A day of rain and clouds and – for the record – Austria Salzburg won their last home game 3-0 against this season’s closest rivals, Grünau, in front of the expected full house of 2250 fans. For lovers of tautology that was the third consecutive promotion on the trot. Goals from Lubo Neubauer, Stefan Leitner and Xandi Seywald put the lid on a difficult and ultimately decisive season for the team and the supporters. After the first two seasons of thrashing hamlet teams and tractor boys, this year was the first time the side had really had to battle, and despite being up against it on a number of occasions, somehow – bar Bürmoos – there had always been a happy end. And that’s part of what Saturday was really all about.

At this point I have to remind the five people reading this abroad who aren’t familiar with the story just what this is all about; partly a question of sponsorship vs. ownership but above all a question of identity and pride. Three years ago Red Bull came in to buy a financially ailing Austria Salzburg, which at the time seemed OK; just that without asking the fans or taking the history of the club into consideration, the decision was taken to re-establish the club with a new name, Red Bull Salzburg, and to eradicate a long tradition of playing in purple and white in favour of introducing the corporate colours of the sticky drinks giant – red and white.
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