FC VADUZ (Rheinpark Stadion)

SWISS CHALLENGE LEAGUE, FC VADUZ 1-0 SERVETTE FC, ATTENDANCE: 1,532

Sunday afternoon was the highlight of the weekend for me as I finally made the trip to the Principality of Liechtenstein. After spending the morning watching Schwarz-Weiss Bregenz I made my way to the capital city, Vaduz. 

I took the train from Bregenz to Feldkirch station and from here I caught the number 11 bus, for a very scenic journey across the border, which took me into the heart of Vaduz.

From Vaduz Post bus stop it was 15 minute walk to the Rheinpark Stadion, the home of FC Vaduz. As you can probably guess from name, the ground is on the banks of the river Rheine which is also the border between Lichtenstein and Switzerland.

After the game, I took a stroll along the river and walked across the old wooden bridge "Die Alte Rheinbrücke" that links the two countries.

As well as being the home of FC Vaduz, the Rheinpark Stadion is also the national stadium of Liechtenstein. The ground was opened in 1998 in order to provide the country with a UEFA and FIFA compliant stadium in order to host international games (Liechtenstein has only played in qualifying tournaments since 1994). The ground was originally two-sided but in 2006 stands were built behind each goal taking the capacity up to just over 7,500.

I have to admit there are worse stadiums in the world to watch football. The location is great and the views from the stands are simply stunning, and I don't just mean of the pitch!

Founded in 1932, FC Vaduz are the oldest club in the principality and are the only full time professional club. Liechtenstein has no league of it's own, so all of the seven clubs based in the country all play in the Swiss League system. They do however have a cup competition and the winners, usually FC Vaduz, enter the Europa League each season. Vaduz exited Europe this year at the second qualifying round stage after losing to Lithuanian side FK Žalgiris.

FC Vaduz have spent most of their history outside the top flight apart from one season, in 2008/09 where they finished bottom, and another three season spell from 2014- 2017 where their highest finish was 8th place (in 2016).

Servette FC were the visitors to the Principality this afternoon and they can certainly consider themselves unlucky not to come away from the game with at least a point. The team from Geneva created the more clear cut chances in a decent game, played at a good tempo despite the heat.

They had the first chance after 8 minutes when Mychell Chagas bulleted a header towards the bottom corner but Andreas Hirzel in the Vaduz goal produced a fine one handed save. The game was end to end, with chances for both teams, but neither 'keeper was truly tested and it was goalless at the interval.

The second half continued in similar fashion before the deadlock was broken in the 70th minute. A hopeful cross from substitute Christopher Drazan eluded the Servette defenders and was allowed to bounce in the penalty area where the onrushing Igor Tadic headed home to secure the win for Vaduz.

Servette nearly equalised in the when Kastriot Imeri crashed an effort from 20 yards against the upright in stoppage time but the home side managed to see the game out.

What a vista! There are worse places...

The beautiful city of Vaduz is pretty compact so you can easily walk around the centre in about 15 minutes. The Prince of Liechtenstein resides in Vaduz Castle, high up in the mountains, which can be seen from almost anywhere in the city (pictured below).

There is a brewery in Liechtenstein but it is closed on a Sunday however I managed to find a pizza restaurant where they had two of their beers on draft. That made for a perfect night cap to end a great day.

Monday was to be a football free day but before I left Vaduz I had to pay a visit to another of the city's attractions, namely the Postal Stamp Museum where there was an exhibition of World Cup stamps. I am no philatelist but it would have been remiss of me not to go and have a peep!

If you have not been to the Rheinpark Stadion or Vaduz then I would certainly recommend putting a visit on your bucket list! 

FC WINTERTHUR (Stadion Schützenwiese)

SWISS CHALLENGE LEAGUE, FC WINTERTHUR 1-1 SC KRIENS,
ATTENDANCE: 3,600

Hello and welcome back. After what seems a relatively short summer break, here we go with another season of groundhopping!

My latest groundhopping adventure was an extra long weekend away in Europe which ended up with me taking in four games, in four countries, in four days. As you do!

There was no logic to this trip as such but it all seemed to come together organically. My starting point was the desire to visit a country for the first time, in this case Liechtenstein. From there the rest just seemed to fall into place.

When the fixtures were announced early in July and FC Vaduz, due to Europa League commitments, we're home at on the Sunday, I decided that was my destination of choice. What is the best way to get to Liechtenstein? Fly into Zürich of course.

After booking a flight it was then a case of looking at the fixtures in and around Zurich. FC Winterthur had a Saturday evening game which fitted the bill perfectly.

Winterthur is a city in the Canton (a Swiss state) of Zürich and it has the sixth largest population in the country. After a flight from the UK via Dusseldorf, the train journey from Zürich airport station to Winterthur took around 25 minutes. The ground is around a 15 minute walk from the main train station.

The old grandstand

Stadion Schützenwiese has been home to FC Winterthur since their formation in 1896. The ground, in order to be brought up to league standards, has undergone major renovation in the last few years with the building of a new stand opposite the old grandstand, which was erected in 1958, replacing the previous wooden stand.

The new stand is in the shadow Sulzer skyscraper, which was the tallest skyscraper in Switzerland until the completion of the Messeturm Basel in 2003. Behind each goal there are open terraces, of which one is the away end. On the home terrace there is the 'sirupkurve' which is for junior fans with the aim of "giving the children a positive fan culture and to show that violence and discrimination is stupid. Football has to be fun." There were certainly plenty of younger fans banging the drum for Winti!

 

There is also the 'bierkurve' where the Winterthur Ultras congregate. The club is modelled on St Pauli and is against fascism, racism, sexism and homophobia in any form. At the game this evening there was an Antifa demonstration after local Councillor Nicolas Galladé equated anti-fascism with jihadism and right-wing extremism, and referencing the fan curve of FC Winterthur in a city brochure.

Like St Pauli, FC Winterthur enter the field of play to the sound of AC/DC's 'Hell's Bells' and this evening they were hosting newly promoted SC Kriens. The game was good to watch, both teams had their chances but in the end they had to settle for a point a piece. 

After a goalless first half, in which both teams hit the woodwork, the deadlock was broken just after half time when Luka Sliskovic (53) was played through to slot home under the advancing Sebastian Osigwe

The celebrations had barely subsided when Kriens were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Winterthur box. Nico Siegriest (56) stepped up to fire the ball into the top corner of the goal, giving Winti 'keeper Raphael Mirror no chance (pictured below).

 

After heading into the city after the game, there was a music festival (Musikfestwochen) happening but the sounds emanating from the main stage weren't my particular bag. 

A Plan B was needed and that was the aptly named bar I ended up in as it had 4 local beers on tap. That provided the perfect end to the first day of my trip...

BSC YOUNG BOYS (Stade de Suisse/Stadion Wankdorf)

EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 32, BSC YOUNG BOYS 1-4 EVERTON, ATTENDANCE: 20,895

Like this blog, the Europa League returned after a winter break. Everton were second out of the hat when the draw was made back in December and were given a trip to Bern to face the Young Boys in the first leg.

Naturally playing the Young Boys at the Stadion Wankdorf conjured up a myriad of poor jokes from some of my friends which I shall not be repeating here!

FC Young Boys was founded in 1898 by brothers Max and Oscar Schwab, Hermann Bauer, and Franz Kehrli, who studied at the University of Bern. After hosting a game of football between the Basel Old Boys Association and Football Club Bern, they founded Football Club Young Boys on 14 March 1898.

In 1925 the club changed it's name to Berner Sport Club Young Boys and moved to the newly built Stadion Wankdorf. The ground was completely re-built between 2001 and 2005. The grass surface was replaced by artificial surface in 2009 and Everton had training sessions at Widnes Vikings' ground in order to prepare for this game.

It did the trick as the Toffees ran out comfortable winners with a fantastic away performance (if only they could do the same in the Premier League).

After falling behind to a superb Guillaume Hoarau strike, Romelu Lukaku helped himself to the perfect hat-trick (head, left and right foot) either side of a Seamus Coleman tap in.

Hoarau had the chance to get a goal back in the second period but he blazed his penalty kick high into the stand.

I was expecting a tough game given Young Boys superb home record in Europe (this season alone played 5, won 5) but this result sets up the blues for the formality of the home leg, but if anymore can grasp defeat from the jaws of victory then it is Everton!

Bern is a lovely city and the travelling Evertonians were able to witness the 'Berner Fasnacht' parade which was beginning in the city. It is an annual event lasting 3 days incorporating the symbolic freeing of the bears, the bear being the symbol of Berne. It was by the 'Bärengraben' where I spent pre-match sampling the delights that the Altes-tram depot had to offer. It was another brief visit to Switzerland (after my visit in July 2014) but it made a favourable impression on me. I will return again one day!