The
Fussball Club Basel 1893 1983–84 season was their 90th season since the club was founded. It was their 38th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football after they won promotion during the season 1945–46. They played their home games 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 ...
. Urs Gribi was their newly appointed chairman, he replaced Roland Rasi who stood down at the AGM after just one year chairmanship.
Overview
Pre-season
Ernst August Künnecke
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975- ...
was appointed as Basel’s new first team manager and
Emil Müller Emil Muller or Emil Müller may refer to:
* Emil Müller (mathematician) (1861–1927), Austrian mathematician
* Emil Müller (German officer), an officer in the World War I Imperial German Army charged with war crimes at the Leipzig War Crimes Tri ...
was appointed as his assistant. They had taken over from
Rainer Ohlhauser, who had been manager for just the previous season. Künnecke had not played as professional footballer, but had played in the highest amateur levels before becoming professional
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
in Belgium. Künnecke's reputation grew because of his conveyance, his advancing and his greatest strength was the furtherance of young players.
Waterschei Thor and
KV Mechelen were two of Künnecke's stations in Belgium and that is the reason why Basel played two test games against these teams during the first half of the season.
A number of players left the squad.
Hans Küng retired after having been with the club six years and playing in a total of 252 games, of which 154 in the
Nationalliga A and 16 were in the European competitions (
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
,
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
and
Cup of the Alps).
Peter Marti
Peter Marti (born 12 July 1952 in Langenthal) is a Swiss former footballer who played as a striker during the 1970s and 1980s.
Marti began his career at BSC Young Boys in 1970 before signing for FC Zürich in 1972. In the 1973 Cupfinal Marti ...
move to
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 ...
after having been with the club seven years, playing in 262 games of which 146 in the Nationalliga A and 29 in the European competitions.
Serge Duvernois
Serge Duvernois (born 2 August 1960 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, died 5 August 2017 in Pfastatt) was a former French footballer who played as a defender during the late 1970s, the 1980s and the early 1990s.
Duvernois played his youth football wi ...
and
Serge Gaisser moved on to play for
FC Mulhouse. Further
Bruno Graf moved to
Wettingen,
Winfried Berkemeier
Winfried Berkemeier (born 22 January 1953 in Gronau (Westf.)) is a former German footballer.
This midfielder and forward played six seasons in the Bundesliga for four teams. Though he was unable to break through with 1. FC Köln, he played with ...
to FC Raron and
Roger Bossert to local club
FC Laufen
Football Club Laufen, is a football club from Laufen, Switzerland.
The club was founded in 1908, is currently playing in the Swiss 1. Liga.
External links
Official site
Football clubs in Switzerland
Association football clubs estab ...
. In the other direction a number of new players joined the club. Three came from
Wettingen, goalkeeper
Urs Suter and the two defenders
Martin Andermatt and
Rolf Lauper.
Uwe Dreher
Uwe Dreher (13 May 1960 – 20 October 2016) was a German professional footballer who played as a striker in the late 1970s and throughout the 80s. He later worked as coach.
Career
Dreher was born and grew up in Tubingen in central Baden-Würt ...
joined from
Stuttgarter Kickers and
René Botteron from
1. FC Nürnberg
1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...
. Two youngsters were brought in from local clubs,
Thomas Süss
Thomas Süss (born 6 April 1962) is a former professional German footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played as midfielder.
Born in Rheinfelden (Baden) Süss played his youth football for local club VfR Rheinfelden and advanced to th ...
from
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 ...
and
Fredy Grossenbacher
Fredy Grossenbacher (born 10 August 1965) is a retired Swiss football defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scor ...
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 ...
. Another youngster,
Peter Nadig
Peter Nadig (born 20 February 1965) is a former Swiss footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s as midfielder or as striker.
Career
Nadig played his youth football with local team Basel. He advanced to their first team for their 1983–84 s ...
, advanced from Basel's own youth team.
Künnecke coached Basel in a total of 58 games in their 1983–84 season. 30 matches were played in the domestic league, two 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 26 were friendly matches. Of their 26 test games, 17 ended with a victory, one was drawn and eight ended with a defeat. The team scored 88 goals in these test matches and conceded 42. Only two of these test games were played at home in
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 ...
, the pre-season match against
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 ...
and the end of season game against local team
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 ...
. The others games were all played away. Under these were the two games in the
Uhrencup
The Uhrencup is a club football tournament, held annually in Grenchen and Biel in Switzerland. The Uhrencup is seen as a testament to the major influence that is exercised by the local industry on the cultural lives of the areas residents. The tou ...
which Basel won, 3–2 against
Grenchen in the semi-final and 1–0 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 ...
in the final.
Domestic league
The
1983–84 Nationalliga A
Statistics of Swiss Super League in the 1983–84 season.
Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and Grasshopper Club Zürich won the championship.
League standings
Championship play-off
Results
Sources
Switzerland 1983–84 at RSSSF
...
was contested by 16 teams, including the top 14 clubs from the
previous season and the two sides promoted from the second level 1982–83 Nationalliga B, these being
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
Chiasso. The league was contested in a
double round robin
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...
format, with each club playing every other club twice, home and away. Two points were awarded for a win and one point given to each team for a draw. The champions would be qualified for
1984–85 European Cup
The 1984–85 season of the European Cup club football tournament was overshadowed by the Heysel Stadium disaster that happened prior to the final match. That edition was won for the first time by Juventus in a 1–0 win against defending champio ...
and the next two teams in the league would be qualified for the
1984–85 UEFA Cup
The 1984–85 UEFA Cup was the 14th season of the UEFA Cup. It was won by Real Madrid, who gained an aggregate victory over Videoton of Hungary in a two-legged final.
Changes
*Spain +1
*Netherlands -2
*Scotland +1
*Czechoslovakia +1
*East German ...
.
As the season advanced it became increasingly apparent that Künnecke's ideas were not reaching the entire team squad at all times. Basel's youngsters played well during this season,
Fredy Grossenbacher
Fredy Grossenbacher (born 10 August 1965) is a retired Swiss football defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scor ...
,
Martin Jeitziner
Martin Jeitziner (born 13 January 1963) is a retired Swiss football midfielder who played in the 1980s and 1990s.
Football career
Jeitziner played his youth football with FC Basel and advanced to their first team during their 1980–81 season ...
,
Peter Nadig
Peter Nadig (born 20 February 1965) is a former Swiss footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s as midfielder or as striker.
Career
Nadig played his youth football with local team Basel. He advanced to their first team for their 1983–84 s ...
,
Thomas Hauser
Thomas C. Hauser (born February 27, 1946) is an American author known for his biographies and novels.
Biography
Hauser graduated from Columbia College in 1967 and Columbia Law School in 1970.
He made his debut as a writer in 1978 with ''The ...
and
Beat Sutter
Beat Sutter (born 12 December 1962 in Gelterkinden) is a Swiss former football striker who played throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Sutter began his career with FC Basel in 1981 and went on to play 114 matches for the club before he left to join ...
advanced well under Künnecke. But Künnecke's ideas were not being accepted by the older, experienced players. At home, 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 ...
the team was playing well and winning the games, the first five home games were all won. However, the first seven away games all ended with a defeat. After the winter break Basel lost their first home game 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 ...
0–1. Künnecke reacted immediately and this was the last game that the three veterans
Arthur von Wartburg
Arthur von Wartburg (born 25 December 1952) is a Swiss international footballer who played most of his football for FC Basel as midfielder.
Club career
Von Wartburg played his youth football by Concordia Basel and advanced to their first team ...
,
Jörg Stohler
Jörg Stohler (born 27 August 1949) is a Swiss former international footballer who played as a defender during the 1970s and 1980s. He played over 300 League Championship matches and won the Swiss League Championship four times. He also won the S ...
and
Jean-Pierre Maradan played in the team. The supporters had noted the differences and the final home game of the season attracted only 2,000 spectators.
Basel ended the season in ninth position. In their 30 league games Basel won eleven matches, drew six and lost thirteen. Basel obtained 28 points, scored 55 and conceding 59 goals. They were 16 points behind
Grasshopper Club and
Servette both of whom finished level on 44 points. A play-off match was to decide the championship and this was who by the Grasshoppers who became champions for the second consecutive year.
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 ...
and
Chiasso suffered relegation.
Swiss Cup
Basel entered into 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 round of 64 and here they were drawn away against local lower league club
FC Birsfelden
FC may refer to:
Businesses, organisations, and schools
* Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India
* Finncomm Airlines (IATA code)
* FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC
* Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...
. The match was a one-sided affair and Basel won 8–0. In the round of 32 they had a home fixture against
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 ...
but were beaten 0–3.
Servette won the Cup beating
Lausanne-Sport
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 ...
1–0 in the final. As Cup winners Servette were qualified for the
1984–85 Cup Winners' Cup. Basel did not play in any other cup competitions because the
Swiss League Cup
The Swiss League Cup was a football tournament which took place as a summer pre-season tournament in 1972 and 1973, and during the Swiss football season from 1974–75 to 1981–82. The tournament was a knockout competition contested by clubs fro ...
was no longer competed and because they were not qualified for European competitions, nor did they enter the
Coppa delle Alpi
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 ...
this season.
Players
The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the season 1983–84. The list includes players that were in the squad on the day that the Nationalliga A season started on 10 August 1983 but subsequently left the club after that date.
;Players who left the squad
Results
;Legend
Friendly matches
Pre- and mid-season
Winter break and mid-season
Nationalliga A
League matches
League table
Championship play-off
Swiss Cup
See also
*
History of FC Basel
*
List of FC Basel players
*
List of FC Basel seasons
References
Sources
* Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. * Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
* Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
FCB squad 1983–84 at fcb-archiv.ch
External links
FC Basel official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:1983-84 FC Basel season
FC Basel seasons
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...