FC Vaduz

Fussball Club Vaduz (Football Club Vaduz) is a Liechtenstein football club from Vaduz that plays in the Swiss Super League. The club plays at the national Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 5,873 when all seated but has additional standing places in the North and South ends of the ground, giving a total stadium capacity of 7,838.[1] They currently play in the Swiss Super League following promotion from the Swiss Challenge League after the 2019–20 season. Vaduz is unique in that it represents its own national association in the UEFA Europa League when winning the domestic cup, whilst playing in another country's league. This is due to Liechtenstein not organising its own league.

Vaduz
Full nameFussball Club Vaduz
Nickname(s)Residenzler (Resident)
Fürstenverein (Princely club)
Stolz von Liechtenstein (Pride of Liechtenstein)
Short nameFCV
Founded14 February 1932 (14 February 1932)
GroundRheinpark Stadion
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Capacity7,584 (5,873 seated)
Coordinates47.1403°N 9.5103°E / 47.1403; 9.5103
ChairmanPatrick Burgmeier
ManagerMario Frick
LeagueSwiss Super League
2019–20Swiss Challenge League, 2nd ↑ (Promoted)
WebsiteClub website

Vaduz have historically had many players from Liechtenstein, many of whom have played for the Liechtenstein 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. The signing of experienced goalkeeper Peter Jehle from Tours and Franz Burgmeier from Darlington boosted the Liechtensteiner contingent to six by the start of the 2009–10 season.[2]

History
Chart of FC Vaduz table positions in the Swiss football league system

Fussball Club Vaduz was founded on 14 February 1932 in Vaduz, and the club's first chairman was Johann Walser. FC Vaduz is the only professional football club in Liechtenstein. In its first training match, which Vaduz played in Balzers on 24 April of that year, the newly born team emerged as 2–1 winners. The club played in Vorarlberger Football Association in Austria for the 1932–33 season. In 1933, Vaduz began playing in Switzerland. Over the years Vaduz struggled through various tiers of Swiss football and won its first Liechtensteiner Cup in 1949. Vaduz enjoyed a lengthy stay in the Swiss 1. Liga from 1960 to 1973, which is the third tier of the Swiss football league system.

Vaduz has been required to pay a fee to the Swiss Football Association in order to participate as a foreign club, around £150,000 a year. There have been calls for this agreement to be revoked, but discussions have meant that a permanent arrangement has now taken place for a Liechtenstein representative to be allowed to participate in the Challenge League or Super League in future.[3]

From the 2001–02 season, Vaduz played in the Swiss Challenge League (formerly called Nationalliga B), the second tier of the Swiss league system. Since then, Vaduz have been one of the best teams in the Challenge League and gave serious challenges towards promotion to the Super League, especially in 2004 and 2005, playing two-leg play-offs in both cases. In the 2007–08 season, Vaduz secured promotion to the Swiss Super League 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 for the first time. Vaduz, however, were relegated back to the Challenge League after one season in the top flight. Vaduz finally returned to top level after five years in the Challenge League.

In May 2010, the two Liechtenstein teams FC Vaduz and USV Eschen/Mauren decided on a better cooperation, especially on the exchange and the development possibilities of the players of both teams. In principle, the agreement should replace the missing substructure at FC Vaduz and promote cooperation in the sense of Liechtenstein football. FC Vaduz is the first address for professional footballers.

In 1992, Vaduz qualified for European football for the first time, entering the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as Liechtenstein Cup winners, but lost 12–1 on aggregate to Chornomorets Odesa of Ukraine in the qualifying round. In 1996, Vaduz qualified for the first round proper with their first European victory, winning 5–3 on penalties against Universitate Riga of Latvia, after a 2–2 aggregate scoreline, although Vaduz lost their first round tie to Paris Saint-Germain of France 7–0 on aggregate.

After the Cup Winners' Cup was abolished, Vaduz have annually entered the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League) as a result of winning the Liechtenstein Cup every year since 1998, except 2012. However, they have never got past the qualifying rounds to date.

However, Vaduz did come within one second of reaching the first round proper of the UEFA Cup in 2002. With the aggregate scores level, 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 (Luke Harrington) blew the whistle for full-time just before the ball crossed over the line, and Livingston progressed through in controversial circumstances.

For the 2005–06 season, Mats Gren was a coach. In the first round of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup qualifying, FC Vaduz defeated Moldovan opponent FC Dacia Chişinău. In the second round they met the Istanbul club Beşiktaş J.K., against which they have been eliminated.

FC Vaduz started their European campaign in 2009–10 by beating Scottish side Falkirk in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. However, they lost 3–0 on aggregate[4][5] to Czech side Slovan Liberec in the third qualifying round.

In the 2014–15 Swiss Super League season, Vaduz survived for the first time in their history in the Swiss Super League. They finished in 9th place with 31 points won. They also won their 43rd Liechtenstein cup, becoming world record holders of a domestic cup in the process.

In season 2015–16 FC Vaduz started their European campaign in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League by beating S.P. La Fiorita from San Marino in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. In the second round, Vaduz progressed against Nõmme Kalju FC to progress into the third qualifying round of the Europa League where they were drawn against fellow Swiss Super League club FC Thun. FC Thun won 2–2 on the away goals rule.

Vaduz won their domestic cup for the forty-fourth time and were eighth in the Swiss Super League. They won a team record thirty-six points. Vaduz player Armando Sadiku represented Albania at Euro 2016.

The team appeared for the first time appear in a popular sports video game FIFA 17. This is the first time in history that a team from Liechtenstein appeared in the sports video game series.

After three years in the elite Swiss competition, the only and most awarded Liechtenstein team relegated. It was not a good season 2016–17, where they even changed the coach Giorgio Contini after almost 5 years at the helm, and in his place came the German coach Roland Vrabec, but Vaduz has not succeeded to survive in Swiss Super League.

On 5 September 2018, they terminated the agreement with Roland Vrabec. On September 17, they presented a new coach Mario Frick. He is a first coach from Liechtenstein in history.

In season 2019–20 FC Vaduz started their European campaign in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League by beating Breiðablik from Iceland in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. In the second round, Vaduz caused a shock by knocking out Hungarian side MOL Fehérvár. In the third qualifying round of the Europa League they played against Eintracht Frankfurt. The Bundesliga team easily won both matches. However, those matches were historic for the club. In first match in Vaduz were 5,908 spectators and the entire city has a population of 5,521.

Vaduz is one of several expatriate European football clubs, including Swansea City and Cardiff City playing in the English Football League, AS Monaco playing in France, San Marino Calcio playing in Italy and some other minor clubs doing likewise in different leagues. The difference between Vaduz and the aforementioned clubs is that its status in Switzerland is a "guest club", and as such it does not participate in the Swiss Cup and cannot represent Switzerland internationally, which makes Champions League qualification from league football impossible under current rules other than by winning the Europa League or the Champions League itself. Since Vaduz has never finished higher than 8th in the Super League and therefore could not be argued to have qualified, such a situation has not occurred.

Rheinpark Stadion
Main article: Rheinpark Stadion
Main stand of the Rheinpark Stadion with Vaduz Castle in the background.
Rheinpark Stadion

The Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz is the national stadium of Liechtenstein. It plays host to the home matches of the Liechtenstein national football team, and is also the home of Liechtenstein's top football club, FC Vaduz. It lies on the banks of the River Rhine, just metres from the border with Switzerland. The stadium has a fully seated capacity of 5,873, plus additional standing places, giving it a total capacity of 7,584. The building of the stadium cost roughly 19 million CHF.

The stadium was officially opened on 31 July 1998 with a match between FC Vaduz, the Liechtenstein Cup holders at the time, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the then Bundesliga champions. Kaiserslautern won the match 8–0. Liverpool F.C. played here against Olympiacos F.C. in a friendly in 2005. Rheinpark Stadion hosted the likes of FC Chornomorets Odesa and Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in this tournament but failed to progress past the qualification rounds.

The construction of the stadium became necessary because the FIFA World governing body FIFA and the European association UEFA threatened not to allow more European and international matches in Liechtenstein if the country did not provide a modern venue in accordance with international standards. In Liechtenstein, no own championship is played, but a cup competition is organized. Its series winner FC Vaduz is therefore represented in the Europa League almost every year. The national team has not been represented in any major competition such as the World or European Championship, but in the qualifications to do so.

Rheinpark Stadion sits less than 1 km west of Vaduz city centre on the eastern bank of the Rhein River. Vaduz holds the distinction of being one of the few capitals in the world to lack its own airport and railway station.

Rheinpark Stadion consists of four stands: North, East, South and West.

There are a limited number of free parking spaces located at Rheinpark Stadion on matchdays which are allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Current sponsorship

Companies that FC Vaduz currently has sponsorship deals with include:

  • Liechtensteinische Landesbank – main sponsor
  • MBPI AG – main sponsor
  • Puma – kit manufacturer
  • Accurata Treuhand und Revisions AG – official sponsor
  • Brauerei Schützengarten AG – official sponsor
  • Heim Bohrtechnik AG – official sponsor
  • Kibernetik AG – official sponsor
  • Hirslanden Private Hospital Group – medical partner
  • Orthopädie St. Gallen – medical partner

Honours

Domestic competitions
Winners (1): 1936
Winners (47) (World Record[6]): 1948–49, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1984–85, 1986, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
Runners-up (13): 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1990–91, 1996–97, 2011–12

Switzerland competitions
Winners (3): 2002–03, 2007–08, 2013–14
Runners-up (3): 2003–04, 2004–05, 2019–20

European record
Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round Chornomorets Odesa 0–5 1–7 1–12
1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round Hradec Králové 0–5 1–9 1–14
1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round Universitāte Rīga 1–1 1–1 2–2 (4–2 p)
First round Paris Saint-Germain 0–4 0–3 0–7
1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round Helsingborg 0–2 0–3 0–5
1999–00 UEFA Cup Qualifying round Bodø/Glimt 0–1 1–2 1–3
2000–01 UEFA Cup Qualifying round Amica Wronki 0–3 3–3 3–6
2001–02 UEFA Cup Qualifying round Varteks 3–3 1–6 4–9
2002–03 UEFA Cup Qualifying round Livingston 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
2003–04 UEFA Cup Qualifying round Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 0–1 0–1 0–2
2004–05 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Longford Town 1–0 3–2 4–2
Second qualifying round Beveren 1–3 1–2 2–5
2005–06 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Dacia Chișinău 2–0 0–1 2–1
Second qualifying round Beşiktaş 0–1 1–5 1–6
2006–07 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Újpest 0–1 4–0 4–1
Second qualifying round Basel 2–1 0–1 2–2 (a)
2007–08 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Dinamo Tbilisi 0–0 0–2 0–2
2008–09 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Zrinjski Mostar 1–2 0–3 1–5
2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Falkirk 2–0 (aet) 0–1 2–1
Third qualifying round Slovan Liberec 0–1 0–2 0–3
2010–11 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Brøndby 0–0 0–3 0–3
2011–12 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Vojvodina 0–2 3–1 3–3 (a)
Third qualifying round Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–1 0–4 2–5
2013–14 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Chikhura Sachkhere 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
2014–15 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round College Europa 3–0 1–0 4–0
Second qualifying round Ruch Chorzów 0–0 2–3 2–3
2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round La Fiorita 5–1 5–0 10–1
Second qualifying round Nõmme Kalju 3–1 2–0 5–1
Third qualifying round Thun 2–2 0–0 2–2 (a)
2016–17 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Sileks 3–1 2–1 5–2
Second qualifying round Midtjylland 2–2 0–3 2–5
2017–18 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Bala Town 3–0 2–1 5–1
Second qualifying round Odds BK 0–1 0–1 0–2
2018–19 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Levski Sofia 1–0 2–3 3–3 (a)
Second qualifying round Žalgiris 1–1 0–1 1–2
2019–20 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Breiðablik 2–1 0–0 2–1
Second qualifying round MOL Fehérvár 2–0 (aet) 0–1 2–1
Third qualifying round Eintracht Frankfurt 0–5 0–1 0–6
2020–21 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Hibernians 0–2 N/A N/A
Competition Matches W D L GF GA +/-
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 10 0 2 8 4 40 −36
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 67 21 14 32 76 93 −17
Total 77 21 16 40 80 133 −53

Biggest win in UEFA competition:

Season Match Score
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League
2006–07 Újpest FC – FC Vaduz 0–4
2014–15 FC Vaduz – College Europa 3–0
2015–16 S.P. La Fiorita – FC Vaduz 0–5
2015–16 FC Vaduz – S.P. La Fiorita 5–1
2017–18 FC Vaduz – Bala Town F.C. 3–0

Club records

Domestic

The player of the year in Liechtenstein has been announced as the season 1980/81 to 2007/08 as of the end of the season. The open for all election was organized by media house Vaduz. Since 2009, the Liechtenstein Football Association draws the title holder of its own. To this end, the LFV-Award has been launched, annually awarded a title in which professional bodies and public in three categories. The categories are Footballer of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Switzerland

Swiss Challenge League top scorers

Season Name Goals
2008 Gaspar Odirlei 31
2010 Nick Proschwitz 23

Swiss Challenge League dream team

Season Name
2013 Markus Neumayr
2013 Nick von Niederhäusern
2013 Peter Jehle
2018 Philipp Muntwiler

International

To celebrate the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)'s 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years (1954–2003).

Golden Player

Year Name
2004 Rainer Hasler

Team awards

Fairplay Trophy

Season League Points
2013–14 Swiss Challenge League 65

Rankings

Swiss Super League history

In the 2007–08 season, for the first time in their history, FC Vaduz earned promotion to Swiss Super League. Two times before was relegated in Barrage in the season 2003–04 against Neuchâtel Xamax and 2004–05 against FC Schaffhausen. In the 2015–16 season they finished on the 8th place in front of FC Lugano and FC Zürich who is that season relegated in Swiss Challenge League. After two seasons FC Vaduz was relegated in Swiss Challenge League. In the 2019–20 season Vaduz finished in second place and played in the barrage against FC Thun and Vaduz promoted in Super League fifth time in history.

Season Pos Pld W D L GF GA Pts Att.[9]
2008–09 10 36 5 7 24 28 85 22 2,177
2014–15 9 36 7 10 19 28 59 31 4,152
2015–16 8 36 7 15 14 44 60 36 4,006
2016–17 10 36 7 9 20 45 78 30 4,086
2020–21 6 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Total 145 26 42 77 147 284 120 3,606

Current squad
As of 5 January 2021
Captain Benjamin Büchel

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  LIE Benjamin Büchel (Captain)
4 DF   SUI Denis Simani
5 DF   SUI Joël Schmied
6 DF  KVX Fuad Rahimi
7 FW   SUI Matteo Di Giusto
8 FW  MDA Nicolae Milinceanu
9 FW  AUT Manuel Sutter
10 FW  SEN Mohamed Coulibaly
11 FW   SUI Tunahan Cicek
12 DF   SUI Gianni Antoniazzi
14 MF  SRB Milan Gajić
15 DF   SUI Yannick Schmid
18 GK  LIE Justin Ospelt
19 FW   SUI Dejan Djokic
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF  GER Pius Dorn
22 DF  GER Nico Hug
23 MF  LIE Sandro Wieser
24 DF   SUI Cédric Gasser
26 FW  LIE Ferhat Saglam
27 DF   SUI Linus Obexer
28 MF  AUT Boris Prokopič
29 MF  AUT Sebastian Santin
30 MF   SUI Gabriel Lüchinger
35 MF  BRA Yago Gomes
37 FW  AUT Elvin Ibrisimovic
42 GK   SUI Gion Chande

Technical staff
Mario Frick is the current manager of the club.
Current technical staff
Management
  • President: Patrick Burgmeier
  • Board member: Matthias Biedermann
  • Board member: Florian Meier
  • Board member: Lorenz Gassner
  • Board member: Christopher Holder
  • Finance director: Brigitte Löscher
  • Chief marketing officer: Mathias Hagmann
  • Secretary: Carmen Alabor
  • Announcer: Maximilian Vogt

FC Vaduz U23

FC Vaduz U23 is the reserve team of FC Vaduz. They currently play in the 2. Liga (sixth tier of the Swiss football league system). In the season 2014–15 they played semi-finals in Liechtenstein Cup against FC Triesenberg and they lost 1–0 after extra time.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   SUI David Weber
2 DF  LIE Roman Spirig
3 DF  ROU Giovanny Popescu
4 DF  BIH Suad Gerzić
5 DF  LIE Jonas Hilti
6 MF  MKD Emir Muratoski
7 FW  LIE Pascal Koller
8 MF   SUI Yago Gomes do Nascimento
9 FW  MNE Luka Tiganj
10 MF  SRB Besart Bajrami
11 MF  LIE Menderes Caglar
12 GK   SUI Fabian Lüchinger
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 FW   SUI Barna Fenyvesi
14 MF  IRL Brian Allen
15 MF  LIE Benjamin Vogt
16 DF   SUI Luca Giorlando
17 MF   SUI Dejan Đokić
18 MF   SUI Agon Topalli
19 DF  LIE Lukas Graber
20 DF  LIE Noah Graber
22 MF  MKD Elton Aliji
24 DF   SUI Noah Birchmeier
25 GK  LIE Justin Ospelt

Technical staff
Current technical staff

Recent seasons

Recent season-by-season performance of the club:

Season Division Tier Position
2001–02 Challenge League II 11th
2002–03 1st
2003–04 2nd
2004–05 2nd
2005–06 8th
2006–07 9th
2007–08 1st ↑
2008–09 Super League I 10th ↓
2009–10 Challenge League II 8th
2010–11 4th
2011–12 8th
2012–13 9th
2013–14 1st ↑
2014–15 Super League I 9th
2015–16 8th
2016–17 10th ↓
2017–18 Challenge League II 4th
2018–19 6th
2019–20 2nd ↑
2020–21 Super League I 6th
Key
↑ Promoted ↓ Relegated

Former players

A few former players are considered by the fans to be especially memorable because of their long and outstanding contributions towards the club, to some degree even decades after the end of their careers. Therefore, they have a very special status with the fans. The following are a few examples:

Yann Sommer in the Switzerland national football team

Yann Sommer

During the summer of 2007, Sommer signed a new contract, and was loaned out to Liechtensteiner club FC Vaduz to gain first-team experience in an environment somewhat more competitive than the reserves in the Swiss 1. Liga. He was made the first-choice goalkeeper and played 33 matches over the course of the 2007–08 Swiss Challenge League season, playing a major part in Vaduz's promotion to the Swiss Super League. His loan deal was then extended to last until January 2009. He made his Super League debut for Vaduz on 20 July 2008 in the 2–1 away win against Luzern.

Players of Vaduz at major international tournaments

Tournament
AFC Asian Cup 2015 Pak Kwang-Ryong
UEFA Euro 2016 Armando Sadiku
Naser Aliji
Africa Cup of Nations 2019 Jodel Dossou

Former managers
  • Otto Pfister
  • Walter Hörmann
  • Martin Andermatt
  • Heinz Hermann
  • Pierre Littbarski
  • Eric Orie
  • Giorgio Contini
  • Roland Vrabec

Former presidents

FC Vaduz Red Pride Rugby
See also: Rugby union in Liechtenstein

On 12 March 2012 the new club FC Vaduz Rugby was founded. The rugby union club is involved in the grassroots of the FC Vaduz. Rugby union in Liechtenstein is a minor but growing sport. Liechtenstein has no national governing body of its own, but comes under the Swiss Rugby Federation.

References
  1. Facts & Figures Archived 2010-06-30 at the Wayback Machine FC Vaduz
  2. Squad Archived 2009-08-02 at the Wayback Machine FC Vaduz
  3. "FCV is still playing in Swiss League (German)". Volksblatt. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  4. FC Vaduz – FC Slovan Liberec : 0–1 Match report from Scorespro.com
  5. FC Slovan Liberec – FC Vaduz : 2–0 Match report from Scorespro.com
  6. "Domestic Cups Trivia". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  7. Kassies, Bert. "UEFA Team Ranking 2015". kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. "CLUB WORLD RANKING 2015 – IFFHS". 7 January 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  9. "Super League 2008/2009 – Attendance". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
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