Fans support Liechtenstein finals
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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Liechtenstein Football Association general secretary Roland Ospelt, tournament director for the finals, is pleased fans came out in numbers despite the lack of a host team.
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Liechtenstein had the unique task of organising the UEFA European Under-17 Championship over the last fortnight without the hosts' team taking part, and tournament director Roland Ospelt is delighted with how things went.
Before the elite round decided the qualifiers for the finals, the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) announced that it would not be taking up the place reserved for the hosts as a lack of players at U17 level would make their team uncompetitive. Nonetheless, an aggregate attendance of around 20,000 is not bad for a nation whose population is less than double that and Ospelt, also the LFV general secretary, was surprised so many people came.
"It was a challenge, but we have averaged about 1,200 spectators and that was surprise for me because I thought as the Liechtenstein team wasn't playing, we might average 800 or so," Ospelt told UEFA.com. "It was very good for us that Switzerland were in the tournament; unfortunately they went out in the first round but it helped us a lot. There are a lot of people from Spain, Portugal and Turkey living in the area, which helped too."
The LFV did have experience of staging a youth finals before with the 2003 U19 Championship and again things went well on and off the pitch. "It was a really nice tournament," Ospelt said. "I have to complement Judith [Frommelt, in charge of administration]; she did a great job. We didn't have any big incidents; it was just a great tournament."
Usually the teams are based in one or two big hotels but the lack of such accommodation in Liechtenstein meant, unusually, all eight squad had their own dedicated base; an organisation challenge for the LFV. "In Liechtenstein we don't have big hotels and had no choice but to book one hotel per team," Ospelt said. "Some teams really liked it but from a logistical point of view it's a hassle. You don't know how many people they will bring so that was one thing we had to keep in mind. [The teams had] a good time here with no big problems. Overall they are satisfied."