| Full name | FC Wil 1900 | ||
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| Founded | 1900 | ||
| Ground | Stadion Bergholz, Wil, Switzerland (Capacity: 4,800) |
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| Chairman | Roger Bigger | ||
| Manager | Axel Thoma | ||
| League | Swiss Super Leauge | ||
| 2009-10 | Swiss Challenge League, 6th | ||
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FC Wil, also known as FC Wil 1900, is a Swiss football club, playing in the town of Wil, Canton St. Gallen in the east of Switzerland. The club was founded in 1900, hence the name.
Although the city of Wil has only 17,000 inhabitants, in 2004 FC Wil won the final of the Swiss Cup against Grasshopper Club Zürich.
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FC Wil was formed in 1900 in the east of Switzerland by two workers from England. For the first two years of their life they were known as "FC Stella". In 1902 the club was renamed as "FC Fors" before finally settling in 1907 on FC Wil.
The early years of the club were very unremarkable, playing in the lower echelons of the Swiss football pyramid. Up until 1990 they had spent just three seasons in the second tier, the Challenge League, in 1922/23, 1952/53 and 1953/54.
In 1988 the club appointed Christian Gross as player manager. Gross managed the club between 1988 and 1993 and during this time guided the club to two promotions. Firstly to the third tier and then to the second tier. Christian Gross left in 1993 to manage Grasshopper-Club Zürich and has since managed Tottenham Hotspur and FC Basel.
In 2002 the club were promoted to the top flight for the first time in history. They finished in 4th place. In 2003 the club took part in European competition for the first time by playing in the Intertoto Cup. The club got to the third round before losing to FC Nantes.
In 2004 the club were relegated from the Super League but the club managed to win the Swiss Cup, beating Grasshoppers Zurich in the final.
In 2003 club president, banker Andreas Hafen, was discovered to have embezzled 51 million Swiss francs (US$40 million) from the UBS Bank. He was given a jail term of five years. Approximately 10 million Swiss francs was discovered to have ended up at FC Wil. UBS waived any money outstanding as the other board members knew nothing of it.
After the Andreas Hafen saga the club was taken over by footballer Igor Belanow but his time at the club was not a success, possibly due to the frequent changes of coach. The first man hired by Belanow, Aleksandr Zavarov, lacked the required UEFA Pro Licence.
As of 26 October, 2011. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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