Gurten

Peter Madritsch first wore Union Gurten's shirt as a player between 2000 and 2006. He came back in 2018 to take the bench Rainer Neuhofer had held for seven years, the spell in which Neuhofer pulled the club out of the Landesliga and into the Regionalliga. Madritsch has stayed in charge since, and his son Fabio now plays in the same squad.

Gurten itself has around 1,178 residents, which makes it, by most counts, the smallest place in Austria fielding a team in the third tier. Locals call the club a Dorfverein, a village side, and the label fits a history built almost entirely on local promotions rather than outside investment: a district title in 1998, a Landesliga West championship in 2013, and the OÖ Liga in 2014, the result that finally lifted the team into the Regionalliga after the club was founded in 1961.

The cup has given Gurten its biggest nights. In 2015/16 the team beat Bundesliga side SV Grödig 1:0, and in 2019/20 it reached the last sixteen of the ÖFB-Cup before losing 3:2 to Austria Lustenau. Ties against Bundesliga opposition since then — Red Bull Salzburg, Rapid Wien, LASK — have had to move to Ried's Klaus-Reutinger-Stadion, since Park21 Arena doesn't meet the league's requirements for matches at that level.

For league football, though, Park21 Arena is home: 1,002 places under floodlights, most of them standing terraces rather than seats. It has stood since 1970, long before the club ever had reason to host Bundesliga opposition in the cup. SV Ried supply the Innviertler derby; Wallern/St. Marienkirchen the closer, more local rivalry.