The conversation with Josef Bertalan takes place in his dining room. He took this room at his parents’ house. At first glance you wouldn’t think you were visiting a former football star. In his twenties, however, Bertalan traveled around the world, but did not completely leave Fischamend.
At the age of 14 he was already in the first team of ATSV Fischamend. After a home game the Mear coach Franz Wagner invited him to Hütteldorf. “I often didn’t catch the last bus back to Fischamend. Then I had to walk home from Schwechat,” says Bertalan. He also said he was only taken once by a Russian military vehicle.
At the age of 17, he moved to the youth team of SK Rapid Vienna. He later played for the U21s, who always played their games before the first team. When he wanted to change before a game, his coach came into the dressing room. Bertalan should step in spontaneously for the first team. “At first it felt like a blow to the head. When I arrived in Hütteldorf, everyone naturally asked who I was,” he remembers.
Traveled the world with the best players
And so he shared the space with the big names of his time, such as Ernst Happel, Robert Dienst and the Körner brothers. “These were great people that I had the opportunity to play with and I had a lot of respect for them. I was with them for a very long time,” Bertalan explains and continues: “At some point after a game they put me aside and said: Come here Bua, I’m the A-Schädl, that’s the Körner Ans and the Körner Zwa and that’s Robert. Then I was part of the team.”
But Bertalan never went with them to the wine bar. With his monthly salary he could only afford a taxi home at most. Back then, the Hütteldorfers trained twice a week. Because of his sporting career, he abandoned an apprenticeship and worked for a pattern maker. “Thank God I earned good money on trips abroad. We received the equivalent of around 1,100 euros in bonuses per game,” he says.
Signed autograph card from Bertalan.
Photo:
Mario Pichler
Bertalan traveled all over the world with Rapid, for example New York: “There they only knew American football and they cheered every time a ball went over the back bar,” he remembers. His first was a five-day flight to Australia: “I was looked after for an hour. I was taken from the plane straight to the hotel and from the hotel to the restaurant. And I stayed there until someone picked me up again,” says Bertalan.
The left-wing striker was feared for his speed and precise crosses, earning him the nickname “Hero of Malmö”, among other things. In the two matches for a place in the quarter-finals of the Mitropacup, Bertalan was involved in all four goals against the Swedish club. SK Rapid Wien only suffered in the final against Vasas Budapest.
Injuries ended his high flight
A torn muscle in his thigh ended the high flight of the then 26-year-old football star. “After an injury like that, I was afraid it would happen again. And that’s how it was,” says Bertalan. After a six-week break, he was allowed to play for the national team for the first time. When he jumped forward, he felt in the air that he was hurt again. “That was my downfall. But at least I can say I ran into the squad once,” he says with a smile.
After suffering a second muscle tear, he stayed at Rapid for another two years and then moved to SC Simmering, where he was once a champion of the Eastern Regional League. At the age of 30, Bertalan finally gave up his professional career and came back home. “In Fischamend I was a player coach. I played there now and again, but I wasn’t happy about it anymore. At some point you don’t want it anymore.”
The balance after his sports career: 55 goals in 230 games. “I scored two goals in each game against Austria. Even when I was playing in Simmer. They were already afraid of me,” Bertalan remembers. The atmosphere at the Vienna derby was always heated. Scenes that happened during the final meeting between the rivals did not exist in his time and would not be part of football.
The head of department of the city office Florian Ceyka and the Mayor Thomas Ram (RAM) gave the next dress to the legend Fischamender Rapid. But this time from ATSV Fischamend.
Photo:
Municipality of Fischamend
The former winger will be remembered even after his career. On his 75th and 80th birthdays, he was honored in the Allianz Arena with a jersey with a matching player number. After the visit of Steffen Hoffmann on his 90th birthday, he can add another dress to the collection. Bertalan was last in the stadium two years ago.
After his career, he took a job at the airport. “I also worked part-time during my professional days. Back then you didn’t earn as much as you earn today.”