In modern times, followers of Rangers have enjoyed watching some magnificent players who came from outside Britain. Laudrup, Albertz, Numan, Novo and Morelos are just some of those who have wore the shirt, and captured the hearts of the support. Players being signed from overseas is now as much part of the game as pie and Bovril. But at the turn of the 20th century, foreign footballers were non-existent in the Scottish game, and this is the story of the first ever overseas player who signed on at Ibrox.
Karl Pekarna was born on July 7th 1881 in the lower Austrian municipality of Oberlaa. The young Austrian enjoyed playing the game of football in his youth, even though the game was still in its infancy in the country. On leaving school, he got a job as a postman, and the teenager turned out in goal for the small Viennese club FC Sevilla (not to be confused with the famous Spanish club of the same name). His all-action style and eye-catching diving saves saw him gain rave reviews, and at the age of 18 he joined the First Vienna club. Initially a deputy to their regular goalkeeper Karl Mollisch, Pekarna got his big chance in May 1900 when Mollisch suffered an injury, and he made his debut against Weiner FC. Once in the side, he was there to stay, the teenager commanding his penalty area like a player well beyond his years.
First Vienna were founded in 1894, so in 1904 they decided to hold a close-season tournament to celebrate their tenth anniversary, inviting the Boldklub 1893 club of Copenhagen and Glasgow Rangers to take part. Rangers agreed to the trip, and combined the tournament with a wider Austro-Hungarian tour, which would include matches in Vienna and Prague (The country that was to become Czechoslovakia at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Rangers kicked off the tournament on May 22nd 1904 with a thumping 7-2 win over First Vienna, and would go on to record other similar huge scores against opposition that was still amateur. As a sign of just how easy these tour games were for the Scottish professionals, there was a report of the Rangers goalkeeper writing postcards for his family back home while a match against Weiner FC was being played, such was his boredom. Rangers won that game by 8-0.
But it was in the First Vienna tournament, that events unfolded that created club history. The Danish goalkeeper suffered an injury against Vienna, meaning they were without a keeper for the next match against Rangers, so the hosts allowed them to borrow Karl Pekarna for the match. Rangers had already beaten Boldklub 1893 by 9-0 in their first meeting of the competition, but it had been played in horrendous weather, and the teams agreed to a rematch in order for the spectators to see a better spectacle. On 26th May 1904, Pekarna lined up for the Danes against the Rangers firepower, and he made a series of brilliant stops. He couldn’t prevent the Scots winning by 5-3, but his display had hugely impressed the Rangers players and management.
Rangers went on to complete their tour with two thumping victories in Prague, the final fixture being a 5-0 hammering of Slavia Prague. On returning home, Rangers kicked off season 1904/05, with goalkeepers Willie Allan and John Watson vying for the starting position, and new signing Tom Sinclair in the reserves. Neither of the two keepers who started the season as the senior goalkeepers were impressing, and by late October it was the inexperienced Sinclair who was in possession of the starting spot. He was doing well, but Wilton was concerned he had no depth in his squad, and Rangers were in a tight league race with Celtic. Remembering the brilliant young Austrian from the overseas tour, he contacted Pekarna in December and offered him a contract to sign on at Ibrox for the remainder of the season. He agreed to the terms on offer, said to be £3 10s per week, and made the trip to Glasgow, where he signed the contract at the end of January 1905.
Karl Pekarna became the first overseas player in the history of Rangers FC, and the first professional footballer ever to come from Austria. By now, he was an international player, starting in 2 matches between the city teams of Vienna and Budapest which were then recognised as full international matches, being justified as such by the description of “games between the representative teams of the Austrian and Hungarian football associations”. His first match in Rangers colours was a reserve Old Firm clash, and he did well enough to keep the reserve team place for virtually the rest of the season.
Sinclair, however, was still performing consistently in the first team, in a season where Rangers reached both the Scottish Cup Final and a play-off to decide the league title. He played in both, but both were lost. This meant the impressive Pekarna was used only in reserve matches and friendlies, until May 8th 1905, when he was selected for the first team in a Glasgow League match against Queens Park at Hampden. Pekarna kept a clean sheet in front of 3000 spectators, as Rangers won the match 2-0 with goals by two great international forwards, Finlay Speedie and Alec Smith. This would be his only first team appearance for the club.
Despite his lack of first-team action, Pekarna had impressed the manager, and he was offered another contract for season 1905/06 on similar terms. But he opted to return to Vienna, a combination of homesickness and lack of first team football driving his decision.
On his return home, Pekarna had to reapply for amateur status, having been a paid professional for the preceding months. The football authorities were reluctant to agree to this, and it took a threat by the First Vienna club to resign their association membership for the request to finally be accepted. This issue of past professionalism was to recur in May 1908, when he left First Vienna to sign for FC Wacker in the Bavarian city of Munich. Again, his debut was delayed until he could prove his amateur status. Once he was given the go-ahead, he certainly impressed at his new club, as in 1910 he was offered a “not inconsiderable payment” to move to Bavarian champions FC Bayern, where he replaced German international Ludwig Hofmeister as first-choice goalkeeper.
He remained at Bayern until the outbreak of war in 1914, winning the league title in 1911, and combining his football career with a job as a supervisor in a sporting goods shop. He returned to Austria with his wife and daughters on the cancellation of football during the war, and his playing career ended in 1919 with a brief comeback spell at SK Slovan in Vienna.
Pekarna briefly moved into coaching, first at SG Duren in Germany, then at Alemannia Aachen. Once leaving the latter role, he became a teacher.
In 1920, Pekarna’s younger brother Ludwig was killed while playing in goal in a match in Vienna after a collision left him with a fractured spine. This tragedy may have contributed to his decision to leave the game, but his teaching life was cut short in 1926 when Karl Pekarna suffered a significant stroke that left him confined to a wheelchair. He was rarely seen in public after this, and died in Vienna on January 23rd 1946 at the age of 64. When his death was made public, the former Germany national team coach Otto Nerz described Pekarna as “the best goalkeeper of his time”.
Karl Pekarna, 1881 to 1946.
Just a few months at Ibrox and only 1 Rangers appearance. But will forever be the first foreign player to ever wear the Rangers colours, and that makes him a man worth remembering.
Karl Pekarna was born on July 7th 1881 in the lower Austrian municipality of Oberlaa. The young Austrian enjoyed playing the game of football in his youth, even though the game was still in its infancy in the country. On leaving school, he got a job as a postman, and the teenager turned out in goal for the small Viennese club FC Sevilla (not to be confused with the famous Spanish club of the same name). His all-action style and eye-catching diving saves saw him gain rave reviews, and at the age of 18 he joined the First Vienna club. Initially a deputy to their regular goalkeeper Karl Mollisch, Pekarna got his big chance in May 1900 when Mollisch suffered an injury, and he made his debut against Weiner FC. Once in the side, he was there to stay, the teenager commanding his penalty area like a player well beyond his years.
First Vienna were founded in 1894, so in 1904 they decided to hold a close-season tournament to celebrate their tenth anniversary, inviting the Boldklub 1893 club of Copenhagen and Glasgow Rangers to take part. Rangers agreed to the trip, and combined the tournament with a wider Austro-Hungarian tour, which would include matches in Vienna and Prague (The country that was to become Czechoslovakia at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Rangers kicked off the tournament on May 22nd 1904 with a thumping 7-2 win over First Vienna, and would go on to record other similar huge scores against opposition that was still amateur. As a sign of just how easy these tour games were for the Scottish professionals, there was a report of the Rangers goalkeeper writing postcards for his family back home while a match against Weiner FC was being played, such was his boredom. Rangers won that game by 8-0.
But it was in the First Vienna tournament, that events unfolded that created club history. The Danish goalkeeper suffered an injury against Vienna, meaning they were without a keeper for the next match against Rangers, so the hosts allowed them to borrow Karl Pekarna for the match. Rangers had already beaten Boldklub 1893 by 9-0 in their first meeting of the competition, but it had been played in horrendous weather, and the teams agreed to a rematch in order for the spectators to see a better spectacle. On 26th May 1904, Pekarna lined up for the Danes against the Rangers firepower, and he made a series of brilliant stops. He couldn’t prevent the Scots winning by 5-3, but his display had hugely impressed the Rangers players and management.
Rangers went on to complete their tour with two thumping victories in Prague, the final fixture being a 5-0 hammering of Slavia Prague. On returning home, Rangers kicked off season 1904/05, with goalkeepers Willie Allan and John Watson vying for the starting position, and new signing Tom Sinclair in the reserves. Neither of the two keepers who started the season as the senior goalkeepers were impressing, and by late October it was the inexperienced Sinclair who was in possession of the starting spot. He was doing well, but Wilton was concerned he had no depth in his squad, and Rangers were in a tight league race with Celtic. Remembering the brilliant young Austrian from the overseas tour, he contacted Pekarna in December and offered him a contract to sign on at Ibrox for the remainder of the season. He agreed to the terms on offer, said to be £3 10s per week, and made the trip to Glasgow, where he signed the contract at the end of January 1905.
Karl Pekarna became the first overseas player in the history of Rangers FC, and the first professional footballer ever to come from Austria. By now, he was an international player, starting in 2 matches between the city teams of Vienna and Budapest which were then recognised as full international matches, being justified as such by the description of “games between the representative teams of the Austrian and Hungarian football associations”. His first match in Rangers colours was a reserve Old Firm clash, and he did well enough to keep the reserve team place for virtually the rest of the season.
Sinclair, however, was still performing consistently in the first team, in a season where Rangers reached both the Scottish Cup Final and a play-off to decide the league title. He played in both, but both were lost. This meant the impressive Pekarna was used only in reserve matches and friendlies, until May 8th 1905, when he was selected for the first team in a Glasgow League match against Queens Park at Hampden. Pekarna kept a clean sheet in front of 3000 spectators, as Rangers won the match 2-0 with goals by two great international forwards, Finlay Speedie and Alec Smith. This would be his only first team appearance for the club.
Despite his lack of first-team action, Pekarna had impressed the manager, and he was offered another contract for season 1905/06 on similar terms. But he opted to return to Vienna, a combination of homesickness and lack of first team football driving his decision.
On his return home, Pekarna had to reapply for amateur status, having been a paid professional for the preceding months. The football authorities were reluctant to agree to this, and it took a threat by the First Vienna club to resign their association membership for the request to finally be accepted. This issue of past professionalism was to recur in May 1908, when he left First Vienna to sign for FC Wacker in the Bavarian city of Munich. Again, his debut was delayed until he could prove his amateur status. Once he was given the go-ahead, he certainly impressed at his new club, as in 1910 he was offered a “not inconsiderable payment” to move to Bavarian champions FC Bayern, where he replaced German international Ludwig Hofmeister as first-choice goalkeeper.
He remained at Bayern until the outbreak of war in 1914, winning the league title in 1911, and combining his football career with a job as a supervisor in a sporting goods shop. He returned to Austria with his wife and daughters on the cancellation of football during the war, and his playing career ended in 1919 with a brief comeback spell at SK Slovan in Vienna.
Pekarna briefly moved into coaching, first at SG Duren in Germany, then at Alemannia Aachen. Once leaving the latter role, he became a teacher.
In 1920, Pekarna’s younger brother Ludwig was killed while playing in goal in a match in Vienna after a collision left him with a fractured spine. This tragedy may have contributed to his decision to leave the game, but his teaching life was cut short in 1926 when Karl Pekarna suffered a significant stroke that left him confined to a wheelchair. He was rarely seen in public after this, and died in Vienna on January 23rd 1946 at the age of 64. When his death was made public, the former Germany national team coach Otto Nerz described Pekarna as “the best goalkeeper of his time”.
Karl Pekarna, 1881 to 1946.
Just a few months at Ibrox and only 1 Rangers appearance. But will forever be the first foreign player to ever wear the Rangers colours, and that makes him a man worth remembering.
