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 Internati ...

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 (Austri ...

, Canton of Zürich. 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 seaso ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

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 from this period include Gabet Chapuisat, Wolfgang Frank,

René Hüssy René Hüssy (born 29 August 1928 in Zürich, died 11 March 2007) was a Swiss football player and manager who played for Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Lausanne-Sport and managed the Switzerland national football team. Playing career Hüssy ...

, Timo Konietzka, and

Willy Sommer Willy Sommer (15 February 1925 – 9 July 2001) was a Swiss football striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team ...

They famously lost to

West Auckland F.C. West Auckland Town Football Club is a football club from West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England, competing in the Northern League, in the ninth tier of the English football league system. The club is most famous for being t ...

, an English amateur team in what is thought to be the first international football club competition, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy. The club have also reached the final of the

Swiss League Cup The Swiss League Cup was a football tournament which took place as a summer pre-season tournament in 1972 and 1973, and during the Swiss football season from 1974–75 to 1981–82. The tournament was a knockout competition contested by clubs fro ...

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 ...

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,

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

and Servette, before losing to eventual winners Sion at home. In the

2021-22 Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

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 Alexander Frei or Alex Frei (born 15 July 1979) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player who played as a forward. He is currently the manager of Basel. He began his career at Basel, going on to various other clubs in Switzerlan ...

, 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, a ...

, along with assistant coach

Davide Callà Davide Callà (born 6 October 1984) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player of Italian descent who played as midfielder. He is an assistant manager with FC Basel. Club career On 11 February 2014, FC Basel announced that they ...

. They're replaced by Bruno Berner 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 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, 1907-08, 1916-17 *

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

Former coaches

* Martin Rueda (2000–2001) * Walter Grüter (2001) * Urs Schönenberger (2001–2002) * Ivan Koritschan (2002–2003) *

Hans-Joachim Weller Hans-Joachim Weller (born 2 July 1946) is a German former football player and manager who played as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaki ...

(2003) *

Gianni Dellacasa Gianni Dellacasa (born 9 July 1961) is an Italian football manager. References 1961 births Living people Italian football managers AC Bellinzona managers FC Winterthur managers Neuchâtel Xamax FCS managers FC Sion managers US Crem ...

(2003–2004) * Mathias Walther (2004–2009) *

Boro Kuzmanović Borislav "Boro" Kuzmanović (born 2 December 1962) is a Croatian football coach and a former player. He is an assistant coach of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Playing career A midfielder, Kuzmanović began his footballing career in his native Croa ...

(2009–2014) * Jürgen Seeberger (2014–2015) *

(2021-2022) * Bruno Berner (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