One of Europe's "most iconic" football clubs, Austrian Bundesliga club Rapid Vienna, is undergoing a "revolution," according to Paul Nicholson of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. The club has a new president, plans for a "new stadium and is targeting a new era as one of Europe's top clubs in the world's best city to live in," according to Mercer's latest Quality of Living ranking. The Austrian club will be remembered by "most football fans for its pre-Champions league exploits in the old European Cup Winners Cup." As one insider "close to the club" said, "the past is like my arse, it's behind me. The future starts now and this is what we are building for." After 12 years as president of the club, former Austrian Finance Minister Rudolf Edlinger is "being replaced by 53-year-old Michael Krammer," previously CEO of telecom company Orange. Krammer was "elected by members on a seven-point plan: the outsourcing of financial operations to a non-listed company; a new 25,000 seater stadium built on the site of the current Gerhard Hanappi stadium; the set up of new sales and marketing models; the medium term goal of acquiring 10,000 new members; increased transparency; an offensive in the field of mobile services and social media" and a push to open up Rapid Vienna internationally (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 11/19).
