Football in Luxembourg
Football ( Luxembourgish foussball ) is the most popular sport in Luxembourg . There is a league system at the top of which is the BGL Ligue . In it, the Luxembourg soccer champion is determined. There are also national cup competitions such as the Coupe de Luxembourg . In 2016, around 31,000 licensed players were active in 105 clubs.
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history
Beginnings of Luxembourg football
The history of football in Luxembourg began with the return of English teacher Jean "John" Roeder from a study visit to England who, around 1902, introduced football to the Escher Industrial and Commercial School. He got his students excited about football, which is still young on the European continent. Against fierce opposition from the faculty and the church, he founded the first Luxembourg football club in 1906, the Football and Lawn Tennis Club , or Fola for short , which still exists today.
"Sometimes they played in meadows and wasteland on the border, sometimes behind the Other Bridge, sometimes in the vicinity of the brickworks, depending on the outcome of Homeric battles with the owners or tenants of the land in question."
In a very short time after its introduction, football developed into the most popular sport in the Grand Duchy among all social classes. It lost its initially elitist character early on and became a mass sport. Especially in the working-class districts of the mining and industrial region in the south of the country, it offered a welcome compensation for the heavy physical work. The labor movement had given gymnastics a new impetus at the end of the 19th century under the motto “A free spirit in a free body”. Socialists and trade unionists tried to expand their sphere of influence on football. But liberal entrepreneurship also recognized the possibility in football to shape the community life of the workers outside of the company. Engineers and officials from the iron and steel works took over the management of the football clubs in the south. The iron and steel companies provided the clubs with free land as a playing field. Even today, the most successful clubs in Luxembourg are almost exclusively based in the south of the country. To date, with CS Grevenmacher 2003, only a club that is not based in Minett or the state capital Luxembourg has managed to win the championship.
In the 1909/10 season, a Luxembourg championship was held for the first time under the name Lëtzebuerger Championnat . In 1913 there was no championship due to organizational problems. Despite the occupation of Luxembourg by German troops during the First World War , regular gaming operations continued; from 1914 to 1932 under the name Éischt Divisioun and from 1932 as Éirendivisioun (German honorary division). The Coupe de Luxembourg was held for the first time in 1922 .
German occupation (1940-1944)
Luxembourg was occupied by the German Wehrmacht on the first day of the western campaign in 1940 . On July 29, 1940, it was declared a Luxembourg CdZ area . This was accompanied by the Germanization of Luxembourg, i. H. the eradication of everything different or "non-German" such as words and names of French origin. This resulted in numerous renaming and even bans of Luxembourg football clubs. The Luxembourg clubs were integrated into the Gauliga Moselland Group West and its subordinate divisions by the Football Department .
The following clubs took part in Gauliga Moselland games between 1941 and 1944:
- FV City of Dudelange ( Stade Dudelange )
- FK Niederkorn ( FC Progrès Niederkorn )
- Moselland Luxembourg ( Spora Luxembourg )
- SV Dudelange ( US Dudelange )
- SV Black and White Esch ( Jeunesse Esch )
- Black and white Wasserbillig ( Jeunesse Wasserbillig ).
FV Stadt Dudelange was champion of the western relay in 1942 and won the championship of the Gauliga Moselland 1941/42 with two victories in the final against the masters of the eastern relay Eintracht Bad Kreuznach . As a result, Dudelange reached the finals of the German football championship . With a 0: 2 against the then series champions FC Schalke 04 , Dudelange was eliminated in the qualifying round.
Not only the clubs were affected by reprisals by the occupying power. The future national player Nicolas Birtz was imprisoned from August 1942 to May 8, 1945 in the SS special camp in Hinzert and in the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp . The former Austrian national player Maximilian “Max” Gold emigrated to Luxembourg in 1938 after the “Anschluss” of Austria to the German Empire and trained Jeunesse Esch from September of that year . After he had received an order from the Gestapo to perform forced labor in Cinqfontaines in November 1941, "to concentrate all Jews", he and his family managed to escape with the help of the Luxembourg resistance.
After the Second World War
After the liberation of Luxembourg, gaming was resumed as early as 1944/45 . Most of the clubs took their original names back or were newly founded. In 1957, the top division was renamed the National Division. This was her name until 2006.
The first years of the post-war period until the mid-1950s were dominated by Stade Dudelange and, until the late 1990s, Jeunesse Esch dominated the national division. Occasionally other clubs managed to win the championship. In 2000, the merger club F91 Dudelange , which in 1991 also included CS Le Stade , won the first of 15 championship titles to date. 1 With the exception of 2003, the title has been awarded exclusively to clubs from Dudelange and Esch since 1995.
In 1963, the Luxembourg national team achieved their greatest international success to date when they reached the last elimination round before the 1964 European Championship . The supposedly hopeless “football dwarf” had sold his home rights in order to at least generate higher income. Instead of the only 6,000 spectators in their own stadium in Luxembourg, 36,523 watched the “home game” of the Luxembourgers in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam , where the blatant underdogs wrested a 1-1 draw from Elftal . The second leg in front of 42,385 spectators on October 30, 1963 in the De Kuip stadium , the Red Lions won 2-1 with two goals from Camille Dimmer and moved into the round of the last eight teams.
The following decades were marked by chronic failure of the national team. Between 1973 and 1995, the Luxembourg national team did not win a single competitive game. From 1980 to 1985, the country's selection lost 35 games in a row. Occasionally, the team achieved notable successes in the European Championship qualification, such as the narrow 3: 3 defeat in 1990 against the newly crowned world champions Germany or a 0: 1 against the Netherlands in 2007. On October 13, 2007, the team succeeded in the 1: 0 victory in Belarus won another European Championship qualifier after more than twelve years. If Luxembourg remained without points in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup despite five goals, the team achieved a sensational 2-1 victory in the World Cup qualifier in Zurich on September 10, 2008 against the highly-favored Swiss .
Since the end of the 2000s, there has been an upward trend at both national team and club level. Luxembourg clubs occasionally caused a sensation in European competitions, and the Red Lions also proved to be increasingly competitive in the qualifying games for World and European Championships. In the games for qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil , the Luxembourgers achieved with one win and three draws with 6 points the best result in a World Cup qualification since the introduction of the three-point rule. Luxembourg also caused a sensation in the qualifying games for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with spectacular results. The team with a strongly weakened squad achieved a 0-0 three days after the 1-0 win in the home game against the selection of Belarus on August 31, 2017 against the big favorites France in Toulouse . Not least because of these results, Luxembourg improved from 136th to 83rd place in the FIFA world rankings .
In the 2018/19 season, when F91 Dudelange entered the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, the first Luxembourg club to qualify for the group matches in a European competition, and one season later they were able to repeat this success.
The Luxembourg Football Association
The Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football (FLF) (Luxembourgish: Fédératioun vun Lëtzebuerger Foussball ; German: Federation of Luxembourgish Football ) is the national football association of Luxembourg . It was founded in November 1908 by representatives of 13 existing clubs. On March 13, 1910, the association was admitted to FIFA . In 1941 the Luxembourg Association was forcibly dissolved and the member clubs affiliated to the Football Department. The association was restored at the beginning of 1945 and held the first championship in the year the World War ended. In 1954 the FLF was one of the 29 founding members of UEFA .
The association essentially organizes the Luxembourg soccer championship, the national cup competition, the Luxembourg national soccer team , all youth national teams and the women's national team .
League system
The Luxembourg league system consists of five divisions, with the bottom three leagues being played in two groups.
| level | league | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
BGL Ligue 14 teams 1st place: Luxembourg champions + UEFA Champions League qualification 2nd– 3th place: UEFA Europa League qualification 12th place: ↓ Barrage 13th–14th place: relegated |
|
| 2 |
Honorary doctorate 14 teams Place 1–2: Promoted place 3: ↑ Barrage place 11–12: ↓ Barrage place 13–14: Relegated place |
|
| 3 |
1st Division, 1st District 14 teams 1st place: Promoted 2nd place: ↑ Barrage 12th place: ↓ Barrage 13-14th place: Relegated |
1st Division, 2nd District 14 teams 1st place: Promoted 2nd place: ↑ Barrage 12th place: ↓ Barrage 13th–14th place: Relegated |
| 4th |
2nd Division, 1st District 14 teams Place 1–2: Promoted place 3: ↑ Barrage Place 12: ↓ Barrage Place 13–14: Relegated place |
2. Division, 2. District 14 teams Place 1–2: Promoted place 3: ↑ Barrage Place 12: ↓ Barrage Place 13–14: Relegated |
| 5 |
3rd Division 1st District 10 teams Place 1–2: Promoted place 3: ↑ Barrage |
3rd Division 2nd District 10 teams Place 1–2: Promoted place 3: ↑ Barrage |
BGL Ligue
The BGL Ligue is the top division in Luxembourg football. It currently consists of fourteen teams. Until 2006, the first division was called the National Division . It is currently sponsored by BGL BNP Paribas , which is why it bears the name "BGL Ligue".
Over the years the mode has been changed over and over again. Until 1988, the national division played with 12 clubs. For the 1988/89 season the number of participants was reduced to ten and increased again to twelve in 1994 . The BGL Ligue has been playing with fourteen teams since the 2006/07 season . The season usually extends from August to May of the following year. All teams compete against each other twice, resulting in a total of 26 match days. The first at the end of the season is the champion and participant in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League . The second and third qualify for the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League . If the runner-up is already qualified for the Europa League through the national cup competition, the starting place is transferred to the next best in the league. In the event of a tie, the goal difference is not consulted, but a decision game is set. If the national champion is also a cup winner, the fourth-placed player will compete in the Europa League. The 12th of the BGL Ligue will play a barrage game against the third of the honorary doctorate about staying in the class. The two bottom of the table go straight to the honorary doctorate.
Honorary doctorate
The honorary doctorate is the second highest division in Luxembourg. Fourteen teams also take part in it.
As in the BGL League, only one round is played in the honorary doctorate, in which all teams compete against each other twice. The teams in places 1 and 2 will be promoted directly to the BGL Ligue. The Elft- and Zwölftplatzierte play two Barragespiele against relegation. The two bottom of the table are relegated to the 1st division.
Between 1989 and 1994 the honorary doctorate was divided into two districts. The first four clubs in each district played a promotion round in two groups with six teams each against four clubs from the BGL Ligue, with the best two clubs in each group being promoted to the BGL Ligue or holding the class.
1st division
The 1st division is the third highest division in Luxembourg. Fourteen teams take part in each. It is divided into two groups, 1st district and 2nd district.
2nd division
The 2nd division is the fourth highest division in Luxembourg. As in the 1st division, fourteen teams take part in it, which are divided into two groups, 1st district and 2nd district.
3rd division
The 3rd division is Luxembourg's lowest division. It is also divided into two districts. Ten teams play in both groups. Since it is the lowest division, there are no relegated teams in the 3rd division.
Cup competitions
Coupe de Luxembourg
The competition has been played since the 1921/22 season. The pairings are drawn before each round. The final has been held in the Josy Barthel Stadium (8,000 seats) in the capital Luxembourg since 1994 .
The Luxembourg Cup winner takes part in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League .
More cup competitions
The Coupe FLF is a national cup competition for club teams in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions (third to fifth league) of the Luxembourg football association FLF ( Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football ).
The Supercup is a competition under the care of the Lëtzebuerger Football Ligue (LFL). In it, a winner is determined between the Luxembourg champions and the Luxembourg cup winners of the past season.
Luxembourg teams in international competitions
The best Luxembourg teams qualify each year to take part in the qualification for the Champions League (until 1992 European Champion Clubs' Cup) and the Europa League (until 2009 UEFA Cup). There was also the European Cup Winners' Cup until 1999 .
Luxembourg teams seldom got beyond the first round of European competitions until the 2010s. In recent years, some clubs have managed to advance to the third qualifying round or the play-off round. In the 2018/19 season , F91 Dudelange became the first Luxembourg club to reach the group stage of the UEFA Europa League . For the first time in the history of the Champions League, a club from the BGL Ligue, Dudelange, was set for the 1st qualifying round 2019/20 .
European Champion Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League
The first edition of the European Cup of National Champions 1955/56 took place without Luxembourg participation. The following year, Spora Luxemburg, a team from Luxemburg took part for the first time in the history of the European Cup. Against the German champions Borussia Dortmund , Spora faced a sensation when the highly-favored Dortmunders were beaten 2-1 in front of their home crowd after a 3: 4 defeat in the first leg and forced into a play-off. In this, the favorite clearly dominated and won 7-0. If today's away goals rule had already applied back then , Spora would have moved into the next round. 56 years later, F91 Dudelange benefited from this regulation when the Austrian champions FC Red Bull Salzburg were eliminated from the competition in the second qualifying round of the Champions League after a 1-0 home game and a 3-4 defeat in Salzburg.
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Luxembourg clubs could not achieve similar successes in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Jeunesse Hautcharage set a negative record . The then third division team won the Coupe de Luxembourg in 1971 as a blatant outsider and qualified for participation in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1971/72 . In the first round, the club met English defending champions FC Chelsea and lost with a total of 0:21 goals (0: 8 and 0:13). The European cup winners competition was discontinued after the 1998/99 season . The last Luxembourg representative of this competition was CS Grevenmacher , who was eliminated in the qualifying round against Rapid Bucharest with 2: 6 and 0: 2.
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League
The participation of Luxembourg clubs in the UEFA Cup was initially unsuccessful. Red Boys Differdange were defeated by Ajax Amsterdam in the 1984/85 first leg of the 1984/85 UEFA Cup first leg after a 0-0 draw in the first leg 0:14, which is still a record in the UEFA Cup and Europa League.
In 2013 , the merger club FC Differdingen 03 , in which the Red Boys were absorbed in 2003, rehabilitated with a 2-1 home win and a 3: 3 against the Dutch representative FC Utrecht and moved into the third qualifying round, in which the Differdingen against Tromsø IL were unlucky to be eliminated on penalties . FC Progrès Niederkorn caused a stir in 2017 when the Glasgow Rangers , winners of the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup , were thrown out of the competition after a 1-0 defeat in the first leg with a 2-0 second leg.
After being eliminated in the Champions League qualification against Videoton FC , F91 Dudelange sat in the subsequent qualifying rounds for the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League against the Kosovar club KF Drita , the Polish champions Legia Warsaw and in the play-offs against the Romanian champions CFR Cluj through. This made F91 Dudelange the first Luxembourg club to reach the group stage of a UEFA competition. As expected , F91 was eliminated as the last in Group F behind Betis Sevilla , Olympiacos and AC Milan with only one point.
In the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League, Dudelange qualified again for the group stage. A 4: 3 at APOEL Nicosia was the first victory in this phase of the competition. Nevertheless, F91 was eliminated from the competition as the bottom of the group with one win, one draw and four defeats.
UEFA five-year ranking
Placement in the UEFA five-year ranking ( previous year's ranking in brackets ). The abbreviations CL and EL after the country coefficients indicate the number of representatives in the 2019/20 season of the Champions League and the Europa League .
- 41.
( 43 ) Lithuania ( league , cup ) - coefficient: 6,750 - CL: 1, EL: 3
- 42.
( 41 ) Latvia ( league , cup ) - coefficient: 5,625 - CL: 1, EL: 3
- 43. ( 48 ) Luxembourg ( league , cup ) - coefficient: 5,500 - CL: 1, EL: 3
- 44. ( 46 ) Armenia ( league , cup ) - coefficient: 5,250 - CL: 1, EL: 3
- 45. ( 47 ) Malta ( league , cup ) - coefficient: 5.125 - CL: 1, EL: 3
Status: end of the European Cup season 2018/19
National team
The Luxembourg national football team is the selection made by the head coach of the Luxembourg players who represent the Luxembourg Football Association (FLF) at international level in friendly and competitive matches against the national teams of other national associations. She played her first international match against France on October 29, 1911 .
Although Luxembourg took part in all of the men's world and European championships, apart from the first tournaments, it has never qualified for the finals. In the FIFA world rankings , Luxembourg was ranked 82nd out of 211 member associations of FIFA in September 2018, its best place to date.
| space | country | Points | Change places |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Belgium
|
1765 | 0 | |
| 2 |
 France
|
1733 | 0 | |
| 3 |
 Brazil
|
1712 | 0 | |
| 4th |
 England
|
1661 | 0 | |
| 5 |
 Uruguay
|
1645 | 0 | |
| 6th |
 Croatia
|
1642 | 0 | |
| 7th |
 Portugal
|
1639 | 0 | |
| 8th |
 Spain
|
1636 | 0 | |
| 9 |
 Argentina
|
1623 | 0 | |
| 10 |
 Colombia
|
1622 | 0 | |
| 11 |
 Mexico
|
1621 | 0 | |
| 12 |
 Switzerland
|
1608 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 15th |
 Germany
|
1602 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 26th |
 Austria
|
1507 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 98 |
Luxembourg
|
1236 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 180 |
 Liechtenstein
|
926 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 210 |
 Anguilla
|
821 | 0 |
(As of April 9, 2020)
Participation in the Olympic Games
Luxembourg took part in the football tournaments of the Olympic Games in 1920 , 1924 , 1928 , 1936 , 1948 and 1952 , where the team was eliminated in the round of 16. Since then, Luxembourg has not been able to qualify for an Olympic football tournament. At Olympic tournaments, Luxembourg achieved two record results in the history of the Red Lions that are still valid today. The 9-0 defeat against the German Reich at the 1936 tournament in Berlin , along with two identical results against England, is the biggest defeat in an official international match to date. The 6-0 win against Afghanistan at the 1948 games in London is still today the highest victory of a Luxembourg selection.
| year | venue | Result | S. | U | N | Gates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Antwerp | Round of 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0: 3 |
| 1924 | Paris | Round of 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0: 2 |
| 1928 | Amsterdam | Round of 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3: 5 |
| 1936 | Berlin | Round of 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0: 9 |
| 1948 | London | Round of 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7: 6 |
| 1952 | Helsinki | Round of 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6: 5 |
Participation in soccer world championships
Luxembourg has never participated in a tournament in the history of the World Cup. At the first event in 1930 in Uruguay , the association did not submit a report. At all other tournaments since 1934, the representation of the Grand Duchy failed in the qualification.
Participation in European football championships
The Luxembourgers have not yet qualified for the finals of a European football championship. The greatest international success to date was reaching the last elimination round before the European Championship in 1964 . After the Red Lion in the second round against the national team of the Netherlands with 1: 1 and 2: had enforced one, they missed the finals after two draws (2: 2 and 3: 3) by a 0: 1 in the playoff against Denmark extremely scarce .
Participation in the UEFA Nations League
When the UEFA Nations League was held for the first time in 2018, Luxembourg entered the fourth-highest division of this competition. The group victory entitling to promotion to League C was missed by a second place behind Belarus .
| year | host | Result | S. | U | N | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | Europe | League D | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11: 4 | 10 |
U-21 national team
The U-21 national soccer team is a national team of Luxembourg soccer players . It is subject to the national association FLF and represents it at the U-21 level , in friendly matches against the national teams of other national associations, but also in the qualifying matches for the European championship of the continental association UEFA .
Players who have not yet reached the age of 21 and who have Luxembourg nationality are eligible to play. In tournaments, the age at the first qualifying game is decisive.
Luxembourg players and coaches abroad
For many years, Luxembourgish players abroad were mainly to be found in the Belgian and French leagues. Victor Nurenberg won three championships in Division 1 and two French national cup titles with the OGC Nice between 1952 and 1959, and at the end of his career was also twice Luxembourg cup winner. Louis Pilot , voted the most important Luxembourg player of the last 50 years on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of UEFA in 2004, has won multiple Belgian championships and cup winners with Standard Liège . Guy Hellers also played for Standard Liège for 17 years and the incumbent president of the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF), Paul Philipp , played in the Belgian league for 13 years . Aurélien Joachim was previously active in clubs from five foreign associations. Mario Mutsch played in Switzerland for six years.
With Nico Braun ( FC Schalke 04 1971–1973), Gilbert Dussier , ( Röchling Völklingen 1974/75), Robert Langers ( Borussia Mönchengladbach 1980–1982), Manuel Cardoni ( Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1996–1998) or Jeff Strasser ( 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1999–2002, Mönchengladbach 2002–2006) players from Luxembourg occasionally made the leap into German professional football. Former national player Franck Deville played for 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FC Saarbrücken in the mid-1990s . His son Maurice John made his debut in the 2nd Bundesliga for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2015. Since 2017 he has been playing for third division club SV Waldhof Mannheim . Leandro Barreiro , who was born in Erpeldingen an der Sauer , made his Bundesliga debut for 1. FSV Mainz 05 on February 8, 2019 . On the 14th matchday of the 2019/20 season , Barreiro from Mainz and Laurent Jans from SC Paderborn 07 were two Luxembourg professionals in the starting line-up of their respective clubs for the first time in the history of the German Bundesliga . In the leagues below the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga, especially with regional and upper division clubs from West and Southwest Germany, numerous players born in Luxembourg were and are active.
As the first Luxembourg coach in German professional football, Jeff Saibene took over the post of coach of relegation-threatened German second division Arminia Bielefeld on March 20, 2017 . Under Saibene, Arminia managed to stay up on the last match day. In an interview with the Trierischer Volksfreund , Saibene, who played 13 years in Belgium and Switzerland, spoke about the situation of Luxembourg players and coaches in German professional football. On December 10, 2018, he was dismissed after nine league games in a row without a win and elimination in the DFB Cup in East Westphalia. For the 2019/20 season , Saibene was signed by the German second division relegated FC Ingolstadt 04 . There he was released in March 2020 for unsuccessful sports.
In September 2017, Jeff Strasser was signed as the head coach of his former club 1. FC Kaiserslautern . Strasser took over the team in the last place in the table in the second division . His contract was dated June 30, 2019. During the half-time break of the second division game on January 24, 2018 at SV Darmstadt 98 , Strasser complained of malaise and was taken to a hospital. Temporary cardiac arrhythmias were diagnosed there in connection with a dragged-out flu. Since Strasser was unable to continue as head coach due to a medically prescribed break, he was replaced by Michael Frontzeck on February 1, 2018 .
Foreign players and coaches in Luxembourg football
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Until the early seventies, the Luxembourg national team was mostly coached by foreign coaches from Austria , Hungary or France . The German coach Robert Heinz led the selection of the Grand Duchy in the qualifying games for the European Football Championship in 1964 with an effective defensive tactic with a 1-1 and a 2-1 win against the Netherlands to the greatest success in Luxembourg football history to date. Between 2002 and 2004, the former Danish world class player Allan Simonsen coached the national team without achieving any notable success.
Foreign coaches also made their mark on club football. The German Rainer Brinsa was the uninterrupted coach of FC Victoria Rosport from April 1, 1994 to February 17, 2009 , with whom he was promoted to the national division in 2001, took part in the UI Cup in 2005 and reached the Cup final of the Coupe de Luxembourg in 2008. Dino Toppmöller led the first division relegated FC RM Hamm Benfica back to the BGL Ligue as player- coach in the 2014/15 season . For the 2016/17 season , Toppmöller switched to F91 Dudelange as a trainer and won the double straight away .
The proportion of foreign players in Luxembourg's top division was 50.4% in the 2016/17 season. The BGL Ligue was thus ranked 7th among the highest European leagues. Luxembourg is an attractive address, especially for players from clubs in the southwest German regional and major leagues. On the one hand, it is the proximity to the border with Germany that often allows you to keep a German place of residence; on the other hand, there are short distances to away games. In addition, there are comparatively higher earning opportunities. From a sporting point of view, Luxembourg clubs that have a chance of participating in the European Cup are particularly interesting for these players. For example, the former German U-21 international Marc-André Kruska switched to the BGL Ligue in Dudelange in 2018. German players are of interest to Luxembourg clubs because of their good football training and disciplined style of play.
There is also growing interest in playing for Luxembourg clubs among players from France. During the winter break of the 2019/20 season, the former U-19 national player Abdelhakim Omrani and the Malian national player Mana Dembélé, who was born in France, moved to RFC Union Luxembourg in the BGL Ligue.
Since 2010, the so-called premier license has obliged the clubs of the BGL Ligue to list at least seven players who started their careers in Luxembourg on the match report. This regulation led u. a. on the curious situation that the captain of the Luxembourg national team Mario Mutsch, who has a Belgian mother, was formally regarded as a foreign footballer when he moved from the Swiss first division club FC St. Gallen to FC Progrès Niederkorn in 2017, as he had never before in his career was active for a Luxembourg association.
In order to raise the level of the national team in particular, players like the French-born Maxime Chanot have been naturalized in recent years . Chanot played in France, England, Belgium and since 2016 in the US Major League Soccer .
Born in Mönchengladbach, Armin Krings , seven-time top scorer in the national division and with 254 goals in 337 games for Avenir Beggen the record scorer in Luxembourg's top division, was naturalized in 1987. His only goal for the "red lions" came three days after his naturalization when he made his debut in the European Championship qualifier against Ireland .
Women's soccer
Club soccer
The Luxembourg women's football championship has been held since the 1972/73 season. The top division is the Dames Ligue 1 .
National team
The Luxembourg women's national football team has existed since June 2003. She represents Luxembourg in international women's football . The national team reports to the Luxembourg Football Association. She has not yet been able to qualify for a World Cup, European Championship or Olympic Games. In March 2020, Luxembourg was ranked 119th out of 159 member associations in the FIFA World Ranking .
| space | country | Points | Change places |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 United States
|
2181 | 0 | |
| 2 |
Germany
|
2090 | 0 | |
| 3 |
France
|
2036 | 1 ↑ | |
| 4th |
 Netherlands
|
2032 | 1 ↓ | |
| 5 |
 Sweden
|
2007 | 0 | |
| 6th |
England
|
1999 | 0 | |
| 7th |
 Australia
|
1963 | 0 | |
| 8th |
 Canada
|
1958 | 0 | |
| 8th |
Brazil
|
1958 | 1 ↑ | |
| 10 |
 North Korea
|
1940 | 1 ↑ | |
| ... | ||||
| 20th |
Switzerland
|
1815 | 1 ↓ | |
| ... | ||||
| 22nd |
Austria
|
1792 | 0 | |
| ... | ||||
| 119 |
Luxembourg
|
1124 | 3 ↓ | |
| ... | ||||
| 159 |
 Mauritius
|
357 | 4 ↓ |
(As of March 27, 2020)
Youth football
In 1958, Luxembourg hosted the UEFA youth tournament (U18).
The U-17 national team of Luxembourg has never qualified for a World Cup. At the European Championships , Luxembourg was represented as an organizer for the only time in 2006 .
In 2002 the Center National de Football (CNF), the only youth academy in Luxembourg, was founded. The aim is to train the talents in such a way that they are able to play for professional clubs abroad and to make the national teams more competitive internationally. In 2016, 300 children and young people were supported in football. There are also four bases spread across the country. Reinhold Breu has been Technical Director of the Luxembourg Football Association since 2011, responsible for the entire talent development program as well as coach training.
In addition to talents like Vincent Thill , who turned down offers from Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona , many young Luxembourgers play abroad. Ryan Johansson (FC Bayern), Yannick Schaus ( Bayer 04 Leverkusen ) and Florian Bohnert ( 1. FSV Mainz 05 II ) made it into the junior teams of German Bundesliga clubs along with other players. In addition, there are many talents in the youth squad of Belgian and French professional clubs.
Around 90 percent of the youth players on the CNF have dual citizenship. This occasionally leads to the dilemma that players go through the youth teams of the U17 and U19 teams and later - as in the case of Miralem Pjanić - decide to choose the other country of which they are citizens because of the more promising prospects.
Robot soccer ball
The Luxembourg United team won the German Open 2017 in Magdeburg.
Stages
Most of the venues of the clubs in the BGL Ligue and the honorary doctorate have a capacity of between 1,000 and 5,000 spectators. As a rule, these are sports fields with a main grandstand.
A new national stadium is currently being built . The construction costs are estimated at 58 to 61 million euros. The new building is intended to replace the dilapidated Josy Barthel National Stadium and accommodate 9,600 spectators. The planned opening date in September 2019 could not be kept. The completion should now take place in May 2020. Due to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the associated national construction stops, this date in September / October of the year can no longer be kept, as you are two months behind schedule. That brings you to the end of November or the beginning of December 2020. Before the opening, the system must be tested with the city. The regulations stipulate, for example, that the stadium must be filled to two thirds at least once before the first official game. These exams take additional time. The inauguration of the national stadium is currently expected in early 2021. They are planning a gala game against a large European nation.
spectator
Although the general interest in football is steadily increasing, viewership has been falling since the 1980s. Even with the 14-time champion and seven-time cup winner F91 Dudelange , the number of visitors to the league games has almost halved since 1991, despite the latest international successes. The situation is particularly serious in the capital, where the merger association RFC Union Luxembourg has had an average of 263 viewers per season since it was founded.
The fan culture in Luxembourg is not as pronounced as in the leagues of neighboring countries. There is a large following of Bundesliga clubs in Luxembourg. Due to the geographical proximity, many clubs from western Germany, especially Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach, enjoy great popularity.
economy
The dominance of F91 Dudelange in the domestic league and the successes in the European competitions are mainly due to the financial commitment of the real estate entrepreneur Flavio Becca , one of the richest men in the Grand Duchy. Otherwise there is hardly any sport sponsorship in Luxembourg football. There is hardly a club in the BGL Ligue that receives significant financial donations from companies for which it is not worth investing large sums in football for marketing reasons and because of the low TV presence. FC Progrès Niederkorn , which has successfully relied on a large number of small sponsors in recent years, is taking a different path .
In 2015, the interest group for European football clubs, the European Club Association (ECA), obtained more money from FIFA for the European Cup and for international players to play for World Cup qualifying matches. In qualifying for the European Football Championship in 2012 , F91 Dudelange earned around 180,000 euros for releasing its national players. The new regulation increases the economic gap between top clubs such as Dudelange, Fola , Differdingen , FC Progrès or Jeunesse Esch and the smaller clubs that rarely or never receive such bonuses.
The FLF is also promoting the professionalization of the association. Volkswagen AG has been the official mobility partner since 2018 and equips the FLF with a complete fleet of vehicles. The vehicles are used for the transport of youth teams, trips to competitions or internal purposes. The most visible sign of the partnership is the VW logo on the jerseys of all teams.
In May 2019, a sponsorship agreement was signed with the auditing company PwC .
Television / media
In the last few years there has been increasing media interest. Several daily newspapers report on the games on site. There is also an increasing number of live broadcasts on the Internet and radio, as well as summaries of the games on television.
literature
- Zeitspiel-Magazin: Global Game Luxemburg ZEITSPIEL # 11, March 2018, p. 74 ff.
Web links
- The official website of the Luxembourg Football Association
- Private information platform on football in Luxembourg
Individual evidence
- ↑ Study from Luxembourg: Those who don't like sports put football in the shade. In: wort.lu. January 31, 2017, accessed April 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Luxembourg's football between amateurism and professionalism. In: fupa.net. January 18, 2016, accessed September 4, 2017 .
- ↑ 1907–1947, 40e anniversaire de la Jeunesse d'Esch, Esch-sur-Alzette, 1947
- ↑ Denis Scuto: Thoughts on the social history of Luxembourg football. Retrieved September 5, 2017 . (PDF)
- ↑ hagalil.com: "75 years ago Jewish forced laborers were deported from Luxembourg" from July 21, 2016
- ↑ EM anecdotes: Unforgotten moments, unforgotten types , FAZ -online from June 20, 2012
- ^ Hollands Cordoba , 11 Friends, March 10, 2011
- ↑ [1] , as of April 9, 2019
- ↑ Christelle Diederich: The sensation is perfect: F91 shoots into the group stage of the Europa League! In: Tageblatt. Editpress Luxembourg SA, August 30, 2018, accessed on August 30, 2018 .
- ↑ UEFA rankings for club competitions. In: UEFA. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Record number: Luxembourg currently has eight football professionals. In: wort.lu. February 13, 2014, accessed September 3, 2017 .
- ^ "Premiere in the Bundesliga: Two Luxembourgers in the starting lineup". In: tageblatt.lu. December 9, 2019, accessed December 9, 2019 .
- ↑ In the 2nd Bundesliga: Saibene becomes Bielefeld coach . In: Wort.lu . March 19, 2017 ( wort.lu [accessed March 19, 2017]).
- ↑ Olympia Verlag GmbH (ed.): Börner's header gives Arminen the league maintenance. In: kicker online. May 21, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017 .
- ↑ "It's not that easy as a Luxembourger". In: Luxemburger Wort. September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Arminia releases Saibene and Rump. In: arminia-bielefeld.de. December 10, 2018, accessed December 10, 2018 .
- ↑ FC Ingolstadt brings Saibene as a new coach. In: tageblatt.lu. June 12, 2019, accessed June 12, 2019 .
- ↑ FCI separates from Saibene - Rump coaching duo. March 9, 2020, accessed March 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Jeff Strasser is the new coach of the Red Devils - FCK DE. Retrieved September 27, 2017 .
- ^ Jeff Strasser vers le 1 FC. Kaiserslautern | CS Fola Esch - Official homepage of CS Fola Esch . In: CS Fola Esch . ( csfola.lu [accessed September 27, 2017]).
- ↑ Longer break for Jeff Strasser , fck.de, January 31, 2018, accessed on February 1, 2018.
- ↑ Michael Frontzeck takes over the FCK coaching office , fck.de, February 1, 2018, accessed on February 1, 2018.
- ↑ skysports.com: "Premier League has highest percentage of foreign players - UEFA report" from January 12, 2017
- ↑ spiegel.de: "Why more and more Germans are playing in Luxembourg" from April 23, 2008
- ↑ fussball.de: "Luxemburg calls: 1st league instead of Rhineland League" from June 2, 2016
- ↑ tageblatt.lu: Three former Ligue 1 professionals will celebrate their debut in Luxembourg in the tree bush. February 14, 2020, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ http://ec.europa.eu: "EU closes case against Luxembourg over footballers' nationality" from June 3, 2010
- ↑ lessentiel.lu: "BGL-Ligue treats Mutsch as a" foreigner "" from May 24, 2017
- ↑ Technical Director Breu on flf.lu
- ^ Luxemburger Wort (ed.): Reinhold Breu becomes the new technical director. In: Luxemburger Wort. March 15, 2012, Retrieved May 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Bohnert moves to Mainz wort.lu on June 1, 2019, accessed on June 3, 2019
- ^ Maximilian Schmeckel: Revolution in Luxemburg: Much more than just a dwarf revolt. In: goal.com. July 27, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017 .
- ↑ deutschlandfunk.de: “Strategies of a football dwarf” from March 26, 2016
- ↑ luxembourg.public.lu: "Grand Duchy is European robot football champion" of June 15, 2017
- ↑ football.lu: "Nouveau stade national de football: les travaux sont en cours" of April 5, 2017
- ↑ lessentiel.lu: "" Josy Barthel one of the most ailing stadiums "" from September 25, 2013
- ↑ stadionwelt.de: “New national stadium is being built” from March 24, 2016
- ↑ The opening of the national stadium has been delayed. In: stadionwelt.de. April 16, 2019, accessed December 10, 2019 .
- ↑ The National Stadium will no longer play in 2020. In: lessentiel.lu. April 14, 2020, accessed April 15, 2020 .
- ↑ tageblatt.lu: "Audience figures in Luxembourg football: clubs lose half of their fans in half a century" from November 2, 2018
- ↑ tageblatt.lu: “Pros & Cons: Patronage in Luxembourg Sport” from December 31, 2018
- ↑ wort.lu: "" We have up to 40 percent more sponsors "" from March 15, 2012
- ↑ losch.lu: "Volkswagen Luxembourg will be the FLF's new mobility partner from 2018" from October 9, 2017 (German; PDF)
- ↑ wort.lu: "PWC new sponsor of the FLF" from May 27, 2019
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