FC Vaduz
|
|
Template:Football club infobox FC Vaduz is a Liechtensteiner football team that plays in Vaduz. The club plays at the small Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 4,548. Traditionally the strongest team of Liechtenstein, Vaduz has dominated the Liechtensteiner Cup, which it has won 34 times. Vaduz also play in the Challenge League (formerly called Nationalliga B), the second tier of the Swiss league. 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, although its generally bad results in friendly matches against Swiss teams have proved that they are not quite ready to play in the top level.
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. 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.
In 1992, Vaduz qualified for European football for the first time, entering the UEFA Cup-Winner's 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 UEFA Cup-Winner's Cup, Vaduz regularly entered the UEFA Cup. In 2004, Vaduz enjoyed their biggest European success to date, reaching the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Longford Town FC of the Republic of Ireland in the first qualifying round. In the second qualifying round KSK Beveren defeated Vaduz 5-2 on aggregate.
Vaduz's most recent Liechtensteiner Cup win came in 2005, when they beat USV Eschen/Mauren 4-1 in the final, meaning Vaduz will once again qualify for the UEFA Cup. Vaduz came extremely close to promotion to the Axpo Super League in 2004 and 2005, playing two-leg play-offs in both cases. Vaduz's current head coach is the Swede Mats Gren, who was appointed very recently. The current chairman of Vaduz is Hanspeter Negele. Vaduz will play in the Challenge League next season as big favorites to earn promotion. Vaduz's uniforms are all red, which is their home kit, and all white, which is the away kit. Vaduz has many players from the Liechtensteiner national team, but also has many foreign players from different areas of the world.
External link
- Official website (http://www.fcvaduz.li/)de:FC Vaduz