| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rudolf Vytlačil | ||
| Date of birth | 9 February 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Schwechat, Austria-Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 1 June 1977 (aged 65) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Phönix Schwechat | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1930 | Phönix Schwechat | ||
| 1930 – 1932 | SK Slovan Wien | ||
| 1932 -1934 | SK Rapid Wien | 20 | (6 ) |
| 1935- | Favoritner SC | ||
| SK Slavia Prague | |||
| International career | |||
| 1936 | Czechoslovakia | 1 | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1949-1950 | Tatran Teplice | ||
| 1951 -1952 | Banik Ostrava | ||
| 1955 | TJ Gottwaldov | ||
| 1957-1963 | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 1964 | Czechoslovakia Olympia | ||
| 1964 - 1966 | Bulgaria | ||
| 1964 - 1966 | Levski Sofia | ||
| 1965- 1968 | SK Rapid Wien | ||
| 1970 | Levski Sofia | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rudolf Vytlačil (born 9 February 1912 in Schwechat; died 1 June 1977) was an Austrian-Czechoslovak footballer and later - coach.
Rudi Vytlačil was an athlete from his youth. He initially competed in track and field. He encountered football during a holiday stay in Salzburg. After returning he signed up for the youth team at the local club, Phönix. After just four appearances for the youth team, Vytlačil was promoted to the Phönix Schwechat first team. In 1930, at the age of eighteen, he transferred to SK Slovan Wien which played in the top Austrian league. Vytlačil established himself as a regular starter. 1932, he was recruited by Rapid, one of the league's leading clubs at the time. With Rapid he became two times runner-up in the league.
However, during the 1933/34 season, the winger began to suffer from severe sciatica, a condition that nearly ended his career. After recovering a year later, he trie a comeback on the football pitch with the small top-flight club Favoritner Sportclub. There, he was quickly able to regain his old form and even surpass it. He was soon called up to the B-national team and it was planned to play for the first team. However, before that could happen, Slavia Prague offered 100,000 schillings for Vytlači. This was a unimaginably high offer for the small club at the time. They immediately accepted. In Prague, Rudolf Vytlačil won the Czechoslovak championship in 1937 and the Mitropa Cup in 1938.
After retiring as a player, Rudolf Vytlačil became coach in Czechoslovakia. He managed clubs such as Baník Ostrava, Tatran Teplice, and TJ Gottwaldov. Then he became coach of the national team. The time till 1963 was one of the most successful eras in the history of the Czechoslovak national team. In 1960, the team won the European Cup. In the European Championship that same year, they finished third. The highlight was the 1962 World Cup in Chile where they reached the final. 1964 he managed the Olympic squad for the 1964 Tokyo Games. They won the silver medal.
In November 1964, Vytlačil went to Bulgaria. He managed the national team and Levski Sofia. 1966 he became manager of his former club, SK Rapid Wien. With Rapid, he won the Austrian league title in the 1966/67 and 1967/68 seasons and reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup. Vytlačil was forced to resign as coach after falling seriously ill in late 1968. It was not until 1970 that he was able to rejoin Levski Sofia for a season.