FC Wil

FC Wil
Full name Fussball Club Wil 1900
Founded 1900
Ground IGP Arena, Wil, Switzerland
Ground Capacity 6,958 (1,600 seated)
Chairman Roger Bigger
Manager Ronny Teuber
League Swiss Challenge League
2015–16 3rd

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.

In 2004 FC Wil won the final of the Swiss Cup against Grasshopper Club Zürich.

Chart of FC Wil table positions in the Swiss football league system

Honours

2004

History

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 Ukrainian footballer Igor Belanov and his time in charge of the club was a success notwithstanding the frequent changes of coaches. FC Wil was promoted to Swiss Super League and won the final of the Swiss Cup against Grasshopper Club Zürich under the first de facto coach hired by Belanov, Ukrainian Aleksandr Zavarov (because he lacked the necessary UEFA licence, Aleksandr Zavarov was given the position of director of football with the club).

Since then, notable managers included Uli Forte, now coach of Young Boys and Axel Thoma, now employed as Grasshoppers' director of football.

In November 2013, the club's stadium was renamed from Stadion Bergholz to IGP Arena until 2023, for sponsorship reasons.[1]

On 5 November 2014, Francesco Gabriele succeeded Axel Thoma as the team's manager,[2] after the latter left the club to become director of football at Grasshoppers Zürich.[3] Former Turkey international Erdal Keser replaced Gabriele on 23 May 2015.[4]

In July 2015, FC Wil was taken over by Turkish investors MNG group.[5] After an 18-month involvement with the team they abruptly pulled out in January 2017, leaving the club to its own devices. A task-force has formed as a result to save the club from bankruptcy, with the mission of significantly reducing the exorbitant expenses introduced by the investors.[6]

Players

Current squad

As of 9 July 2017 [7] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
5 Albania DF Valon Hamdiu
6 Switzerland MF Etienne Scholz
7 Switzerland MF Johan Vonlanthen
8 Republic of Macedonia MF Ilaz Ilazi
9 Uruguay FW Sergio Cortelezzi
10 France MF Marko Muslin
11 Iran MF Shaho Maroufi
12 Switzerland MF Sandro Lombardi
13 Switzerland MF Basil Stillhart
15 Switzerland DF Michael Gonçalves
17 Switzerland FW Ivan Audino
19 Switzerland DF Kenzo Schällibaum
20 Switzerland MF Mattia Bottani
22 Turkey MF Serkan Korkmaz
23 Switzerland DF Caine Keller
24 Switzerland MF Nedim Sacirovic
No. Position Player
26 Italy FW Thomas Schiavano
27 Serbia DF Sanijel Kucani
30 Brazil DF Átila
32 Switzerland DF Enis Latifi
34 Switzerland MF Pascal Huber
36 Germany DF David Roesler
40 Netherlands GK Jim Freid
44 Switzerland MF Magnus Breitenmoser
46 Dominican Republic GK Noam Baumann
50 Kosovo DF Granit Lekaj
60 Albania MF Heroid Gjoshi
80 Switzerland MF Valentino Pugliese
93 Switzerland FW Andelko Savic
98 Kosovo DF Fuad Rahimi

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player

European Cup History

Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2004/05 UEFA Cup Q2 Slovakia Dukla Banská Bystrica 1–3 1–1 2–4

References

  1. "IGP sichert sich Naming-Right am Wiler Bergholz". fcwil.ch. FC Wil 1900 AG. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  2. "Francesco Gabriele neuer Cheftrainer beim FC Wil 1900". fcwil.ch. FC Wil 1900 AG. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. "Axel Thoma wird neuer Sportchef beim Grasshopper Club Zürich". fcwil.ch. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. "Trainerwechsel beim FC Wil 1900". fcwil.ch. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. "FC Wil: Türkische Investoren wollen mit Wil hoch hinaus". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  6. fcwil (2017-02-08). "«Wir lassen den FC Wil 1900 nicht im Regen stehen»". www.fcwil.ch (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  7. League, Swiss Football. "FC Wil 1900- Swiss Football League". sfl.ch. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
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