Bernd Hirschbichler (* 5 May 1984 in Zell am See) is an Austrian soccer referee and educator. He is a member of the Salzburg Football Association and belongs to the Pinzgau Referee College, where he is also deputy group spokesman and webmaster of the homepage.[1]
Career as a soccer player
Bernd Hirschbichler's childhood was already marked by soccer. The son of Erich Hirschbichler spent a lot of time on the sports field in his hometown of Leogang. Even then, he was more interested in refereeing than in a coach's tactical instructions, but played junior soccer as a goalkeeper for SC Leogang until the age of 13. After a serious back injury, Hirschbichler had to end his active career as a soccer player and attended a beginner's course for referees at the Salzburg Soccer Association on August 8, 1997. On September 1, 1997, Hirschbichler successfully passed the exam to become a soccer referee.
Career as a soccer referee
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On May 20, 2006, at the age of 22, Hirschbichler refereed his first match in the third highest division, the regional league, in the match between Reichenau and Hohenems. At the same time, he qualified for the Regionalliga West referee squad from the 2007/08 season.
This marked the next leap in his career, and on July 31, 2007, he made his debut as an assistant referee in the 2nd division alongside referee Rudolf Gruber in the match between Kapfenberger SV and FC Lustenau (2:1).[2][3] After seven appearances in the second highest division, Hirschbichler made his first appearance as an assistant referee in the Bundesliga on February 26, 2008, in the match between SK Austria Kärnten and SK Sturm Graz (0-2) alongside referee Bernhard Brugger.[4]
Due to his good evaluations as a referee in the Regionalliga West and as an assistant referee in the Bundesliga, Hirschbichler was accepted into the Bundesliga talent squad. In the 2008/09 season, he was initially entrusted with one match officiating in each of the Central and Eastern Regional Leagues. After two further appearances in the Central and Eastern Regional Leagues in the fall of 2009, Hirschbichler was nominated for two qualifying matches in the 2nd Division in the spring of 2010. On March 23, 2010, he made his debut in Austria's second-highest division in the match FC Gratkorn vs. FC Dornbirn (1:2).[5] After he also successfully completed the second qualifying match on May 7, 2010 between FK Austria Wien II and SKN St. Pölten (1:3),[6] Hirschbichler was included in the squad of Bundesliga referees on July 1, 2010 and has been allowed to referee matches in the First Division since then.[7]
Internationally, Hirschbichler was allowed to make his debut as a referee on August 26, 2010 at the friendly international match between the U-17 teams of Austria and Croatia (3:1) in Vöcklabruck. Hirschbichler has already made international appearances as an assistant referee. On August 20, 2008, he assisted Bernhard Brugger in the friendly international between Luxembourg and Macedonia (1:4).[8] On July 23, 2009, Hirschbichler was again used as an assistant to Bernhard Brugger in an international match. This time it was an official UEFA Europa League qualifying match between Olimpi Rustawi and Legia Warsaw (0:1).[9]
Hirschbichler learned that refereeing can also be dangerous on October 1, 2010. In the championship match between First Vienna FC 1894 and the Wolfsberger AC/St. Andrä team (1:0), he was literally knocked out by Mathias Berchtold, but was able to referee the match after a lengthy break for treatment.[10] Hirschbichler also learned about the darker side of being a referee. "If someone insults you in the most profound way while you're walking with your girlfriend in the pedestrian zone, you do wonder where it can all lead," Hirschbichler told Salzburg24.at. However, when he was threatened via facebook and SMS, he called in the police.[11]
References
- ^ sfv-schiedsrichter.at: Archived (Date missing) at sfv-schiedsrichter.at (Error: unknown archive URL)
- ^ weltfussball.at: Kapfenberger SV gegen FC Lustenau 2:1 (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ sfv-schiedsrichter.at: Archived (Date missing) at sfv-schiedsrichter.at (Error: unknown archive URL)
- ^ weltfussball.at: SK Austria Kärnten gegen SK Sturm Graz 0:2 (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ bundesliga.at: FC Gratkorn gegen FC Dornbirn 1:2 (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ bundesliga.at: Austria Wien II gegen SKN St. Pölten 1:3 (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ Österreichische Bundesliga. "Schiedsrichterliste für die Bundesliga 2010/11". bundesliga.at. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ^ weltfussball.at: Archived (Date missing) at weltfussball.at (Error: unknown archive URL) (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ weltfussball.at: Olimpi Rustavi gegen Legia Warszawa 0:1 (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ Claus Hollmann in Kleine Zeitung vom 1. Oktober 2010: WAC-Spieler Berchtold schoss Schiedsrichter k.o.[dead link] (abgerufen am 12. März 2011)
- ^ Salzburg24.at vom 6. November 2015: Der harte Schiedsrichter-Job: Alles über Leberkäs-Attacken, Beschimpfungen und Drohungen im Privatleben (abgerufen am 20. August 2017)