#19 FC Vaduz (Home, 2004/2005)

22:49 adidas , fc vaduz , fc vaduz shirt , football shirt collection , liechtenstein , liechtenstein football , liechtenstein shirt , peter jehle , the mouse that scored , vaduz shirt 3 Comments

Ok, I know some of you were waiting for this one. Let me introduce you my FC Vaduz, the pride of Liechtenstein, shirt. It's one of my favourites, of course (I think I always say this anyway). Liechtenstein national team is among my football passions - I always check their results, and if available, I try to watch their matches online. That made me like Vaduz too: the dominant force in local football, a club that spent most of last seasons in Switzerland's 2nd Division, with a one-year-spell in the Premier League (much for Europe's surprise and my excitement).

During a summer-trip around Central Europe, I managed to spend a day in Liechtenstein. Yeah, it is really small. I guess you could easily go across it without even noticing you were in a different country. Anyway, I liked it: great landscape, nice people, everything seems so organized and in its place, you know?

Finding this one wasn't easy, even in a sunny Vaduz, full of people excited with the recent good results of its lovely football side. The story behind this one is actually kind of funny.


I started looking for it in the city center. There were some sports shops around, so I gave them a try. Nothing there. Nothing from Vaduz, nor Liechtenstein. They were actually surprised there was a young portuguese tourist asking for some local football merchandise. A nice lady said "hey, we don't have the official Liechtenstein shirt, but we do have this Adidas shirt that looks a lot like it.". It was basicly Liechtenstein's blur shirt, without the crown printed and stuff. "Er, thanks, but not really!", I answered.

After some sightseeing, I stopped to buy some pizza. Then I noticed the pizza-seller was actually from Brazil! Back then, my german wasn't great, so a little portuguese-speaking help was nice. "Hey pal, I'm looking for a Vaduz shirt, any idea where they're selling those?", I asked. "Oh, Vaduz! Not easy mate. They're selling it for the same price as a Barcelona or Man Utd one! Can you imagine that? Such a shitty team! Why anybody would even like to buy their shirt for such an expensive price?", he replied. "Expensive? Well ok. But where can I find one?". "Uh, I guess if you go blah blah blah there's one shop that might have some left, but it's a lot of money!". "Ok, thanks a lot!".

Money wasn't much of a problem, as my dad was paying for it (I was like 15 back then, ok?). We went to the place he mentioned, and there was this shop that had one scarf left. A scarf wasn't brilliant, but giving the club's dimension, it was better than nothing. The lads in the store said Vaduz had done well in some European UEFA Cup match a few days before, so there was a massive interest in their merchandise. Which, I imagine, wasn't available in enormous quantities. "But I believe there's one place where you can find some shirts!".


The Post Office. Yeah, I actually bought this shirt in a Post Office. Never seen a Post Office selling football merchandising, but in Liechtenstein that's how things go. I remember there weren't many shirts available, so I had to pick a XL. It's not that big though, so I can still use it from time to time. It was expensive indeed: around 70€. Have in mind that back then, official shirts for most clubs would cost around 60€. But I was pretty glad with my purchase. It's one of my first shirts, and is still one of the rarest in my collection. I still like Vaduz a lot, and I was specially happy when they were playing Premier League football in Switzerland. Their success also helped the national team to improve.

Boavista actually had a player from Liechtenstein: Peter Jehle. A great goalie, now with FC Vaduz. The fans loved him, and he had an impressive year with us, with amazing performances against Sporting and Porto. He quickly became a fan-favourite, and I know he's a nice lad. Having to keep Liechtenstein's nets safe is a tough mission, so he deserves our recognition.


Another video that really deserves your attention:


It's a documentary about Liechtenstein's football team, and it seems a lot of fun. Never managed to watch more than the trailer, though. But you can find it in Amazon, and even with free shipping if you live in the UK. Just look for "The Mouse That Scored".

Back to the shirt.


As you can see, it's a basic Adidas template: red with white stripes on the sleeves. It looks fine though. It still has the old Vaduz logo, I believe this is the last shirt that still has this crest in it.


And here's the new one:


They both look nice. Now, another funny thing about this shirt is that it has a kind of net inside. Maybe to keep the players warm or something. It's like it has two layers, and that makes it a bit heavy. But warm indeed.



Never seen such a thing. Didn't know it was that cold over there. And from this pictures, I'd say the players would sweat to death.

It doesn't look that hot. And yep, that's my shirt.

See? Well done, Adidas. Take that thing off next time.

And that's it. I don't own a Liechtenstein shirt yet, but that can change soon. You can buy their shirts directly from Liechtenstein's FA website, a nice thing indeed. But San Marino comes first on my list! And as you may know, Classic Football Shirts has a lot of San Marino shirts for sale. Nice one, guys.