Adolf Fišera

Adolf Fišera was the son of a Bohemian shoemaker, but in Austria, he mostly used the spelling Fischera. He first played for ASK Schwechat (later SC Germania) and from 1905 for AC Viktoria Wien (Vienna). In 1908 he became a member of Wiener AC (WAC) and part of the club’s top-class attack as a centre-forward. Fišera was also on the team that sensationally defeated the professional English team from Sunderland in 1909 also thanks to a goal by him. In 1910, he founded together with other dissatisfied players the new club Wiener AF (WAF) and immediately placed third in the 1912 Austrian championship.

In 1908, he had made his début for Austria (actually a Wien (Vienna) city team) against Hungary (Budapest). Disputes with the Austrian Football Federation (ÖFV) ultimately prevented all WAF players from travelling to the Olympic Games in Stockholm, but Fišera and his teammates soon returned to the national team. In 1914 WAF won the Austrian championship title with Fišera scoring two goals in the decisive match against First Vienna FC. In the same year, he scored a brace to beat Hungary 2-0 in an international friendly. In World War I, Fišera served in a telegraph department and was involved in the fighting in Romania. After the war, he returned to Schwechat to play for second division B club SC Germania. With him the club was promoted to second division A in 1919. For SC Germania he scored nine goals in a cup match, a record that still stands today.

In the following year, Fišera moved to the “Territory of the Saar Basin”, which was under the mandate of the League of Nations at the time. There, he became player-coach at Borussia Neunkirchen and helped the team win the South German Cup and the first Saar championship in 1921. After two years, he returned to Wien and played for his former clubs WAF and SC Germania Schwechat, before he ultimately joined Vienna FC for the 1923/24 season. He won the Austrian Cup with WAF in 1922 and finished runner-up in the championship with Wien in 2024. After a break of eight years during and after the war, he continued to represent Austria internationally until 1923. Fišera played a total of 15 international games and scored eight goals. He was named team captain in his last match.

After his playing career, he worked as a telegraph clerk and died of a heart attack at the age of 50.