Costs in the 2nd division:

4 euros for a ticket, 800,000 for the referees!

If you don't see spectators, show up! Ried also plays away games in front of ghost crowds.

(Bild: GEPA pictures/ Walter Luger)

Here we go again: For the umpteenth time, a reform of the regional leagues is currently being considered in Austrian soccer. Due to the promotion and relegation system, this would of course also affect the 2nd division. In which the economic income and expenditure match less and less.

The reform plans are dead, they are alive, they are dead, they are . . .

For years there have been announcements, ideas, plans, evaluations - and in the Westliga and thus in Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg there has even been a reform. Which has since been withdrawn.

The regional league, which in Austrian soccer only functions well in the east, is like a dead end. And with it the substructure of the 2nd division, which itself has a problem: High costs, few customers. The average attendance in the 27th and final round was a respectable 1283 spectators per game - but only because 7900 came to the GAK championship party against SV Horn.

Only 241 spectators at second division match

In contrast, only 241 attended the Styrian derby between Sturm II and Lafnitz, and 350 each for Bregenz - Stripfing and Liefering - Vienna. And even clubs such as SV Ried are finding it difficult to maintain their attendance levels in the current championship phase. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that the Innviertel side - who host SK Sturm II in their penultimate home game of the season on Friday - are offering a full-price ticket for the West Stand for just €4 for the season finale against Dornbirn on 25 May

For the match of a league whose refereeing costs are borne by the ÖFB - and which, according to OÖFV President Gerhard Götschhofer, amount to 800,000 euros per season.

"We are at the very beginning"

Shows that there is a gap between income and expenditure. Which is why it is good that the Bundesliga must also be on board with the regional league reform now being considered by ÖFB President Klaus Mitterdorfer. After all, the aim is to find a promotion and relegation system between the 2nd division and the 3rd division that everyone can live with. The ÖFB is forming a working group for this purpose, for which the OÖFV has also nominated former Ried and BW Linz manager Stefan Reiter. He comments: "But we are still at the very beginning!"