Franz "Bimbo" Binder (1 December 1911 – 24 April 1989) was an Austrian football player and coach who played as a centre forward. Internationally he represented the Austria national team and, during the Anschluss, the Germany national team. He played internationally immediately following the Austrian "Wunderteam" of 1931–32.

He is the all time leading scorer of Rapid Wien with 1006 goals in 757 games and regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time. In his whole career he would score 1202 goals in 831 matches. With an average-score of 1.44 goals per match, he is among the most prolific scorers in football history. Binder is one of only a few players to score more than 1200 goals in his professional career alongside Lajos Tichy, Josef Bican, Gerd Müller, Ferenc Puskás, Ferenc Deák, Erwin Helmchen and Pelé.

Club career Binder came from a family of labourers. He had nine siblings. When he was 15 years old he played football for the first team of Sturm 19 St. Pölten. Nicknamed Bimbo, Binder was a prolific goalscorer who played for SK Rapid Wien. He won the national Austrian championship four times and was three times top goalscorer in the Austrian league. In 1941 he also won the German championship with a 4–3 victory against Schalke 04, where he scored three goals. From 1930 to 1937, Binder scored more than 700 goals for Rapid Wien, including the reserves; 1930 − First team − 3 goals in 2 games. Reserve team − 14 goals in 9 games. Total − 17 games 11 goals. 1931 − First team − 19 goals in 14 games. Reserve team 54 goals in 23 games. Total − 73 goals 37 games. 1932 − First team − 62 goals in 48 games. Reserve team − 41 goals in 12 games. Total − 103 goals in 60 games. 1933 − First team − 104 goals in 68 games. 1934 − First team − 93 goals in 56 games. 1935 – First team − 95 goals in 58 games. 1936 − First team − 93 goals in 61 games. 1937 − First team − 122 goals in 72 games. Total Reserve − 109 goals in 44 games. Total First team − 591 goals in 378 games. Total Rapid Wien, 1930−1937 − 700 goals in 422 games with a ratio of 1.65 goals per game.

International career Binder was a very prolific goal scorer for both club and country, scoring 16 goals in 19 international matches for Austria, and later 10 goals in just 9 matches for Germany. He made his international debut on 11 June 1933 in a friendly against Belgium, scoring twice in a 4-1 win. In 1934, he scored a goal against both Italy and Czechoslovakia, the 1934 World Cup champions and runner-ups respectively. In January 1936, he scored a goal against both Iberian teams, Spain and Portugal, in 5-4 and 3-2 wins respectively. In 1937, he scored winners against France and Latvia (both 2-1 victories), with the latter being the most important as it assured Austria a ticket to the 1938 World Cup.

His debut with Germany was remarkably similar to Austria's, as he scored against Belgium in a 4-1 win again. He then scored two back-to-back hat-tricks against Bohemia and Moravia and the then World Champions Italy, with the former salvaging his side a 4-4 draw while the latter helped to a 5-2 win. In the following year he scored two more goals against Italy in a 3-2 win at the San Siro, which were the last he scored for Germany. After an 8-year hiatus, he returned to an Austria line-up in 1945, and despite being in his late 30s he still managed to score a further 5 goals for Austria before retiring from international football.

Managerial career After retirement from playing he became a football coach, of teams such as Jahn Regensburg, PSV Eindhoven, 1. FC Nürnberg, 1860 Munich and Rapid Wien.

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonAustrian First LeagueGerman football championshipNational cupMitropa CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRapid Wien1930–3112002000321931–328600260010121932–33202500270022321933–34222000574631331934–352121006132129351935–36201700242324241936–37222900480026371937–38172200100018221938–39172700440021311939–4013189147180029501940–411827811560031441941–428600250010111942–4311000000111943–4424000000241944–45 00001000101945–46131700370016241946–47151200240017161947–48171100320020131948–496200120074Total24126717255293810318395

International Scores and results list Austria's and Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Binder goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Franz BinderNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionAustria goals111 June 1933 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 2–1 4–1Friendly24–13 11 February 1934 Stadio Municipale Benito Mussolini, Turin, Italy 3–0 4–2 1933–35 Central European International Cup4 23 September 1934 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 1–0 2–2 1933–35 Central European International Cup5 19 January 1936 Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain 2–2 5–4 Friendly6 26 January 1936 Estádio do Lima, Porto, Portugal 2–0 3–2 Friendly7 27 September 1936 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 1–0 3–5 1936–38 Central European International Cup88 November 1936 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland 1–0 3–1 1936–38 Central European International Cup93–010 24 January 1937 Parc des Princes, Paris, France 2–1 2–1 Friendly11 5 October 1937 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 2–1 2–1 1938 World Cup qualification1227 October 1946 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 1–1 3–4 Friendly132–11414 September 1947 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 3–3 4–3 Friendly154–316 5 October 1947 Stadion Letná, Prague, Czechoslovakia 1–1 2–3 FriendlyGermany goals1 29 January 1939 Stade du Centenaire, Brussels, Belgium 1–0 4–1 Friendly212 November 1939 Stadion Olimpijski, Wrocław, Poland 1–3 4–4 Friendly32–343–4526 November 1939 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany 1–1 5–2 Friendly62–275–28 7 April 1940 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany 2–1 2–2 Friendly95 May 1940 San Siro, Milan, Italy 1–2 2–3 Friendly102–2

Honours Player Rapid Wien Austrian Football Bundesliga: 1934–35, 1937–38, 1945–46, 1947–48 Great Germany Gauliga: 1940, 1941 Wiener Cup: 1945–46 DFB-Pokal: 1938

Individual Austrian Bundesliga top goalscorer: 1933, 1937, 1938 Gauliga Top Goalscorer: 1939, 1940, 1941

See also List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals

References

External links Franz Binder at Rapidarchiv