26 April 2011 and FC Winterthur had an easy-looking game at home to FC Yverdon Sport who were then bottom of the Challenge League. Winti themselves weren't exactly excelling themselves that season, and had slipped to fourth from bottom. There were six games remaining; two long road-trips down to Tessin; away fixtures at Wil and Aarau, where they never win and a tricky looking home-tie against Vaduz were the other five. That season, a bottom-two place meant relegation to one of the regional leagues. The reorganization of Swiss football meant that returning to the Challenge League would take a minimum of two seasons. This game against Yverdon was a "must win".
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| Winti Fans not happy - Winti players listening why |
Despite the Winti faithful literally singing solidly for 90 minutes, the home team were awful and lost the game by the odd goal in three.
As they always do, the players came over to thank the fans but on this occasion, and only this occasion the fans decided to voice their displeasure. The players were roundly booed.
Most teams on hearing the reception would have turned and headed for the dressing room but not Winti. Far from keep their distance, they came right up to the fans and listened to what they had to say. There were frank, but respectful discussions between players and fans and it ended with handshakes.
This was probably the moment when I decided that I loved Swiss football. In the respect shown by both fans and players, they certainly had me believing that English football had a lot to learn.
The next match for Winti was away at second in the table Lugano. They came back from two goals down to win 3:2. Was it down to that chat with the fans? It's nice to think so. They haven't really looked back since and finished fourth in the table the next season while also reaching the semi-final of the Swiss Cup.
But what of Yverdon? Well, they were relegated, finishing bottom of the Challenge League that season and finished the next season 4th placed in their league, enough to gain a play-off for a place in the new 1 Liga Promotion which they won. Unfortunately, that's where the good news seems to end as Yverdon are currently rooted to the bottom of that division.
Points Time.
Getting There
8 / 10. A direct train from Winterthur brought us to Yverdon les Bains but we couldn't see any signposts to the ground. Once I'd got my bearings, Google Maps took us there and it's actually only about 10 minutes walk from the station.
6 / 10. Nobody approached us until we approached them but once we did talk, they were fine. Nice enough.
Safety
8 / 10. No real issue with the terracing that we saw and there are no fences. There's a minor point about smoking in wooden stands which doesn't strike me as that smart.
View
8 / 10. I was pleasantly surprised. Municipal stadium just doesn't fill you with any positivity does it? But there are no running tracks so fans are close to the action. We watched part of the game from behind the goal and part from a stand with nothing impeding the view.
The only issue may be if they ever did get a crowd, whether there would be enough terracing to allow all to see.
Atmosphere
1 / 10. Meet Cyril, Séverine, Oliver and Jérôme, the Yverdon Kop. Three men, one lady, three drums and a megaphone! When I said hello to them they did point out to me that there were another three of them who hadn't been able to make it. Well, that would make all the difference!
Well, thanks guys for giving it a go! It really isn't easy trying to make noise and create an atmosphere when nobody is bothered. Big respect to the four of you for your efforts.
As for the rest of you Yverdon fans, as Delia would say "WHERE'S OUR TWELFTH MAN!" 550 attended the game and stood/sat around the pitch in little groups of three or four. Try standing or sitting together. You've got something in common you know. You support the same football team (at least I think you do). I tried a couple of shouts but just got normal strange looks (mostly from the missus).
But if I'm going to have a go at the Yverdon fans, I should also mention the Fribourg fans to ensure this article is fair and balanced. Was there anyone from Fribourg there? It's 52 Km from Fribourg to Yverdon (33 miles) and this was a Sunday afternoon. Like home games in Fribourg it would cost you 10 SFr (£7.10) to get in, but then again, no Fribourgers go to their home games either so what was I expecting?
Refreshments
6 / 10. All I saw were the normal sausages. Two types were available as far as I could see. But one positive was the club house. At least it looked like a football club house. I've seen a fair few in Switzerland that look sterile, more like works canteens.
Overall
37 / 60. OK but the club did have a sad, hopeless air about it.
The Match
This would be the part where I'd love to say that for the sake of 10 Francs, the people of Yverdon and Fribourg missed a great afternoon's entertainment. Sadly, I can't. Mrs. Duck had already asked if we had to stay for the whole game after about 20 minutes. That's Swiss 36 rules - we stay for the whole game, but I sometimes wish I wasn't so strict. But the game did have it's incidents.
Yverdon looked much the better team in the first half. Lorenzo Bucchi in the Fribourg goal did well to save from Bigambo Rochat's top corner-bound shot as the home team dominated. Just past the half hour and a blatant shirt pull on Milutin Ivanovic in the penalty area was punished correctly with a red card for Baptiste Buntschu and a penalty for Yverdon. Unfortunately for Yverdon, Bucchi did well again with the spot kick, saving well to his left from Anthony Ciavardini. But with a man advantage and dominating proceedings surely the home team would take the points?
Yverdon continued to dominate the second half with Mehdi Benhaddouche being particularly wasteful in his attempts on the Fribourg goal. In the 77th minute, Fribourg were handed a lifeline. David Sugar, the Yverdon 'keeper had a rush of blood as Fribourg threatened for about the first time in the match. He came out of his area to scythe down Abdoulaye Koné. The referee had little choice and Yverdon's numerical advantage was eliminated. Fribourg had been so poor until that point, but now they had received a psychological boost. They ended up winning the match in the 85th minute when Koné headed a corner past replacement 'keeper Julien Manière. It was more naive than unlucky for the home team but completely undeserved for the visitors.
The referee brought their misery to an end, and with the exception of Cyril, Séverine, Oliver and Jérôme, everyone did what they apparently wanted to do and went to the fair that was going on in the town.
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