Fußball Club Basel 1893 has a long and illustrious history, having competed at the highest level of football in Switzerland for many years, currently in the Swiss Super League. Founded in 1893, Basel play home games at St. Jakob-Park, which is currently the largest club stadium in Switzerland. In 2005-06, St. Jakob-Park attracted an average attendance of 23,500,[1] making Basel the most highly supported football club in Switzerland.
In 1968, Basel competed in the European Cup for the first time, but only reached the First Round. The highest stage Basel ever reached in the competition was in 1974 when they reached the Quarter-Finals before being eliminated by Celtic. In 2001, Basel reached the Final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup where they were defeated by Aston Villa. Then in 2003 they battled through to the Second Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League.
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FC Basel was started by an advertisement on the 12 November 1893 that appeared in the Basler national newspaper requesting that a football team be formed and that anyone that wished to join should meet up the next Wednesday at 8:15. So, on the 15th of November 1893, FC Basel was born in the city of Basel, Switzerland. FC Basel did not have much of an early footballing success; it took them 40 years to win their first trophy, winning the Swiss Cup in 1933 when they defeated arch-rivals and reigning cup-holders Grasshopper-Club Zürich 4-3, in what is now considered to be one of the best cup finals in Swiss football history. They also won the cup in 1947 when they beat Lausanne Sports, who also finished runners-up the previous year, 3-0. Basel won their first league title in 1953, with club legend René Bader as manager. They finished three points above BSC Young Boys.
Basel won their first trophy of the new decade in 1963; with Czechoslovakian manager Georges Sobotka at the helm, Basel stormed to Swiss Cup glory by overcoming Grasshopper-Club Zürich 2-0 in the final. But, FCB (which is pronounced "Eff Tsay Bay" in Swiss German) came to prominence in the late 1960s under the management of Helmut Benthaus and with quality players such as Karl Odermatt and Ottmar Hitzfeld. Benthaus' first league win as Basel manager was in 1967, finishing a single point above FC Zürich. A cup final victory over Lausanne Sports also came later in the season. This led to Basel qualifying to play in the European Cup, for the first time, in 1968. Basel were knocked out of the tournament in the First Round, however, by Danish side Akademisk Boldklub. Basel's next league win came in 1969, when they once again finished just one point above the runners-up, who this time were Lausanne Sports. This meant that Basel could embark on another European adventure, but they, once again, failed to overcome the first hurdle, who were Celtic of Scotland. In the 1969/70 season, Basel won the league by one point over Lausanne Sports, once again. The European Cup was a little kinder to Basel in 1970, as they reached the Second Round, losing to Ajax, after defeating Soviets Spartak Moscow in the First Round. Basel did not retain their title the next season despite finishing with the same amount of points as the winners, Grasshopper-Club Zürich, who won it on head-to-head. After a trophy-less season, Basel then won two league titles in-a-row, in 1972 and '73. They also won the League Cup in 1973. In Europe, Basel failed to impress, once again, in 1972, as they were sent crashing out at the first stage by Hungary's Újpesti Dózsa SC but in the 1973/74 season they excelled; eliminating Icelanders Fram Reykjavík and Club Brugge of Belgium, before narrowly exiting in the Quarter-Finals to Celtic 5-6 on aggregate. Despite Basel's improvement on the European stage, they did not retain the league for another four years, but they did manage to lift the Swiss Cup in 1975, beating FC Winterthur 2-1 after extra time. Basel's long awaited title-win came in 1977 as they triumphed over Servette FC in a playoff. This meant that Basel returned to play in the European Cup but they were defeated in the First Round, once more, by FC Wacker Innsbruck of Austria, after showing so much promise on their last European outing. After the success of the 1976/77 season, Basel endured two seasons of below-par performances and mid-table finishes until glory returned in in 1980, as Basel won the Nationalliga A title through the playoff. However, manager Helmut Benthaus left in 1982 and in the following seasons, Basel's final league positions started to drop until their relegation into the Nationalliga B in 1988. Several managers came and went at St. Jakob Stadium between then and when Basel finally returned to Nationalliga A in 1994, under Claude Andrey. Basel avoided relegation by three points in their first season back at the top-flight, but Andrey left and was replaced by Karl Engel. Engel led Basel to a fifth-place finish in his first season in charge and a solid mid-table finish in 1997, but he was sacked after a poor start to the 1997/98 campaign, in which Basel finished second-bottom. Jörg Berger then took over, but lasted only a year in charge before Christian Gross came.
| Basel's famous 2002/03 team |
Gross' appointment went hand-in-hand with the financial backing that had just been put into the club and it was not long until Basel returned to the top. When St. Jakob-Park was opened in 2001, success returned. In 2002 FCB won the Double (Swiss Championship and Swiss Cup) and reached the final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the following season they were the second Swiss team to ever play in the Champions League. Their first game was in the Second Qualifying Round against MŠK Žilina of Slovakia. They won 4-1 on aggregate. In the next round they faced Scottish giants Celtic F.C.. In the first leg at Celtic Park the home side won 3-1, but in the second leg at St. Jakob-Park, FCB came away with a famous 2-0 victory. This meant Basel progressed on the away goals rule after a 3-3 aggregate draw. In the First Group Stage, FCB were drawn into Group B with Valencia CF, Liverpool F.C. and FC Spartak Moscow. On Matchday One, Basel defeated Spartak 2-0 at home. Then on Matchday Two, FCB travelled to Anfield where they managed to draw 1-1 against Liverpool. After a great start to the group stage, FCB were brought back down to earth when they were defeated 6-2 by Valencia at the Estadio Mestalla. They bounced back, however, and held Valencia to a 2-2 draw in the next fixture. Basel were now sitting in second place in the group but they would still need to win at least one of their last two games and hope that Liverpool would not pick up more than two points to secure that place. In Matchday Five, Liverpool lost 1-0 to Valencia and FCB won 2-0 against Spartak at the Luzhniki Stadium. Basel's place in the last 16 was all but secured, although they still had to make sure they did not lose to Liverpool in the last game of the first group stage. On the last Matchday Basel were 3-0 at half-time through goals from Julio Hernán Rossi, Christian Eduardo Giménez and Timothée Atouba. The second half was a different story, though, and Liverpool fought back to draw 3-3. This was still enough for FCB to qualify for the Second Group Stage. In the last 16, Basel faced Manchester United F.C., Juventus F.C. and Deportivo de La Coruña. They had a poor start, losing back to back games against Manchester United at home and Juventus away. FCB then faced Deportivo in a double-header, with the home side winning 1-0 in both games. Arguably two of FCB's greatest games came next as they held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and claimed a 2-1 victory over Juventus at St. Jakob-Park. Despite picking up the same number of points as second placed Juventus, Basel crashed out on goal difference. Basel finished second in the Swiss Super League that season and won the Swiss Cup after beating Neuchâtel Xamax 6-0 in the final.
After being the surprise package in Europe in the 2002/03 season, Basel could not bring this form into the UEFA Cup in 2003/04 as they were eliminated by Newcastle United F.C. in the second round after defeating Malatyaspor in the previous round.
The club did go on to achieve some success in the Europe in 2004/05, though, as they were dropped into the UEFA Cup after being eliminated by F.C. Internazionale Milano in the Qualification Stage of the UEFA Champions League. After they defeated Russian side FC Terek Grozny in the First Round they faced considerabley tougher opponents Feyenoord Rotterdam, FC Schalke 04, Ferencvárosi TC and Heart of Midlothian in the Group Stage. They drew 1-1 away to Schalke, were defeated 2-1 at home by Hearts, beat Ferencváros 2-1 at Stadion Albert Flórián and won 1-0 against Feyenoord at home. They finished third in the group on seven points and qualified for the Round of 32 where they were defeated 2-0 on aggregate by Lille OSC. Basel also won the Domestic Title during the 2004/05 campaign.
As Swiss champions, Basel entered the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round against German Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen in 2005. Basel won the first leg 2-1 at St. Jakob-Park but lost 3-0 at the Weserstadion in the second leg, the aggregate 4-2 in Werder's favour. Basel were then dropped into the UEFA Cup where they met NK Široki Brijeg of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the First Round. Basel sealed a 6-0 aggregate win and were drawn into Group E alongside RC Strasbourg, A.S. Roma, Red Star Belgrade and Tromsø I.L.. FCB lost the first group match 2-0 against Strasbourg at home but won 2-1 away to Red Star, giving themselves an opportunity to progress to the next round if they won their next game against Tromsø. They did in a seven-goal thriller, winning 4-3 and securing 3rd place. The last match of the group was against Italian giants Roma at the Stadio Olimpico where the Serie A club won 3-1. In the Round of 32 FCB came up against AS Monaco who they beat 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 stalemate in Monaco and a 1-0 victory for Basel in Switzerland. As Basel progressed to the last 16 they played against Strasbourg once again. FCB won the first leg 2-0 and drew 2-2 in the second leg, winning 4-2 overall. In the Quarter-Finals the club came up against Middlesbrough F.C.. FCB won 2-0 at home and looked certain to progress as they travelled to the Riverside Stadium. This was not the case, however, as the Englishmen fought back to win the match 4-1 and the tie 4-3.
On 13 May 2006, the FCB lost a league game in the St. Jakob-Park for the first time since 1 December 2002, when they fell 1:2 against FC Zürich, resulting in riots and property damage by hooligans of both the FCB and their rival after the match (see 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident for more details). On 26 February 2006 FC Basel broke their own club record of 52 unbeaten league games in the St. Jakob Park. The new record is 59, but the streak ended there on the final day of the season with a last-minute goal by Iulian Filipescu of FC Zürich, knocking Basel out of contention and giving Zürich their first national championship since 1980/81. A sixtieth straight home league match undefeated would have made Basel champions once again, but the final score was 1:2 in favour of Zürich.
FC Basel's European campaign of 2006 started in the first qualifying stage of the UEFA Cup when they beat Kazakhi side FC Tobol 3-1 on aggregate. In the second round they played against Liechtensteiner team FC Vaduz, narrowly progressing on the away goals rule after a 2-2 aggregate draw. They were then put up against Macedonians FK Rabotnički. Basel won 6-2 at St. Jakob-Park and 1-0 at the Skopje City Stadium to qualify for the group stages where they faced tough opposition, Blackburn Rovers of England, AS Nancy of France, Feyenoord of The Netherlands and Wisła Kraków of Poland. Basel's first game came against Feyenoord at home. They came away with a respectable 1-1 draw. Their next group match was at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers. Basel played reasonably well but shaky defending became their downfall. AS Nancy, at home, were their next opponents and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Basel's last group game was against Wisła Kraków at the Wisła Stadium. FCB needed a win to qualify but their poor European campaign came to an end after losing 3-1 despite taking an early lead through Mladen Petrić.
Basel won the Swiss Cup after beating FC Luzern 1-0. The winning goal came from the penalty spot through Daniel Majstorović in the 93rd minute.
FCB finished in second place in the Swiss Super League, just one point behind winners FC Zürich. This was despite the club defeating Zürich in three of four of their direct meetings in that league campaign.
In 2007, Basel were drawn against Bosnian minnows FK Sarajevo in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, a tie that Basel won 8-1 on aggregate. In the next round Basel faced a considerably tougher opponent in the form of SV Mattersburg of Austria. Nonetheless, Basel finished the tie off with a 4-0 away win after a 2-1 victory at St. Jakob-Park. Basel were then drawn into a 'death group' of Group D alongside SK Brann, NK Dinamo Zagreb, Hamburger SV and Stade Rennais FC, all of which were ranked within the top 3 of their own leagues at the start of the stage. Basel won their first UEFA Cup group game against Rennes at home 1-0 thanks to a Marco Streller header. Their next game was away to Dinamo Zagreb in which Basel earned a valuable away point thanks to on form goalkeeper Franco Costanzo who kept the game at 0-0 for 90 minutes. They then faced Brann at St. Jakob-Park where they won 1-0 through a Carlitos free-kick and were highly praised for playing attractive and flowing football. Basel then went to Germany to face Hamburg at the HSH Nordbank Arena where they were fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw. The goals came courtesy of captain Ivan Ergić and Hamburg's Ivica Olić. Basel then faced Sporting Clube de Portugal in the last 32 after qualifying 2nd in the group alongside 1st placed Hamburg and 3rd placed Brann. Sporting Lisbon finished third in their group in the UEFA Champions League, which is why they were dropped into the UEFA Cup. The first leg took place on the 13th of February in Lisbon where the first choice goalkeeper, Franco Costanzo, was injured and Basel lost 2-0. The second leg did not fair any better for Basel. Costanzo remained injured and Basel lost 3-0 on the 21st of February in Basel, resulting in the knock out of the UEFA Cup.
| Basel's 2007-08 title-winning squad. |
FC Basel won the Swiss Cup for the second consecutive season after beating second-tier side AC Bellinzona 4-1 at St. Jakob-Park on Sunday 6 April 2008. Eren Derdiyok gave Basel the lead in the first half before Bellinzona equalised through Christian Pouga in the second. Daniel Majstorović restored the lead for Basel with a header and Swiss internationalists Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel scored one goal each to make the final scoreline 4-1 in Basel's favour.
Basel won the Swiss Super League for the first time since 2005 on the 10 May 2008 at St. Jakob-Park after a 2-0 win over title threats BSC Young Boys. It was the last game of the season and Basel only needed a point from the match to win the Championship but if Young Boys won then they would be champions, exactly the same situation as the end of the 2005/06 season, only it was between Basel and FC Zürich then. The painful memories of losing the league on the last day of the season in 2006 seemed to spur FCB on as they took an early lead through Valentin Stocker before Marco Streller wrapped up the victory with the second.
This rounded off a highly successful season for Basel as they conquered on the domestic front, winning both the Swiss Super League and Swiss Cup, and reaching the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.
Ivan Ergić resigned from being club captain before the start of the season, and Franco Costanzo was unveiled as the new captain a day before the season kicked off.
Basel entered the Champions League in the Second Qualifying Round and were drawn against IFK Göteborg of Sweden. The first leg was on July 30, 2008 at Ullevi and finished 1-1. Benjamin Huggel put Basel ahead before Thomas Olsson equalised for the home team. The second leg took place on August 6 at St. Jakob-Park; with Basel coming from behind twice to win 4-2. Pontus Wernbloom put Göteborg ahead on 19 minutes before Benjamin Huggel equalised soon after. Early in the second half Robin Söder restored Göteborg's lead. But Basel fought back, with Scott Chipperfield equalising. Then Basel got a penalty due to a supposed hands ball in the box. Replays showed that the referee had made the wrong decision. The penalty was scored, and eventually led to the victory. Basel then faced Vitória S.C. of Portugal in the Third Qualifying Round. The first leg at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, on August 13, ended honours even, in a 0-0 draw. The second leg took place on August 27 at St. Jakob-Park where Valentin Stocker gave Basel an early lead on 11 minutes before João Alves was fouled in the penalty area by François Marque and João Fajardo dispatched the spot-kick, just four minutes later to draw Vitória level. In the second half, the away side started well but Eren Derdiyok gave FCB a 2-1 lead which they hung on to, to qualify for the UEFA Champions League Group Stages.
FCB were drawn into Group C alongside FC Barcelona, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Basel lost their opening game 2-1 at St. Jakob-Park on September 16 against Shakhtar. Fernandinho put the Ukrainians ahead on 25 minutes before Jádson doubled their lead just before half time. David Abraham scored a late consolation goal for the home team. Sporting Lisbon were the opponents on Matchday 2 (October 1) and despite defending well and causing a few scares at the other end of the park, Basel were defeated 2-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade. On Matchday 3 (October 22), Barcelona visited Basel and came away with a 5-0 win, but a fortnight later it was a different story as FCB came away with a respectable 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou, with Eren Derdiyok scoring a late equaliser after Lionel Messi put Barça ahead. On November 26, Basel travelled to Ukraine, to play Shakhtar, where they were thrashed 5-0. Basel then faced Sporting at home on the final Matchday (December 9) and were defeated 1-0.
Basel finished the 2008-09 season in third place (their worst finish since 2001), ending with two consecutive losses to Grasshoppers and Young Boys. On May 27, Coach Gross' contract was terminated, effective at the end of the final match two days later, bringing his very eventful ten-year tenure as Basel manager to an end.[2] On June 6, Thorsten Fink was hired as his replacement.[3]
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