Mitropa Cup

Hugo Meisl's visionary idea that international club competitions would be both lucrative and a means of strengthening the standard of central European football were instrumental in elevating the Austrian, Hungarian and Czech game. The Danubian clubs were at the time equal to any in the World. The Mitropa Cup also provided the template for later international club competitions.
Let's look at the first 10 tournament winners and 9 finals:

1927 Sparta Prague

30.10.27	Sparta	6	2	Rapid	Letna, Prague:  25,000
13.11.27	Rapid	2	1	Sparta	Hohe Warte, Vienna: 40,000
Sparta		7	4	Rapid

Káďa

Dual international (football and ice hockey) Karel Pešek-Káďa was the first captain to lift the trophy. He also put Sparta ahead in the first minute of their emphatic victory in the home leg of the final. 

1928 Ferencváros

28.10.28	Ferencváros	7	1	Rapid	Üllői úti ,Budapest:  25,000
11.11.28	Rapid	5	3	Ferencváros	Hohe Warte, Vienna: 20,000
Ferencvaros		10	6	Rapid

Takács

8 goals in each leg! József Takács, the tournament top scorer (10 goals) scored a hat trick in the first leg. 

1929 Újpesti FC

03.11.29	Újpest	5	1	Slavia	Hungária körút,Budapest:  18,000
17.11.29	Slavia	2	2	Újpest	Letna, Prague:  25,000
Újpest		7	3	Slavia

 Auer/Avar

Tournament top scorer was Újpest's Stefan Auer (aka Istavan Avar). He scored in both legs of the final.


1930 Rapid (Vienna)

02.11.30	Sparta	0	2	Rapid	Letna, Prague:  25,000
11.11.30	Rapid	2	3	Sparta	Hohe Warte, Vienna : 40,000
Rapid		4	3	Sparta

A 2nd leg hattrick by Josef  Košťálek was not enough for Sparta.

1931 First Vienna FC

08.11.31	WAC	2	3	First Vienna	Hardturm , Zürich: 20,000
13.11.31	First Vienna	2	1	WAC	Hohe Warte, Vienna : 25,000
First Vienna		5	3	WAC

1932 Bologna

Italian clubs had been participating since 1929 and Bologna were the first Italian winners. There was no final, however. Bologna won their semi final against First Vienna. The second leg of the other semi final, Juventus versus Slavia at Stadio di Corso Marsiglia, was abandoned. Juventus pulled back 2 goals having lost the away leg 4-0. Slavia then engaged time wasting tactics that enraged the crowd. Stones were thrown, Plánička was injured, Slavia walked off, both sides were ejected from the competition.


1933 Austria (Vienna)

03.09.33	Ambrosiana	2	1	Austria	Arena Civica , Milan : 25,000
08.09.33	Austria	3	1	Ambrosiana	Praterstadion, Vienna : 58,000
Austria		4	3	Ambrosiana

Sindelar

Matthias Sindelar scored a hat trick in the second leg to win the trophy for Austria.

Two legends: Sindelar and Meazza

1934 Bologna

05.09.34	Admira	3	2	Bologna	Praterstadion, Vienna : 50,000
09.09.34	Bologna	5	1	Admira	Littoriale, Bologna: 25,000
Bologna		7	4	Admira

Reguzzoni

Carlo Reguzzoni scored a hat trick in Bologna's emphatic home win. He was also the competition's top scorer, with 10 goals. 

1935 Sparta Prague

08.09.35	Ferencvaros	2	1	Sparta	Ulloi Ut, Budapest: 34,000
15.09.35	Sparta	3	0	Ferencvaros	Velký Strahovský Stadion: 56, 000
Sparta		4	2	Ferencvaros

Braine 

Belgium's Ray Braine scored 3 goals in the finals

1936 Austria (Vienna)

06.09.36	Austria	0	0	Sparta	Praterstadion, Vienna : 41,600
13.09.36	Sparta	0	1	Austria	Velký Strahovský Stadion: 58,000
Austria		1	0	Sparta

 Jerusalem

  Low scoring games were a rarity. 0-0 draws almost unheard of. During these 10 seasons Mitropa Cup ties produced an average of 4.2 goals per game. 
Camillo Jerusalem broke the deadlock in the 67th minute of the 2nd leg. 

 Winners by country: 
Austria - 4 

Hungary -2

Czechoslovakia -2

Italy - 2

Yugoslavia - 0

Switzerland - 0

Der Papierene

He was truly symbolical of of Austrian soccer at its peak period: no brawn but any amount of brain.Technique bordering on virtuosity , precision work and an inexhaustible repertoire of tricks and ideas.
Willy Meisl Soccer Revolution

He was endowed with such an unbelievable wealth of  variations and ideas that one could never really be sure which manner of play was to be expected. He had no system , to say nothing of a set pattern. He just had...genius.  
Friedrich Torberg Die Erben der Tante Jolesch

I'm going to step outside our 1863-1937 time zone for a moment, and mention Ferenc Pukas, Pele, Johann Cruyff and Lionel Messi. Hopefully, in invoking these great names I will convince you that there is no paradox in a great side, the success of which relies on united play (Total Football is a handy term), having one star who shines above the common effort.
Hugo Meisl's Wunderteam were early exponents of what we would now call Total Football. Supporting the man with the ball, filling the gaps left by teammates, moving seamlessly from defensive to attacking roles and vice versa, changing shape in response to the state of play.
The cherry on top of Meisl's cake was a lightweight, cerebral striker - Matthias Sindelar. He was 175 cm tall and weighed just 74 kg
Meisl initially discarded Sindelar in favour of a more robust and basic English style centre forward- Josef Uridil- he was still very much in love with British football- particularly the Glasgow Rangers team he had seen in Vienna in 1905. The Scottish game had instilled in Meisl a faith in the effectiveness of the short passing game, but he also wanted his centre forward to be a great physical presence. From his debut in 1926 Sindelar was an occasional in the national team, in 1931 though, Meisl made him a regular.
When Austria's Wunderteam enjoyed a run of 14 unbeaten matches (April 1931- December 1932) Sindelar played in 11 of the matches. In total 'The Mozart of Football' played 43 times for Austria (25 wins,11 draws, and 7 defeats) and scored 26 goals.



For my German readers:
(Friedrich Torberg)

Auf den Tod eines Fußballspielers

Er war ein Kind aus Favoriten
und hieß Matthias Sindelar.
Er stand auf grünem Platz inmitten,
weil er ein Mittelstürmer war

Er spielte Fußball, und er wußte
vom Leben außerdem nicht viel.
Er lebte, weil er leben mußte
vom Fußballspiel fürs Fußballspiel.

Er spielte Fußball wie kein zweiter,
er stak voll Witz und Phantasie.
Er spielte lässig, leicht und heiter,
er spielte stets, er kämpfte nie.

Er warf den blonden Schopf zur Seite,
ließ seinen Herrgott gütig sein,
und stürmte durch die grüne Weite
und manchmal bis ins Tor hinein.

Es jubelte die Hohe Warte,
der Prater und das Stadion,
wenn er den Gegner lächelnd narrte
und zog ihm flinken Laufs davon.

Bis eines Tages ein andrer Gegner
ihm jählings in die Quere trat,
ein fremd und furchtbar überlegener,
vor dem´s nicht Regel gab noch Rat.

Von einem einzigen harten Tritte
fand sich der Spieler Sindelar
verstoßen aus des Planes Mitte
weil das die neue Ordnung war.

Ein Weilchen stand er noch daneben,
bevor er abging und nachhaus.
Im Fußballspiel, ganz wie im Leben,
war´s mit der Wiener Schule aus.

Er war gewohnt zu kombinieren,
und kombinierte manchen Tag.
Sein Überblick ließ ihn erspüren,
daß seine Chance im Gashahn lag.

Das Tor, durch das er dann geschritten,
lag stumm und dunkel ganz und gar.
Er war ein Kind aus Favoriten
und hieß Mattihas Sindelar.