View source for Karl Rappan

{{Short description|Austrian footballer (1905–1996)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Karl Rappan
| image = Karl Rappan (1969).jpg
| upright = 1.1
| caption = Rappan in 1969
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|9|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Vienna]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1996|1|2|1905|9|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Bern]], Switzerland
| height = 
| position = [[Midfielder|Half]], [[forward (association football)|forward]]
| youthyears1 = 1922–1924
| youthclubs1 = SV Donau Wien
| years1 = 1924–1928
| clubs1 = [[VfB Admira Wacker Mödling|SC Wacker Vienna]]
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| years2 = 1928–1929
| clubs2 = [[FK Austria Wien|Austria Wien]]
| caps2 = 
| goals2 = 
| years3 = 1929–1930
| clubs3 = [[SK Rapid Wien|Rapid Wien]]
| caps3 = 6
| goals3 = 2
| years4 = 1931–1935
| clubs4 = [[Servette FC|Servette]]
| nationalyears1 = 1927
| nationalteam1 = [[Austria national football team|Austria]]
| nationalcaps1 = 2
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| manageryears1 = 1931–1935
| managerclubs1 = [[Servette FC|Servette]] (player-coach)
| manageryears2 = 1935–1948
| managerclubs2 = [[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]]
| manageryears3 = 1937–1938
| managerclubs3 = [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]
| manageryears4 = 1942–1949
| managerclubs4 = [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]
| manageryears5 = 1948–1957
| managerclubs5 = [[Servette FC|Servette]]
| manageryears6 = 1953–1954
| managerclubs6 = [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]
| manageryears7 = 1958–1959
| managerclubs7 = [[FC Zürich|Zürich]]
| manageryears8 = 1960–1963
| managerclubs8 = [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]
| manageryears9 = 1964–1968
| managerclubs9 = [[FC Lausanne-Sport|Lausanne-Sport]]
| manageryears10 = 1970–1971
| managerclubs10 = [[SK Rapid Wien|Rapid Wien]] (technical director)
}}
'''Karl Rappan''' (26 September 1905 – 2 January 1996) was an Austrian [[association football|footballer]] and [[coach (sport)|coach]]. He played and managed mostly in Switzerland, where he won multiple titles. He had four tenures as coach of the [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland national team]], which he managed in three [[FIFA World Cup|World Cups]], and is the all-time leader in matches won as coach of the Swiss team. He introduced a major football strategy known as the "bolt", which gave origin to the ''[[catenaccio]]'' system. He also helped create the [[UEFA Intertoto Cup]].

==Playing career==
Rappan, born in [[Vienna]], played as a [[midfielder|half]] and [[forward (association football)|forward]].<ref>Source: description of line-ups of club Rapid Wien, at http://rapidarchiv.at/spiele/1930.html</ref> As a teenager, he played for the club ''Donau Wien''. In 1924, he joined [[VfB Admira Wacker Mödling|Wacker Vienna]], where he played four years. He was selected to the [[Austria national football team|Austria national team]] in while at Wacker. He then played one season at each of the clubs [[FK Austria Wien]] and [[SK Rapid Wien|Rapid Wien]], winning the 1929–30 Austrian league with the latter. Rappan then moved to Switzerland, where he started playing for [[Servette FC]] in 1931, becoming a player-coach until his retirement as a player in 1935, and winning the Swiss league twice with the club, in 1933 and 1934.

In 1927, he was [[cap (sport)|capped]] twice for the Austria national team, scoring one goal,<ref name="rapidarchiv">{{in lang|de}} [http://rapidarchiv.at/trainer/rappan_karl.html Karl Rappan summary] - rapidarchiv.at - Official Archives of SK Rapid Wien, by Gerald Pichler and Herbert Pawlek - retrieved October 2006.</ref> against [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] in a 6–0 win.<ref>Source: {{in lang|de}} http://www.austriasoccer.at/LSP/1920_29/1927/s1927_02.htm</ref>

==Coaching career==
Rappan spent almost all of his managerial career – which extended from 1932 to 1963 – coaching Swiss teams and the Switzerland national team. After his role as player-coach at Servette, Rappan became a full-time coach and joined [[Grasshopper Club Zürich]], managing the [[Zürich]] club from 1935 to 1948, and winning five domestic league titles and seven cups. In 1948, he returned to Servette for a second period at the club, now as coach only. He remained there until 1957, adding one more league title and one cup to his palmares.

After Servette, Rappan had a one-season spell at FC Zürich. From 1960 to 1963, he coached the Switzerland national team exclusively, and after this last period in charge of the national squad, he joined club [[FC Lausanne-Sport|Lausanne-Sport]], being their coach from 1964 to 1968, and winning one league title in 1965. After almost four decades of service in Swiss football, he returned to Austria to be the technical director of [[SK Rapid Wien|Rapid Wien]] – his former club as a player – for the 1969–70 season.<ref name="rapidarchiv" />

===The "bolt"===
During the early 1930s, when the use of the [[Formation (association football)#WM|"WM" system]] was spreading, Rappan developed a tactical system under which players switched positions and duties depending on the game's pattern.<ref name="EB">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-29616/football Play of the game > Strategy and tactics] - britannica.com - by Richard C. Giulianotti, Jack D. Rollin, and Bernard Joy, [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Retrieved October 2006.</ref> The system varied largely from the classic [[Formation (association football)#2–3–5 (Pyramid)|2-3-5 formation]] and the WM, focusing in defense. The team would fold back into its own half and wait for the opponent's attack, conceding possession of the midfield. The system received the name of ''verrou'' or "bolt". It has also been called "Swiss bolt". Reportedly, Rappan looked for a system that was less rigid and less dependent on individual talent than the WM. It relied on collective work, and gave the amateurs of the time a chance to compensate to some extent for their lack of skill.<ref>[https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/news/newsid=73494.html The "Bolt" - never fully understood by many people]{{dead link|date=October 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} - fifa.com - by Walter Lutz, [[FIFA]], 2000.</ref> The defensive strategy of the bolt relied on a mixture of zonal and man-marking. It was the first system to play four players in defense, using one of them as a "security bolt" supporting the other three.<ref name="EB"/> It is acknowledged that the bolt largely influenced the ''[[catenaccio]]'' (Italian for ''bolt'') and its use of the ''[[Football (soccer) positions#Sweeper/Libero (SW)|libero]]'' (sweeper) in defense.

Rappan's system was never fully understood by many people at the time, and the coach himself never discussed it, keeping a certain mystery around it. It received both praise and criticism. The system did demonstrate to be successful at the [[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938 World Cup]]. Switzerland eliminated [[Germany national football team|Germany]] in the first round, where the match that ended in a 1–1 draw was replayed, with the Swiss winning the second match 4–2. Two weeks prior to the World Cup, Switzerland had defeated [[England national football team|England]] in a friendly match.

===Switzerland national team===
Rappan had four different tenures as head coach of the [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland national team]]: 1937 to 1938, 1942 to 1949, 1953 to 1954, and 1960 to 1963. He managed Switzerland in 77 international matches, the most ever by any Swiss team coach. He won 29 matches, also a record, and lost 36 times, second-most all-time.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www1.sf.tv/sfsport/artikel.php?catid=sportfussballartikel&docid=20050105_Nati_Trainer Swiss national team coaches in overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017131549/http://www1.sf.tv/sfsport/artikel.php?catid=sportfussballartikel&docid=20050105_Nati_Trainer |date=17 October 2008 }} - www1.sf.tv - ''Schweizer Fernsehen'', Retrieved October 2006.</ref><ref name="swi-int-rsssf">[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesz/zwit-intres.html Switzerland - International Matches since 1905] - by Erik Garin, [[RSSSF]].</ref>

With Rappan as its coach, Switzerland qualified to the World Cups of [[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938]], [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]] (where they beat [[Italy national football team|Italy]] and lost 7–5 to Austria in quarterfinals), and [[1962 FIFA World Cup|1962]]. Rappan recorded three wins, one draw, and six losses as a coach in World Cup finals tournaments.

His last match as Switzerland's coach was on 11 November 1963 against [[France national football team|France]] in [[Paris]], a 2–2 draw.

==After retirement==
Rappan, who had the idea of creating a European league, helped Ernst Thommen, the Managing Director for the Swiss Football Pool, conceive the [[UEFA Intertoto Cup]], which started in 1961.<ref>[http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/history/index.html History of the UEFA Intertoto Cup] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307212517/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/history/index.html |date=7 March 2008 }} - uefa.com, [[UEFA]].</ref><ref>[http://www.mogiel.net/EC/intertoto-history/background.php Background on the Intertoto Cup], By Søren Florin Elbech, www.mogiel.net</ref>

Rappan died on 2 January 1996 in [[Bern]].
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}

==Honours==
===As a player===
'''Rapid Wien'''
* Austrian league: 1929–30

'''Servette'''
* Swiss league: 1933, 1934

===As coach===
'''Grasshoppers'''
* Swiss league: 1936–37, 1938–39, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45
* Swiss cup: 1936–37, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1945–46

'''Servette'''
* Swiss league: 1949-50
* Swiss cup: 1948-49

==See also==
*''[[Catenaccio]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/news/newsid=73494.html The "Bolt" - never fully understood by many people]{{dead link|date=October 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} - fifa.com - by Walter Lutz, [[FIFA]], 2000.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120407173821/http://www.nscaa.com/ Evolution of Systems of Play] - nscaa.com - by John Bluem, [[NSCAA]].
*[http://www.mogiel.net/EC/intertoto-history/background.php Background on the Intertoto Cup], By Søren Florin Elbech, www.mogiel.net
*[http://www.austria-archiv.at/spieler.php?Spieler_ID=377 Player profile] - Austria Archive

{{Navboxes
|title= Karl Rappan international tournaments
|list1=
{{Switzerland Squad 1938 World Cup}}
{{Switzerland Squad 1954 World Cup}}
{{Switzerland Squad 1962 World Cup}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Karl Rappan managerial positions
|list1=
{{Servette FC managers}}
{{Grasshopper Club Zürich managers}}
{{Switzerland national football team managers}}
{{FC Zürich managers}}
{{SK Rapid Wien managers}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappan, Karl}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:Footballers from Vienna]]
[[Category:Austrian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Austria men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland]]
[[Category:SK Rapid Wien players]]
[[Category:FK Austria Wien players]]
[[Category:Servette FC players]]
[[Category:Austrian football managers]]
[[Category:Switzerland national football team managers]]
[[Category:1938 FIFA World Cup managers]]
[[Category:1954 FIFA World Cup managers]]
[[Category:1962 FIFA World Cup managers]]
[[Category:FC Zürich managers]]
[[Category:Servette FC managers]]
[[Category:Grasshopper Club Zurich managers]]
[[Category:SK Rapid Wien managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Admira Wacker players]]
[[Category:FC Lausanne-Sport managers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian sportsmen]]