Basel competed inUEFA competitions for 25 consecutive seasons between 1999–2000 and 2023–2024. They have qualified for the group stage of theChampions League more times than any other Swiss club – a total of seven times – and are the only Swiss club to have ever qualified to the said phase directly. In 2021, they set the new record for a Swiss team with the most successful international group stage campaign by reaching 14 points in their Europa Conference League group. Since 2001, the club has played its home games atSt. Jakob-Park, built on the site of their previous home,St. Jakob Stadium. Their home colours are red and blue, leading to a nickname ofRotBlau.
FC Basel was started by an advertisement placed by Roland Geldner in the 12 November 1893 edition of theBasler national newspaper, requesting that a football team be formed and that anyone who wished to join should meet up the following Wednesday at 8:15 in the restaurant Schuhmachern-Zunft. Eleven men attended the meeting, generally from the academic community, foundingFussball Club Basel on 15 November 1893. The club colours from the first day on were red and blue.
Basel's first game was on 26 November 1893, an internal match between twoad hoc FCB teams. Two weeks later, FCB had their first official appearance in a game against a team formed by students from the high school gymnastic club. FCB won 2–0. Basel continued to only play friendly matches, until they joined thesecond Serie A championship organized by theSwiss Football Association. The Serie A was divided into three regional groups, an east, a central (with FCB) and a west group. The winners of each group qualified for the finals. Basel did not qualify for the finals and they did not compete in the championship the following season.
TheSerie A 1900–01 was divided into two groups, an east and a west group. Basel were with three teams from Zürich and two other teams from Basel,Old Boys andFortuna Basel in the west group. Basel ended the season with two victories, two draws and six defeats in 5th position in the group. Basel did not have much of an early footballing success, waiting 40 years before winning their first trophy.
Gyula Kertész coached the side from 1928 to 1930.[4] At the beginning of the 1932–33 season, the Austrian ex-international footballerKarl Kurz took over as club trainer. There were eight teams in Group 1 of the1932–33 Nationalliga. Basel finished the season in second position in the table, with seven victories from 14 games. The play-off game between the second placed teams from both groups was held in Basel at theStadion Rankhof, but the home team lost 3–4 toServette FC Genève. In theSwiss Cup, Basel advanced to the final, which was played in theHardturm inZürich. Basel won 4–3 and thus their first ever national title, defeating arch-rivals and reigning cup-holders Grasshoppers in what is still considered to be one of the best cup finals in Swiss football history.
During the following five seasons, Basel were positioned towards the middle of the Nationliga, not having much to do with the championship not having to worry about relegation. But the1938–39 Nationalliga did not mean well with them. With just five wins and with twelve defeats, they finished in the last position in the league table and were relegated.
The 1941–42 season was Basel's third season in the 1st League (second flight of Swiss football) after relegation.Eugen Rupf wasplayer-coach for his second year. Basel finished their season as winners of group East. In the play-offs against group West winnersBern, the away tie ending with a goalless draw and Basel won their home tie 3–1 to achieve Promotion. In the Swiss Cup five home games, a coin toss in the quarter-final and a replay in the semi-final was needed to qualify for the final. The final against Grasshoppers ended goalless after extra time and a replay was required here too. In the replay – played at theWankdorf Stadion against the Nationalliga champions – Basel led at half-time through two goals byFritz Schmidlin, but two goals from Grubenmann a third from Neukom gave Grasshoppers a 3–2 victory.
After just three seasons in the top flight of Swiss football, Basel suffered relegation again, but achieved immediate re-promotion in the 1944–45 season.
Anton Schall, another Austrian ex-international, became the club's new trainer. Basel finished theNationalliga A season in fourth position, with 12 victories from 26 games, scoring a total of 60 goals; top league goal scorers wereTraugott Oberer (13) andRené Bader (10). Basel won the cup for the second time as they beatLausanne Sports (who had also been runners-up the previous year) 3–0 in the final at theStadion Neufeld inBern. Paul Stöcklin scored two goals and Bader scored the other one.
At the beginning of the 1952–53 season, René Bader took over the job as club trainer fromErnst Hufschmid, who had acted as trainer the previous five years. Bader acted asplayer-manager and Willy Dürr was his assistant; Dürr stood at the side line when Bader played. Basel won their first league title in1953 and ended the season four points ahead ofBSC Young Boys. Basel won 17 of the 26 games, losing only once, and they scored 72 goals conceding 38.Josef Hügi was the team's top league goal scorer.
TheCzechoslovakian managerJiří Sobotka was the club manager at this time, he taken the job over fromJenő Vincze the year before. Basel finished the championship in sixth position. Heinz Blumer was Basel's top scorer this season with 16 goals,Karl Odermatt their second best goal scorer with 14. TheWankdorf Stadium hosted the Swiss Cup final on 15 April 1963, and Basel played against favourites Grasshoppers. Two goals after half-time, one by Heinz Blumer and the second from Otto Ludwig, gave Basel a 2–0 victory and their third Cup win in their history.Peter Füri played in all games save the final due to an illness.
On 26 December 1964 FCB played againstGrasshoppers Zürich in the quarter-finals of theSwiss Cup. They decided the match 3–1 for themselves in overtime. This was to be the last match for the popular Basler captain of that timeHans Weber, because just seven weeks later he died of cancer. Between his first appearance in 1949 and his death in February 1965 he made 281 appearances for Basel scoring 48 goals.
In the1966–67 season, Benthaus achieved his first league win with Basel. During this season, he acted as player-manager, having taken over the trainer job from Jiří Sobotka at the beginning of the previous season. There were 14 teams contesting in the championship, and Basel finished just one point clear ofFC Zürich. Basel won 16 of the 26 games, drawing eight, losing only twice and they scored 60 goals conceding just 20.Roberto Frigerio was the team's top goal scorer with 16 league goals, whileHelmut Hauser was second-best with 14.
In the Swiss Cup final that season, Basel's opponents were Lausanne-Sports. In the former Wankdorf Stadium on 15 May 1967, Helmut Hauser scored the decisive goal via a penalty. The game went down in football history due to the sit-down strike that followed this goal. After 88 minutes of play, with the score at 1–1, referee Karl Göppel awarded Basel a controversial penalty:André Grobéty had pushed Hauser gently in the back and he let himself drop theatrically. Subsequent to Basel taking the lead, Lausanne players refused to resume the game, sitting down demonstratively on the pitch. The referee was forced to abandon the match and Basel were awarded the cup with a 3–0 default victory.[5][6]
Basel had won thedouble for the first time in the club's history.
The league title in 1966–67 led to Basel qualifying to play in theEuropean Cup for the first time, in1967–68. Basel, however, were knocked out of the tournament in the First Round byDanish sideAkademisk Boldklub.
Basel's next league title was achieved in the1968–69 Nationalliga A season as they once again finished just one point above the runners-up, this time Lausanne Sports. In the Swiss Cup, Basel reached the quarter-finals. This championship title meant that Basel could embark on another European adventure, but again they failed to overcome the first hurdle; this time it wasCeltic ofScotland. Nationally in the1969–70 season, Basel won the league for the fourth time again one point ahead of Lausanne Sports. In the Swiss Cup, Basel reached the final.
The European Cup was a little kinder to Baselin 1970–71, as they reached the Second Round, losing toAjax after defeatingSovietsSpartak Moscow in the first round. Basel did not retain their titlethe following season despite finishing with the same number of points as the subsequent champions, Grasshoppers, who won the title on a head-to-head. In the Swiss Cup, Basel reached the quarter-finals.
After a trophy-less season, Basel again won two league titles in-a-row. The1971–72 season was the last season forHelmut Benthaus as an active footballer. Basel won the championship four points ahead of Zürich. In the Swiss Cup, Basel reached the final but were defeated 0–1 by Zürich through a goal in extra time. In the1971–72 UEFA Cup, Basel were drawn againstReal Madrid. The home game attracted 32,059 spectators, but Basel were defeated 1–2 and lost overall 2–4 on aggregate.
The1972–73 season was Benthaus' eighth season as manager. Basel won 17 of their 26 league games and won the championship four points ahead of Grasshoppers.Ottmar Hitzfeld was the league's joint top goal scorer with 18 league goals. In the Swiss Cup, Basel playedMartigny-Sports, Young Boys,FC Chiasso andFC Biel-Bienne to reach the final against Zürich. The1972 Swiss League Cup was the inauguralSwiss League Cup competition. It was played in the summer of 1972 as a pre-season tournament to the 1972–73 season. This was won by Basel who defeatedFC Winterthur 4–1 in the final in which Hitzfeld scored a hattick. In Europe, Basel failed to impress once again,in 1972–73, as they were sent crashing out at the first stage byHungary'sÚjpesti Dózsa SC.
But in the1973–74 season, they excelled with the Peruvian legendTeófilo Cubillas in their ranks, eliminatingIcelandersFram Reykjavík andClub Brugge ofBelgium, before narrowly exiting in the quarter-finals toCeltic 5–6 on aggregate after extra time in the away leg. In the1973–74 Nationalliga A season Basel finished in just 5th position winning 13 of their 26 league games, drawing twice and suffering 10 defeats, gaining 29 points. They finished 16 points behind the new championsZürich.Ottmar Hitzfeld was the teamst top goal scorer with 19 league goals. He ended the Swiss ranking in third position behindDaniel Jeandupeux (Zürich, 22 goals) andWalter Müller (Lausanne-Sports, 21 goals). In the Swiss Cup Basel proceeded to the quarter-finals, in which they played againstSion. Sion won the two legged round 3–2 on aggregate.
Despite Basel's improvement on the European stage, they did not retain the league for another four years. At the end of the1974–75 Nationalliga A season Basel finished in fourth position (11 wins, 9 draws, 2 defeats, 49–33 goals) 8 points adrift of FC Zürich who won the championship for the second time in a row. In the League Cup Basel reached the semi-finals. But they did manage to lift the Swiss Cup in 1975, beating Winterthur 2–1 in the Finalafter extra time and therefore qualifying for the1975–76 Cup Winners' Cup.
Basel's long-awaited title-win camein 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, byWacker Innsbruck ofAustria, 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 returnedin 1980, as Basel won theNationalliga 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 theNationalliga Bin 1988.
Several managers came and went at theSt. Jakob Stadium between then, until Basel finally returned to the Nationalliga Ain 1994 underClaude Andrey. Basel avoided relegation by three points in their first season back at the top-flight, but Andrey left and was replaced byKarl Engel. Engel led Basel to a fifth-place finish inhis first season in charge and a solid mid-table finish in1997, but he was sacked after a poor start to the1997–98 campaign, in which Basel finished second-last.Jörg Berger then took over but lasted only a year in charge beforeChristian Gross was appointed. 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.
TheSt. Jakob-Park was opened on 15 March 2001, and Basel finished the 2000–01 season in fourth position in the league. Basel ended the qualification round of 2001–02 leading the league table by five points at the winter break. The Championship round began in February and with ten wins and just one defeat in the first 11 games, Basel pulled away at the top of the table to win the championship three games before the end of the season, their first title for 22 years. They went on to complete a domesticdouble, beating Grasshoppers in extra time in the Swiss Cup thanks to a penalty scored byMurat Yakin. Basel also reached the final of theUEFA Intertoto Cup.
In the2002–03 season, Basel became the second Swiss team to play in the revampedUEFA Champions League. They reached the second group round, but were knocked out on goal difference in a group containingManchester United,Juventus, andDeportivo de La Coruña. In domestic competitions, Basel finished second in the Swiss Super League and won the Swiss Cup after beatingNeuchâtel Xamax 6–0 in the final.
Basel started 2003–04 with 13 straight league wins, and went on to complete the first half of the season undefeated, with 17 wins and 1 draw. Basel remained top of the league for the rest of the season, winning their 10th Swiss championship. In theUEFA Cup they were eliminated byNewcastle United in the second round after defeatingMalatyaspor in the previous round.
As Swiss champions, Basel entered the2004–05 Champions League in the third qualifying round. They were drawn againstInternazionale, who beat them 5–2 on aggregate, dropping Basel into the UEFA Cup. After beating Russian sideTerek Grozny in the third round they were drawn in Group E withFeyenoord,Schalke 04,Ferencváros andHearts. They finished third in the group on seven points and qualified for the Round of 32, where they were defeated 2–0 on aggregate byLille. In the domestic league, after a poor start, Basel moved to the top of the league table and went on to win the title by ten points. Basel completed their 17 home league games undefeated, winning 13 and drawing four, including an 8–1 win against Grasshoppers, in which Christian Giménez scored four goals.
Basel were knocked out of the2005–06 Champions League in the third qualifying round by German clubWerder Bremen. They again dropped into the UEFA Cup, where they beatŠiroki Brijeg ofBosnia and Herzegovina to be drawn into Group E alongsideStrasbourg,Roma,Red Star Belgrade andTromsø. They finished third in the group, qualifying for the knockout stage. After beatingMonaco and Strasbourg once again, they were eliminated byMiddlesbrough in the quarter final. On 26 February 2006, Basel broke their own club record of 52 unbeaten league games at home, which they extended to 59. The winning streak was ended on the final day of the season with a last-minute goal byIulian Filipescu giving FC Zürich a 2–1 win and, in the process, Zürich's first national championship since 1980–81. This resulted inriots between rival supporters after the match.
In 2006–07 Basel were again runners-up to Zürich in the league, and won the Swiss Cup for the eight time, beatingFC Luzern 1–0 in the final. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup Basel beatKazakh sideTobol,Liechtensteiner teamFC Vaduz, andMacedoniansFK Rabotnički. to qualify for the group stages. Drawn againstBlackburn Rovers,Nancy, Feyenoord andWisła Kraków, Basel finished bottom of the group and were eliminated.
Basel were drawn against Bosnian teamFK 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 ofSV 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 thegroup of death of Group D alongsideBrann,Dinamo Zagreb,Hamburger SV andRennes, all of which were ranked within the top three 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 aCarlitos free-kick and were highly praised for playing attractive and flowing football. Basel then went to Germany to face Hamburger SV at theHSH Nordbank Arena, where they were fortunate to escape with a 1–1 draw. The goals came courtesy of captainIvan Ergić and Hamburg'sIvica Olić.
Basel then facedSporting CP in the last 32 after qualifying second in the group alongside first-placed Hamburg and third-placed Brann. (Sporting finished third in their group in the Champions League, which is why they were dropped into the UEFA Cup.) The first leg took place on 13 February inLisbon, where first-choice goalkeeper Franco Costanzo was injured and Basel lost 2–0. The second leg did not fare any better for Basel. Costanzo remained injured and Basel lost 3–0 on 21 February in Basel, falling from the UEFA Cup.
Basel won the Swiss Cup for the second consecutive season after beating second-tier sideAC Bellinzona 4–1 at St. Jakob-Park on 6 April 2008.Eren Derdiyok gave Basel the lead in the first half before Bellinzona equalised throughChristian Pouga in the second. Daniel Majstorović restored the lead for Basel with a header and Swiss internationals 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 10 May 2008 at home 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 with FC Zürich. 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 throughValentin Stocker before Marco Streller wrapped up the victory with the second.
In 2008–09 season, Basel entered the Champions League in the Second Qualifying Round and were drawn againstIFK Göteborg ofSweden. The first leg was on 30 July 2008 atUllevi and finished 1–1. Benjamin Huggel put Basel ahead beforeThomas Olsson equalised for the home team. The second leg took place on 6 August at St. Jakob-Park, with Basel coming from behind twice to win 4–2. Basel then facedVitória de Guimarães ofPortugal in the Third Qualifying Round. The first leg at theEstádio D. Afonso Henriques on 13 August ended in a 0–0 draw. The second leg took place on 27 August at St. Jakob-Park, where Valentin Stocker gave Basel an early lead on 11 minutes beforeJoão Alves was fouled in the penalty area byFrançois Marque andJoão Fajardo dispatched the spot-kick, just four minutes later to draw Vitória level. In the second half, the away side started well butEren Derdiyok gave FCB a 2–1 lead which they hung on to, to qualify for the Champions League Group stages. FCB were drawn into Group C alongsideBarcelona,Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting CP. Basel lost their opening game 2–1 at St. Jakob-Park on 16 September against Shakhtar.Fernandinho put theUkrainians ahead on 25 minutes beforeJádson doubled their lead just before half time.David Abraham scored a late consolation goal for the home team. Sporting CP were the opponents on Matchday 2 (1 October) and despite defending well and causing a few scares at the other end of the park, Basel were defeated 2–0 at theEstádio José Alvalade. On Matchday 3 (22 October), 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 theCamp Nou, with Eren Derdiyok scoring a late equaliser afterLionel Messi putBarça ahead. On 26 November, Basel travelled to Ukraine to play Shakhtar, where they were thrashed 5–0. Basel then faced Sporting at home on the final Matchday (9 December) and were defeated 1–0.
Despite remaining in first or second position for most of the season, Basel finished in third place behind FC Zürich and Young Boys. On 27 May, Christian Gross was sacked from his role as FC Basel manager after ten years in the job.
In 2009–10 season, GermanThorsten Fink was appointed as Basel's new manager on 9 June 2009.[7] Basel entered theUEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round. They qualified for the group stage and were drawn into Group E alongside Roma,Fulham andCSKA Sofia. Basel finished in third place.
In domestic affairs, Basel s won the title on the last day of the season against favourites Young Boys at theStade de Suisse. Marco Streller was the league's top scorer with 21 goals. Basel won the2009–10 Swiss Cup final with a 6–0 victory over FC Lausanne-Sport, FC Basel's tenth cup win.
In 2010–11 season, Basel entered the2010–11 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round, drawn againstDebrecen; they won both games (2–0, 3–1). In the play-offs to the Champions League, they are drawn againstSheriff Tiraspol. In the first leg, they defeated Tiraspol 1–0 before winning 3–0 on the road. Basel entered the2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage in Group E.
On 13 October 2011, Thorsten Fink left the club to join Hamburger SV. As replacement, his assistant Vogel was signed as caretaker manager until the winter break.[8] Basel historically qualified for the knockout phase of theChampions League with 2–1 win over Manchester United on 7 December 2011. On 12 December, it was announced that Vogel had signed as head coach and manager.[9] On 22 February 2012, Basel defeatedBayern Munich in the first leg of the Round of 16 stage in the Champions League. They won with a score of 1–0, scoring in the 86th minute of the game, but then lost in the return leg 7–0, thus eliminating them.
On 15 October 2012, managerHeiko Vogel was sacked by the club and replaced by former player Murat Yakin.[10] At the end of the first half of the season, Basel were in second position in the domestic league table. In the second half of the season, Basel acquired enough points to finish the season three points ahead of Grasshoppers and to win their fourth title in a row.[11]
As Swiss champions, Basel entered the Champions League in the second qualifying round, where they were drawn against Estonian clubFlora Tallinn, winning 5–0 on aggregate. In the third round, they were drawn against Norwegian clubMolde, winning 2–1 on aggregate. In the playoff round, however, Basel lost both games againstCFR Cluj from Romania, being knocked out 3–1 on aggregate. The team thus qualified for theEuropa League group stage, where they were drawn into Group G alongside Sporting CP,Genk andVideoton. They finished in second place in the table and thus continued after the winter break in theknockout phase round of 32. In theknockout phase round of 32, Basel were drawn againstDnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Basel won 3–1 on aggregate. In the round of 16, they were drawn againstZenit Saint Petersburg and, despite being the underdogs, they qualified for thequarter-finals by winning 2–1 on aggregate. Here Basel were drawn againstTottenham Hotspur, which they beat 4–1 onpenalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw to progress to the semi-finals.[12] The draw for thesemi-final matched them against reigning Champions League holdersChelsea. Both games in the tie ended with a defeat, 1–2 in Basel 1–3 inLondon.
Basel's2013–14 UEFA Champions League season started on 30 July 2013 in the third qualifying round with a tie in St. Jakob-Park againstMaccabi Tel Aviv, which they won 4–3 on aggregate. In the first match of the main group stage, Basel notched up a surprising 2–1 away win against Chelsea atStamford Bridge and followed this up with a 1–0 home win in the return fixture at St. Jakob-Park. Despite these two results, they only finished in third position in the league table and thus they qualified for the2013–14 Europa League round of 32. There, they fought Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and went on to defeat Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 on aggregate. They would face Valencia in the quarter-finals, winning 3–0 at home, but losing 0–5 in Valencia after extra-time.[13]
On 28 May 2014, Basel announced thatPaulo Sousa was to become their trainer for the new season and that he had signed a three-year contract.[14] They went on to win the league championship for the sixth time in a row. In the Swiss Cup, Basel ended as runners-up, losing 0–3 to FC Sion in the final.
Paulo Sousa left the club prior to the 2015–16 season for Fiorentina; he was replaced by FC Thun head coachUrs Fischer on 18 June.
Basel entered into the2015–16 Champions League season in theThird qualifying round. Their initial aim was to remain in the competition and reach thegroup stage. In the third qualifying round, they were drawn againstLech Poznań and in the play-off round against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Basel failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage, thus they dropped into the2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage. Here they were drawn into Group I, together with Fiorentina, Lech Poznań andBelenenses. Because they finished as group winners, Basel continued in theknockout phase in February 2016. Basel were drawn against French sideSaint-Étienne. They advanced on away goals after a 4–4 aggregate draw with Saint-Étienne. They were knocked out of the tournament by the eventual winners,Sevilla, 3–0 in the round of 16.
On 30 April 2016, Basel confirmed a seventh consecutiveSwiss national championship with a 2–1 win over FC Sion at St. Jakob-Park.[16] At the end of the season Basel won the title 14 points ahead ofYoung Boys.
Basel won the Swiss Super League for the eighth time in a row – the club's 20th championship title in total.[17] They also won theSwiss Cup for the twelfth time, completing a sixth double.[18]
In 2017–18 season,Raphaël Wicky was appointed as new first team manager, assisted byMassimo Lombardo. The club's eight-year monopoly over the Swiss league title ended in 2018, as BSC Young Boys won the domestic championship. Basel finished second on 69 points, while Young Boys romped to the title, winning the league by a 15-point margin.
FC Basel is known for having a big and loyal local following.[citation needed] When polls are conducted about the most passionate club football fans("Muttenzerkurve"), FC Basel's fans usually make the top 200 if not top 100 in the world, resulting in what is by far the highest average attendance inSwitzerland with around 30,000 fans[20] attending every home game and with the new extension being built that number is expected to rise to around 40,000. The fans have also made themselves a name in numerous international matches in recent years. World tennis legendRoger Federer is one of the club's most famous fans.
In November 2010 their supporters caused the game againstFC Luzern to be stopped after they threw hundreds of tennis balls onto the pitch. This was in protest at the kick off times being moved to accommodate a tennis tournament on the TV schedule.[21]
The city of Basel and the city of Zürich have a long-standing rivalry. Therefore, FCB's most traditional and fiercest rivals areGrasshopper Club Zürich andFC Zürich. In the past few seasons, the rivalry between FC Zürich and Basel has been fueled by Zürich's narrow league championship wins over Basel. Supporters from both sides have caused trouble in the past years, withthe worst incident happening in May 2006. Basel had won the league in 2003–04 and 2004–05 and were set to make it three in a row if they won or drew against Zürich at home on the last day of the 2005–06 season. Zürich took the lead after a late goal fromIulian Filipescu and consequently won the match and the league. After the final whistle, players and fans from both teams started fighting on the pitch and in the stands. This incident has fueled hatred and bitterness between fans from FC Zürich and FC Basel. There is controversy about which rivalry is bigger, the one with Grasshopper or FC Zürich, but it usually depends on the success of these teams.
FC Basel play their home games at the 37,500 capacitySt. Jakob-Park.[22]
UEFA have awarded the stadium a 4-star rating, the highest rating that could be given to a stadium of that capacity. St. Jakob-Park was opened in 2001, originally holding a maximum attendance of 33,433. The stadium was expanded with a new stand (sector G) and upgraded to 42,500 due to Switzerland co-hostingUEFA Euro 2008. After Euro 2008, a number of seats were removed, thus giving more space between them, and the capacity was reduced 37,500 seats.[23] The stadium is nicknamed "Joggeli" by the fans and has two restaurants, Restaurant UNO and Hattrick's Sports Bar, as well as a shopping centre which opened on 1 November 2001. It also has parking space for 680 cars and has its own train station. St. Jakob-Park hosted six matches during Euro 2008, including the opening game betweenSwitzerland andCzech Republic, and a semi-final betweenGermany andTurkey. The most interesting feature of the stadium is the translucent outer layer, which can be illuminated in different colours for impressive effects; this effect was copied three years later forBayern Munich's new stadium, theAllianz Arena.
Before St. Jakob-Park was built, FC Basel played home games in theLandhof (in the Quarter Kleinbasel) and, following the1954 FIFA World Cup, in the newly builtSt. Jakob Stadium which was on the same site as the current stadium. During the construction period of St. Jakob-Park, Basel's home matches were played at theStadion Schützenmatte.
FC Basel's traditional kit is a red and blue shirt. Due to the fact that some of the founders were members of the "Basler Ruder-Club", whose colors were red and blue, they adopted those colours for their new club. FC Basel's outfit is completed by blue shorts with gold trim and blue socks with red trim. From this comes the nickname "RotBlau" which isSwiss German and German for "RedBlue". Their away kit is all white with two stripes down the middle, the left being red and the right being blue. FC Basel's kits were formerly manufactured byNike, however in the summer of 2012 a new contract was formed withAdidas to produce the kits until 2017. The main sponsor isNovartis, a multinational pharmaceutical company which is based in the city of Basel. On the inside tag of the jerseys is inscribed "Rot isch unseri Liebi, Blau die ewigi Treui, Basel unseri Stadt." This roughly translates to "Red is our love, blue the eternal loyalty, Basel our city."
According to a legend, the famous "Blaugrana" colours of Barcelona have been said to have originated from the Rotblau colours of FC Basel. This legend evolved becauseJoan Gamper, founder of bothFC Zürich andFC Barcelona had played two friendly games for FC Basel against Mulhouse and Strasbourg on short visits, as he did for other Swiss clubs, too.[25] FC Barcelona today based on accounts of the Gamper family assumes, the colours had been taken from the rugby team of theMerchant Taylors' School near Liverpool.[26]
For the 2008–09 season, Basel changed their shirt to resemble the traditional Barcelona shirt (red and blue vertical stripes). Barcelona changed theirs to one half of the shirt red, the other blue, which happens to resemble the traditional Basel shirt.
Old FC Basel logo without the two stars
Basel's current logo is a shield, the left half red and the right half blue. The shield is outlined with gold and in the centre in gold letters it reads "FCB", for "Football Club Basel" or "Fussballclub Basel". The logo is worn in the centre of the shirt opposed to on the traditional left-hand side. Like the club colours of Basel, the logo has a striking resemblance to that of Barcelona's. There are theories that suggest that the founder of Barcelona, being at one time the captain of Basel, reincorporated the logo of Basel to that of Barcelona. The resemblances seem clear: both logos seem to incorporate the shield design, as do most other clubs. Most notably, however, is the FCB acronyms on both logos and the red-blue colours, outlined in gold. Additionally, the football that lies on the left side of the Basel logo seems to be the exact shape, type and colour as that of the Barcelona logo in the bottom centre. Because of this, many say that Basel was the inspiration in the process of founding Barcelona.
^Does not include results from the first five editions of theInter-Cities Fairs Cup featuring "Basel XI", which included players from FC Basel as well as players from other clubs (Basel XI record: P11 W1 D2 L8 F16 A39).
TheFC Basel Holding AG owns 75% ofFC Basel 1893 AG and the other 25% is owned by the clubFC Basel 1893 members. The club FC Basel 1893 functions as a base club independent of the holding company and the AG. FC Basel 1893 AG is responsible for the operational business of the club, e.g. the 1st team, a large part of the youth department and the back office are affiliated there. All decisions that affect the club FC Basel 1893 are made within the AG.
On 11 May 2021 the FC Basel Holding AG chairmanBernhard Burgener and board memberDavid Degen announced a transfer of ownership rights, after months of massive fan protests. The new situation meant Degen owned 92% of the shares and about 8% is held by four small investors.[29] At theAGM of FC Basel Holding AG on 15 June 2021, Bernhard Burgener, Peter von Büren andKarl Odermatt stood down from the board of directors. A new board of directors stood for election. From that date the board consisted ofReto Baumgartner (president), Dani Büchi (delegate of the board),David Degen (vice-president), Johannes Barth, Marco Gadola,Christian Gross, Sophie Herzog and Andreas Rey. Degen said he will sell a part of the shares within his management team.[30]
On 18 August the Holding AG announced how the shares had been divided between the shareholders. Degen himself kept 40%, Andreas Rey held 18,41%, his wife Ursula Rey-Krayer also held 18,41%. A group of four other investors, these being Johannes Barth, Marco Gadola, Dani Büchi and Dan Holzmann, together held 15,14%. The other 8,04% of the shares remained by another group of investors, these being Manor AG, J. Safra Sarasin, Novasearch AG, MCH Group AG and Weitnauer Holding AG.[31]
On 27 December 2021 an extraordinaryAGM of the Holding AG was held and it was announced that the Board had reorganised itself. Ursula Rey-Krayer and Dan Holzmann were unanimously elected to the board of directors.[32]
On 20 June 2022 theAGMs of both the FC Basel Holding AG and the FC Basel 1893 AG were held and both boards were confirmed. The Holding AG with following members: David Degen (president), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president). FC Basel 1893 AG with following members: David Degen (president), Carol Etter (delegate of the club FC Basel), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president).
The club's 127thAGM took place in written form, during the week from Saturday 5 June and Friday 11 June. The results were communicated on Monday 14 June. On 13 April 2021 the club announced their proposal for the club management.[33] Club presidentReto Baumgartner and the two directors, Dominik Donzé and Benno Kaiser, remained in the board and three new members were elected. These three being Carol Etter (sports lawyer), Edward Turner (financial specialist) and Tobias Adler (marketingspecialist). Their exact roles are to be decided. Carol Etter was elected as delegate of the board, to represent the club at the meetings of the Holding.[34]
After the dismissal ofHeiko Vogel, on 31 October 2023,[35] the position of the sports director was left vacant, this until 15 May 2024 and then FCB announced thatDaniel Stucki had been appointed as new sports director.[36]
On 28 November 2022 FCB had announced that they had takenHeiko Vogel under contract as their new sporting director, as per 1 January 2023. After the end of theirprevious season, in which Vogel had taken over in charge of the coaching of their first team following the dismissal ofAlexander Frei in February, Vogel continued in his role as sports director for this season.[39]
On 12 May 2023 the club announced thatTimo Schultz had been signed a contract as head coach of the new FCB first team.[40] On 22 May they announced that the entire trainer staff had been appointed. Loïc Favé would joinDavide Callà as assistant coach and Johannes Wieber would become athletic coach,Gabriel Wüthrich remained goalkeeper coach.[41] On 23 May the club announced that the new coach of the U-21 is the ex-footballerDennis Hediger, who had been the coach of the U-18 team the previous season.[42] Appointed a his assistant coaches wereMarco Aratore and Michaël Bauch.[43]
On 29 September the club announced that they were parting with coach Schultz, together with his assistant Loïc Favé, and that he would be replaced by the current sport directorHeiko Vogel.[44] Vogel was dismissed a month later, withFabio Celestini taking over until the end of the season.[45] On 17 November 2023,Martin Rueda was hired as an additional assistant coach.[46]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
FC Basel had a team in the Superleague Formula race car series where football teams lent their name to cars.GU-Racing International has operated the car for all seasons andMax Wissel has driven the car in all the races. FC Basel and Wissel won one race, in the2009 season atDonington Park. The team have scored three other podiums in the series.
Basel is home to a leading youth academy system in terms of produced senior-level players that featured in the top-flight in Switzerland.[48][49] FC Basel bases its promotion of young talent on the following criteria: The primary aim of the FCB youth department is to integrate as many players as possible into the first team squad, all representatives of the youth department adhere to the values of the FCB charter, a uniform, holistic game and training idea from the FE-14 to the U21 ensures optimal training, the FCB follows a dual system of educational training and football.[50]
The youth academy is as present set up in the following areas: Formation (U-21, U-19, U-17, U1-6 and U-15), Footeco (FE-14) and Project Team Basel (FE-12 and FE-13).[52]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Until 2023 there was no official Basel U-19 team, because a U-19 championship did not exist inSwiss football until then. Before then the team was quickly put together in the 2011–12 season from the youngest members of the first team, the younger Under-21 and the Under-18 teams who were eligible to play in the2011–12 NextGen Series.Note: Results and dates can be found here2011–12 NextGen series.
Because Basel qualified for the2013–14 UEFA Champions League, the Under-19 team was again called to life and played in the2013–14 UEFA Youth League. This time the members of this squad were solely members from the U-21 and U-18 teams, but the team only trained together once a week.Note: Results and dates can be found here2013–14 UEFA Youth League.
A year later Basel qualified for the2014–15 UEFA Champions League. Therefore, they were eligible to play in the2014–15 UEFA Youth League and they took the matter a lot more seriously than the year before. Reserve team managerThomas Häberli was also appointed as U-19 coach. Häberli's U-19 squad was still a mix between the younger U-21 and the older U-18 teams, but the team had training together virtually daily. This resulted with improved results, the team winning four games from their six, but failing to qualify for the knockout phase on tiebreak.Note: Results and dates can be found here2014–15 UEFA Youth League.
At the end of the 2017–18 season the U-18 team coached byAlex Frei won the Swiss championship and qualified for the2018–19 UEFA Youth League.[55] But they were eliminated in the first round byHamilton Academical, having drawn both matches 2–2, they were defeated in the penalty shoot-out.[56]Note: Results and dates can be found here2018–19 UEFA Youth League.
In November 2021, theSwiss Football Association announced their amendments to their league structure and further expanded their promotion of young talents.[57] The Basel U-18 team won the championship 2022–23 and in line with the Associations new league structures, FCB advanced all their U-18 team members to their newly created U-19 team, who were thus qualified for the2023–24 UEFA Youth League. Here the team, under coachMario Cantaluppi, advanced through the qualification but were eliminated byBayern Munich in the play-offs.[58]Note: Results and dates can be found here2023–24 UEFA Youth League.
In total, the club has eight youth teams in their academy. In the groupFormation are the U-21, U-19, U-17, U1-6 and U-15, in the groupFooteco the FE-14 team and then there is the groupProject Team Basel FE-12 and FE-13.[52] Since the 2020–21 season, the FE-13 and FE-14 teams from the clubs FC Basel 1893,BSC Old Boys andFC Concordia Basel will appear with the addition of Team Basel.[59]
Following the2001–02 season, the club retired the number ofMassimo Ceccaroni, a Basel native who played his entire senior career with Basel, between 1987 and 2002.
The number 12 in the Basel squad became vacant on 1 July 2008. In October of that year, the board of managing directors announced their decision to dedicate this number to their fans.[62]
^abVerein "Basler Fussballarchiv"."Auswärtungen/Einsätze". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv".Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved22 May 2022.
^FC Basel 1893 (31 October 2023)."FCB trennt sich von Heiko Vogel" (in Swiss High German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved16 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (15 May 2024)."Daniel Stucki neuer FCB Sportdirektor" [Daniel Stucki new FCB sports director] (in Swiss High German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved15 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (12 May 2023)."Der neue FCB-Cheftrainer heisst Timo Schultz" [The new FCB head coach is called Timo Schultz] (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved12 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (22 May 2023)."Trainerstab für die kommende Saison komplett" [Coaching staff for the coming season complete] (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved22 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (4 August 2023)."FCB U-21" (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved4 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (29 September 2023)."Der FCB und Timo Schultz gehen getrennte Wege" [FCB and Timo Schultz are going their separate ways] (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved29 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Zindel, Josef."Stiftungszweck".Foundation purpose. Stiftung Nachwuchs-Campus Basel. Retrieved16 November 2020.
^Zindel, Josef (2023)."Stiftungszweck" [Foundation purpose] (in Swiss High German). Stiftung Nachwuchs Campus Basel.Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved16 November 2023.
^abFC Basel 1893 (23 November 2023)."Nachwuchs, Übersicht" [Youth, overview] (in Swiss High German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved16 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^FC Basel 1893 (2021)."Nachwuchs, partnerschaft" [Youth, partners] (in Swiss High German). FC Basel 1893 AG.Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved16 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Die 12 definitiv den FCB-Fans" [The 12 definitely the FCB fans] (in German). FC Basel. 2 October 2008. Archived fromthe original on 1 February 2014.Der Vorstand des FC Basel hat entschieden, die seit dieser Saison frei gebliebene Rückennummer 12 auch künftig nicht mehr zu vergeben. Diese Nummer soll stellvertretend für den 12. Mann des FC Basel stehen – die Fans des Vereins, deren riesiges Engagament der FCB damit symbolisch honoriert
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