Liechtenstein. The world’s 6^th smallest nation, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria and home to a population of just 35,000. The country has always been more famous for it’s picturesque alpine setting than anything else, let alone its footballing prowess.  And understandably, the country hasn’t had a phenomenal football history.

It wasn’t until 1982 that the national team played its first official match, and remains to this day, the only UEFA member nation without its own domestic league. The nation’s most infamous football achievement lies in its 2-2 home draw to Portugal in September 2004 (having previously lost all 20 of their World Cup qualifiers). Four days later, the nation recorded only its second competitive victory, against Luxembourg. And signs in the recent Euro 2008 qualifiers only suggest improvement for little Liechtenstein. Recording famous victories over Iceland and Latvia in the penultimate round of qualifiers saw their FIFA World Ranking rise to an all-time high of 118.

With only 7 clubs and roughly 2000 registered players, teams in Liechtenstein compete in the various leagues of the Swiss footballing system, where a little bit of history in it’s own right was this year created. FC Vaduz, playing at the 6,000 capacity Rheinpark Stadion, were this year promoted, amid of wave of mixed reviews, to the Swiss Super League, where they’ll now be mixing it with the likes of FC Basel, BSC Young Boys and FC Zurich. Having begun it’s long journey in the amateur leagues many years ago, the club were triumphantly promoted to the 2^nd division of Swiss football in 2001, and in 2004 and 2005, came within touching distance of promotion, losing out in the play-offs on both occasions. The man behind the success lies in Switzerland’s most capped player, Heinz Herman, who took charge of the club in 2007, amid a frantic attempt to finally make history and qualify for the top flight of Swiss football.

Though amid all the beautiful stories to come out of the country, the club’s presence in Swiss football hasn’t always been welcome. One needs to look no further then the conditions imposed on them by the Swiss FA surrounding their newly-acquired status as a top flight club. Under the terms of their status, they must pay an annual fee to the FA, they cannot qualify for Europe through the league, nor can they be declared Swiss Champions should they top the table come season’s end.

Clearly, rough roads await Vaduz in their desperate attempt to maintain league status. And while gaining promotion is one thing, maintaining that newly-acquired tag is another. Watch this space.