FC Vaduz

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FC Vaduz

Full name

Fußball Club Vaduz

Nickname(s)

Residenzler

Founded

1932

Ground

Rheinpark Stadion
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
(Capacity 6,127)

Chairman

Hanspeter Negele

Manager

Heinz Hermann

League

Swiss Challenge League

2007-08

Swiss Challenge League, 1st (Promoted)





Home colours





Away colours

FC Vaduz is a Liechtensteiner football team that plays in Vaduz. The club plays at the small Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 6,127. Vaduz also play in the Challenge League (formerly called Nationalliga B), the second tier of the Swiss league since 2001-2002 season. In recent years Vaduz has been one of the best teams in the Challenge League and have given serious challenges towards promotion to the Axpo Super League. Vaduz came extremely close to promotion to the Axpo Super League in 2004 and 2005, playing two-leg play-offs in both cases. In the 2007-08 season, Vaduz secured promotion on 12 May 2008 by winning the Challenge League on the final day of the season, giving Liechtenstein a representative at the highest level of Swiss football.

1 History
2 Achievements
3 Vaduz in Europe
4 Current Squad
5 External links

[edit] History

Fußball Club Vaduz was founded on February 14, 1932 in Vaduz, and the club's first chairman was Johann Walser. In its first training match, which Vaduz played in Balzers on April 24 of that year, the newly-born team emerged as 2-1 winners. She played in Vorarlberger Football Association in Austria between 1932-1933 season. In 1933, Vaduz began playing in Switzerland. Over the years Vaduz struggled through the different tiers of Swiss football and won its first Liechtensteiner Cup in 1949. Vaduz enjoyed a lengthy stay in the Swiss first division from 1960 to 1973, which was third level of Swiss football.

In 1992, Vaduz qualified for European football for the first time, entering the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as Liechtenstein Cup winners but lost 1-12 on aggregate to FC Chornomorets Odesa of Ukraine. In 1996, Vaduz qualified for the next round with their first European victory, winning 5-3 on aggregate over FC Universitate Riga of Latvia, although Vaduz lost to Paris St-Germain of France 0-7 on aggregate in the next round. After the banishment of the Cup Winners' Cup, Vaduz regularly enter the UEFA Cup as a result of being the only fully professional side in Liechtenstein and therefore have won the Liechtenstein Cup 33 times. Vaduz's most recent Liechtensteiner Cup win came on 1 May 2007, when they beat amateurs FC Ruggell 8-0 in the final, meaning Vaduz once again have qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Vaduz literally came within less than one second of reaching the first round proper of the UEFA Cup in 2002. With the scores tied level at 0-0 and with opponents Livingston scheduled to go through on away goals, Vaduz won a late corner. The ball was sent into the box, and Marius Zarn hit a goal-bound shot. However, the referee blew the whistle for full-time before the ball crossed over the line, and Livingston progressed through in controversial circumstances.

In 3 out of the last 4 years, FC Vaduz have reached the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The most recent second qualifying round appearance saw them lose to their near-neighbours Basel of the Swiss Super League on away goals, despite a 2-1 victory at home.

Vaduz's current head coach is Hanjo Weller. The current chairman of Vaduz is Hanspeter Negele. Vaduz's uniforms are all red, which is their home kit, and all white, which is the away kit. Vaduz used to have many players from the Liechtensteiner national team, but nearly all these players have moved abroad, and now the majority of the first team squad are foreign players from different areas of the world.

In January 2008, Vaduz participated in Uruguay's international friendly tournament, Copa Ricard, together with Defensor Sporting (Uruguay), Peñarol (Uruguay), Nacional (Uruguay), Olimpia (Paraguay) and Saprissa (Costa Rica).

[edit] Achievements

Liechtenstein football Cup: 35

1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Swiss Challenge League Champions: 1

2008

[edit] Vaduz in Europe

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Score
1992-93	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Q	Chernomorets Odessa	0-5, 1-7
1995-96	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Q	SK Hradec Kralove	0-5, 1-9
1996-97	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Q	FC Universitate Riga	1-1, 1-1 (5-3 pens)
		First Round	Paris Saint-Germain	0-4, 0-3
1998-99	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Q	Helsingborgs IF	0-2, 0-3
1999-00	UEFA Cup	Q	F.K. Bodø/Glimt	0-1, 1-2
2000-01	UEFA Cup	Q	Amica Wronki	0-3, 3-3
2001-02	UEFA Cup	Q	Varteks Varazdin	3-3, 1-6
2002-03	UEFA Cup	Q	Livingston FC	1-1, 0-0
2003-04	UEFA Cup	Q	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	0-1, 0-1
2004-05	UEFA Cup	Q1	Longford Town FC	1-0, 3-2
		Q2	KSK Beveren	1-3, 1-2
2005-06	UEFA Cup	Q1	FC Dacia Chişinău	2-0, 0-1
		Q2	Besiktas JK	0-1, 1-5
2006-07	UEFA Cup	Q1	Újpest FC	4-0, 0-1
		Q2	FC Basel	1-0, 1-2
2008-09	UEFA Cup	Q1

[edit] Current Squad

As of 14 February 2008

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Yann Sommer (on loan from FC Basel)
3	DF	Diren Akdemir
4	DF	Daniel Hasler
5	DF	Jamie Harnwell (on loan from Perth Glory)
6	DF	Giuseppe Aquaro
7	FW	Raphael Rohrer
9	FW	Gaspar
10	FW	Tim Grossklaus
13	DF	Thomas Reinmann
14	MF	Marius Zarn
15	MF	Michele Maggetti

No.	Position	Player
16	MF	Christian Wieczorek
18	GK	Gabriel Wüthrich
19	FW	Benjamin Fischer
20	DF	Damir Džombić
21	DF	Marco Ritzberger
22	DF	Pascal Cerrone
23	MF	Alexandre
25	DF	Florian Sturm
27	MF	Michele Polverino
30	MF	Bruno Sutter