Bernd Hirschbichler

Bernd Hirschbichler's childhood was already marked by soccer. The son of Erich Hirschbichler spent a lot of time on the sports field in his hometown of Leogang. Even then, he was more interested in refereeing than in a coach's tactical instructions, but played junior soccer as a goalkeeper for SC Leogang until the age of 13. After a serious back injury, Hirschbichler had to end his active career as a soccer player and attended a beginner's course for referees at the Salzburg Soccer Association on August 8, 1997. On September 1, 1997, Hirschbichler successfully passed the exam to become a soccer referee.

On May 20, 2006, at the age of 22, Hirschbichler refereed his first match in the third highest division, the regional league, in the match between Reichenau and Hohenems. At the same time, he qualified for the Regionalliga West referee squad from the 2007/08 season.

This marked the next leap in his career, and on July 31, 2007, he made his debut as an assistant referee in the 2nd division alongside referee Rudolf Gruber in the match between Kapfenberger SV and FC Lustenau (2:1).^[2][3] After seven appearances in the second highest division, Hirschbichler made his first appearance as an assistant referee in the Bundesliga on February 26, 2008, in the match between SK Austria Kärnten and SK Sturm Graz (0–2) alongside referee Bernhard Brugger.^[4]

Due to his good evaluations as a referee in the Regionalliga West and as an assistant referee in the Bundesliga, Hirschbichler was accepted into the Bundesliga talent squad. In the 2008/09 season, he was initially entrusted with one match officiating in each of the Central and Eastern Regional Leagues. After two further appearances in the Central and Eastern Regional Leagues in the fall of 2009, Hirschbichler was nominated for two qualifying matches in the 2nd Division in the spring of 2010. On March 23, 2010, he made his debut in Austria's second-highest division in the match FC Gratkorn vs. FC Dornbirn (1:2).^[5] After he also successfully completed the second qualifying match on May 7, 2010, between FK Austria Wien II and SKN St. Pölten (1:3),^[6] Hirschbichler was included in the squad of Bundesliga referees on July 1, 2010, and has been allowed to referee matches in the First Division since then.^[7]

Internationally, Hirschbichler was allowed to make his debut as a referee on August 26, 2010, at the friendly international match between the U-17 teams of Austria and Croatia (3:1) in Vöcklabruck. Hirschbichler has already made international appearances as an assistant referee. On August 20, 2008, he assisted Bernhard Brugger in the friendly international between Luxembourg and Macedonia (1:4).^[8] On July 23, 2009, Hirschbichler was again used as an assistant to Bernhard Brugger in an international match. This time it was an official UEFA Europa League qualifying match between Olimpi Rustawi and Legia Warsaw (0:1).^[9]

Hirschbichler learned that refereeing can also be dangerous on October 1, 2010. In the championship match between First Vienna FC 1894 and the Wolfsberger AC/St. Andrä team (1:0), he was literally knocked out by Mathias Berchtold, but was able to referee the match after a lengthy break for treatment.^[10] Hirschbichler also learned about the darker side of being a referee. "If someone insults you in the most profound way while you're walking with your girlfriend in the pedestrian zone, you do wonder where it can all lead," Hirschbichler told Salzburg24.at. However, when he was threatened via Facebook and SMS, he called in the police.^[11]

Despite good observation reports, Hirschbichler was denied promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga. The main reason was that his body kept causing problems. For example, he was absent for several months in the summer and fall of 2012 due to a serious injury and also had to endure an extended injury break in the fall of 2014. This was also the reason why Hirschbichler had to stop playing professionally at the end of 2014. However, he continues his work as a soccer referee in the amateur sector - regional league and below.

In addition to his work as a referee, Hirschbichler has been a rules officer for the Salzburg Referees' College since 2013. He was also elected deputy chairman in the Salzburg Referees' College in 2016.^[12] On November 15, 2019, Hirschbichler was elected chairman of the Salzburg College of Referees as successor to Norbert Schwab, who resigned from his position after eight years.^[13]