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| Full name | Fussball-Club Aarau | ||
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| Nickname | Die Adler (The Eagles) | ||
| Founded | 1902; 123 years ago (1902) | ||
| Ground | Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau | ||
| Capacity | 9'249 | ||
| Chairman | Markus Mahler[1] | ||
| Manager | Brunello Iacopetta | ||
| League | Swiss Challenge League | ||
| 2024–25 | Swiss Challenge League, 2nd of 10 | ||
| Website | fcaarau | ||
 Current season | |||
FC Aarau is a Swiss professionalfootball club based inAarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in theSwiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from theSwiss Super League.
FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local brewery. The early days of the club were a success and they won theSwiss championship in1911–12 and then again in1913–14. The club spent 25 years, from 1907 to 1933, in thetop league but were relegated to thelower league and were unable to return to the top flight for a number of decades. In the 1980–81 season the club were able to return to the top league in the Swiss football pyramid after a 3–1 victory over Vevey-Sports. They have stayed there ever since and in the1992–93 season they won theSwiss National League A managed by AustrianRolf Fringer.
The club have also had success in theSwiss Cup finishing as runners up in 1930, 1989. In 1985 Aarau tasted their only victory in the Swiss Cup, coached byOttmar Hitzfeld.
At the end of 2002 the club was almost in financial ruin. They were saved when the then Club President Michael Hunziker made 15,100 shares available to purchase. This succeeded in staving off the threat of liquidation.
Former managerUrs Schönenberger stood down in 2006 and the role was assumed by hisassistant managerRuedi Zahner. Ruedi was born inAarau and spent nine years at the club as a player in two separate spells. However his appointment only lasted a few months. During thewinter break in the2006/07 seasonZahner was replaced byFC Baden coachRyszard Komornicki on a temporary basis. However, with relegation loomingGilbert Gress was brought in with three games to go. The move was a success and the club gained 5 points from the remaining games and so escaped relegation by one point.Gilbert Gress decided not to renew his contract with the club and so formerPolish internationalRyszard Komornicki returned. He has signed a contract until Summer 2010 but was replaced in June 2009 byJeff Saibene who didn't last long as he was sacked on 12 October after Aarau achieved only 5 points in 12 games.
After closely losing out to promotion into the Swiss top flight for more than 5 years, the start of the 2025/26 season with 7 league wins and a cup win against YB Bern was good.
On 7 January 2003, with the club on the brink of financial ruin, a total of 15'100 shares were issued for a total of 1'510'000Swiss francs. A new holding company, FC Aarau Ltd, was set up to administer the club. FC Aarau Ltd are responsible for the implementation, organization and management of professional football games of the 1st XI and the four centers for performance football in Aarau,Baden,Wohlen,Zofingen for teams in the junior area. Since 2006 the old club FC Aarau 1902 has only been in charge of children's and women's teams.
The current President of FC Aarau AG is local entrepreneur Philipp Bonorand, who has been in charge since 26 May 2020. FC Aarau 1902 is looked after by Marcel Meier and Philipp Bonorand.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Aarau play their home games inStadion Brügglifeld. The current capacity is 8'000 seats. The away supporters are housed behind one goal, to the right of where the players run out.
The stadium was opened on 12 October 1924 with a friendly game against local sideFC Zürich. A new main stand was added in 1982 and in the 1990s the addition of a smaller grandstand and a complete renovation of the standing areas. The stadium is on the municipality ofSuhr.
In 2008 the latest proposals were put forward for a new urban development to include a new home for FC Aarau. The Mittelland Arena, in the heart of Central Park inAarau, should be used to cover 12,500 seats. On 25 September 2005 the proposal for the new development, including the football stadium and a shopping centre, were rejected by the people ofAarau in areferendum. FC Aarau Ltd and the city council are currently working on a new solution for the club as the current stadium is considered to be not good enough for top-flight football. TheSwiss Football Association is unhappy at its use in the top flight.
FC Aarau supporters are known as a very passionate group, despite their relatively small numbers in comparison to other seasons in theSwiss football league system. There are many fan groups but the most popular is known as Szene Aarau.[3]
Despite their close proximity toZürich, Aarau fans have no dislike of eitherFC Zürich orGrasshopper Club Zürich. Their rivalries are withFC St. Gallen,FC Luzern andFC Baden. These are due to a number of historical reasons and the rivalry against Baden is also a derby.[4]
| First Leg Date | Second Leg Date | Competition | Opposition | First Leg | Second Leg | Overall Result |
| 18. September 1985 | 2 October 1985 | Cup Winners Cup (1st round) | FK Crvena Zvezda | 0:2 (A) | 2:2 (H) | 2:4 |
| 7 September 1988 | 5 October 1988 | UEFA Cup (1st round) | 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig | 0:3 (H) | 0:4 (A) | 0:7 |
| 18 August 1993 | 1 September 1993 | Champions League (Qualification) | Omonia Nicosia | 1:2 (A) | 2:0 (H) | 3:2 |
| 15 September 1993 | 29 September 1993 | UEFA Champions League (1st round) | AC Milan | 0:1 (H) | 0:0 (A) | 0:1 |
| 9 August 1994 | 23 August 1994 | UEFA Cup (Qualification) | NK Mura | 1:0 (H) | 1:0 (A) | 2:0 |
| 13 September 1994 | 27 September 1994 | UEFA Cup (1st round) | CS Marítimo Funchal | 0:0 (H) | 0:1 (A) | 0:1 |
| 6 August 1996 | 20 August 1996 | UEFA Cup (Qualification) | FC Lantana Tallinn | 4:0 (H) | 0:2 (A) | 4:2 |
| 10. September 1996 | 24. September 1996 | UEFA Cup (1st round) | Brøndby IF | 0:5 (A) | 0:2 (H) | 0:7 |
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