early on there were 700 members and average crowds of 900.

Why did Austria Salzburg go bankrupt after reaching the second tier?

This is the part of the story Chris won't romanticise, and I'm glad. The club won promotion to the second tier in 2015 and was relegated a year later. Chris says costs jumped, the stadium didn't meet requirements, and revenue didn't keep up.

It got worse than a bad season. In late November 2015 the club announced it had started reorganisation proceedings. The dream ended in insolvency, a forced relegation and almost €2m in debt, of which €1m had to be paid off. A second relegation followed, to the fourth tier, and another collapse was avoided only through members' donations.

“Austria Salzburg inherited the colors, much of the old support, and the conviction that identity belonged to the people rather than paperwork.”
— Chris Horwedel, on Why We Love This Club

Chris puts it plainly: love of violet shirts did not pay every bill. The cure was dull and slow. By the 2023/24 season, the club announced it was debt-free.

What happened when Austria Salzburg played Red Bull in 2023?

They met in the Austrian Cup on 26 September 2023, 18 years after the takeover, in the second round. The tie was classed as high-risk, so it couldn't be played at Austria's ground and moved to Grödig, about 10 km away. About 4,000 people watched Red Bull win 4-0.

The details are better than the score. A car blocked the access road for Red Bull's team bus, so the pros arrived late. The second half started late too, because Austria's fans set off a stock of fireworks. Old Austria heroes Heimo Pfeifenberger, Otto Konrad and Hermann Stadler watched from the stands.

Red Bull's captain, Amar Dedic, called it a derby afterwards. Many Austria fans wouldn't use the word. Chris explains why: a derby is two clubs in one city, and they don't see Red Bull as a rival club. They see it as the replacement.

How did Austria Salzburg get back into the 2. Liga?

Not in a straight line. The same season as the cup tie, Austria topped its group but promotion was refused for lack of infrastructure, because a building project next to the ground required noise protection walls. Funding and commitment arrived too late for the licensing process. They had won the league and still couldn't go up.

They won it again. In April 2025 the second-division licence finally came through after several failed attempts. The club planned modestly. The budget was just under €1m, tiny for that level.

On the last day, a point against SC Schwaz would have been enough, and Marinko Sorda ended the nervy wait with a 1-0 winner. About 2,000 fans watched in the Max-Aicher-Stadion. Sources disagree on the minute: Wikipedia says the 88th, kicker says the 86th. Either way, it was late, and this time the licence was ready.

Chris says the first season in the 2. Liga went well. They finished in the top half on 37 points, and on 13 March 2026 they beat FC Liefering, Red Bull's development side, 2-0.

Who owns Austria Salzburg's history, the club or the licence?

Both clubs claim it. On paper, Red Bull wins. The history of the old SV Austria Salzburg is now associated with FC Red Bull Salzburg. That includes the trophies. Red Bull's own club history counts the 1994 title as the first of three in four seasons, and the UEFA Cup final run. So the company that announced there was no history later took the history, with the trophies.

Austria Salzburg has a different claim, and Chris frames it well. The new club marked the 90th anniversary of the 1933 original in 2023/24. The legal inheritance went one way. The colours, much of the old crowd and the belief that a club belongs to the people who turn up went the other.

My view: the paperwork argument is airtight, and it's also not the question fans are asking. The comparison people reach for is AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons. Chris's verdict is that football has no court to settle it. It just hands both teams a fixture list.

Where does that leave the violets now? Chris says the aim is stability. The club has close to 2,000 members, and coach Christian Schaider has signed through 2028. Another promotion can wait until the ground can handle one. The last time they rushed, it cost almost €2m.