FC Winterthur is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

based in

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

. They play in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stadion Schützenwiese.

History

The club was founded in 1896 by students of the local school of engineering and following a fusion with two local teams, it was called ''Vereinigte Fussballclubs Winterthur'' between 1929 and 1946. They enjoyed their best success in the early part of the 20th century winning the Swiss Championship three times (in 1906, 1908 and 1917), before consecutive relegations in 1931 and 1934. They played in the lower leagues until regaining promotion to the Nationalliga B in 1950. They have since stayed in the second division for most of their history, except for several appearances in the Nationalliga A, from where they were most recently relegated in 1978 following a promotion ten years prior. Notable

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

from this period include Gabet Chapuisat,

Wolfgang Frank Wolfgang Frank (21 February 1951 – 7 September 2013) was a German football manager and player. Frank was born in Reichenbach an der Fils, and made a total of 215 appearances in the Bundesliga during his playing career, scoring 89 goals. Fo ...

, René Hüssy, Timo Konietzka, and Willy Sommer They famously lost to West Auckland F.C., an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

amateur team in what is thought to be the first international football club competition, the

Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is regarded as an early European trophy.Swiss League Cup in 1972 and 1973 and

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

in 1968 and 1975, however lost on every occasion. In 2005–06 season the club finished 14th place in the Challenge League. Despite performing poorly in the league, they made it to the semi finals of the

by defeating

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

and

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

, before losing to eventual winners

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Pl ...

at home. In the 2021-22 season, Winterthur were able to achieve a last round championship victory in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

, to gain their first promotion to the

. It will be the first time since 1982 that the team played in the top Swiss football league. It is their fourth victory in the second Swiss football league. Following their promotion, coach Alex Frei, who led the team during this successful season, departed the team to join

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

, along with assistant coach Davide Callà. They're replaced by

Bruno Berner Bruno George Berner (born 21 November 1977) is a Swiss professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of FC Winterthur in the Swiss Super League. Throughout his playing career, Berner played predominantly as a left back, bu ...

and Aurélien Mioch.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Former players

Stadium

The club play at Stadion Schützenwiese, a short walk from the centre of

, having done so since their inception in 1896. The first grandstand was built in 1922, and then replaced in 1957 using sponsorship money. In the 1980s the ownership was transferred to

council as the club faced financial problems. The council are responsible for any maintenance and upkeep. While once boasting a capacity of 14,987 before 2009, the stadium now holds 8,550 seats, 1,900 of which are seated. The more hardcore supporters of the club stand at one end, which is known as the Bierkurve. They also have a small stand for younger supporters known as the Sirupkurve. Away supporters are housed at the opposite end of the stadium to the Bierkurve.

Honours

:Winners (3): 1905-06, 1907-08, 1916-17 *

:Winners (4): 1965-66, 1967-68, 1981-82, 2021-22

Former coaches

Martin Rueda Martin Rueda (born 9 January 1963) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender. His parents are Spanish, coming from Málaga. He was most recently the interim head coach of Neuchâtel Xamax in the Swiss Super League. ...

(2000–2001) * Walter Grüter (2001) *

Urs Schönenberger Urs Schönenberger (born 21 February 1959) is a Swiss football manager and former player. References 1959 births Living people Swiss footballers FC Zürich players AC Bellinzona players FC Luzern players SC Kriens players FC Baden ...

(2001–2002) * Ivan Koritschan (2002–2003) * Hans-Joachim Weller (2003) * Gianni Dellacasa (2003–2004) * Mathias Walther (2004–2009) * Boro Kuzmanović (2009–2014) *

Jürgen Seeberger Jürgen Seeberger (born 25 March 1965) is a German football manager, who was most recently the coach of Liechtensteiner club FC Vaduz. Coaching career Seeberger was born in Konstanz. He started his managerial career at FC Schaffhausen in Swit ...

(2014–2015) * Alex Frei (2021-2022) *

(2022-)

References

External links

Official website

"Bierkurve Winterthur" supporters club

"Laufpass" – Fanzine

Soccerway.com profile

Football.ch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterthur Football clubs in Switzerland Association football clubs established in 1896 Winterthur 1896 establishments in Switzerland