THE VITALS:

Team: Rapid Wien

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2009-11 (Used for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Austrian Bundesliga season’s)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This shirt comes to you in nothing short of excellent condition! The material, colours, sponsor decal and club crest are in the finest of order!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Extra Small (XS)

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18.5 inches

Shirt Length: 26.5 inches

Made by Adidas in their ‘ClimaCool’ mould which they introduced in 2009; this shirt, true to form, is much better suited to a size extra small than it is to a size small.

DESCRIPTION: 

After Adidas’ mostly green offering for Rapid’s home shirt between 2007-09, the famous Austrian outfit were restored the classic green and white stripes for their home shirt for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 season’s. This shirt will no doubt by synonymous for fans of ‘Die Grun-Weisen’ for their pair of successive eliminations of Aston Villa in the Europa League Play-Off’s in both of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 season’s! This was also the last home shirt to be worn by the likes of: Nikica Jelavic, Stefan Maierhofer, Hannes Eder and Erwin Hoffer as the club failed to win back the Austrian Bundesliga title that they relinquished in 2008-09.

THE SEASON(S):

After falling short in their defence of the Bundesliga title in 2008-09 by just 4 points, Peter Pacault was retained as head coach ahead of the 2009-10 season. The season would begin with the long journey to the Europa League Group Stage where they eventually paired against Aston Villa in the Play-Off clash. After being upset by Cypriot side - Anorthosis in Champions League qualification 12 months prior; Rapid Wien pulled off the stunning elimination of the heavily favoured English side when they prevailed on away goals!

That would be the highlight of the season unfortunately, as both Stefan Maierhofer and Erwin Hoffer left the club and Rapid’s European journey ended at the Group Stage. Furthermore, the Austrian Cup would only yield a quarter final finish, and most crucially, in the Bundesliga, they would fall short of eventual champions – Red Bull Salzburg, by just 3 points as they finished in 3^rd place.

In 2010-11, it was back to the drawing board again in 2010-11, and as fate would have it; their place in the Europa League Group Stage would be decided by a tie with Aston Villa! Away goals were not required this time as they won 4-3 over 2 Legs, including a famous 3-2 win at Villa Park on August 26^th 2010! Sadly, the Europa League would yield yet another Group Stage exit, and while the team went to the semi-final of the Austrian Cup, the league campaign ended with them finishing in 5^th place, with Peter Pacult being dismissed in April 2011.

The notable players that season were:

Stefan Maierhofer, Atdhe Nuhiu, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink,  Mario Konrad, Rene Gartier, Nikica Jelavic, Hamdi Salihi, Erwin Hoffer, Yasin Pehlivan, Christopher Trimmel, Branko Boskovic, Christoph Saurer, Thomas Hinum, Christopher Drazan, Veli Kavlak, Steffen Hofmann, Stefan Kulovits, Markus Heikkinen, Andreas Dober, Ragnvald Soma, Hannes Eder, Markus Katzer, Stefan Kulovits, Christian Thonhofer, Milan Jovanovic, Tanju Kayhan, Jürgen Patocka, Helge Payer, Raimund Hedl