FC Victoria Rosport

RTL Today has for some reason decided to assign the new intern (me) the task of outlining the accomplishments of every club playing in Luxembourg's top football league. It is a journey that will take us through 16 clubs and to every corner of this little country.

Today we pay a visit to the German border in the far east of Luxembourg, home to FC Victoria Rosport.

History

FC Victoria Rosport was founded in 1928, and for most of its history played in the lower divisions of Luxembourgish football. For about 50 years the club played between the third and fifth tiers until they achieved promotion to the Division of Honour in 1987.

For the next 15 years, Rosport were a relatively consistent second-tier side, albeit with a few brief returns to the third tier. The club's big break came in 2002, when they finished 2nd in the Division of Honour and gained promotion to the National Division for the first time.

Rosport put together a solid first spell in the big time, surviving comfortably in their first two seasons before pushing on to achieve a record finish of 4th and a European place in 2004-05. Things did go down from there, with multiple bottom half finishes culminating in relegation in 2008.

After six seasons in the Division of Honour, Rosport gained promotion back to the National Division in 2014, and since then they have remained a top-tier club. Rosport's first season back saw a solid 6th-placed finish, but they have not reached the top half since then and were forced to retain their National Division status through a playoff in 2018, which they won 2-0 over UN Käerjéng 97.

Accomplishments

Rosport have no top-level titles to their credit, and have won just one Division of Honour title in 2014. The club did come close to a major title by reaching the final of the Coupe du Luxembourg in 2008, but they were convincingly beaten by CS Grevenmacher 4-1 and were also relegated from the National Division in the same season.

Rosport's sole venture into Europe came in the 2005 Intertoto Cup, a now-extinct tournament that essentially served as a detached qualifying stage for the UEFA Cup. The team got a tough first round draw in Swedish giants and two-time UEFA Cup champions IFK Göteborg, and although they put up a fight, they were eliminated 5-2 on aggregate.

Stadium

Rosport play in the VictoriArena, which stands alone among the stadiums we've seen so far in that it has no seated sections and is entirely a standing ground. Per Wikipedia the ground can hold 2,500 people, but this seems unlikely to ever be reached unless fans surrounded the pitch from all sides.

The stadium lies right on the banks of the Sauer river, which provided a problem last year during the widespread flooding across Europe, as water rose to a meter high on the field. If you can keep your knees above the water, the stadium is a true lower-league ground that is worth a visit for its ample scenery.

This Season

Victoria Rosport haven't improved much on their 13th-placed finish last season, as they sit in 12th place at present time and are two points ahead of the relegation playoff zone.

The club started the season in shoddy form, but a run of four consecutive wins in late autumn moved their rank up into the single digits. Since the start of the new year Rosport have been on a barren run, with their only win in 2022 coming against Rodange 91 in mid-March. They are currently on a streak of seven games without a win, and will be facing two other teams in the relegation playoff fight in their last two games. Thus, both fixtures will be crucial if they wish to hold off Wiltz and Hostert and avoid the playoffs.

Something the club can definitely be proud of this season is the goalscoring production of star striker Jordy Soladio. The 24-year-old Belgian striker is currently tied for 2nd in the National Division scoring charts with 18 goals. He has over three times the amount of goals of the next best scorer at the club- Latvian centre back Davis Spruds- who has 5.

The one downside to Soladio's production is that he is actually on a two-year loan from Union Titus Pétange, so the club will have to get aggressive at the negotiating table to secure his services permanently this summer, or else they risk losing their biggest star.

For more information, visit the club's website.