Born on this day in 1881, Karl Pekarna the first Rangers player from outside the British Isles

dh1963

Well-Known Member
In May of 1904 both the biggest Glasgow sides traveled to Vienna and Prague on tour. Wiener AC had invited Celtic, whereas Rangers had been invited by the Austrian Football association to mark the 10th anniversary of First Vienna.The forward thinking Hugo Meisl was instrumental in arranging contact with British clubs as a means of developing the game in Austria.
Boldklubben af 1893 (Copenhagen) were also invited to participate in First Vienna's celebrations.


22.05.04First Vienna27Glasgow RangersVienna
23.05.04Boldklub 189309Glasgow Rangers
26.05.04Boldklub 189335Glasgow Rangers
29.05.04Wiener AC08Glasgow Rangers
03.06.04Prague XI16Glasgow RangersPrague
05.06.04Slavia Prague05Glasgow Rangers

As you can see, Rangers' trip was pretty much par for the course for Edwardian continental tours- undefeated and averaging 7 goals a game. A by-product of the journey (other than tales of postcards written by the Rangers goalie during the Wiener AC match whilst his teammates kept the ball for over 5 minutes with an exhibition of passing) was the signing of an Austrian goalkeeper.

Karl Pekarna, a postman, began his career with a Vienna club confusingly called FC Sevilla. He joined First Vienna as an 18 year old and developed a good reputation- he was an exponent of what was known in Austria as the Robinsonade - the diving save, and showed good acrobatic and handling skills. The first game between Rangers and Boldklub 1893 was affected by torrential rain, and as the matches were intended to be exhibitions, the Danes suggested that they should replay in more favourable conditions.

Rangers borrowed Pekarna for the rematch, and he impressed to the extent that they offered him a contract. John Watson's position as Ranger's keeper was not assured, although he received positive reviews in the press following the Cup Final, he would play only 25 games for the club, and Rangers had signed Allan from Falkirk at the beginning of May.
In October 1904 Pekarna played for Vienna v Budapest in a city select match that was later granted the status of a full international. He would represent Austria on one more occasion, in 1908.

Later that year Pekarna moved to Glasgow, thus becoming Rangers' first overseas signing and Austria's first professional.

Pekarna featured regularly for the reserves, but played only one first team game,a friendly against Queen's Park at Hampden (08.05.05). He was offered an extension of his £3 10s a week contract, but feeling homesick he opted to return to Vienna.

One problem that Pekarna had on his return to Vienna was the fact that he had been a professional in Scotland. Austrian football was still amateur. First Vienna re signed him, but were threatened with expulsion by the city's Association. The matter was resolved in the September of 1905.

Pekarna joined FC Wacker München in 1908, but again his status as a former professional caused uncertainty. Eventually he joined FC Bayern in 1910.

He returned to Vienna after the war, playing for Slovan, finishing his playing career in 1919.

Pekarna had a brief and relatively unsuccessful stint as a manager at Slovan in the 1920s, before drifting out of football. He died aged 64 on January 23rd 1946.
 
In May of 1904 both the biggest Glasgow sides traveled to Vienna and Prague on tour. Wiener AC had invited Celtic, whereas Rangers had been invited by the Austrian Football association to mark the 10th anniversary of First Vienna.The forward thinking Hugo Meisl was instrumental in arranging contact with British clubs as a means of developing the game in Austria.
Boldklubben af 1893 (Copenhagen) were also invited to participate in First Vienna's celebrations.


22.05.04First Vienna27Glasgow RangersVienna
23.05.04Boldklub 189309Glasgow Rangers
26.05.04Boldklub 189335Glasgow Rangers
29.05.04Wiener AC08Glasgow Rangers
03.06.04Prague XI16Glasgow RangersPrague
05.06.04Slavia Prague05Glasgow Rangers

As you can see, Rangers' trip was pretty much par for the course for Edwardian continental tours- undefeated and averaging 7 goals a game. A by-product of the journey (other than tales of postcards written by the Rangers goalie during the Wiener AC match whilst his teammates kept the ball for over 5 minutes with an exhibition of passing) was the signing of an Austrian goalkeeper.

Karl Pekarna, a postman, began his career with a Vienna club confusingly called FC Sevilla. He joined First Vienna as an 18 year old and developed a good reputation- he was an exponent of what was known in Austria as the Robinsonade - the diving save, and showed good acrobatic and handling skills. The first game between Rangers and Boldklub 1893 was affected by torrential rain, and as the matches were intended to be exhibitions, the Danes suggested that they should replay in more favourable conditions.

Rangers borrowed Pekarna for the rematch, and he impressed to the extent that they offered him a contract. John Watson's position as Ranger's keeper was not assured, although he received positive reviews in the press following the Cup Final, he would play only 25 games for the club, and Rangers had signed Allan from Falkirk at the beginning of May.
In October 1904 Pekarna played for Vienna v Budapest in a city select match that was later granted the status of a full international. He would represent Austria on one more occasion, in 1908.

Later that year Pekarna moved to Glasgow, thus becoming Rangers' first overseas signing and Austria's first professional.

Pekarna featured regularly for the reserves, but played only one first team game,a friendly against Queen's Park at Hampden (08.05.05). He was offered an extension of his £3 10s a week contract, but feeling homesick he opted to return to Vienna.

One problem that Pekarna had on his return to Vienna was the fact that he had been a professional in Scotland. Austrian football was still amateur. First Vienna re signed him, but were threatened with expulsion by the city's Association. The matter was resolved in the September of 1905.

Pekarna joined FC Wacker München in 1908, but again his status as a former professional caused uncertainty. Eventually he joined FC Bayern in 1910.

He returned to Vienna after the war, playing for Slovan, finishing his playing career in 1919.

Pekarna had a brief and relatively unsuccessful stint as a manager at Slovan in the 1920s, before drifting out of football. He died aged 64 on January 23rd 1946.


Top drawer mate.

Where do you dig this stuff out?
 
Great post by the op. First I have ever heard of this. Incidentally, £3 10/- per week was a very decent wage back in the early 1900's.
 
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Wish I could say it's all stored in my head, but my feeble attempts in the daily quiz means nobody would believe me.

I love spending hours looking up Rangers history online. Sometimes I find an article to share, sometimes I cobble together my own article taken from a few different places.


These and Mr B's quizzes are the standout threads on here, by a distance.
 
£3 10 shillings per week, what level of wage would that have been at the time? Skilled working class, lower middle class?
 
In May of 1904 both the biggest Glasgow sides traveled to Vienna and Prague on tour. Wiener AC had invited Celtic, whereas Rangers had been invited by the Austrian Football association to mark the 10th anniversary of First Vienna.The forward thinking Hugo Meisl was instrumental in arranging contact with British clubs as a means of developing the game in Austria.
Boldklubben af 1893 (Copenhagen) were also invited to participate in First Vienna's celebrations.


22.05.04First Vienna27Glasgow RangersVienna
23.05.04Boldklub 189309Glasgow Rangers
26.05.04Boldklub 189335Glasgow Rangers
29.05.04Wiener AC08Glasgow Rangers
03.06.04Prague XI16Glasgow RangersPrague
05.06.04Slavia Prague05Glasgow Rangers

As you can see, Rangers' trip was pretty much par for the course for Edwardian continental tours- undefeated and averaging 7 goals a game. A by-product of the journey (other than tales of postcards written by the Rangers goalie during the Wiener AC match whilst his teammates kept the ball for over 5 minutes with an exhibition of passing) was the signing of an Austrian goalkeeper.

Karl Pekarna, a postman, began his career with a Vienna club confusingly called FC Sevilla. He joined First Vienna as an 18 year old and developed a good reputation- he was an exponent of what was known in Austria as the Robinsonade - the diving save, and showed good acrobatic and handling skills. The first game between Rangers and Boldklub 1893 was affected by torrential rain, and as the matches were intended to be exhibitions, the Danes suggested that they should replay in more favourable conditions.

Rangers borrowed Pekarna for the rematch, and he impressed to the extent that they offered him a contract. John Watson's position as Ranger's keeper was not assured, although he received positive reviews in the press following the Cup Final, he would play only 25 games for the club, and Rangers had signed Allan from Falkirk at the beginning of May.
In October 1904 Pekarna played for Vienna v Budapest in a city select match that was later granted the status of a full international. He would represent Austria on one more occasion, in 1908.

Later that year Pekarna moved to Glasgow, thus becoming Rangers' first overseas signing and Austria's first professional.

Pekarna featured regularly for the reserves, but played only one first team game,a friendly against Queen's Park at Hampden (08.05.05). He was offered an extension of his £3 10s a week contract, but feeling homesick he opted to return to Vienna.

One problem that Pekarna had on his return to Vienna was the fact that he had been a professional in Scotland. Austrian football was still amateur. First Vienna re signed him, but were threatened with expulsion by the city's Association. The matter was resolved in the September of 1905.

Pekarna joined FC Wacker München in 1908, but again his status as a former professional caused uncertainty. Eventually he joined FC Bayern in 1910.

He returned to Vienna after the war, playing for Slovan, finishing his playing career in 1919.

Pekarna had a brief and relatively unsuccessful stint as a manager at Slovan in the 1920s, before drifting out of football. He died aged 64 on January 23rd 1946.
Thank you for that, Mate.
A very interesting story.
 
Excellent read, thanks for posting @dh1963 and for the research. Did not know this nugget of our history, as another poster said - every day is a school day.
 
£3 10 shillings per week, what level of wage would that have been at the time? Skilled working class, lower middle class?

On The National Archives website there is a calculator which allows you to calculate this. It shows that £3 10s was the wage of a skilled tradesman for 10 days and that £3 10s was the equivalent of £275 in 2017.
 
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