No flight to the south

It would be warmer at training camp now

Gloves and hats instead of shorts and T-shirts - that's how the Ländle clubs (pictured: Lustenau's Namory Cisse) are training this spring.(Bild: Austria Lustenau)

Last season, the two (then) Ländle-Bundesliga clubs from Altach and Lustenau flew to Turkey for a training camp in January. This year, however, none of the Vorarlberg professional clubs left the country - neither the second division clubs Austria Lustenau and Bregenz, nor first division club Altach.

This means that the footballers in the Ländle are now training on snow-free pitches, but in freezing temperatures of up to -8 degrees Celsius. But that's not a problem if you have the right equipment. The team-building aspect - which is very strong in a training camp, where the team spends a week or more together and automatically bonds - is less important at home. However, the cost-benefit calculation of the Ländle clubs obviously did not recommend flights to the south this year.

First planned, but canceled
The Altach team had originally planned another trip to Turkey, and had even already scheduled it. In the end, however, both sporting director Roland Kirchler and coach Fabio Ingolitsch decided against it due to the good training conditions on their own campus.

The Lustenau team also had warm conditions at the short training camp in Schoppernau.(Bild: Austria Lustenau)

Good alternative
A repeat of last year's "trip" to Antalya was hardly on the agenda for Lustenau, who were relegated from the Bundesliga. Instead, Markus Mader and his team traveled to Schoppernau in the Bregenzerwald for a short training camp - a good alternative, and an inexpensive one at that, as it was financed by sponsors.

The Bregenz team started their preparations in New America.(Bild: Krone)

No time
And in Bregenz, a short-term change of scenery was not really discussed at all. For financial reasons, but also because there would hardly have been any time - the provincial capital team only started their five-week preparation this week and are already playing the ÖFB Cup quarter-finals at Wolfsberger AC at the end of the month. A training camp would probably have been stressful.