The LASK in a rush

Lask-Chef Gruber mit Jerome Boateng

A press photo shows CEO Gruber laughing next to 36-year-old German star player Jérôme Boateng. The transfer was “absolute madness,” enthused the LASK boss. It was possible to bring “an internationally sought-after model athlete” to Linz. But there was a catch: the “model athlete” was on trial for domestic violence. The LASK boss defiantly highlighted Boateng’s “extraordinary character” because he had given the club massive financial support despite “numerous high-dollar offers”.

In the LASK cosmos, everything revolves around success. And at any price. The drive can be explained primarily by club boss Gruber. His great talent is “making companies bigger quickly,” says someone who knows him well. Gruber became rich with the Eferding office furniture manufacturer Hali. In 2008 he took over the company as majority owner, renovated it – and sold it in 2018 for a chunk of money. Gruber’s skill also benefited LASK. Ten years ago, Linz was still languishing in the regional league. They played against clubs like Copacabana Kalsdorf, had debts and no training ground of their own. The kickers often had to change on the bus and then run onto a borrowed field. In 2013, LASK was on the verge of collapse.

That’s where Gruber came into play. With a group of entrepreneurs, the “Friends of LASK”, he took over the club in December 2013. The 14 men bought shares, paid off debts, found sponsors and managed to return to the Bundesliga in 2017. Jürgen Werner, an ex-footballer and successful player agent, became the royal transfer. He brought in hungry players and former RB Salzburg assistant Oliver Glasner as coach. Werner was the first in Austria to copy the successful Salzburg model with the LASK. In the European Cup they beat big names: PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Rosenborg Trondheim. LASK moved into the round of 16 and was suddenly among the 50 best teams in Europe.

“A massive foul”

In 2020, LASK almost pulled off a big coup. But then something went really wrong for the first time. Before the final round of the domestic Bundesliga, Linz were at the top of the table and the championship title was within their grasp. But then Corona came. A training ban for all clubs was imposed. But LASK didn’t want to lose its competitive edge, trained secretly – and got caught. A huge outcry from the competition followed. The Bundesliga Criminal Senate spoke of “a massive foul within the football family”. The whole country turned up its nose. Six points were deducted from LASK as a punishment, they fell behind RB Salzburg and ended up in third place. The club felt cheated out of the title.

A year later, something got out of hand again. The magazine “News” accused LASK Vice President Jürgen Werner of allowing transfer money to disappear into dubious channels. Werner vigorously denied the allegations, but LASK’s image was damaged.

People in the club felt they were being treated unfairly – and suspected cross shots from Vienna that were supposed to harm the up-and-coming LASK. During this time, Gruber became more and more suspicious. Also to the media. He developed a strong “Mia san mia” mentality. And worked even more energetically to grow the club.

Gruber is well connected in Linz. He got politicians and donors on board. Banks, energy suppliers, beverage companies, construction companies, the state of Upper Austria and countless other companies support the club. The Raiffeisen Arena, subsidized by the state of Upper Austria with 30 million euros, was built. While LASK was still bustling around in village squares ten years ago, it is now a multi-million dollar company. Not everyone likes that. Purist supporters are bothered by the new corporate approach. Fans have been arguing with officials for years. For example, about the Leiberl question: Occasionally the LASK kickers run onto the field in pink jerseys – the corporate color of the sponsor BWT. Fans founded the “Black and White Initiative” to preserve the traditional colors. It is the biggest conflict in the football world that is being fought out in little Linz. Who has more say: fans or financiers?

Gruber makes decisions in a small circle – with close confidants. Fans, on the other hand, have little say. The LASK is not a membership club like Rapid, where supporters determine the club leadership and can submit their own proposals. In Linz, the business people decide. This is also why the appendix is ​​particularly vigilant. There are fan blogs like that of the “Initiative Schwarz-Weiß” that exercise a kind of control function. The grievances there are criticized again and again. For example, a “friend of LASK”, the entrepreneur Benedetto Wagner, is said to have received coveted tickets from the club in order to offer expensive fan trips to the game against Liverpool FC with his travel company Aerox.

The fans are getting restless

The organized fan scene has been pushing LASK forward for years. The requirement: discussions with the CEO. But he refused for a long time. Gruber is not a fine puss who struts around in designer clothes. He wears T-shirts, shorts, hoodie. He almost looks like you would imagine stereotypical people from the block to be: tattooed on his upper arm, short hair, angular. But his mindset is that of a manager. The fans were only interested in power and influence, club representatives said behind closed doors. But they don’t want conditions like Rapid in Linz. So fans who have a say everywhere and cause a ruckus. “They get shit on their heads there – where can they get that,” one of the LASK told profil a year ago. The fans would enjoy success and a nice stadium. “But how is this financed?”

Gruber ignored the supporters for a long time. To then go on a confrontation course. The ultimate crash occurred in the spring of 2024. Fans dragged washing machines in front of the stadium and threw cleaning tabs onto the field. According to the motto: Wash your pink clothes clean and “your conscience” at the same time. Now Gruber had enough. The LASK imposed stadium bans on several fan capos.

The fan scene reacted to the “indefinite stadium bans” with an “indefinite mood boycott”. Suddenly there was an eerie silence in the arena. And LASK quickly lost against TSV Hartberg. Sponsors were bothered by this. They wanted to offer their box guests an exciting football experience and not an internal club war. The “OÖN” was soon able to report: “Due to pressure from important sponsors, the state leadership brought in LASK boss Gruber and urged him to talk to the fans.” A ceasefire was agreed. The LASK withdrew the stadium bans. The fans promised not to provoke any more interruptions in the game.

It is conflicts like this that now shape the image of LASK. It’s about blood and Boateng. To dress pink. Fans and financiers. It’s about football culture – and the question of how to finance football. The LASK is in continuous expansion mode. And is also under pressure. The last annual report from the 2022/23 season showed sales of 26.5 million euros and an annual loss of 3.7 million. But the new stadium and the expensive team require bubbling sources of income. LASK repeatedly had to throw principles overboard in order to make money. In 2020, Gruber emphasized that he did not want to offer any betting providers advertising space; that was “our club philosophy”. This year he presented the Turkish betting company Nerobet as a new premium partner.

The exciting football for which LASK was loved across Austria took a back seat. But this is precisely what is essential for the financing of the club. A few years ago, European Cup successes brought double-digit millions into the club’s coffers. But LASK hasn’t played really exciting games for a long time.

Something goes wrong again

The hunger for success is still great. When Sturm Graz snatched the title from the Salzburg Bulls in the spring, it made Linz hungry for more. Coach Thomas Sageder was fired and replaced by Maximilian Ritscher. A day later, the club corrected: Ritscher did not have the required coaching license, which is why Thomas Darazs now “occupies the position of head coach”. Numerous new players were signed – including world champion Boateng. The LASK squad is now worth 43 million euros – only Sturm and Salzburg have more valuable kickers.

And yet, shortly afterwards, everything went wrong again. LASK lost six of the first seven league games – and ended up in second to last place. Superstar Boateng, who has now been found guilty of simple assault, was only on the field for a meager 97 minutes.

“Has LASK lost its face?” Boss Gruber was asked in the Sky studio at the beginning of September. Under him, the club recently came third “twice,” he warned, pointing to a “holistic playing philosophy.” The coach doesn’t have to worry after the bad start to the season. “I don’t believe in ultimatums.” A few hours later – LASK had just lost 5-1 against Wolfsberger AC – Thomas Darazs was fired from his job.

Markus Schopp, who was successful at TSV Hartberg until recently, is now involved in the role of rescuer. The entire mess was hurriedly handed over to him. It was announced that Schopp would be coach and sports director in one person in the future. He should solve the problem single-handedly. Gruber, we hear, wants to stay out of the sport in the future. He has enough to do as it is. For example with the fans who don’t come to the stadium because of the expensive tickets. Soon he wants to sit down at a table with them. Meanwhile, some who have purchased expensive tickets but are staying away in protest are coming up with creative ideas. A fan suggested that they be donated to the homeless.