Dietmar Kühbauer

Dietmar ("Didi") Kühbauer (born 4 April 1971) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Wolfsberger AC.

Dietmar Kühbauer

Kühbauer with Rapid Wien in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	(1971-04-04) 4 April 1971 (age 54)
Place of birth	Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal, Austria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Wolfsberger AC (head coach)
Youth career
	SV Mattersburg
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1992	Admira/Wacker	121	(7)
1992–1997	Rapid Wien	148	(33)
1997–2000	Real Sociedad	48	(2)
2000–2002	VfL Wolfsburg	49	(8)
2002–2008	SV Mattersburg	181	(24)
Total		547	(74)
International career
1992–2005	Austria	55	(5)
Managerial career
2008–2010	Trenkwalder Admira II
2010–2013	FC Admira Mödling
2013–2015	Wolfsberger AC
2018	SKN St. Pölten
2018–2021	Rapid Wien
2022–2023	LASK
2024–	Wolfsberger AC
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Heiligenkreuz, Burgenland, Kühbauer began his professional career at Admira Wacker, making his Austrian Bundesliga debut in 1987 at the age of 16. After five years, he moved to city rivals Rapid Wien, where he won both a league title and a domestic cup. He also played in the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain in Brussels, which Rapid lost. "Don Didi" remains a fan favorite at Rapid, and in 1999, he was named to the club's Team of the Century.

In 1997, Kühbauer moved to La Liga side Real Sociedad.^[1] In 2000, he signed with German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. Two years later, he returned to Austria to join his childhood club, SV Mattersburg, where he finished his playing career after the 2007–08 season.^[2]

International career

He made his debut for Austria in a May 1992 friendly match against Poland and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.^[3] He earned 55 caps, scoring five goals.^[4] On 4 September 2005, he announced his retirement from international matches. His final international was a September 2005 World Cup qualification match against Poland.

Coaching career

On 18 November 2008, he signed a contract by Trenkwalder Admira II as head coach. In 2010, he became coach of the first squad and led the team to the promotion to the Austrian Football Bundesliga. From September 2013 to November 2015 he was the trainer of Wolfsberger AC.

On 1 October 2018, Kühbauer was announced to become the new head coach of Rapid Wien, after only a half year at SKN St. Pölten.^[5]

In May 2022, Kühbauer was appointed head coach of LASK, signing a contract until June 2024.^[6] He finished the 2021–22 season with the Schwarz-Weißen in eighth place. The 2022–23 season saw significant improvement, as Kühbauer led the team to a third-place finish, securing their return to European competition. However, he was replaced by Thomas Sageder at the end of the season, due to differences of opinion regarding squad planning for the next season.^[7]

In May 2024, Kühbauers return as head coach of Wolfsberger AC was announced, with him taking over the position from Manfred Schmid ahead of the 2024–25 season.^[8]

On 1 May 2025, Kühbauers made history by guiding Wolfsberger AC to their first Austrian Cup title in history, with a 1–0 victory against fellow Austrian Bundesliga side TSV Hartberg.^[9]

Personal life

On 16 February 1997, Kühbauer's pregnant wife, Michaela, was driving to Vienna International Airport to pick him up after Rapid's winter break in Dubai.^[1] Tragedy struck when her car veered off the road near Eisenstadt, and she was rushed to the hospital with three ribs puncturing her lung. She fell into a coma and died seven months later, on 13 September 1997.^[1] A disillusioned Kühbauer then left Austria to begin a new career abroad at Real Sociedad.^[10]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[11]

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Admira/Wacker	1987–88	Austrian Bundesliga	12	0	0	0	—		—		12	0
	1988–89	Austrian Bundesliga	23	0	4	0	5[b]	2	—		32	2
	1989–90	Austrian Bundesliga	26	1	1	0	6[c]	0	—		33	1
	1990–91	Austrian Bundesliga	25	0	0	0	9[d]	1	—		34	1
	1991–92	Austrian Bundesliga	35	6	5	1	—		—		40	7
	Total		121	7	10	1	20	3	—		151	11
Rapid Wien	1992–93	Austrian Bundesliga	33	3	5	0	1[b]	0	—		39	3
	1993–94	Austrian Bundesliga	31	6	3	3	3[b]	2	—		37	11
	1994–95	Austrian Bundesliga	27	7	4	1	3[b]	0	—		34	8
	1995–96	Austrian Bundesliga	26	6	2	0	5[e]	1	—		33	7
	1996–97	Austrian Bundesliga	31	11	1	0	8[f]	1	1[g]	0	41	12
	Total		148	33	15	4	20	4	1	0	184	41
Real Sociedad	1997–98	La Liga	20	2	2	0	—		—		22	2
	1998–99	La Liga	16	0	0	0	5[h]	0	—		21	0
	1999–2000	La Liga	12	0	1	0	—		—		13	0
	Total		48	2	3	0	5	0	—		56	2
VfL Wolfsburg	2000–01	Bundesliga	28	7	2	0	3[b]	0	—		33	7
	2001–02	Bundesliga	21	1	2	0	3[b]	0	—		26	1
	Total		49	8	4	0	6	0	—		59	8
SV Mattersburg	2002–03	Erste Liga	29	2	3	0	—		—		32	2
	2003–04	Austrian Bundesliga	32	10	3	0	—		—		35	10
	2004–05	Austrian Bundesliga	32	7	2	0	—		—		34	7
	2005–06	Austrian Bundesliga	32	1	5	0	—		—		37	1
	2006–07	Austrian Bundesliga	27	2	4	1	2[h]	0	—		33	3
	2007–08	Austrian Bundesliga	29	2	0	0	4[h]	0	—		33	2
	Total		181	24	17	1	6	0	—		204	25
Career total			547	74	49	16	57	7	1	0	654	97

1. Includes Austrian Cup, Copa del Rey, DFB-Pokal
2. Appearances in Intertoto Cup
3. Three appearances in Intertoto Cup, three appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
4. Five appearances and one goal in Intertoto Cup, four appearances in UEFA Cup
5. Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
7. Appearance in Austrian Supercup
8. Appearances in UEFA Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[12]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Austria	1992	4	0
	1993	5	2
	1994	3	0
	1995	6	1
	1996	2	0
	1997	3	0
	1998	11	1
	1999	3	0
	2000	5	1
	2001	5	0
	2002	0	0
	2003	0	0
	2004	5	0
	2005	3	0
Total		55	5

Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kühbauer goal^[12][13]

List of international goals scored by Dietmar Kühbauer

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 April 1993	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Bulgaria	2–0	3–1	1994 World Cup qualifier
2	25 August 1993	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Finland	1–0	3–0	1994 World Cup qualifier
3	26 April 1995	Stadion Lehen, Salzburg, Austria	Liechtenstein	1–0	7–0	Euro 1996 qualifier
4	2 June 1998	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Liechtenstein	2–0	6–0	Friendly
5	1 September 2000	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Iran	4–1	5–1	Friendly

Managerial

As of match played 10 August 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nation	From	To	Record					Ref
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Admira Wacker II		1 December 2008	26 April 2010	41	23	6	12	056.10	[14]
Admira Wacker		26 April 2010	11 June 2013	124	57	26	41	045.97	[15]
Wolfsberger AC		2 September 2013	25 November 2015	95	39	14	42	041.05	[16]
SKN St. Pölten		1 April 2018	1 October 2018	21	12	4	5	057.14	[17]
Rapid Wien		1 October 2018	10 November 2021	141	69	26	46	048.94	[18]
LASK		3 May 2022	6 June 2023	40	19	14	7	047.50	[19]
Wolfsberger AC		1 July 2024	Present	42	22	10	10	052.38	[20]
Total				504	241	100	163	047.82	—

Honours

Player

Rapid Wien

• Austrian Bundesliga: 1995–96
• Austrian Cup: 1994–95

Manager

Admira Wacker

• 2. Liga: 2010–11

Wolfsberger AC

• Austrian Cup: 2024–25