This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Austria

5th July 2017 Vienna, Austria

Football unites: Austria, the UK and “FCO FC”

I was delighted last week to attend the match between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Football Club (“FCO FC”) against the Austrian Foreign Ministry Team (“FC Außenamt”).

FCO FC have been touring for years. I hosted them when I was Ambassador in Kiev in 2011 in the beautiful setting of the Dynamo Kyiv stadium when they played the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So it was great to see FCO FC back in action, this time in Vienna.  After FC Außenamt they played friendly games against the Austrian Ministry of Defence and the Austrian Interior Ministry.

A terrific atmosphere of sportsmanship pervaded all three games, as recorded in the local press.

Kronen Zeitung, 4 July 2017, page 12

Austria and the UK have been linked by football since 1912, when British coach Jimmy Hogan worked with the Austrian Olympic Team and lead them to a 5:1 win over Germany (a feat shared by England in a famous 2001 match in Munich). Later he trained First Vienna FC and laid the foundation for what was later called the Wiener Fussballschule (“Viennese tiki-taka”).

Austria and Wales are in the same group for the 2018 World Cup Qualification. Last October I went, with my Mum, to watch Austria vs Wales in a thrilling 2:2 draw at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. The reverse fixture is in Cardiff on 2 September. My objectivity in these matters is legendary.

Many Austrians play in the English Premier League, including Christian Fuchs, who won the league with Leicester; Marko Arnautovic of Stoke; and Kevin Wimmer of Tottenham.  Whenever Kevin is in possession, the Tottenham supporters sing “The Wimmer takes the ball” to the tune of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes it All”.  Excellent.

Do you have anecdotes about Austro-British football, FC Außenamt, or FCO FC?  I’d love to hear them.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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