Peter Stöger


Peter Stöger is an Austrian football coach and a former player.
As a player Stöger played as a midfielder and won the Austrian championship four times and the domestic cup three times playing for Austria Wien and Rapid Wien. As a coach or sporting director, Stöger won the Austrian championship twice and the Austrian Cup twice with Austria Wien; he also won promotion with 1. FC Köln, with four years at Austria Wien between 2013 and 2017, was his longest stint at one club.

Club career

Stöger started his career at Favoritner AC Wien, and played six years for Austria Wien from 1988 through 1994, winning league three consecutive seasons, with teammates like Ralph Hasenhüttl. After a year at Tirol Innsbruck, he joined Rapid Wien in 1995 and won a league title with them. He also played in the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final against Paris St Germain in Brussels, which Rapid lost. He then returned to Austria after a year at LASK Linz and finished his career at 38 years of age with Untersiebenbrunn.

International career

He made his debut for [Austria national Association football|football team|Austria] in February 1988 against Switzerland, missed out on the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He earned 65 caps, scoring 15 goals, including a hat-trick against Ireland in a Euro 96 qualifier in Vienna in September 1995. His last international was a March 1999 friendly match, also against Switzerland.

Managerial career

Austria

Stöger, along with Frank Schinkels, became coach of Austria Wien on 6 May 2005 and was scheduled to end his role at the end of the season. However, Stöger continued in the position until December 2005, then became sporting director. After winning the championship in that season, the following season did not start well and both coach and manager were sacked before year's end. Stöger eventually moved for 3 years to First Vienna, then Grazer AK, and Wiener Neustadt. Stöger returned to manage Austria Wien on 30 May 2012, stayed for one year and celebrated the Austrian championship with a record number of points, despite Red Bull Salzburg investing much more money in [Roger Roger Schmidt (football manager)|Schmidt (football manager)|Schmidt] as a coach, Mané, Alan, Soriano and Kampl as players.

1. FC Köln

Stöger and his co-trainer Manfred Schmid were bought out of their contracts for 700,000 EUR and a friendly, and thus started at 1. FC Köln on 11 June 2013. A couple of weeks later, Köln signed Jörg Schmadtke as co-CEO. The Billy Goats continuously improved under their tenure, from 33 points in the first half in the 2. Bundesliga, to 35 points in the second half, followed by promotion. The next half in the German top-flight ended with 19 points, followed by 22 points. The first half of 2015/16 ended with 24 points. In January 2016, Stöger, along with his co-trainer Manfred Schmid, let his contract be extended to 2020, including a buy-out clause. During the second half of the season, Köln was not as good, with 19 points, but finished on a single-digit rank for the first time in 24 years. In the season 2016/17, Köln reached 26 and 23 points, and was on the lucky end of the congestion for the places which brought international football back into the city after 25 years. Cologne finished 5th and qualified for the Europa League. In the 2017/18 season, Köln's poor start was the worst ever start to a Bundesliga season, with only three points from the opening 14 matches. In October, Schmadtke resigned. After a win against Arsenal in the Europa League, a loss against Hertha and a draw against Schalke in the league, Schmidt and Stöger were sacked on 3 December 2017. Stöger was still supported by the fans and the team at the time; he came to a fundraising event for disabled kids the night after his dismissal.

Borussia Dortmund

On 10 December 2017, Stöger was appointed as successor to Peter Bosz to coach Borussia Dortmund until the end of the season. Some colleagues found taking on this challenge a couple of days after leaving Köln, a little hard. With BVB sitting eighth in the league table, Stöger stabilized the team, his squad including young players such as Manuel Akanji and Jadon Sancho, as well as Sergio Gómez. At the end of the season, BVB finished fourth, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League on the final matchday. He left Dortmund on 12 May 2018.

Return to Austria Wien

In July 2019, Stöger returned to Austria Wien, becoming their sporting director. On 31 July 2020, he was appointed as head coach of the club for a third stint. He left the club by the end of the 2020–21 season.

Move to Ferencváros

On 5 June 2021, Stöger signed as head coach for Hungarian side Ferencváros. Under his tenure, the team managed to get to the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, where they were drawn together with Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic and Real Betis. Ferencváros lost five of the six group stage games, finishing last in their group. After suffering its first away loss domestically to newly-promoted Debreceni, he was relieved of his duties by the club on 13 December 2021.

Rapid Wien

In May 2025, Stöger became the head coach of Rapid Wien, signing a contract until 2027. He was dismissed by Rapid on 28 November 2025 after a 1–4 Conference League loss to Raków Częstochowa.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
119 August 1992Tehelné pole, Bratislava1–02–2Friendly
228 October 1992Praterstadion, Vienna4–15–21994 World Cup qualifier
317 May 1994Stadion GKS, Katowice1–04–3Friendly
417 May 1994Stadion GKS, Katowice2–14–3Friendly
517 May 1994Stadion GKS, Katowice3–24–3Friendly
66 September 1995Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna1–03–1Euro 1996 qualifier
76 September 1995Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna2–03–1Euro 1996 qualifier
86 September 1995Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna3–13–1Euro 1996 qualifier
911 October 1995Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna1–01–1Euro 1996 qualifier
1030 April 1997Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna2–02–01998 World Cup qualifier
118 June 1997Daugava Stadium, Riga3–03–11998 World Cup qualifier
1211 October 1997Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna2–04–01998 World Cup qualifier
1311 October 1997Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna4–04–01998 World Cup qualifier
142 June 1998Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna3–06–0Friendly
152 June 1998Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna4–06–0Friendly

Honours

Player

;Austria Wien
;Rapid Wien

Manager

;Austria Wien
;1. FC Köln