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 ...
spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Due to the size, it has been divided into five sections. This page chronicles the history of FCB in detail for the years from World War II in 1939 to 1965. For detail on the other individual periods of the club's history, see the following articles:
*
History of FC Basel (1893–1918)
Fussball Club Basel 1893 has a long and illustrious history, that spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Having competed at the highest level of football in Switzerland for most of this time, FCB currently play in the Swiss Super League. T ...
*
History of FC Basel (1918–1939) Fussball Club Basel 1893 has a long and illustrious history, that spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Having competed at the highest level of football in Switzerland for most of this time, FCB currently play in the Swiss Super League. Th ...
*
History of FC Basel (1965–2000)
The history of FC Basel spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Due to the size, it has been divided into five sections. This page chronicles the history of FCB in detail for the years from 1965 to 2000, from Helmut Benthaus, then through se ...
*
History of FC Basel (2000–present)
Fussball Club Basel 1893 has a long and illustrious history, that spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Having competed at the highest level of football in Switzerland for most of this time, FCB currently play in the Swiss Super League. ...
Promotion, relegation, promotion
Forty-seventh, no promotion due to World War II
Albert Besse was the club's new chairman. He took over from Emil Junker at the AGM on 15 July 1939. Player-manager Fernand Jaccard had left the club after the relegation season to join
FC Locarno
FC Locarno is a Swiss football club based in Locarno in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ...
. The former players
Walter Dietrich
Walter Dietrich (24 December 1902 – 27 November 1979) was a Swiss footballer who started his active career by FC Basel. Via Forward Morges he moved to Servette and finally in the summer of 1925 to Eintracht Frankfurt and here he ended his act ...
and
Max Galler
Max Galler (27 February 1902, in Basel – 6 January 1970, in Basel) was a Swiss footballer who played for FC Basel and the Swiss national team. He played as defender or midfielder. He later became trainer as was trainer of the Basel team for th ...
took over as team co-managers.
After being relegated last season for the first time in the club's history, Basel played this season in the newly reorganized 1. Liga. Due to the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
on 1 September 1939 the start of the Swiss football championship was postponed until 22 October and the 1. Liga postponed until December. The
1939–40 Nationalliga
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1939–40 season.
Overview
It was contested by 12 teams, and Servette FC Genève
Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, ...
was played as "Championnat Suisse de Mobilisation" due to the war and the 1. Liga divided into five regional zones. There was to be no promotion and no relegation. Basel were allocated to 1. Liga group 3 (North-West Switzerland) together with
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...
,
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
,
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
and FC Birsfelden. The group was played in three round-robins.
Basel played a good season, in total including test matches they played 29 games, winning 22, drawing three and suffering four defeats. In total they scored 98 goals conceding 50. After winning their four test games in October, Basel started the season well in December winning the first seven matches straight off before suffering their first defeat at the beginning of April. At the end of the group stage Basel had won nine games drawn two and were defeated just once and with 20 points were five points above second placed Aarau. Basel advanced to the play-off stage. In the semi-final they won the round-robin against group four winners SC Brühl St. Gallen and group five winners
AC Bellinzona
AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948. After being folded in 2013 declaring bankruptcy, the team played the Ticino Group of 2.Liga, the sixth tier of the Swi ...
. Basel became 1. Liga champions winning the best of three final against
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
.
In the
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 ...
Basel started with a victory in the 2nd principal round away against lower tier
SC Zofingen
SC Zofingen is a Swiss association football, football club based in Zofingen, Canton Aargau which is a short distance from Zürich. It was founded on 10 August 1896. They currently play in the Swiss 1. Liga (football), Swiss 1. Liga, the third t ...
. In the next round they were again drawn away from home against lower tier SC Schöftland. This was won 4–1. In the next round Basel played in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
but were defeated and knocked out of the competition.
Forty-eighth, missed promotion
Albert Besse was the club's chairman for the second consecutive season. Former Swiss internationalEugen Rupf was appointed as manager. Basel played 27 matches in this season. 14 of these matches were in the 1. Liga, two in the play-offs, four in the
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 ...
and seven were friendly matches. Of these friendlies three were played at home in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
, four were away games. Five friendly games were won and two ended in a defeat.
Despite having been 1. Liga champions the previous season, Basel played this season in the 1. Liga as well because there had been no promotion to the top tier of Swiss football due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. This season, however, two promotions were planned. 24 teams competed in the 1.Liga, which was divided into three regional groups. Basel were allocated to the Central Group, together with local rivals
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
and FC Birsfelden. The further teams in this group were
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
,
FC Bern
Fussballclub Bern (FC Bern) is a football team from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, who currently play in the Gruppe 1, Bern/Jura canton of 2. Liga.
In 1921, the club won the Och Cup (that was considered as the former Swiss Cup
The ...
, US Bienne-Boujean and
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
. Basel and Aarau dominated their group, both teams winning 11 of their 14 group games. Basel suffered one sole defeat, and that against Aarau, but won the group with 24 points, one point above them, because they had been defeated twice. But in the promotion play-offs Basel were defeated by Cantonal Neuchatel and drew the game with
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
. Their two play-off opponents were thus promoted and Basel remained for another season in the 1 Liga.
Basel joined the
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 the 2nd principal round and were drawn at home to and beat
Old Boys
The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...
4–3. In round three Basel beat lower tier FC Allschwil and were drawn against higher tier
Nordstern Basel
FC Nordstern Basel is a football team from Basel, Switzerland. Currently playing in the Swiss 8th division, FC Nordstern Basel has spent 35 seasons in the Swiss top flight, last in 1982. They were runners-up in the Swiss league in 1924, 1927, and ...
in round four. After a 3–3 draw, Basel were knocked out when they lost the replay.
Forty-ninth, promotion and cup final
Albert Besse was the club's chairman for the third consecutive season. This was the club's third season in the 1st League (second flight of Swiss football) after being relegated from the Nationalliga in the 1938–39 season. Eugen Rupf was
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
for his second season. Basel played 38 games in their 1941–42 season. 22 in the league group, two in the play-offs, 10 in the cup and 4 were test games. They won 27 and drew eight, they were defeated only three times. In total they scored 114 goals and conceded just 33.
There were twenty four teams contesting in the 1st League in the 1941–42 season, twelve in group East and twelve in group West. The winner of each group were to play a play-off for promotion to the Nationalliga the following year. Basel were allocated to group East together with the two other local teams
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
and FC Birsfelden. Basel started the league season well. On 31 August 1941 in the first league game against SC Juventus Zürich their striker
Alex Mathys
Alex Mathys was a Swiss footballer who played from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. He played as a forward.
Mathys joined Basel's first team during their 1938–39 season under player-manager Fernand Jaccard. He made his domestic league deb ...
scored seven goals as Basel won by 10–1. In the game on 18 January 1942 against
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...
Basel won 11–0 and Erhard Grieder scored five goals. Basel finished their season as winners of group East. Basel managed 18 victories and 3 draws from their 22 games, just one defeat. With a total of 39 points, scoring 77 and conceding just 15 goals Basel were five points clear of second placed Blue Stars Zürich. The promotion play-offs were then against group West winners
FC Bern
Fussballclub Bern (FC Bern) is a football team from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, who currently play in the Gruppe 1, Bern/Jura canton of 2. Liga.
In 1921, the club won the Och Cup (that was considered as the former Swiss Cup
The ...
. The 1st leg was the away tie, this ended with a goalless draw. Basel won the 2nd leg at home at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
3–1 to achieve Promotion.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 2nd principal round and were drawn at home against local rivals
Old Boys
The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...
. Basel won 4–2 after extra time. In round 3 they were drawn at home and won 1–0 against another local team FC Birsfelden. The fourth round was another home tie and they beat the higher tier Nationalliga team
BSC Young Boys
BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...
by three goals to nil. The next round gave Basel another home tie against 1st League team
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...
and they completed an easy victory, winning 6–1. The quarter-final draw saw them playing at home again, this time against Nationlige team
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
. The game ended 1–1 after extra time. The two clubs could not agree on a date for the replay, therefore the winners were to be decided by lottery decision. Basel qualified on toss of a coin. The semi-final gave Basel their sixth home match and their third Nationalliga club
FC Grenchen
FC Grenchen is a Swiss football club, based in Grenchen. They currently play in the 2. Liga, and play their matches at the Brühl Stadium.
History
FC Grenchen was founded in 1906. In 1937 they gained promotion to the top league of Swiss ...
. On 29 March at
Stadion Rankhof
Stadion Rankhof is a football stadium in Basel, Switzerland. It has a capacity of 7,600 with 1,000 seats and 6,600 standing places. The record attendance of the original stadium was about 30,000 spectators. The stadium was rebuilt between 1993 and ...
the semi-final between Basel and Grenchen ended with a goalless draw after extra time. A replay, on 4 April, was required. In the
Gurzelen Stadion
Gurzelen Stadion was a multi-purpose stadium in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. It has mostly been used for football matches and was the home ground of FC Biel-Bienne. The capacity of the stadium was 5,500. Gurzelen Stadion was set to be demolished i ...
in
Biel/Bienne
Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Swi ...
the replay ended with a victory.
Hermann Suter
Hermann Suter (28 April 1870 – 22 June 1926) was a Swiss composer and conductor.
Biography
Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an o ...
scored both Basel goals as they won 2–0. Basel thus qualified for the final which was just two days later on 6 April in the
Wankdorf Stadion
The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted ...
in Bern against the Nationalliga team Grasshopper Club. The final ended goalless after extra time and a replay was required here as well. The replay did not take place until the end of May because the Nationalliga championship had ended with a heat and thus a play-off was required here too between the Grasshoppers and Grenchen. The cup final replay was on 25 May, again in the
Wankdorf Stadion
The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted ...
, against the then Nationalliga champions Grasshoppers. Basel led by half time through two goals by Fritz Schmidlin, but two goals from Grubenmann a third from Neukom gave the Grasshoppers a 3–2 victory. Thus the Grasshoppers won the
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
.
Fiftieth anniversary
Albert Besse was the club's chairman for the fourth consecutive season. Eugen Rupf was the team's
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
during this season and it was his third season as first team manager. Basel played 33 games in their 1942–43 season. 26 in the Nationalliga, three in the cup and four were test games. They won 12, drew five and lost 16 times. In total including the test games and the cup competition they scored 59 goals and conceded 67. Of the four test games three were won and one was drawn.
There were 14 teams contesting in the 1942–43 Nationalliga. The team that finished in last position in the league table would be relegated. Rupf and his team had won promotion the previous season and thus it was clear that this was going to be a difficult year. Things started badly and five of the first six games ended with a defeat. Shortly before Christmas, Basel suffered their biggest defeat of the season, a 1–9 dubbing by
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 ...
. However, despite this defeat, with the following 3–0 away game victory against their direct opponents
Luzern
, neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...
, who also playing at risk of relegation near the bottom of the table, and a 2–0 home game victory against their other direct opponents Nordstern, Basel ended the season with 18 points in 13th position, just two points above local rivals Nordstern, who ended the season on the relegation spot. Of their 26 league games Basel won seven, drew four and lost 15 times. They scored 29 league goals and conceded 57.
Hermann Suter
Hermann Suter (28 April 1870 – 22 June 1926) was a Swiss composer and conductor.
Biography
Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an o ...
was the team's top league goal scorer with six goals. Erich Andres and Rodolfo Kappenberger were joint second best scorers, each with five goals.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 4th principal round with a home tie at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against lower tier local side FC Pratteln. This ended with an expected easy 6–0 victory. In the round of 16 Basel were also allocated with a home match against lower tier
SV Schaffhausen
SV Schaffhausen is a Swiss football club based in Schaffhausen, in the north of the country. It was founded in 1922. The club colors are black and white. The club nickname is "Spielvi." The club operates a total of twenty teams, including 4 men's ...
.
Hermann Suter
Hermann Suter (28 April 1870 – 22 June 1926) was a Swiss composer and conductor.
Biography
Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an o ...
and Fritz Schmidlin were both able to achieve a hat-trick and Basel won 9–2. Then in the quarter-finals Basel were drawn at home against top tier
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
. However, a 0–2 defeat ended their presence in this season's cup competition.
Fifty-first season
Team manager Eugen Rupf left the club following the last season and Willy Wolf was appointed as Basel's new team manager. Basel played 41 games in their 1943–44 season. 26 in the Nationalliga, five in the cup and ten were test games. They won 18, drew 11 and lost 12 times. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they scored 83 goals and conceded 65.
There were 14 teams contesting in the 1943–44 Nationalliga. The team that finished in last position in the league table would be relegated. Basel played a mediocre season, winning nine matches, drawing eight and suffered nine defeats they ended the season with 26 points in 9th position. Lausanne-Sport won the Swiss championship,
Luzern
, neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...
were relegated. Alfred Weisshaar was Basel's top league goal scorer with 15 goals, joint second league scorer with
Alfred Bickel
Alfred Bickel, also referred to as Fredy Bickel (12 May 1918 – 18 August 1999) was a Swiss football player and coach. He played as a forward for local club Grasshopper Club Zürich and the Switzerland national team, participating with the ...
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 ...
Basel started in the round of 32 with a home tie at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against lower tier local side
Nordstern Basel
FC Nordstern Basel is a football team from Basel, Switzerland. Currently playing in the Swiss 8th division, FC Nordstern Basel has spent 35 seasons in the Swiss top flight, last in 1982. They were runners-up in the Swiss league in 1924, 1927, and ...
. This was won 4–1. In the round of 16 they had a home tie and won 6–2 against
. Hans Vonthron's goal was the only goal of the game and Basel qualified for the final. This was played on 10 April in
Wankdorf Stadium
The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted se ...
in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
Roger Courtois
Roger Courtois (30 May 1912 – 5 May 1972) was a French football player and manager. He played as a striker.
International career
Born in Switzerland to French parents, Courtois represented the France national team at the FIFA World Cup 193 ...
during the last five minutes of the match meant that Basel lost the game 0–3 and Lausanne won the national double.
Fifty-second, relegation
Emil Junker was the club's new chairman. He took over from Albert Besse following the AGM on 8 July 1944. Max Barras was appointed as new first team manager. Basel played 43 games in their 1944–45 season. 28 in the Nationalliga (including two replayed games), three in the
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 ...
and 12 were test games. They won 14, drew 10 and lost 19 times. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they scored 86 goals and conceded 82.
There were 14 teams contesting in the 1944–45 Nationalliga A. The two teams that finished in last and second last position in the league table would be relegated. Basel played a bad season, winning just six matches, drawing six and they suffered 14 defeats, thus they ended the season with 18 points in 13th position, second last. Two of the games during the season were played under protest and were later replayed. These were the games on 24 September 1944 against
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
and on 29 April 1945 against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
. The protest was because Basel could not field their best teams due to the military duties of their players. Both replayed games ended with a defeat. Grasshopper Club won the Swiss championship, Basel and
were relegated. After just three seasons in the top flight of Swiss football, Basel suffered relegation again.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 3rd principal round with an away tie against lower tier local side FC Allschwil and a 6–0 victory. In the round of 32 Basel had a home game at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against lower tier
SC Zofingen
SC Zofingen is a Swiss association football, football club based in Zofingen, Canton Aargau which is a short distance from Zürich. It was founded on 10 August 1896. They currently play in the Swiss 1. Liga (football), Swiss 1. Liga, the third t ...
which ended with a 3–1 win. In the round of 16 Basel travelled to an away game against
Emil Junker was the club's chairman. It was his second year as president of the club. Max Barras was first team manager for the second season. Basel played a total of 42 games in their 1945–46 season. Of these 26 in the Nationalliga B, three in the
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 ...
and 13 were test games. The test games resulted with seven victories, one draw and five defeats. In total, they won 28 games, drew six and lost eight times. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they scored 141 goals and conceded 55.
Basel had suffered relegation the previous season and their clear aim was to obtain immediate promotion. The Nationalliga B was contested by 14 teams. The two teams that finished at the top of the division were to be promoted. Basel played a good season, winning 19 league matches, drawing five, losing only two matches. Thus they ended the season with 43 points in 1st position four points ahead of
Urania Genève Sport
Urania Genève Sport is a Swiss omnisport club based in Geneva. Its football section was founded in 1896.
The current club was born in 1922 through a merger between FC Urania and FC Genève.
Its main title is the Swiss cup, won in 1929 agains ...
in 2nd position and these two clubs won promotion.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 3rd principal round with an away tie against lower tier local side SC Schöftland this ended with a 5–1 victory. In the round of 32 Basel had an away game against Nationalliga B team
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
which ended with a 4–0 win. In the round of 16 Basel had a home game at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against higher tier
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 ...
and were knocked out of the competition.
Jules Düblin, chairman 1946–1959
Fifty-fourth, second cup title
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
was the club's new chairman and took over this position from Emil Junkerat the club's AGM. Düblin had been player for FC Basel in the years 1919–1926 and had been on the club's board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private art collector. He presided the club during the period July 1946 until Mai 1959. Thus in the club's history he is the most permanent president that the club has had to date. As President of the club he joined the Swiss Football League (SFL) and was appointed honorary Member in 1965.
After his playing career the Austrian ex-international
Anton Schall
Anton Schall (22 June 1907 – 5 August 1947) was an Austrian football forward who played for the celebrated Austrian national side of the early 1930s that became known as the ''Wunderteam''. He also played for Admira Vienna, and later managed ...
, who suffered from a rare heart condition, moved to Switzerland and took over Basel as club trainer for the 1946–47 season. Basel played a total of 39 games in this season. Of these 26 in the Nationalliga A, six in the
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 ...
and seven were test games. The test games resulted with three victories, three draws and one defeat. In total, they won 21 games, drew eight and lost 10 times. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they scored 111 goals and conceded 65.
There were fourteen teams contesting in the
1946–47 Nationalliga A
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1946–47 season.
Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and FC Biel-Bienne
Fussballclub Biel-Bienne is a Swiss association football club based in Biel/Bienne. The currently play in the 2. Liga Int ...
. Basel finished their season in fourth position in the table, with twelve victories from 26 games, scoring in total 60 goals. In the
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 ...
Basel started in round 3 with a home match against local team
Black Stars Basel
FC Black Stars Basel is a football club from Basel, Switzerland.
Since the season 2012/2013 they play in Group 2 of the 1. Liga Classic
1. Liga Classic (1st League Classic in English) is the fourth tier of the Swiss football league system. ...
, the game was won 3– 2. In round 4 they had an away tie against
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
which was won 2–1. Round 5 gave Basel another home tie in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against another local club Nordstern and this ended with a 6–1 victory. Thus they advanced to the quarter-finals and were matched against the
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 ...
. The Grasshoppers were beaten 2–1. In the semi-final goals from top scorers
Traugott Oberer
Traugott Oberer (30 November 1924 – 19 April 1974) was a Swiss footballer who played as a forward or, in later years, as midfielder during the 1940s and 1950s.
Club football
Oberer started his football with FC Basel and advanced to their first ...
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
. Therefore, Basel advanced to the Cup-Final, which was played in the
Stadion Neufeld
Stadion Neufeld is a multi-use stadium in Bern, Switzerland. It is the home ground of FC Bern and the junior team of BSC Young Boys. The capacity of the stadium is 14,000 spectators, including 3000 seats.
BSC Young Boys used the stadium from 2001/ ...
in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
on 7 April 1947. Basel won the final 3–0 against Lausanne Sport and thus their second cup title. In the Final Paul Stöcklin scored two goals and Bader the other. Schall led Basel to win the Cup, but he died shortly afterwards at the age of 40 years during a workout on the football field. Following this unhappy event captain Ernst Hufschmid later took over as team coach.
Fifty-fifth, Anton Schall
Düblin was the club's chairman for the second successive season.
Anton Schall
Anton Schall (22 June 1907 – 5 August 1947) was an Austrian football forward who played for the celebrated Austrian national side of the early 1930s that became known as the ''Wunderteam''. He also played for Admira Vienna, and later managed ...
was to continue as first team manager, but he died at the age of 40 years, during a workout on the football field, shortly after the pre-season training had begun. Following this unhappy event captain Ernst Hufschmid then took over as
player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
. Basel played a total of 46 games in this season. Of these 26 in the Nationalliga A, four in the
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 ...
and 16 were test games. The test games resulted with eight victories, three draws and five defeats. In total, they won 18 games, drew 13 and lost 15 times. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they scored 100 goals and conceded 93.
There were fourteen teams contesting in the
1947–48 Nationalliga A
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1947–48 season.
Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and AC Bellinzona won the championship.
League standings
Results
Sources
Switzerland 1947–48 at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1947-48 Nationalliga ...
, the bottom two teams in the table to be relagted. Suffering under the shock of team manager Schall's death, the team started the season badly, losing six of their first eleven games without a single victory. With seven victories in the second half of the season the team were able to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. Basel finished the season in 10th position in the table, with seven victories from 26 games, ten draws and they lost nine times. The team scored 44 goals in the domestic league.
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...
won the championship.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in round 3 with a home match against SC Balerna, the game was won 7–0. In round 4 Basel were drawn with a home tie against
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
which was won 2–1. Round 5 gave Basel another home tie in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
and this ended with a 5–3 victory. Thus Basel advanced to the quarter-finals, where they were drawn away against
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
. The hosts won the game by two goals to nil and continued to the semi-final and the final. The final was played on 29 March at
Wankdorf Stadium
The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted se ...
in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
and ended with a 2–2 draw. The replay three weeks later was also drawn 2–2 and so a second replay was required. This was played on 27 June in the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in
. La Chaux-de-Fonds won the trophy, winning the game by four goals to nil.
Fifty-sixth season
Düblin was the club's chairman for the third successive season. Ernst Hufschmid who had functioned as
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
the previous season continued in the function as player-manager this season as well. Basel played a total of 36 games in this season. Of these 26 in the Nationalliga A, four in the
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 ...
and six were test games. The test games resulted with two victories, three draws and one defeat. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they won 17 games, drew 11 and lost eight times. In the 36 games they scored 75 goals and conceded 49. There were fourteen teams contesting in the 1948–49 Nationalliga A, the bottom two teams in the table to be relelgated. Basel started the season badly, losing three of the first four away games. Things changed in Autumn and they lost only one of the following eleven matches and they climbed to the upper end of the table. At the end of the season Basel had risen to second position, but were seven points behind the new champions
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
. Basel won 13 of the 26 games and were defeated six times.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in round 3 with an away match against lower tier
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 ...
, which was won 2–1. In round 4 Basel were drawn with an away tie against local rivals and lower tier
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
, this was won. In round five Basel were matched against Grasshopper Club with another away game. This was drawn and a replay was required, which was held at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
on 22 January 1949, but ended with a defeat and GC advanced to the next round.
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 ...
won the cup as they beat GC 3–0 in the final.
Fifty-seventh season
Düblin was the club's chairman for the fourth successive season. Ernst Hufschmid, who had functioned as
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
the previous two seasons, continued in this function this season. Basel played a total of 41 games in this season. Of these 26 in the Nationalliga A, five in the Swiss Cup and ten were test games. The test games resulted with three victories and seven defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they won 21 games, drew five and lost 15 times. In the 41 games they scored 78 goals and conceded 75.
There were fourteen teams contesting in the 1949–50 Nationalliga A, the bottom two teams in the table to be relegated. Basel started the season well, winning six of the first seven games and things continued well. Basel stayed in contention of the championship. But at the end of the season they lost their last two games and finished in second position, two points behind the new champions
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 ...
who won their last two games. Basel won 14 games, drew five and were defeated seven times, they scored 48 goals as they gained their 33 points. Gottlieb Stäuble with 13 goals was the team's best scorer and eighth best league scorer.
Basel started in the third round of the Swiss Cup with an away match against lower tier FC Porrentruy. This was won. In round four Basel were drawn away against Grasshopper Club and this too was won. In the round of 16 and the quarter-final Basel played at home and won against
Wil
Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...
and then against
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...
respectively. However Lausanne-Sport won the semi-final and continued to the final and they won the trophy.
Fifty-eighth season
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
was the club's chairman for the fifth successive season. Ernst Hufschmid, who had functioned as
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
the previous three seasons, continued in this function this year. Curiosity, Hufschmid played only in one match this season and it was his last active match as player and this he played as goalkeeper. On 10 August 1950 Football Club Basel played against Eishockey Club Basel. This was a return game for the ice hockey game EHC-FCB in December 1949. The football team won the football match 14–5. Goalkeeper Walter Müller played as striker and he scored six goals. Basel played a total of 40 games in this season. Of these 26 games were in the domestic league, three games were in the
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 ...
and eleven were test games. The test games resulted with eight victories, one was drawn and two ended with defeats
As in the previous seasons, there were fourteen teams contesting in the 1950–51 Nationalliga A and the bottom two teams in the table to be relegated. Basel played a mediocre season and throughout the season they were in the midfield of the table. At the end of the season Basel won their last two games and finished in fourth position level on points with
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
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 ...
, six points behind the new champions Lausanne-Sport. Basel won 12 games, drew four and were defeated ten times, they scored 62 goals and conceded 51 as they gained their 28 points. Josef "Seppe" Hügi was the team's best scorer and 2nd best league scorer. He netted 21 league goals. In the 3rd principal round of the
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 ...
on 29 October 1950 in the away match against FC Münchenstein Gottlieb Stäuble had a good day and scored a hat-trick as the team won 6–0 to qualify for the next round. In round 4 Basel were drawn away against
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
Walter Müller and defenderWerner Wenk were both sent off and Locarno won the game. Locarno later advanced to the final, but here were defeated by
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
who thus won the trophy.
Fifty-ninth season
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
was the club's chairman for the sixth successive season. Ernst Hufschmid, who had functioned as
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
the previous four seasons, continued as team manager this season. Basel played a total of 42 games in this season. Of these 26 games were in the domestic league, five games were in the
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 ...
and eleven were test games. The test games resulted with four victories, two were drawn and five ended with defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they won 22 games, drew five and lost 15 times. In the 42 games they scored 123 and conceded 87 goals.
The newly built stadium
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
was opened on the weekend of 18 and 19 August 1951. There were larger spectator stands, new meeting rooms, changing rooms and a brand new restaurant. The buildings had cost 700,000 Swiss Francs and had taken two years to complete, during this time the team had to play all their games at the
Stadion Schützenmatte
Stadion Schützenmatte is a sports stadium with track and field facilities in the Bachletten quartier in Basel, Switzerland. It is the home ground of BSC Old Boys Basel and, together, the pitch and tennis courts make up the western part of the ...
. The pitch had been newly laid out and its opening was accompanied by a two-day international football tournament, competed by Austrian team
First Vienna
First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly k ...
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
. On both days there were over six thousand people celebrating the big party, even though their team lost 2–3 against Vienna and even 1–7 against Sochaux. It was a big hope that these new conditions would also change the fortunes of the club to the better, because nearly 60 years had passed since the club's foundation without a championship. The Basel fans were becoming frustrated, because 36 of the first 52 championships had gone to the cities of
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, Geneva or
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
. Even small towns such as
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
,
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
,
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...
,
Biel/Bienne
Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Swi ...
,
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 ...
.
As in the previous seasons, there were fourteen teams contesting in the
1951–52 Nationalliga A
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1951–52 season.
Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and Grasshopper Club Zürich won the championship.
League standings
Results
Sources
Switzerland 1951–52 at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1951-52 Na ...
and the bottom two teams in the league table were to be relegated. Basel played a good start to the season. They won the first six games straight off. But they lost four of the next five games and slipped in the league table. However, winning the last three games before and the first three games after the winter break, they were again in contention for the league championship. Suddenly, towards the end of the season, they lost five games in a row and lost contact to the table top. At the end of the season Basel finished in fourth position, seven points behind the new champions Grasshopper Club. The hopeful fans were again frustrated by this fact. The team Basel had won 14 games, drew three games and were defeated nine times. The team scored 68 goals and conceded 47 as they obtained their 31 points. Josef "Seppe" Hügi was team's and the league's best goal scorer with 24 league goals.
Basel started in the 3rd principal round of the
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 ...
on 4 November 1951 with a home game against lower tier
Wettingen
Wettingen is a residential community in the district of Baden in the Swiss canton of Aargau. With a population about 20,000, Wettingen is the second-largest municipality in the canton.
Geography
Wettingen is located on the right bank of the Li ...
and won 7–0. In the next round against Nationalliga A team
they won 3–2 and again in the following round against Nationalliga A team
Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...
by three goals to one. In the quarter-finals Basel beat
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 ...
and faced Grasshopper Club in the semi-final. The Grasshoppers won this game in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
and progressed to the final, in which they beat
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
and thus won the double.
Sixtieth, the first league title
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
was the club's chairman for the seventh successive season. At the beginning of the
1952–53 Nationalliga A
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1952–53 season.
Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and 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 ...
season, René Bader took over the job as club trainer from Ernst Hufschmid, who had acted as trainer the previous five years. Bader acted as
player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
and Willy Dürr was his assistant; Dürr stood at the side line when Bader played. Basel played a total of 43 games during this season. Of these 26 games were in the domestic league, four games were in the
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 ...
and 13 were test games. The test games resulted with seven victories, three were drawn and three ended with defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they won 27 games, drew 11 and lost only five times.
There were fourteen teams contesting in the league. Basel won 17 of the 26 games, losing only once, and they scored 72 goals conceding 38. Basel won the championship four points clear of Young Boys in second position and ten points ahead of
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
who were third. It was Basel's first league title.
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
was the team's top league goal scorer. He shared the title of the league top scorer with Eugen Meier (Young Boys) both having netted 32 times during the season. In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 3rd principal round with a 10–0 win against Helvetia Bern and in the 4th round they beat
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
. All three games were home ties. In the quarter-finals Basel were drawn away against Servette Genève and the tie went into extra time, Basel then losing 3–4.
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
, for the second consecutive season. Basel played a total of 41 games during their 1953–54 season. Of these 41 matches 26 were in the domestic league, one match was in the
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 ...
and 14 were test or friendly matches. The test/friendly games resulted with five victories, one was drawn, but eight matches ended with a defeat. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, 16 games were won, three were drawn and 22 were lost. In their 41 games they scored 93 goals and conceded 111.
There were fourteen teams contesting in the 1953–54 Nationalliga A, the last two teams in the table were to be relegated. Basel won 11 of their 26 games and drew twice, but lost 13 matches. They scored 55 goals and conceded 62. Basel ended the championship with 24 points in 8th position. They were 18 points behind
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
who became Swiss Champions.
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
was the Basel's top league goal scorer with 30 goals and thus the league top goal scorer. Basel joined the
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 the 3rd principal round with a home match in the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
. The only goal of the match fell a couple of minutes before the final whistle and Basel were knocked out of the competition in this round.
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
, for the third consecutive season with Willy Dürr as his assistant. However, in this season Bader only played in one test match. Basel played a total of 43 games during their 1954–55 season. Of these 43 matches 26 were in the domestic league, three matches were in the
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 ...
and 14 were test or friendly matches. The test/friendly games resulted with five victories, two were drawn and seven matches ended with a defeat. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, 17 games were won, six were drawn and 20 were lost. In their 41 games they scored 101 goals and conceded 98.
In the league championship, Basel won 10 of their 26 games and drew four times and lost 12 times. They scored 47 goals and conceded 52. Basel ended the championship with 24 points in 9th position. They were 18 points behind
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
who won the Swiss Championship for the second time in a row.
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
was Basel's top league goal scorer with 20 goals and he was third top goal scorer in the league behind Marcel Mauron from
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
who had scored 30 times. Basel joined the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn away against lower tier local team FC Riehen, but the match was played at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
and Basel won 6–0. In the fourth round they were drawn at home to lower tier FC Olten and Basel won 2–0. In the fifth round Basel were drawn at home to
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
. But here they were knocked out of the competition.
Sixty-third season
During the previous four or five years the number of players joining and leaving the club was increasing considerably. The other Swiss clubs politics of buying new players was increasing strongly and transfer fees rose rapidly in this period. Basel, under the leadership of
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
, were trying to stay clear of this transfer trading. But because at the beginning of the previous season they had lost important players, such as goalkeeper Gianfranco de Taddeo to Cantonal Neuchatel, midfielder Kurt Maurer to
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
, the Basel board of directors were changing their approach to the subject. Düblin explained the situation at the AGM and the club members gave him the rights to strengthen the team.
Béla Sárosi
Béla Sárosi (15 May 1919 – 15 June 1993) was a Hungarian Association football, football player and manager.
He played for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna, A.S. Bari, Bari, Junior Barranquilla, F.C. Porto, Porto, ...
was hired as new team manager. Various transfers were made,
Werner Schley
Werner Schley (born 25 January 1935 – 30 May 2007) was a Swiss footballer who played as a goalkeeper during the 1950s and 1960s. Schley was born in Basel and he died whilst he was in Mallorca, Spain.
Football career Club career
Schley playe ...
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...
Concordia Hamburg
SC Concordia von 1907 was a German football club from Marienthal, a quarter in the Wandsbek borough of the city of Hamburg. In 2013, the club has merged with neighbours TSV Wandsbek-Jenfeld 81'(already having used their ground for a couple of y ...
. The exact amount that this all cost is not recorded, but the club needed to take up credits, one of which came from the city of Basel over the amount of 30,000 Swiss Francs.
As mentioned
Béla Sárosi
Béla Sárosi (15 May 1919 – 15 June 1993) was a Hungarian Association football, football player and manager.
He played for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna, A.S. Bari, Bari, Junior Barranquilla, F.C. Porto, Porto, ...
was hired in as new team manager. The Hungarian ex-international footballer had been team manager by
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
the previous two seasons. He replaced René Bader who continued as player. There were fourteen teams contesting in the 1955–56 Nationalliga A, these were the top 12 teams from the previous season and the two newly promoted teams
Urania Genève Sport
Urania Genève Sport is a Swiss omnisport club based in Geneva. Its football section was founded in 1896.
The current club was born in 1922 through a merger between FC Urania and FC Genève.
Its main title is the Swiss cup, won in 1929 agains ...
and
FC Schaffhausen
FC Schaffhausen is a Swiss football team from the town of Schaffhausen. The club plays in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football.
Honours League
Swiss Challenge League
*Winners: 1962-63, 2003–04
Cup
Swiss Cup
*Runners-up: ...
. Again this season, the bottom two teams in the table were to be relegated. Basel won 10 of their 26 games and drew six times and lost 10 times. They scored 47 goals and conceded 50. Basel ended the championship with 26 points in 7th position. They were 16 points behind new champions Grasshopper Club.
Basel joined the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn away against lower tier local team
SC Binningen
Sport Club Binningen is a Swiss football club based in Binningen.
Founded in 1920, the club competes in 2. Liga, the fifth tier of the Swiss Football League. They play at Spiegelfeld, a stadium in Binningen which opened in 2005 and has a capaci ...
, but because they waived the home advantage the match was played at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
and Basel won 5–0. Rolf Keller scored a hat-trick in this game. In the fourth round they were drawn at home to lower tier
FC Emmenbrücke
FC Emmenbrücke are a Swiss football team with its home in the city of Emmen, currently playing in the Swiss 1. Liga (football), the fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. The club was formed in 1921. Their best result in the yo ...
and Basel won 6–2. Josef Hügi scored a hat-trick in this game. In the fifth round Basel were drawn at home to
. Gottlieb Stäuble scored a hat-trick and Basel won 7–3. In the quarter-finals basel were drawn away against Cantonal Neuchatel, but here they were knocked out of the competition.
Sixty-fourth season
The Hungarian ex-international footballer
Béla Sárosi
Béla Sárosi (15 May 1919 – 15 June 1993) was a Hungarian Association football, football player and manager.
He played for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna, A.S. Bari, Bari, Junior Barranquilla, F.C. Porto, Porto, ...
who had been hired in as new team manager the previous season continued as coach this season. Basel played a total of 41 games this season. Of these 41 matches 26 were in the domestic league, three matches were in the
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 ...
and 12 were friendly matches. The friendly games resulted with five victories, two were drawn and five friendlies ended with a defeat. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, 21 games were won, seven were drawn and 13 were lost. In their 41 games they scored 78 and conceded 65 goals.
Basel won 15 of their 26 league games and drew four times and lost seven times. They scored 53 goals and conceded 48. Basel ended the championship with 34 points in 4th position. They were 11 points behind the new champions Young Boys. Basel joined the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn away against lower tier local team SC Burgdorf and won 1–0. In the fourth round they were drawn away to lower tier
Luzern
, neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...
and this ended in a goalless draw after over time. The replay was held at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
but here Basel were knocked out.
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
won the competition.
Sixty-fifth season
The Austrian ex-international footballer
Rudi Strittich
Rudi Strittich (3 March 1922 – 11 July 2010) was an Austrian association football, football coach and former player.
Club career
Strittich debuted for SK Vorwärts Steyr, Vorwärts Steyr, and later played for First Vienna FC. While with First ...
was hired as new team manager this season. Basel played a total of 42 games this season. Of these 42 matches 26 were in the domestic league, two were in the
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 ...
and 14 were friendly matches. The friendly games resulted with seven victories and seven defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, 17 games were won, six games were drawn and 19 games were lost. In their 42 games the team scored 107 goals and conceded 87.
Basel won nine of their 26 league games and drew six times and lost eleven times. They scored 59 goals and conceded 53. Basel ended the championship with 24 points in 9th position. They were 19 points behind Young Boys who were able to defend their championship title. Basel joined the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn at home at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against lower tier local team FC Olten on 2 November 1957. Hans Weber scored five goals during the second half of the game as Basel won 8–0. In the fourth round Basel were also drawn at home against lower tier
FC Bern
Fussballclub Bern (FC Bern) is a football team from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, who currently play in the Gruppe 1, Bern/Jura canton of 2. Liga.
In 1921, the club won the Och Cup (that was considered as the former Swiss Cup
The ...
, but here Basel were knocked out. Young Boys won the competition and thus completed the double.
Sixty-sixth season
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
was the club's chairman for his 13th successive, but final, period. Düblin presided the club during the period July 1946 until Mai 1959 and in the club's history he is the most permanent president that the club has had to date. The Austrian ex-international footballer
Rudi Strittich
Rudi Strittich (3 March 1922 – 11 July 2010) was an Austrian association football, football coach and former player.
Club career
Strittich debuted for SK Vorwärts Steyr, Vorwärts Steyr, and later played for First Vienna FC. While with First ...
was team manager for the second successive season. The club directors and the team management strengthened the team following the previous disappointing season.
Bruno Michaud
Bruno Michaud (14 October 1935 — 1 November 1997) was a Swiss footballer and manager who played as a defender mainly for FC Basel and the Swiss national football team.
Club career
Michaud started his football in the youth teams of Basel. He w ...
Roberto Frigerio
Roberto "Mucho" Frigerio (born 16 May 1938 in Le Havre, France) is a retired Swiss professional football forward who played for Switzerland in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...
and
Antoine Kohn
Antoine "Spitz" Kohn (1 November 1933 – 24 November 2012) was a Luxembourg football player and football manager.
Club career
Kohn played as a striker, and spent most of his career plying his trade abroad, in Germany, Switzerland, and ...
from
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...
. But on 30 November 1958 Basel were beaten 0–2 by FC Moutier, a team from the 1 Liga (third highest tier of Swiss football), and because the Basel had lost their previous three league matches this was one bad result too many. Even for club chairman
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
, who was known as prudent and cautious, this was too much and he replaced Strittich through their ex-trainer René Bader.
Basel played a total of 50 games this season. Of these 50 matches 26 were in the domestic league, two were in the
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 ...
and 22 were friendly matches. The friendly games resulted with twelve victories, five draws and five defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, 24 games were won, 10 games were drawn and 16 games were lost. Basel started badly into the new season, losing the first game 1–2 against
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
and then losing at home 1–4 against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
. Then, despite two high wins, 5–0 away against Lausanne-Sport and 6–1 at home against
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...
, the afore mentioned three defeats against Young Boys,
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and Grasshopper Club caused the change in manager position. But under the new manager things did not change immediately, the lowest point was after round 15 as the team slipped to second last position in the table. But in the last 11 rounds the team lost only one more match and rose in the table to sixth position.
Basel entered the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn at home at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against third tier local team
Old Boys
The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...
. The match was played on 26 October and despite the fact that former Basel goalkeeper Gianfranco de Taddeo, who now played for the Old Boys, held a penalty taken by Hans Weber, Basel won 3–0. In the next round Basel were drawn and lost against FC Moutier. Thus Basel's short and disappointing cup season ended here. As mentioned before, the consequence of this defeat was that team manager
Rudi Strittich
Rudi Strittich (3 March 1922 – 11 July 2010) was an Austrian association football, football coach and former player.
Club career
Strittich debuted for SK Vorwärts Steyr, Vorwärts Steyr, and later played for First Vienna FC. While with First ...
was fired.
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
won the cup this season.
Ernst Weber, chairman 1959–1962
Sixty-seventh season
Ernst Weber was the club's new chairman taking over from
Jules Düblin
Jules Düblin (30 August 1895 – 1992) was a Swiss footballer and athlete. He played for FC Basel, mainly as a forward. Later he was member of the FC Basel board of directors. He was doctor, banker and politician, became author and private ar ...
after the AGM on 27 May 1959. Düblin presided the club during the period July 1946 until Mai 1959 and in the club's history he is the most permanent president that the club has had to date.
Jenő Vincze
Jenő Vincze ''( sr, Eugen Vince)'' (20 November 1908 – 20 November 1988) was a Hungarians, Hungarian footballer and a legend of Újpest FC, most famous for playing for the Hungary national football team, Hungarian national team in the 1938 FI ...
was hired as new team manager, following René Bader who had been trainer ad-interim. The Hungarian ex-international footballer Vincze had been team manager of
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 ...
the previous two seasons. Hans Hügi moved on to Young Fellows Zürich after 11 seasons and 220 league and cup games for Basel.
Hermann Suter
Hermann Suter (28 April 1870 – 22 June 1926) was a Swiss composer and conductor.
Biography
Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an o ...
, who had played 16 seasons for Basel and in 229 league and cup games had scored 104 goals, ended his active football career.
Antoine Kohn
Antoine "Spitz" Kohn (1 November 1933 – 24 November 2012) was a Luxembourg football player and football manager.
Club career
Kohn played as a striker, and spent most of his career plying his trade abroad, in Germany, Switzerland, and ...
moved on to play for Fortuna '54.
Basel played a total of 44 games this season. Of these 44 matches 26 were in the domestic league, four were in the
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 ...
and 14 were friendly matches. Basel started badly into the new season, losing five of the first seven games. In fact, the team won only one of their first 16 games and were always in the lower regions of the league table. However, with five victories in their last ten league matches, the team lifted themselves to tenth position in the table. Reigning and new champions were Young Boys who won the championship for the fourth successive season. Basel's top league goal scorers were
Roberto Frigerio
Roberto "Mucho" Frigerio (born 16 May 1938 in Le Havre, France) is a retired Swiss professional football forward who played for Switzerland in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
both of whom managed 15 league goals.
Basel entered the Cup in the third principal round. They were drawn away against third tier SC Derendingen and won 1–0 through a goal by their Hungarian striker Ferenc Stockbauer. In the next round Basel were drawn at home at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against lower tier team FC Porrentruy and this ended with a 5–2 victory. In the round of 16 Basel played a home 1–1 draw with the Young Boys, but then lost the replay 3–5.
Luzern
, neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...
won the competition winning the final against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
.
Sixty-eighth season
Ernst Weber was the club's chairman for his second consecutive season and
Jenő Vincze
Jenő Vincze ''( sr, Eugen Vince)'' (20 November 1908 – 20 November 1988) was a Hungarians, Hungarian footballer and a legend of Újpest FC, most famous for playing for the Hungary national football team, Hungarian national team in the 1938 FI ...
was Basel's team manager also for the second season. Basel played a total of 43 games this season. Of these 43 matches 26 were in the domestic league, one was in the
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 ...
and 16 were friendly matches. Of these test matches five were played as hosts and 11 were played away, 12 were won, two were drawn and two ended with a defeat. The two defeats were suffered at the
Landhof
The Landhof was a sports stadium in the district Basel-Wettstein in Kleinbasel, Basel. It was the former and first home stadium of FC Basel.
It is mentioned for the first time in a chronicle in the second half of the 18th century as a ''nice su ...
against
VfR Mannheim
VfR Mannheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the n ...
and in the
St. Jakob Stadium
The St. Jakob Stadium was a football stadium in Basel, Switzerland and the former home of Swiss club FC Basel. It was built in view of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted several important matches, inc ...
against Santos. The match against Santos was one of the highlights of these test games despite the 2–8 defeat. Gottlieb Stäuble and
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
scored the goals for Basel. Coutinho scored five and
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
scored three for Santos. 14,000 spectators paid for a ticket to see the game, much needed money in the bad financial situation that the club was suffering.
Despite a home defeat against Young Fellows in the very first match, Basel started the season well, winning six of their first eight matches. But then came a run with six consecutive defeats in which the team failed to score a single goal. Basel slipped from the table top down to the relegation zone before they managed to return to winning games. Basel ended the season in 5th position with 28 points, but were 18 points behind the new Swiss Champions
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 ...
.
Basel entered the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn away against third tier local club
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
and for Basel the game ended in a fiasco. Despite an early 1–0 lead and in total 18–0 corners, Werner Decker and Heinz Wirz each scored for the under dogs who had a very young
Karl Odermatt
Karl Odermatt (born 17 December 1942 in Lucerne) is a Swiss former footballer who played for FC Basel and BSC Young Boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a midfielder or striker and is generally regarded as one of the best playe ...
in their team. Basel lost 2–1 and were eliminated form the competition. Odermatt's football skills were noted, later he and Decker would later transfer to Basel.
Sixty-ninth season
Ernst Weber was the club's chairman for the third consecutive season. The former Czechoslovak footballer
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
was appointed as Basel's new team manager. Basel played a total of 44 games this season. Of these 44 matches 26 were in the domestic league, four were in the
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 ...
, six were in the newly formed
International Football Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
and eight were friendly matches. Of these eight friendly games four were played at home and four away from home. Four games ended in a victory, three were drawn and one ended in a defeat. The friendly match against 1. FC Köln at the end of the season was one of the highlights of these test games, it ended in a 4–4 draw. This was the farewell game for
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
who was moving on to play for
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
the following season.
René Burri
René Burri (9 April 1933 – 20 October 2014) was a Swiss photographer. Burri was a member of Magnum Photos and photographed major political, historical and cultural events and key figures of the second half of the 20th century. He made portrai ...
,
Roberto Frigerio
Roberto "Mucho" Frigerio (born 16 May 1938 in Le Havre, France) is a retired Swiss professional football forward who played for Switzerland in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.Hügi himself scored the goals for Basel.
Karl-Heinz Thielen
Karl-Heinz Thielen (born 2 April 1940) is a German former footballer who played as a striker or defender.
Club career
Thielen spent ten seasons in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Köln. He played as right winger for 1. FC Köln, which was a foun ...
Helmut Benthaus
Helmut Benthaus (born 5 June 1935) is a German former association football, football player and coach. He spent his best playing days at Westfalia Herne and his best coaching days at FC Basel.
Early career
Born in Herne, Germany, Herne, Benthaus ...
scored the goals for Köln. 14,000 spectators paid their entrance tickets to see the game, much needed money because the club was suffering under a bad financial situation at that time. An interesting point to note was the contact that was made between the club's chairman, Ernst Weber, and the scorer of the final goal of the match, Benthaus. This contact would come in handy a few years later.
Basel were appointed as one of four Swiss representatives in the newly founded
International Football Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
. The
1961–62 International Football Cup
The 1961–62 Intertoto Cup was the first Intertoto Cup, a football tournament for European clubs that would otherwise not have a European competition to compete in. The inaugural tournament was won by Ajax, who defeated Feyenoord in the final. Th ...
took place during the summer break. Basel played in Group B4 together with
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands.
Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...
,
IF Elfsborg
Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...
and
SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin
SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin was a German football club based in the Berlin district of Neukölln.
History
The club was founded as ''Rixdorfer TuFC Tasmania 1900'' on 2 June 1900. It is believed the founders of the club were about to migrate to ...
but finished the group in the bottom position.
The team played a mediocre league season, but not much more was expected from the young team, manager
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
was forming the team for the future seasons. Basel finished the season in the mid-field region of the league table in 7th position with 28 points, 12 points behind
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 ...
who won the championship for the second time in a row. Basel won ten games, drew eight and were defeated eight times. Youngster Markus Pfirter was the team's top league goal scorer with nine goals and oldie
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
scored eight times that season.
Basel entered the
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 the third principal round. They were drawn at home against third tier club
SR Delémont
SR Delémont is a Swiss football club based in Delémont and founded in 1909. It played 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 ...
. Despite being 0–2 in arrear early in the game, they came back to win 3–2. In the fourth round they faced fourth tier local club FC Breite, with ex-FCB player Hans Hügi (who had retired from active football) in another home game. Older brother Hügi (I) defended against younger brother Hügi (II), but younger brother won the duel and scored two of the goals as Basel won 3–0 to continue to the next round. In the fifth round Basel won due to an own goal against
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, but in the quarter-final they were defeated by
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...
, who continued to the final, but here they were defeated by cup winners Lausanne-Sport after extra time.
Cup win number three
Seventieth season
Lucien Schmidlin was voted as new club chairman at the AGM to follow Ernst Weber, who had announced his retirement from the position. The
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
was the club manager at this time and it was his second season as head-coach. One of the biggest transfers made during this time was the transfer of the 19-year-old
Karl Odermatt
Karl Odermatt (born 17 December 1942 in Lucerne) is a Swiss former footballer who played for FC Basel and BSC Young Boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a midfielder or striker and is generally regarded as one of the best playe ...
from
Concordia Basel
FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss association football, football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2nd regional league which is the fifth level, and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008-09 season. F ...
Josef Hügi
Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...
(Hugi II) was nearly at the end of his football career. "Seppe" Hugi had played 363 competition games for the club and in these had scored 272 goals, he moved on to play for
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
.
Basel were appointed as one of four Swiss representatives in the International Football Cup (IFC). The 1962–63 IFC took place during the summer break. Basel played in Group B3 together with
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...
,
HNK Rijeka
Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka.
HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...
and Rot-Weiss Oberhausen. Basel ended the group stage in third position, winners of the group were
HNK Rijeka
Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka.
HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...
who thus advanced to the quarter-finals. Basel played a total of 51 games this season. Of these 51, 26 were in the domestic league, six were in the Swiss Cup, three in the
Cup of the Alps
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...
, six in the International Football Cup (IFC) and ten were friendly matches. Of these friendly games, five were won, three drawn and two ended in a defeat. Basel finished the championship in sixth position with twenty six points, with ten wins and six draws from 26 matches, scoring 59 goals conceding 51.
FC Zürich
Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
won the championship.
Heinz Blumer
Heinz Blumer (* 7 January 1942) is a retired Swiss footballer who played in the 1960s and 70s. He played mainly in the position as defender, but also as midfielder.
Football career Basel
Blumer played in the youth teams of FC Basel and a ...
was Basel's top scorer this season with 16 goals,
Karl Odermatt
Karl Odermatt (born 17 December 1942 in Lucerne) is a Swiss former footballer who played for FC Basel and BSC Young Boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a midfielder or striker and is generally regarded as one of the best playe ...
their second best goal scorer with 14.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the 3rd principal round, on 3 November, with a 4–0 home win, in the
St. Jakob Stadium
The St. Jakob Stadium was a football stadium in Basel, Switzerland and the former home of Swiss club FC Basel. It was built in view of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted several important matches, inc ...
against Black Stars. In the 4th round, on 2 December, they played away against Young Boys winning 2–0. In the next round, on 30 December they won 7–1 at home against SC Burgdorf. In the quarter-finals, played on 24 February 1963, Basel were drawn away against
Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...
and Basel achieved a 2–1 victory. The semi-final was played on 24 March in the
St. Jakob Stadium
The St. Jakob Stadium was a football stadium in Basel, Switzerland and the former home of Swiss club FC Basel. It was built in view of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted several important matches, inc ...
. Basel beat
Lausanne-Sports
FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football ...
Wankdorf Stadium
The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted se ...
hosted the Swiss Cup Final on 15 April and Basel played against favorites
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
. Two goals after half time, one by
Heinz Blumer
Heinz Blumer (* 7 January 1942) is a retired Swiss footballer who played in the 1960s and 70s. He played mainly in the position as defender, but also as midfielder.
Football career Basel
Blumer played in the youth teams of FC Basel and a ...
and the second from Otto Ludwig gave Basel a 2–0 victory and their third Cup win in their history.
Peter Füri
Peter Füri (9 October 1937 – 11 May 2015) was a Swiss football player and manager, who played during the 1950s and 1960s. He died on 11 May 2015 at his home in Muttenz due to heart failure.
Füri was born and brought up in Kleinbasel a qua ...
played in all games except in the final due to an illness.
Seventy-first season
Lucien Schmidlin was club chairman for the second year running.
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
continued his job as club manager, it was his third consecutive year as manager. Basel played a total of 55 games this season. Of these 26 were in the domestic league, three were in the
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 ...
, two in the
1963–64 European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1963–64 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Sporting CP in a replayed final victory against MTK Budapest.
First round
Bye: Tottenham Hotspur , Motor Zwickau , Linfield F.C.
1 Olymp ...
, three in the
Cup of the Alps
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...
and 21 were friendly matches. Of these 21 test games 12 were won, five drawn and four were lost. A well-documented curiosity was the fact that during the winter break of the 1963–64 season the team travelled on a world tour. This saw them visit
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand,
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
, Mexico and the United States. First team manager
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
together with 16 players and 15 members of staff, supporters and journalists participated in this world tour from 10 January to 10 February 1964. Team captain
Bruno Michaud
Bruno Michaud (14 October 1935 — 1 November 1997) was a Swiss footballer and manager who played as a defender mainly for FC Basel and the Swiss national football team.
Club career
Michaud started his football in the youth teams of Basel. He w ...
filmed the events with his super-8 camara.
Basel started well into the league season, winning four of the first five matches. Despite three away defeats, up until the winter break the team were championship leaders with seven wins and three draws. The second half of the season, following the world tour, started with three straight defeats. Basel consequently slipped down in the league table and finished the championship in seventh position, with ten wins and six draws from 26 matches, scoring 42 goals conceding 48, with twenty six points, 13 points less than the new champions
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
.
As title holders in the
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 ...
, Basel started in the 3rd principal round, on 5 October 1963, with an easy away win against SC Schöftland in their attempt to defend this title. In the round of 32 they played away from home against local rivals Concordia which was also won with ease. In the round of 16 Basel were drawn against lower classed
Porrentruy
Porrentruy (, fc, Poérreintru , german: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura.
Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie.
History
The first trace of human pre ...
. However, this was indeed the best period in the Porrentruy club history. Their player-manager at that time was Basel's former striker Hügi (II) and game ended with a surprising 0–1 defeat, goal scorer in the 56-minute was another former Basel player René Jaeck. Basel's cup campaign came to an abrupt and disappointing end.
As Swiss Cup holders Basel were qualified for the
1963–64 European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1963–64 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Sporting CP in a replayed final victory against MTK Budapest.
First round
Bye: Tottenham Hotspur , Motor Zwickau , Linfield F.C.
1 Olymp ...
competition. Here they were drawn against the Scottish cup holders
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
. Both games ended very disappointingly (1–5 and 0–5) and thus ended with a disastrous aggregate result.
Seventy-second season
Lucien Schmidlin was club chairman for the third consecutive year. The
Jiří Sobotka
Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals ...
was the Basel team manager and it was his fourth season as manager. Basel played a total of 51 matches un this season. 26 of these were in the domestic league, five were in the
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 ...
, four matches were in the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...
and 16 were friendly matches. Of these 16 test games eight were won, four drawn and four were lost. A sad moment to be noted is, on 26 December 1964 FCB played against
Grasshoppers Zürich
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.
Grasshoppe ...
in the quarter-finals of the
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 ...
. They decided the match 3–1 for themselves in overtime, Hans Weber had scored the equaliser two minutes before the end of the regular time. This was to be the very last match for the popular Basler captain of that time, because just seven weeks later he died of cancer. Between his first appearance in 1949 and his death in February 1965 he made 380 appearances for Basel scoring 68 goals. 245 of these games were in the Nationalliga A, 27 in the
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 ...
, 8 were European Cup matches and 99 were friendly games. He scored 33 goals in the domestic league, 13 in the Swiss Cup, 2 in the
Cup of the Alps
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...
and the other 20 were scored during the test games.
Fourteen teams contested the 1964–65 Nationalliga A. Basel ended the championship with eleven wins and five draws in their 26 matches, and finished in eighth position with 27 points. They scored 44 goals and conceded 54. For Basel it was a mediocre season with some very unusual and high scoring results, 5–4 at home against Grasshopper Club, 4–3 at home against
and a 3–3 draw at home against the new champions Lausanne-Sport after a three goal lead before half time. There were also some high scoring defeats, 1–5 away against
Grenchen
Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...
, 0–6 away against
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
Plac ...
, 0–6 away against
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...
and a 1–6 away in the last game of the season against Young Boys.
Roberto Frigerio
Roberto "Mucho" Frigerio (born 16 May 1938 in Le Havre, France) is a retired Swiss professional football forward who played for Switzerland in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.Lausanne Sports
FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...
won the championship with 36 points.
In the
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 ...
Basel started in the round of 64, 10 October 1964, with a home win against lower classed
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
which was won 3–1 and, consequently, drawn at home against Lasuanne Sports in the round of 16 which ended in a 3–2 victory. After the quarter-final against
Grasshoppers Zürich
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.
Grasshoppe ...
(mentioned above) Basel were drawn at home again for the semi-final. This game was against
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
Plac ...
and was played on 7 March 1965. Basel were defeated 2–3 and Sion continued to the final which they won against
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 ...
.
Basel were qualified for the
1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The 1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the seventh Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition was won by Ferencváros, who beat Juventus in the final at the Italians' home ground, the Stadio Comunale in Turin. It was only the second time that a S ...
and in the first round they played
CA Spora Luxembourg
CA Spora Luxembourg was a football club, based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is now a part of Racing FC Union Luxembourg.
History
Spora was founded in 1923 as an amalgam of Racing Club Luxembourg and Sporting Club Luxembourg, tw ...
. A 2–0 home win and a 0–1 away defeat was enough to take them through to the second round. But two defeats against
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
ended their Fairs Cup competition.
See also
*
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 ...
*
List of FC Basel players
FC Basel 1893 (Fussball Club Basel 1893) is a Swiss football club based in Basel, Switzerland. This is a list of footballers who have played for FC Basel since the club was first founded.
''For a list of FC Basel players with a Wikipedia article ...
*
List of FC Basel seasons
This is a list of seasons played by FC Basel in Swiss and European football, from the club's founding in 1893 to the present. It details FC Basel's record in each major competition entered including different divisions of the Swiss Football Leag ...
*
Football in Switzerland
Football is the most popular sport in Switzerland. The Swiss Football Association was formed in 1895 and was a founder member of the sport's international governing body FIFA in 1904. The Swiss cities of Zürich and Nyon are home to FIFA and th ...