Raetia football team

The Raetia football team (German: Fussballauswahl Raetia) represents Grisons, formerly known as R(h)aetia, (/ˈriːʃ(i)ə/ REE-sh(ee-)ə) in ConIFA association football.^[1] The current head coach is Simone Fontana. The team is commonly referred to as The Grisons.^[2]

Raetia

Nickname(s)	The Grisons
Association	Raetia Football Association (Fussballauswahl Raetia)
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	Simone Fontana
Captain	Mirco Oswald
First colours Second colours
First international
Chagos Islands 6–1 Raetia  (Crawley, England; 4 December 2011)
Biggest win
Ticino 1–8 Raetia  (Tenero-Contra, Switzerland; 17 June 2023)
Biggest defeat
Gozo 17–1 Raetia  (Xewkija, Malta; 14 January 2012)

History

Raetia's first game was played in December 2011 against the Chagos Islands national football team.^[3][4] The second game took place in January 2012 on the island of Gozo against Gozo.^[5][6]

The first home game was on 26 May 2012 against the fifth Team of FC St. Pauli in Domat/Ems and Raetia won 6–0.

Raetia was qualified to play the 2012 VIVA World Cup in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. In the group matches they gained a victory against Tamil Eelam and a loss to Zanzibar the 2nd rank and missed the semi-finals only because of goal difference.^[7][8]

On 6 September 2015 Raetia beat Franconia 6–0 and qualified for the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup in Abkhazia.

In 2023, Raetia entered the 2024 CONIFA World Cup Qualifiers, where they beat Ticino 8-1, thus qualifying them for the competition. A few months later, they participated in their second Benedikt Fontana Cup, where they beat Ticino again, 5-1.

Players and managers

Notable players

• Mirco Oswald - captain^[9]

Managers

Name	Nationality	Year
Rudolf Schmid		2011
Gian-Marco Schmid		2011–2012
Ursin Caviezel		2012
Costantino Demenga		2012–2014
Arsim Ramizi		2014–2015
Alen Bratelj		2015–2016
Pascal Amrein		2016–2017
Aziz Agirman		2017–2020
Simone Fontana		2020–present

Competitive record

VIVA World Cup

VIVA World Cup Record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2006	did not qualify
2008
2009
2010
2012	Round of 8	8th	4	1	0	3	1	13

ConIFA World Football Cup

ConIFA World Football Cup Record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2014	did not qualify
2016	Round of 12	11th	4	0	1	3	3	23
2018	did not qualify
2024	Qualified

EUROPEADA European Championship

In 2008, 2010 and 2012 the Raetian national team was not at the tournament but a selection of the Rhaeto-Romance speaking part of the canton of Grisons.^{[clarification needed][10]}

Schedule

All time results and upcoming fixtures

Date	Place	Home	Guest	Score
17 March 2024	Switzerland, Chur	Raetia	Tibet Schweiz	11–1
6 August 2023	Switzerland, Domat/Ems	Raetia	Canton Ticino	5–1
17 June 2023	Switzerland, Tenero-Contra	Canton Ticino	Raetia	1–8
4 Februar 2023	Switzerland, Zürich	Raetia	Tibet Schweiz	2–5
13 November 2022	Netherlands, The Hague	West Papua	Raetia	1–1
7 August 2022	Switzerland, Chur	Raetia	Tibet Schweiz	3–3
16 July 2022	Italy, Capoliveri	Elba Island	Raetia	5–0
25 June 2019	Switzerland, Chur	Raetia	Franconia	3-4 (a.e.t.)
23 March 2019	Italy, Rome	Vatican City	Raetia	2–2
12 March 2017	Switzerland, Trubbach	Raetia	Tamil Eelam	0–5
3 June 2016	Abkhazia, Gagra	Chagos Islands	Raetia	3-3 (penalties 2-4)
2 June 2016	Abkhazia, Gagra	Székely Land	Raetia	7–0
31 May 2016	Abkhazia, Gagra	Northern Cyprus	Raetia	7–0
30 May 2016	Abkhazia, Gagra	Raetia	Padania	0–6
6 September 2015	Switzerland, Chur	Raetia	Franconia	6–0
8 November 2014	Romania, Sepsiszentgyörgy	Székely Land	Raetia	3–0
9 August 2014	Switzerland, Chur	Raetia	Sealand	1–6
29 May 2014	Germany, Lohr am Main	Franconia	Raetia	4–2
7 July 2013	Isle of Man, St John's	Tamil Eelam	Raetia	5–0
6 July 2013	Isle of Man, St John's	Raetia	Alderney	3–2
29 June 2013	France, La Chaux	Saugeais	Raetia	1–1
10 June 2012	France, Beausoleil	Monaco	Raetia	1–2
9 June 2012	Iraq, Arbil	Tamil Eelam	Raetia	4–0
8 June 2012	Iraq, Arbil	Western Sahara	Raetia	3–0
5 June 2012	Iraq, Arbil	Tamil Eelam	Raetia	0–1
4 June 2012	Iraq, Arbil	Zanzibar	Raetia	6–0
14 January 2012	Malta, Xewkija	Gozo	Raetia	17–1
4 December 2011	United Kingdom, Crawley	Chagos Islands	Raetia	6–1

Home stadium

Raetia does not have a national stadium as such, though major matches are usually played in Chur, Ems or Trin. Other large grounds which could be used include Vaduz and Bellinzona.

Colours

Raetia's traditional kit is a white jersey with black, accompanied by black shorts and socks while their current away kit is a royal blue shirt. As a reference to the 60th jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, Raetia has worn the blue shirts on 9 June 2012 against Tamil Eelam.

The colours blue-white-grey/black are the national colours of Raetia.

Raetias's historical kits

Collections of kits used by The Grisons

Home 2011

Away 2011

Home 2012

Away 2012–

Home 2012–2014

Home 2014–

Songs for competitions

Rapper Gimma made an unreleased song to encourage the national football team for the 2012 VIVA World Cup:

Series	Anthem / Song	Performer(s)	Writer(s) / Producer(s)
2012 VIVA World Cup	"FA RAETIA"	Gimma	Gimma

References

1. "FA Raetia, die etwas andere Fussball-Nationalmannschaft". suedostschweiz.ch.
2. "Punktmagazin". Punktmagazin.
3. "Chagos footballers to play Swiss team in friendly match". Chagossupport.org.uk. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
4. "Vermischtes: FA Rätia verliert ohne Gimma". Suedostschweiz.ch. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
5. "Gozo Vs FA Ratia". Gfa.com.mt. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
6. "2013 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers: STP's Mystery & Surprise". Footy-fever.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
7. "20 Minuten Online – "Das Swat-Team auf der Tribüne war belustigend" – Fussball". 20min.ch. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
8. "20 Minuten Online – Schweizer Kicker kämpften im Irak – Fussball". 20min.ch. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
9. "DIE FA RAETIA DUELLIERTE SICH MIT DER PAPST-ELF". grheute.ch.
10. "Rätoromanische Mannschaft an der Europeada 2012". Liarumantscha.ch. Retrieved 12 August 2012.