Karl Orth

Karl Orth
Born	Karl Orth Wien, Austria
Died	16 December 1973(1973-12-16) (aged 90) Madrid, Spain
Citizenship	Spanish
Occupation	Football manager
Known for	Manager of Sporting de Gijón
Association football career Full name Karl Orth Position(s) Manager Managerial career Years Team –1921 Berna FC 1921–1924 Sporting de Gijón Wiener AFC

Karl Orth (11 March 1883 – 16 December 1973) was an Austrian football manager who led Sporting de Gijón between 1921 and 1924, becoming the first professional coach in the club's history.

Biography

At some point, Orth became the coach of Berna FC, a Swiss team that faced Sporting de Gijón in some friendly matches in 1921 because its newly elected president Ismael Figaredo Herrero had studied in Belgium, and since he spoke French perfectly, he himself personally led the negotiations with the coach of Berna, the Austrian Orth, who, in addition to his mother tongue, also spoke French. He had previously held positions as a player and masseuse in other squads. Once, the Swiss team came to Gijón, the relations between coach and president became so close that he asked him to stay and coach Sporting, offering him the same amount of money that he earned in Switzerland. There was only one problem, the language because Orth did not speak a word of Spanish, but that was solved by providing him with a translator, the team delegate, Diego Orbón Cervero, who had studied in France, being present in each and every one of the training sessions and matches, carrying out the aforementioned work. Orth stayed two seasons in Gijón in which he won two Asturian First Category championships and, in addition, he served as an advisor to the Asturian team that was proclaimed Spanish champion of regional teams in 1923. He earned the affection and prestige of the hubby. He also provided tactical innovations such as playing with an advanced central defender, which served both for containment and attack tasks, and in which the midfielders should also collaborate at the back, without limiting themselves to being mere links between the defense and the forwards. After leaving Asturias, he returned to his native Vienna to coach for five seasons what would be his last club before his final retirement from football: Wiener AFC.