Dietrich Mateschitz loved football.
The club's chairman at the time, Rudi Quehenberger, spoke highly of the energy drink manufacturer's involvement as well, with German icon Franz Beckenbauer - a close friend of Mateschitz - set to sign on too. Austria Salzburg's final European game before the Red Bull takeover was a defeat against Parma in the second round of the 2003 Uefa CupEven Austria Salzburg were called Casino Salzburg in the season they reached the Uefa Cup final in 1994, when they lost over two legs to Inter Milan.
A large portion of the supporters formed their own phoenix club a year later, keeping the original name and history, even maintaining that they were formed in 1933, when Austria Salzburg was formed. It would be a big game for any club in the third division, but it is naturally even bigger for Austria Salzburg given the backstory.
"The fans will mostly focus on creating a great atmosphere," he adds. "We will celebrate our 90th anniversary just a few days earlier on 13 September, so September will be busy anyway."Red Bull's presence within Austrian football has seen plenty of benefits for the city and country as a whole. The Red Bull Salzburg fans are excited for the meeting later this month too but feel there will not be as much animosity as one would expect.