2023-12-24 13:22:13
The long-time former club secretary of Austria Salzburg died in a car accident at the age of 66.
Countless condolences were already collected on his Facebook page on Christmas Eve. A car accident in his hometown of Seekirchen suddenly took the life of the long-time football official, gifted networker and organizer.
A report about a current talent from the m&m deportivo agency, right below a reminiscence of Otto Baric, who died in 2020: Rudi Mirtl’s social media appearance shows that he represented the good old football days as well as the present. From 1990 to 2005 he was part of the eventful violet history as club secretary. Behind this inconspicuous job title, he combined a wealth of tasks that now have to be carried out by several dozen people at a modern football club: player contracts, transfers, team support, ticketing, appointment coordination, travel organization, media, stadium administration and much more. He was often in demand as a diplomat and troubleshooter in order to mitigate severe punishments for players or sanctions against the club from the relevant committees.
Organizer of the football fairy tale
He was also an important part of the mosaic of success that created a unique football fairytale 30 years ago: When Austria Salzburg stormed into the UEFA Cup final and the enthusiasm surrounding Heimo Pfeifenberger, Otto Konrad, Wolfgang Feiersinger and Co. reached unimagined dimensions, Rudi performed Mirtl works countless overtime with a small team in the background. In the pre-digital era, tickets were often ordered from the club by telephone.
He also knew how to implement coach Otto Baric’s sometimes bizarre ideas. So he set up a training camp in Belgium in the winter of 1993/94. With record temperatures below zero, the kickers had to move again because the training pitches were icy. A little later, Austria sensationally eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. On the milestone anniversaries of the “94ers”, Rudi Mirtl always slipped into his role as organizer and brought together the now widely scattered heroes of yesteryear.
Mateschitz’s man from the very beginning
When Red Bull took over in 2005, Rudi Mirtl was one of the very first employees. It was very important to Didi Mateschitz to have a reliable person with football sense who could keep an overview during the major upheaval.
In later years Rudi Mirtl worked as an employee of the Austrian Bundesliga. Just a few days ago he was a guest at the Bundesliga’s 50th anniversary gala in Vienna. As an employee of his son Philipp in the m&m deportivo agency, the passionate football fan was involved in the success of many impressive careers. As specialists for overlooked talents, Mirtl and Mirtl led kickers such as Thomas Goiginger, Matthias Seidl, Marco Grüll, Benni Pichler and Patrick Greil from the lower house into professional football. Last but not least, Mirtl was involved in many issues in his hometown of Seekirchen.
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