Sturm Graz secures the future of the Burgenland Football Academy!

Sturm Graz secures the future of the Burgenland Football Academy!

On April 1, 2025, it was announced that the Burgenland Football Academy found a new strategic partner: the SK Sturm Graz. This step is followed by the setting of the game at SV Mattersburg in August 2020, which is due to the bankruptcy of Commerzialbank Mattersburg. This partnership is intended to offer young football talents from the region new perspectives in a Bundesliga club.

The sports councilor Heinrich Dorner (SPÖ) said that Sturm Graz will become active in the sporting direction of the academy, but without intervene in the owners' structure. The association will bring in its know-how and networks to standardize the game philosophy within the academy. The focus is on a dual model that is to be combined and further developed school and sporting training. The cooperation initially has a runtime of three years with the option for extension. Dorner described the collaboration as a "hit hit" for Burgenland football, while storm president Christian Jauk spoke of a "win-win situation".

positive effects for youth and trainer development

In addition, an annual training camp from Sturm Graz is planned in Burgenland. This initiative is also intended to enable positive effects in trainer training, from which BFV President Johannes Wutzlhofer is convinced. The Bundesliga club's expertise could help create financial synergies and save resources. This development is particularly important because the football academy has been looking for a new partner since the bankruptcy of SV Mattersburg.

The SV Mattersburg had stopped playing in 2020 after ex-banking chief Martin Pucher had invented loans and fake balance sheets. This broke an important basis for the academy, which can now be stabilized again thanks to the cooperation with Sturm Graz.

The trend of the club academies in European football

The need for successful club academies can also be seen as part of the current developments in European football, where expenses for new players have been increasing continuously for decades. Top clubs invest hundreds of millions in transfers per season. Against this background, the training and integration of Youngsters from their own youth is considered increasingly important. This is now regarded by many clubs as a profitable business model that also includes the integration of talents into the professional sector.

In this regard, the academies are of particular importance, since a study by the 'Cies Football Observatory' showed which clubs have most players from their own youth in the European top leagues. This proves that the promotion of one's own talents is becoming increasingly central. Among the top 5 clubs with regard to the number of players from their own youth there are big names such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, which have continuously rely on their youth in recent years.

Developments in the Burgenland Football Academy show how important close support from powerful partners is to promote young talents. Cooperation with Sturm Graz is seen as a decisive step in the secure future of the academy.

Further information offers ORF Burgenland and Football transfers .