Roland Schwegler is an experienced former Swiss u21 defender. Although only 27 years old he has had a successful career winning the Swiss championship twice and played against teams such as FC Porto and Leeds United (when they were rich…) in Europe. More recently Roland has been out injured for a couple of months after he tore a ligament in his right knee against Basel in August.
Full Name: Roland Schwegler
Age: 27
Nationality: Swiss
Position: Defender
2009 Shirt Number: 4
Can you tell us a little bit about your career in football before joining FC Luzern?
I spent 10 years with Grasshopper Club Zurich, but I have my roots in Central Switzerland. My first fifteen years were in Hochdorf, a small town outside Luzern.
So which team did you support as a child?
FC Luzern, I was always there on the terrace of the Allmend amongst the fans. I was there when we won the Championship in 1989. It meant a lot to me.
What was it like to play at the Allmend with Grasshoppers?
Every game there was very special for me, to play against the team I supported as a child. And normally we would win…that was the good thing for Grasshoppers. It was also special as all my family and friends would be there to watch the game. A great atmosphere.
What is the reputation of FC Luzern in Swiss football?
FC Luzern always has a lot of supporters, in any stadium, home and away. Now we also have a good team with players from our region, this is quite unique in Switzerland today. There are not that many teams like us in that way. Last years we had some problems on the pitch, but we managed to get past them at the end of the season. This season we have taken the energy and power from last and we try to improve.
From playing with Grasshoppers, you know what it takes to become Swiss champion. How far away from winning the league is Luzern this year?
It’s hard to win it now, there are three big teams. FC Basel, Young Boys and FC Zurich have much more money than we do. But we have a great team spirit. We work hard and we work together, it is possible for us to win the championship.
Who is the best player you have ever played against? Hmmm, it’s difficult to say, but I think it must be Deco. It was in the qualification to the Champions League, Grasshoppers against Porto 2001.
What is it like to play in front of Zibung?
I like it very much, he talks to me on the pitch and we are also very good friends off it. He is a very good keeper and I hope he will be the next Swiss national goalkeeper so he gets to play in the world cup.
How far can Switzerland go in South Africa?
It is difficult to say, if we get a good group we could go to the quarter finals. And I hope one or two players from FC Luzern can go there, I am sure Hakan will, but I think David deserves to be there too.
So we should start the “Zibung for Switzerland” campaign right now
Laughs, yes, we really should.
What has changed in the team since Rolf Fringer took over? The whole spirit has changed, he speaks a lot with all of us. He got a great start when he came in last year, we won the first two games with him and after that it was easier to play as a team.
We have to remember that we had only 2 points in 12 games when he arrived. He told us we had to fight hard and we had to keep it simple. The team started working better together, it was a good feeling.
How about you, how is the knee?
It is very good, I am fit and ready to play. I have already played two games, one with the u21 team and one against FC Kickers. I am ready.
Next league game is Basel at home. It was in the away leg you got injured, you look forward to play Frei and the rest of them again?Yes, there is no problem I hope that I will play and help the team to a win.
Your online provider of independent, biased, partisan FC Luzern related propaganda since 2008. And in English too.
JUST CAN'T BEAT THAT 
Was the 3 game ban not for kicking Van Persie?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZBBdG_Tfow
You may be right. Separate incidents. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8252803.stm
The guy is a young lad who hasn’t featured much for them (according to Wikipedia’s stats) so maybe he just got carried away. The racist stuff is beyond the pale.
Having said that about Wiki – most of the stuff on there is nonsense as per the edit history of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lonsdale
was there, too! the genius you mention two seats to my left.
die erschti reihe höpft ole!!!
This “anonymous innovating hero” is called “Alpenloewe” and is a member of the infamous “Hüetli-Club”. So just come and visit us next home game, I guess your chance to get a free beer from us is quite high as we love your page and the way you think
Cheers,
Daniel
Daniel,
Thank you for your comment – where is this infamous “Hüetli-Club” of which you speak?
We shall be sure to redeem our free beer.
Cheers
Michael
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amade-ch/4805798410/in/set-72157624529267114/
look @ top left of this pic, we’re the guys with the blue-white hats (“hüetli” is swiss german for small hat).
zone 2, next to our loved beer…
cheers
So you are in amongst these chaps here: http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/3540/screenshot20100812at173.png
I think we are further along in Zone 2. Usually near the back on the right side behind the goal. See you at the next home game then.
Wikipedia user Daveh86 you are also a hero for standing up to tyranny of mediocrity and doing the right thing.
One day the world of user generated trivia will be ready for our bold and revolutionary update on the home page of the African audio torture device. One day.
Zibung is a hero
Hakan is a hero
Ianu is a hero!! “Cristian Ianu, schiess bald weder es gool!!!”
Pure magic.
I agree – that ground is the worst in super league for football, though I have not yet been to Thun.
What a goal from Paiva. http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=7e8420f1-f2a4-462d-8418-4d2c4f8f796a
More snails please.
More snails are coming right up…..
I never knew you agreed on the stadium, but having just read this: http://justcantbeatthat.com/who-are-they/grasshopper-club/ I know what you mean!
It is a ghastly soulless arena, severely lacking in punters, let alone atmosphere. Watching a game there is akin to watching one in the Scottish Premier League.
Nice article, just a small hint: already a 0-4 defeat against thun would cost us the lead… however – still highly unlikely.
Thun only needs to win 0:4?
Maesi? I have never claimed maths as a strong point, but going by the league table above – FCL have a positive goal difference of 11, and Thun 4….
11-4=7, so Thun have to win by 8 goals to overtake FCL on goal difference???? Or does the Swiss League have different rules?
If I am wrong, I will happily correct it?????
0:4 is correct, the difference is the second priority after the points.
thun 7gms 15:7(+8)goals 13points
fcl 7 18:11(+7) 13
Fair point…. In my excitement of realising that FCL will be top of the league for a couple of weeks, I hadn’t considered LU’s defence to be conceding any goals… time to hit the edit button I guess.
2-0 spurs, right now it looks like the team itself is the biggest joke.
Anonymous – that is a well known fact. I refer you to the day in May when they came to the Gersag in their numbers, and had they won they would have pretty much been in pole position to win the league. Instead they got smashed 5-1 by FCL….
We know they are a joke – Still hope they can beat Spurs though!
Swiss catholic priests favorite football team?
‘Winning doesn’t really matter as long as you win’.
Ironic that Vinny ‘Psycho’ Jones holds the record for the fastest ever yellow card. Just three seconds.
Thanks for commenting Dan, but what has that got to do with anything? And in what way is a yellow card for Vinny ironic? It could possibly be that if he had made previous statements on how fair he was. Or is the first sentence a quote from Vinny and you see fouling other players after three second as something you wouldn’t do if winning was very important. Just curious.
Their mum is doing the half time food – no dirty plastic sausage for us. Turkish sandwiches – yum!
and you’ll be first in the queue for Mama Yakin’s mutton, cabbage and yoghurt wraps….
Its a bit far to Geneva, but Lausanne is a team I could consider going to see in the Europa league. If you boys have a GA then why not?
“It is at this point unclear if we should count the points we need to avoid relegation or start dreaming of champions league next season.”
No – disagree, FCL have had a belter of a start to the season – they need to build on it and go for a top three finish. Anything lower than fourth spot will be epic failure.
Anything else than the Championship is a disappointment and not tolerable
COME ON LUCERNE!
Doubt I will go. Need to focus on the right games away. Sausage munchers away 25th Sept is one. Sion Merde Allez 31 October is a given.
“The human Vuvuzela invented by the FC Luzern fans remains a kick in the genitals of the clowns at Nyon. Keep it going and spread the word”
Brilliant!!!!
The folks in Nylon will be banning church bells next !
we’d better get the chance to travel to more than just one european destination next year!
The family of this chap still own the club. His main work in CH seems to be either based in Fribourg or Schaffhausen so not sure if he or the family have a personal connection to Fringer.
ROLF – DON’T DO IT! The shadow of Fat Le Tissier will always be above you!
maybe we shouldn’t worry about this too much, appears Rolf isn’t even on the bookies lists
http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk/next-southampton-manager.htm