 Stocker in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Valentin Stocker[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1989-04-12)12 April 1989 (age 36) | ||
| Place of birth | Lucerne, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left midfielder,Attacking midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2005 | SC Kriens | ||
| 2006–2007 | Basel | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | Basel U-21 | 37 | (13) |
| 2008–2014 | Basel | 176 | (50) |
| 2014–2018 | Hertha BSC | 65 | (8) |
| 2018–2022 | Basel | 110 | (24) |
| International career | |||
| 2005 | Switzerland U-16 | 5 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Switzerland U-17 | 11 | (6) |
| 2006 | Switzerland U-18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Switzerland U-19 | 13 | (3) |
| 2007–2009 | Switzerland U-21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2008–2016 | Switzerland | 36 | (6) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Valentin Stocker (born 12 April 1989) is a Swiss former professionalfootballer who played as aleft midfielder, and as anattacking midfielder. He also played for theSwitzerland national team.
Born inLucerne, Stocker began his youth career withSC Kriens, playing there between 1996 and December 2005. As of January 2006 he transferred to the youth department ofBasel. He played in their U-18 team for the second half of the 2005–06 season, under coachPatrick Rahmen and his assistantMarco Walker and with them won both the Swiss U-18 championship and the U-19/18 national cup that season.[2] He also played for their Under-21 team in theSwiss 1. Liga, which at that time the third highest tier of theSwiss football league system. A year later, in the 2006–07 season they won their division and the team became Swiss champions at U-21 level.[3] The team defended their title in the2007–08 season, as division (group2) winners, again becoming champions at U-21 level.[4]
DuringBasel's 2007–08 season, head coachChristian Gross called Stocker into the first team. Stocker signed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday and just a few months later received an extension.[5] Having played in 12 test matches he made his team debut inthat season's Swiss Cup semi-final, a home game in theSt. Jakob-Park on 27 February 2008, as Basel won 1–0 againstThun.[6] One week later, in the away match against the same opponent, Stocker played his league debut, as Basel won 3–1 thanks to a hat-trick fromEren Derdiyok.[7] Stocker scored his first league goal on 16 March againstFC Sion, but this could not hinder the 4–2 away defeat.[8] On 6 April Basel won thecup final and on 10 May, in the last league game of the season, Stocker scored the first and gave the assist toMarco Streller's second, as Basel won 2–0 overYoung Boys. This secured the championship, and therefore, the nationaldouble. In the league Stocker had played eleven games and had scored three goals.[9]
In the 2008–09 season Stocker became team regular. To the beginning of the season, he was member of the Basel team that won theUhrencup. They beatLegia Warsaw 6–1 and played a 2–2 draw withBorussia Dortmund to end the table on top slot above Dortmund andLuzern.[10] Basel joined the2008–09 UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round and with an aggregate score of 5–3 they eliminatedIFK Göteborg. In the next round they played againstVitória de Guimarães. The first leg ended in a goalless draw, but with a 2–1 win in the second leg they eliminated Vitória, with Stocker scoring his first European goal.[11] Basel advanced to the group stage and were matched withBarcelona,Sporting CP andShakhtar Donetsk, but ended the group in last position, winning just one point after a 1–1 draw inCamp Nou.[12] Stocker played in nine of these ten games. Basel finished just third in theleague table, seven points behind new championsZürich. Stocker played 32 of the 36 games, scoring five goals.[13]
Basel joined the2009–10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round. Basel advanced to the group stage, in which despite winning three of the six games the ended in third position and were eliminated. They finished four points behind group winnersRoma and one behindFulham, against whom they lost 3–2 in the last game of the stage. Stocker played in nine of these twelve games.[14] Stocker became a leading player within the team. In theCup Final he scored a brace, the feams first and fifth goals as Basel won 6–0 againstFC Lausanne-Sport.[15] On 16 May 2010, the day of the last match of theleague season, Basel andYoung Boys were level on points. The two teams played each other inStadion Wankdorf. Stocker scored the first and gave the assist toScott Chipperfield's second, as Basel won 2–0. This secured the championship, and therefore, the nationaldouble. Stocker played 31 league games, scoring 12 goals.[16]
In the2010–11 season Stocker played 26 League games, marking seven goals, and he won his third championship medal with the club. But Stocker injured himself on 23 April 2011 in the game againstBSC Young Boys.[17] This was his 100th Super League match. The injury was a cruciate ligament rupture and was operated two days later.[18] His recovery times was estimated at six to seven months.
In the2011–12 season he returned into the team on 3 December 2011 during the 1–0 home victory againstFC Luzern and on the same day it was announced that his contract had been extended until the end of June 2016.[19] He was substituted in during thegroup stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League 2–1 home win againstManchester United, as Basel qualified for the Knockout phase, sending United out of the competition. During the first leg match in theRound of 16 on 22 February 2012 againstBayern Munich he was substituted in and scored the winning goal.[20] At the end of the2011–12 Swiss Super League season Stocker won his fourth League Championship title with Basel,[21] the third in a row. this was also his thirdDouble because Basel also won theSwiss Cup[22]
During the2012–13 season Stocker had another highlight in his football career. Due to an injuryMarco Streller and due an illnessAlexander Frei were both unable to play theEuropa League knockout phase match againstDnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 21 February 2013. Therefore, Stocker was nominated as team captain for the very first time and he led the Basel team to a 1–1 away draw and they qualified for the round of 16.[23] At the end of theSwiss Super League season 2012–13 Stocker won his fifth Championship title[24] (fourth in a row) and won theSwiss Cup runner-upsilver medal.[25] In the2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as thesemi-finals, there being matched against the reigningUEFA Champions League holdersChelsea, but were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[26]
Basel's2013–14 Super League season was very successful. Stocker won his sixth league championship title with Basel.[27] They also reached the final of the2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 byZürich after extra time.[28] During the2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached thegroup stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified forEuropa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. In theirseason 2013–14 Basel played a total of 68 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League and 10 test matches). Stocker totaled 55 appearances, 30 League, 4 Cup, 10 Champions League and 5 Europa League as well 6 in the test games. He scored a total of 19 goals and gave 14 assists in these matches.[29]
On 18 May 2014,Hertha BSC officially announced the signing of Stocker.[30] Stocker reportedly received a four-year contract after Hertha and FC Basel agreed on a transfer fee of around €5 million.[31]
On 10 January 2018, FC Basel announced that Stocker would return to the club, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract dated up until June 2021.[32]
Under trainerMarcel Koller Basel won theSwiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat FC Montlingen 3–0, in the second roundEchallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter-finalsSion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finalsZürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on the 19 May 2019 in theStade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern againstThun. StrikerAlbian Ajeti scored the first goal,Fabian Frei the second for Basel, thenDejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[33] Stocker played in five cup games and scored the two goals, these both being during the extra time in the match against Sion.[34]
On 17 May 2022, Basel announced that Stocker would retire from playing at the end of the 2021–22 season and will remain at the club as an assistant to the sporting director.[35] Five days later, on 22 May, Stocker was substituted in to play the final 14 Minutes of his last professional game.
During his time with the club Stocker won the Swiss championship six times and theSwiss Cup four times. Between the years 2007 and 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022 he played a total of 515 games for Basel scoring a total of 116 goals. 286 of these games were in theSwiss Super League, 33 in theSwiss Cup, 57 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League,Europa League andConference League and 99 were friendly games. He scored 74 goal in the domestic league, 9 in the Cup and 18 in the European competitions, the other 15 were scored during the test games.[36] In terms of the number of competitive games, which is 416, he is one of the top five in the club's history, and in terms of goals scored - although not a striker - he is 12th position in the historic FCB rankings.
Stocker has played international football at various age levels, includingSwiss U19 andSwiss U21. He made his debut for theSwitzerland U16 team on 25 April 2005, being substituted in, in the 2–0 away defeat againstScotland U16. In 2008 and 2009 he played 7 games for theSwitzerland U21 team. His debut for the U21 was on 26 March 2008 in theUEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 5 2–1 away defeat againstMacedonia Under-21.
He made his debut forSwitzerland inOttmar Hitzfeld's first match as manager, on 20 August 2008 againstCyprus atStade de Genève. He scored the opening goal of the 4–1 friendly win.
Stocker was included in Switzerland's squad for the2014 FIFA World Cup, making one appearance, starting in the opening match againstEcuador before being substituted out at halftime.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basel | 2007–08 | Swiss Super League | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| 2008–09 | Swiss Super League | 32 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9[a] | 1 | 41 | 6 | |
| 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 31 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9[b] | 0 | 41 | 14 | |
| 2010–11 | Swiss Super League | 26 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10[c] | 3 | 36 | 10 | |
| 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 1 | 20 | 5 | |
| 2012–13 | Swiss Super League | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 17[c] | 3 | 50 | 10 | |
| 2013–14 | Swiss Super League | 30 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 15[c] | 3 | 47 | 16 | |
| Total | 176 | 50 | 7 | 3 | 63 | 11 | 246 | 64 | ||
| Hertha BSC II | 2014–15 | Regionalliga Nordost | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||
| Hertha BSC | 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 26 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 28 | 3 | |
| 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 17 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1[b] | 0 | 20 | 5 | |
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 68 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 77 | 9 | ||
| Basel | 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| 2018–19 | Swiss Super League | 17 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4[c] | 0 | 26 | 4 | |
| 2019–20 | Swiss Super League | 29 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 14[c] | 2 | 48 | 13 | |
| 2020–21 | Swiss Super League | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 11 | 4 | |
| Total | 68 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 3 | 102 | 23 | ||
| Career total | 314 | 74 | 24 | 9 | 89 | 14 | 427 | 97 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 August 2008 | Stade de Genève,Geneva, Switzerland |  Cyprus | 1–0 | 4–1 | Friendly | [39] |
| 2 | 12 October 2010 | St. Jakob-Park,Basel, Switzerland |  Wales | 1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying | [40] |
| 3 | 4–1 | ||||||
| 4 | 31 March 2015 | Letzigrund,Zürich, Switzerland |  United States | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | [41] |
| 5 | 5 September 2015 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Slovenia | 2–2 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying | |
| 6 | 7 October 2016 | Groupama Arena,Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2018 World Cup qualification |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | FC Basel captain 2019–2022 | Succeeded by |
