Special award for Glasner, Angerschmid and Brunmayr | OneFootball

As part of the Bruno Gala in Vienna on Monday evening, Eintracht’s coaching team was in the spotlight at one of Austria’s most prestigious events.

Vienna’s Marx Halle provided the stage for the 26th Bruno Gala on Monday evening. The event was first held in 1997 in memory of former Austria international and long-time Eintracht player Bruno Pezzey, who passed away in 1994.

Real Madrid’s David Alaba and Stade Reims goalkeeper Patrick Pentz were among the other successful figures to be honoured, with three awards going to Frankfurt-based recipients. Eintracht head coach Oliver Glasner and assistant coaches Michael Angerschmid and Ronald Brunmayr received the Bruno Special Award in front of around 500 guests in their homeland’s capital city in recognition of the extraordinary UEFA Europa League triumph with Eintracht Frankfurt.

After the legendary Ernst Happel, Glasner is the first Austrian to win a major European club trophy as a head coach. Incidentally, Happel also did so with a German side, lifting the 1983 European Cup with Hamburg SV.

Background

The Bruno Gala is dedicated to one of Austria’s greatest ever footballers, Bruno Pezzey. Regarded as one of the best defenders the country has ever produced, he was universally known for his sense of fair play and sportsmanship. He participated at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups in Argentina and Spain respectively, and was a member of the World XI in 1979.

Pezzey enjoyed success in Eintracht colours too, helping the Eagles to 1980 UEFA Cup glory. Since 2013 his likeness has adorned one of the 12 “Pillars of Eintracht” at the Willy-Brandt-Platz underground station in Frankfurt. He died of sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 39 during an ice hockey match on New Year’s Eve in 1994.