Talking about Australians in Austria usually involves lowbrow puns about a lack of Kangaroos, but for James Holland, the Bundesliga’s most experienced Aussie, the move from the Antipodes to the “Alpine Republic“ has provided some serious highs, and we don’t just mean the mountains.
INTERVIEW: TOM MIDDLER (THE OTHER BUNDESLIGA), PHOTOS: GEPA PICTURES
Bundesliga-Journal: Did you always imagine leaving Australia to play football in Europe?
Holland: In Australia that’s generally every young player’s ambition. We didn’t get a lot of football on TV there, but I watched a little bit of the English Premier League and that gave me the spark to want to play over here. From a young age, that’s all I really dreamt of.
And when that dream came true, it was with a move to Holland of all places. From there, how did you come to end up in the Austrian Bundesliga?
When I moved to AZ Alkmaar, (Australian-born goalkeeper) Joey Didulica was there. We formed a friendship and he’s still kind of a mentor to me. He mentioned having a great time when he played at [FK] Austria Vienna, and we even played against Austria in the UEFA Europa League back then, so I knew a bit about the club already. Ivica Vastic was in charge there at the time, and he got on the phone to Joey and that’s how it happened. I was struggling to break into a team of superstars at AZ, so it was like a fresh start for me; a good opportunity in a good league, at a good club.
Did you struggle with the languagebarrier when you moved here back in 2012?
I think it’s so important to learn the language wherever I go, so that I can communicate of course, but also just out of respect. I really tried to make an effort, and thankfully my German reached the level where my interviews are halfdecent and people can understand me. I’ve even been the interpreter for some of my team-mates!
And how about settling in to life in Austria with all its stunning scenery?
I always find that I need about six months to adapt, wherever I go, so that first period was a bit of a challenge on and off the pitch. For me it’s really important to build a life outside of football, and Austria’s a beautiful country, so I’ve always kept busy by checking out the lakes and by doing a bit of mountain climbing and snowboarding, and I found my feet here. I adored living in Vienna too, and I made some amazing friends there.
After adapting to Austria, both the club and the country, you didn’t have to wait long to get your hands on the Bundesliga shield, did you?
That whole championship-winning season [2012/2013] was an amazing experience, one of the highlights of my career. We won almost every game with a great group of guys and a great training team; Peter Stöger really knows how to bring a group together. We were leading in the match against SV Mattersburg which would seal our title win, and their players were congratulating us with 30 minutes still to go! That was a cool feeling, to play the last few games knowing we were already champions, and then the next year we were playing in the UEFA Champions League too. That’s what every kid dreams of, hearing that anthem, so that part of my Vienna story was very special as well.
Once that chapter was complete, you left Austria and went to play in Germany and then China, before the Alps called you back once more. What attracted you about returning to the Bundesliga?
When I left I felt like I needed a new challenge. Sometimes in life and in football, things work out, other times you fall flat on your face, and I think it’s fair to say that I fell flat on my face! I took a risk, but I never really wanted to leave Europe anyway, and then after a couple of not so great years LASK took a chance on me. I had heard great things about [then coach] Oliver Glasner, and I knew the country already of course, so I knew I wanted to come back.
With your experiences of playing elsewhere, what do you think about the level of football being played here in Austria?
The top teams have proven that they can do well. Salzburg have set the standard for players and coaches coming through here, and I think that’s been good for Austrian football. Luckily LASK have kind of followed suit, and we surprised teams with the way we played in Europe last season. Despite not having a long European history we really made our mark, and we’re hungry to get back there after such an amazing experience.
In that campaign you defeated AZ, the club where your own European adventure began, before losing to your beloved Manchester United in a tie played in front of empty grandstands: What a draw!
It was a bit of a funny coincidence to draw AZ Alkmaar after having a tough time there. But I also learned a lot there, it was like my apprenticeship in European football, so it was cool to go back but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a nice feeling to beat them! Then we drew Manchester United, my boyhood club. It was disappointing for the boys, for the city and for the club how that all worked out, but at the end of the day that’s no excuse. We still got to play at Old Trafford, and getting to the last 16 of the Europa League was a pretty special achievement.
It certainly was! You’ve represented Austrian football really well in your career, do you still hope to wear that Socceroos jersey and represent Australia again?
Playing for my country has always been the pinnacle for me personally. They did get in touch before the Coronavirus lockdown actually, so that was probably a case of bad timing, but that’s life. I’d love to get back involved if the opportunity came around.
With 185 Bundesliga appearances under his belt, and his form in defensive-midfield as good as ever at 31, here’s hoping that James Holland’s performances in Austria will earn him a chance to wear his Australian colours once again.
Vocabulary:
a lowbrow pun / ein billiger Schmäh
to adapt / anpassen
to spark / entfachen / begeistern
to mention / erwähnen
to struggle / kämpfen
to break in / hereinplatzen / durchbrechen
half-decent / anständig / halbwegs gescheit
to interpret / dolmetschen / übersetzen
to find your feet / laufen lernen / sich eingewöhnen
to check (something) out / (etwas) ausprobieren
to seal the win / den Deckel draufmachen
to fall flat on your face / auf die Nase fallen
to set a standard / die Messlatte hoch legen
to follow suit / dem Beispiel folgen
to make your mark / hervortreten / sich einen Namen machen
coincidence / Zufall
apprenticeship / Ausbildung / Lehre
pinnacle / Höhepunkt / Spitze
to get in touch / sich melden
to have (something) under your belt / (etwas) auf seinem Konto haben
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Dieser Text ist in der Saisonstart-Ausgabe 20/21 des Bundesliga-Journals erschienen. Die aktuelle Ausgabe mit sämtlichen Geschichten, Interviews und die Kader aller Bundesliga-Klubs erhalten Sie im Zeitschriftenhandel oder bequem und preiswert im Abo: https://www.bundesliga.at/de/medien/bundesliga-journal/journal-abo/
