"Krone" championship series

African sounds provided the rhythm

The jubilation at Hallein 1b over the championship title and promotion knew no bounds.

(Bild: zVg)

After two upheavals in one season, the 1b team from UFC Hallein ended up winning the title.At an amateur tournament, the team from Salinenstadt in the 2nd class North B made a real stroke of luck that would ultimately make the difference.

"We won the first game easily. That immediately gave us the idea that we might be playing for promotion," Daniel Kraft explains about the early ambitions of Hallein 1b. And they lived up to them in the end. With a 6:0 win over Großgmain, Stanislav Stevic's team secured the championship title in the 2nd Class North B on the penultimate matchday.

"We had a new line-up in the summer, but we had a few setbacks in the fall," Kraft looks back. The next upheaval followed in the winter, when Stevic took over as coach. Above all, the atmosphere in the dressing room improved once again. "It was really good, everyone enjoyed coming to training. After that, we often all stayed longer." 

Champion squad UFC Hallein 1b

Goalkeepers

Goalkeepers: Danijel Grbavac (13 appearances), Tobias Schäfer (4).

Outfield players

Özkan (25), Akinyemi (24), Branko Marjanovic (23), Oluwatosin Ayetigbo, Christoph Kendler, Don Maniradukunda (21 each), Erwin Burzic, Florian Meier (16 each), Stefan Zderic (15), Engin Aslan, Marko Zivkovic (14 each), Adnan Halilagic, Batuhan Ünal (11 each), Daniel Kraft, Lukas Danter (10 each), Dragan Hadjievski, Yusuf Kandemir, Mustafa Yavuzer (9 each), Ari Keyad, Simon Zaric (8 each), Bünyamin Aksoy (7), Paul Michelag, Michael Tanzberger (6 each), Arhan Metin, Stefan Simic, Manuel Vincetic (5 each), Boris Babic, Balazs Barsony (2 each), Marco Brüggler, Mateo Matkic, Din Rahmanovic, Emil Salmhofer, Leon Trobradovic (1 each), Diar Abdulmajid, Ranko Gigic, Sascha Koberger, Batuhan Mese, Stefan Srbulovic (all 0).

Coach

Stanislav Stevic

"Like a family"
Probably the biggest stroke of luck for the Salinenstädter was the signing of the two Nigerians Oluwatosin Ayetigbo and Azeez Akinyemi as well as the Burundian Don Maniradukunda. "We saw them for the first time at an amateur tournament, they were looking for a new team," explains Kraft. A scouting trip that paid off. Ayetigbo scored 37 goals in the league, won the "crown shooting boot" and has now also been able to prove himself successfully in the Salzburg League. Akinyemi and Maniradukunda quickly became important mainstays. 

Ayetigbo, Maniradukunda, Esatbeyoglu and Akinyemi (from left).

(Bild: zVg)

Integration was made easy for them. Önder Esatbeyoglu was a decisive factor in this. The assistant coach played an important role for the trio. "We're a bit like a family," beams the coach. He also picks up his protégés from the train station before every training session.