SV Dinamo Helfort - Helfort Platz

SV Dinamo Helfort

Helfort Platz

Kendlerstraße 42

1160 Wien

Austria

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Ground Number: 1394
Saturday 8th March 2025
SV Helfort 8-4 LAC Inter

Vienna City U23 League

SV DINAMO HELFORT - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was founded in 1910 as Sportclub Helfort. The most likely reason for their name is a founding member named Alois Helfert. They played in the lower leagues in Vienna for many years. In 1921, Helfort moved into their present home. In 1925 they won the 3rd class north. They played in the VAFÖ from 1926, winning it in 1930 but leaving four years later. A return to the 2nd class north followed in 1934 with Helfort winning the title in 1937. They qualified for the playoffs for the top national league but lost out to  1. Simmeringer SC. A couple more near misses followed before the war interrupted proceedings. At the time of the cancellation, Helfort were comfortably at the top of the table. The Ottakringers achieved another high point with a 5-1 victory over the Austrian record champions SK Rapid Vienna in front of 16,000 spectators in the Liberation Cup following the return of football in 1945. Helfort made it to the final, where they lost 3-1 to First Vienna. A single season was spent in the Vienna top tier but they were relegated after just one year.

Austrian football switched back to a national league after a short period of regionalisation. With Helfort in the Vienna-based second tier, they missed out on the cut for the new East Austrian second tier in 1951. They lasted in the third-tier Vienna league until 1965. In the following years, the club managed to play in the Regionalliga Ost several times up until 1975, before being relegated to the Vienna Lower League. In 1981, SC Helfort merged with FC Hornek from Vienna to form SC Helfort-Hornek. In 1991, the club merged with FC Fortuna Wien. As SKF Helfort 15 Vienna, they managed to gain promotion to the Vienna League where they were runners-up in 1997, changing their name to SPC Helfort around the same time. Relegation to the Oberliga A followed but they bounced back as champions in 2006 but only survived a single season. After more restructuring, Dinamo Helfort now play in the 4th tier Vienna City League.

The club is based in Ottakring, the 16th district of Vienna. This has a population of 102,000. The district in the west of the capital, which still showed tendencies towards slum development in the post-war period, has experienced an upswing since the turn of the millennium. The parts of the district close to the centre benefited from the revitalization of public spaces and the establishment of a lively cultural scene, while the opening of the U3 terminus in Alt-Ottakring provided an important boost for the outer parts of the district. Today, multiculturalism and growing urbanity are seen as characteristic of the traditional working-class residential and industrial district of Ottakring. Other football teams in the area include Red Star Penzing and SK Slovan-Hütteldorfer AC.

MY VISIT

There was a wealth of choice for my 2 PM game in Vienna. My original intention was Red Star Penzing as that edged it in terms of grounds but I eventually plumped for SV Dinamo Helfort v LAC Inter. This was as they were also hosting a game in the U23 League at 12PM. This might have been on the adjacent 3G pitch, although with the games kicking off at different times, I couldn't be 100% sure. It made up for the loss of my original game one of the day at Sportunion Schonbrunn who had originally had their game down as a 10:30 kickoff on Futbnology but the change to a 12:00 made making a 2PM difficult due to the distance between the grounds. But researching this blog, I found at all of Red Star Penzing, Wiener Sport-Club Frauen  and Dinamo Helfort were playing at exactly the same time despite being in extreme close proximity to each other. It reminded me of the mad situation of AFC Blackpool, Squires Gate and Wren Rovers not staggering their kickoffs to attract more fans through the gate, just because the clubs didn't get on. Therefore they were shooting themselves in the foot and missing out on admission, bar and food sales due to their stubbornness. With thousands of Rangers fans in Blackpool that weekend for a game at Bloomfield Road, there surely would have been some custom if they had organised better and got supporters groups to put the word out.

I woke up around 5.30 after a decent night's sleep. Even so, the knowledge that I couldn't yet set tomorrow's alarm for my train to Budapest led to me going to sleep again until 8. I woke up and put a couple of alarms on to make sure I got up on time tomorrow. Whilst the £14 for the train ticket was not huge, the consequences of messing things up would mean tomorrow was made far more difficult. I read a few chapters of the New Mills FC 'Winless' book that I had got on Kindle, a really great read. I then had a shower and got ready whilst typing this blog and firming up the plans for the next two days. YouTube again provided the background entertainment. I leave at 10.40 and walk the 30 seconds to my new hotel. I'm checked in and in my room by 11. It's not as flashy as my previous room but it's just window dressing. It's clean, quiet and comfortable. I'm a big fan of Ibis hotels and always try to use them on foreign soil. The nicest one I have been to was the first I went to in Arnhem, probably made all the nicer due to the fact that I spent the previous night in a hotel porch after they locked me out. From my room, I walk to the metro station and get the U1 to Stephansplatz before changing to the U3 to Kendlerstraße.

My intentions today are clear. I'll be taking in the Under 23 game at Dinamo Helfort, fingers crossed. Should that be on the main pitch, I'll head off to Red Star Penzing. If it's on the 3G, I'll stay for the main game. I try to find an ATM before the game but there is not one at either of two supermarkets nor the two petrol stations within walking distance. A blow for the cash is king stone agers but I always prefer card and the sooner cash is eliminated, the better. I get to the ground bang on 12 with the U23 game kicking off at 12:04. There are goals for both in the opening eight minutes, firstly for Helfort when a low cross is prodded home, then for LAC Inter as they head home from another cross. On 13 minutes, the ball is cut back for the #9 who has a simple finish to restore Helfort's lead. On 16 minutes, it's 2-2, a lovely looping lob over the onrushing keeper. A penalty on 31 minutes sees the hosts lead 3-2 then another on 38 makes it 4-2. On 41 minutes, a deft lob over the keeper makes it 5-2 Helfort. A penalty for the visitors makes it 5-3 just before halftime. The second half kicked off at 12.57 and within five minutes, it was 6-3 to Helfort with a goalmouth scramble preventing a 7th. On 61 minutes, it was 7-3 via free kick awarded for handball. It was 8-4 on 79 minutes, a finish into the roof of the net on the break.

 

After my fruitless search for a cash machine, there was a much higher crowd at the second game. I found out that LAC Inter led 2-0, just scoring their second as I arrived back Looking at the league table, it was Dinamo Helfort in 5th vs LAC Inter in 15th so the scoreline was a surprise. Since the winter break, Dianmo Helfort had beaten Simmeringer 1-0 and LAC Inter had won 1-0 against Austria XIII. A smart finish in off the post on 73 min saw LAC Inter score to make it 3-0. They then made it 4-0, bundling home a low cross on 83 minutes. Helfort had the ball in the net, in off the bar but it was disallowed for offside. They then came close again, heading narrowly over right near the end.

 

THE GROUND

HELFORT PLATZ is a smart venue comprising of two pitches. The grass pitch has an uncovered stand seating around 200 and some terracing. The 3G pitch is a more basic setup but still has hard standing all the way around. The clubhouse has lots of memorabilia and a basic range of drinks. The pride of place goes to the catering, a hod roast and fries amongst other things and it smelt sensational. Just remember to bring your cash if you can find a machine that actually works.