FC Vaduz - FC Shaffhausen (2:1) (Swiss Challenge League, 22 March 2008)
Attendence: 1.020
Cost: 20,00CHF
Programme: Thrown out :-(
Entrance to the stadium through here
Vaduz Castle in the behind the main stand
One of the best settings for a stadium ever!
The guest block
The home fans had some nice banners
Jamie Harnwell, an Aussie played for FC Vaduz
FC Vaduz looking for a header in the box
FC Shaffhausen with a free kick
Beer was a chilled 2 degrees, the air about minus 5! Cold!
Win for FC Vaduz
CLUB HISTORY: (wiki)
FC Vaduz is a Liechtenstein football club from Vaduz, that play in the Swiss Football League. The club plays at the national Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 6,127 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. They currently play in the Swiss Challenge League following relegation from the Swiss Super League after only one season in the top flight.
Fußball Club Vaduz was founded on 14 February 1932 in Vaduz, and the club's first chairman was Johann Walser. 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 pay a fee to the Swiss Football Association in order to participate as a foreign club. 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.
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.
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. 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 blew the whistle for full-time just before the ball crossed over the line, and Livingston progressed through in controversial circumstances.
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 to Czech side Slovan Liberec in the third qualifying round.
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.
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. 1. FC Kaiserslautern won the match 8-0. It lies on the banks of the River Rhine, just metres from the border with Switzerland. The stadium has a fully seated capacity of 6,127. The stadium has additional standing places giving it a total capacity of 7,789. The building of the stadium cost roughly 19 million CHF.
Liverpool played Olympiakos here in a friendly in 2005.
