TABLE OF A DIFFERENT KIND 2025/26
For the first time, the players themselves are making visible how they view their club and Experience everyday work life. Austria Vienna leads the premiere ranking ahead of Salzburg and the LASK. The results also show clear structural differences..
VdF – The Players' Association | August 24, 2026
What female players experience on a daily basis isn't reflected in any sports rankings. Whether salaries are paid on time, contracts are clear, medical care functions properly, and the infrastructure meets professional standards significantly impacts their everyday lives. The VdF – The Players' Association – is now making precisely this perspective visible for the first time in the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga.
For the 2025/26 season, a total of 100 female players voluntarily and anonymously evaluated their own club in ten categories on a scale of 0 to 10. A total score of up to 100 points was calculated from these ten categories. Because the players of SCR Altach did not participate in the survey and USV Neulengbach discontinued its women's team, the published inaugural ranking includes eight clubs.
Austria wins the premiere – Salzburg close behind.
FK Austria Wien achieved 79.1 points, thus winning the first "alternative table" of the Women's Bundesliga. Following their league and cup victories, Austria now also leads this table, which measures the club's day-to-day performance from the players' perspective. FC Red Bull Salzburg follows just 1.3 points behind with 77.8 points. LASK completes the podium.
Austria Vienna's overall victory is primarily based on a balanced overall result: No category saw a score below 6.9 points. The Viennese team leads in daily preventative medical care (8.4), equipment quality (8.0), away trip organization (8.9), and club support in public relations (7.9).
Salzburg even achieved top marks in six out of ten areas. The players rated the punctuality of salary payments (9.9), the clarity and adherence to contracts (9.1), and the infrastructure (8.8) particularly highly. However, weaker scores for daily medical care (5.8) and support with public relations (5.2) cost them points in the overall ranking.
A gap opens up behind the top.
There are already 12.3 points separating Salzburg in second place and LASK in third. Following them are SKN St. Pölten (61.1), SpG Südburgenland/TSV Hartberg (58.8), FC Blau-Weiß Linz/Kleinmünchen (56.5), SK Sturm Graz (55.2), and First Vienna FC 1894 (54.0). In total, there are 25.1 points separating first and eighth place.
Not rated: SCR Altach did not participate in the survey for health reasons.
USV Neulengbach's participation was not possible after the discontinuation of the Women's football operations are no longer possible.
What the players across the league rate positively
The strongest area is the punctuality of salary payments. The equally weighted average of the eight club metrics is 8.19 points. Contract clarity follows with 7.60, and the organization of away trips with 7.36. These figures show that essential foundations are functioning well at many locations.
The average, however, masks differences. For example, the rating for punctuality in salary payments ranges from 9.9 points in Salzburg to 5.2 points at SKN St. Pölten. Especially considering this fundamental requirement of any employment relationship, such a wide range is a serious warning sign.
Equipment, public and infrastructure as fields of work
The players rated the adequacy of the provided equipment the lowest. The club average was 5.13 points. This was followed by the club's support with public relations (5.24), the infrastructure (5.56), and the communication between management and the team (5.63).
The differences are particularly pronounced in terms of infrastructure. While Salzburg achieves 8.8 points, Vienna only manages 1.8. Sturm Graz (2.8) and SpG Südburgenland/TSV Hartberg (3.7) also fall significantly below the average. The results illustrate how differently players experience their playing conditions within the same league.
"Professional women's football begins with clear contracts, punctual salary payments, reliable medical care, and an infrastructure that enables performance. Players measure their clubs by these criteria. The 25.1-point range shows that while the league operates under a common umbrella in terms of sporting performance, daily working conditions are not yet uniform across the board."
Christos Papadimitriou, Women's Football Coordinator of the VdF
A premiere with consequences
This "alternative table" is not intended to publicly condemn clubs or gloss over problems. It creates a safe space where players can evaluate their daily work without having to expose themselves individually. For the clubs, it serves as recognition and a benchmark, but also as a basis for initiating improvements to the daily working conditions for their own players.
The ten evaluation areas at a glance
Equally weighted average of the eight published club values.
Methodology
The players voluntarily and anonymously rated ten areas on a scale of 0 to 10. The overall score is calculated by aggregating the average scores of the ten categories. Overall and category scores are rounded separately, which is why the sum of the visible individual scores may differ slightly. For league-wide comparisons, each of the eight published club scores is weighted equally.