game. The school team was victorious as the score was 12–2, Josef had scored 8 goals. His older brother, František, was also a good footballer, as he started playing for Hertha Vienna, aged 11. However, František died tragically at 17. They had brought him home with a knife in his heart. They had told the Bican family that it was a very unfortunate accident that he had taken his own life. In situations like these Ludmila was normally brave, however this time she was scared and she sent Josef to live with Vilík and his grandparents. Working at Schustek parquet factory, Josef would work around the office and in the warehouse and earnt twenty shillings a week. In the spring of 1931 Farbenlutz attracted Bican to start working for them as he would earn 30 shillings a week. Early career At the age of twelve, Bican was already playing in the youth set-up of and he was even coached by a former player that had played with his father. The Hertha Vienna pitch was only a few steps away from his house. Bican was the smallest of the boys there, however a Hertha Vienna official told him, “You’ll get a shilling every time you score.” He scored two in his very first match. As his career slowed down at Hertha Vienna, due to him not playing for almost half a year, one of his friends invited him to play for Schustek. It was a parquet factory, small but profitable. At the age of 15, in the autumn of 1928, Bican made his debut for Schustek. Josef scored three goals in a 5–2 friendly victory over Nord Vienna. In 1931 he would start playing for Farbenlutz and would not even train. Near to where Bican lived, Roman Schramseis also resided and after seeing Bican play on several occasions, Roman offered him the chance to train at Rapid Wien. “I already told Richard Kuthan about it.” Bican was invited to watch a training session with the amateur team, but as soon as he and his friend watched the others play they got scared and headed home. The next Tuesday, Bican was to play a training game between the junior team and the amateur team. He played for the junior team as they won 7–2 and scored five goals. On the Sunday of the same week he was again invited to play for