'FC Basel' (short for 'Fussballclub Basel') is a
Swiss football club based in
Basel.
In
2002 the club qualified for the
UEFA Champions League. They won against
Juventus and drew with both
Manchester United and
Liverpool. In
2003 and
2004 they qualified for the
UEFA Cup, where they defeated
Feyenoord, drew with
Schalke 04, and lost at home to
Hearts. Basel is momentarily one of the most successful teams in Switzerland, and were one of the favorites for the 2006-2007
Swiss Super League season. The second phase of the season was much more successful for the FCB, but they finished in second place in the
Swiss Super League, falling just one point short of champions
FC Zürich, despite having defeated
Zürich in all three of their meetings in that league campaign.
History
The Early Years
Joan Gamper, co-founder of FC Basel
FC Basel was founded on the 15th of November 1893 in the city of
Basel,
Switzerland. FC Basel did not have much early footballing success; it took Basel 40 years to win their first trophy, winning the Swiss Cup in 1933. They also won the cup in 1947 and then the league in 1953.
1960/70s
FCB (which is pronounced "Eff Tsay Bay" in
Swiss German) were most successful in the 1960s and 1970s winning the Swiss championship seven times (1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1980) and the national Cup three times (1963, 1967, 1975). They also won the League Cup in 1973 and the
Coppa delle Alpi consecutively in 1969 and 1970. In those days they were a dominant force in Switzerland and they were major competitors in Europe also.
1980/90s
In the 1980s they had to play in the Nationalliga B (the second highest League in Switzerland). They had fallen away and were only a shadow of the Basel team from the 60s and 70s. In 1994 they were promoted back into the Nationalliga A (the highest League) and have since proved that they belong there by winning numerous league titles and cups, not to mention their successful campaigns in the
UEFA Champions League and
UEFA Cup.
Recent Times
When
St. Jakob-Park was opened in 2001, success returned. In 2002 the FCB won the Double (Swiss Championship and Swiss Cup).In the following season they were the second Swiss team to ever play in the
Champions League. Among others, they also defeated
Celtic,
Liverpool,
Deportivo La Coruña and
Juventus. They also won the league in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons. In the 2004/05 season they got to the quarter-final of the
UEFA Cup, being defeated by
Middlesbrough who then went on to the final. In the last 2 seasons Basel have narrowly missed out on winning the league, last season they were 1 point behind the champions,
FC Zürich
On May 13th, 2006, the FCB lost a league game in the
St. Jakob-Park for the first time since
December 1st,
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
February 26 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.
Supporters
FC Basel is well known for having a big and loyal local following, resulting in what is by far the highest average attendance in Switzerland with around 36,500 fans 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.
Arguably its most famous fan internationally is tennis star
Roger Federer. The current
World No. 1 is a Basel native and has supported the club since his youth.
Rivalry
The city of
Basel and the city of
Zürich have a long-standing, deep-seated traditional rivalry. Therefore, FC Basel's most traditional and fiercest rivals (and the biggest recent title threat) is
FC Zürich (FCZ). In the past two seasons, the rivalry between the two clubs has been fueled by FCZ's league championships, which were won very narrowly over Basel. They continue to be the two leading championship favorites for the 2007/2008 season. Hooligans from both sides often fight when their teams meet in the league. The worst incident of this in recent years was in May 2006. FC Basel had won the league in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons 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 but if
Zürich won, they would get the title.
Zürich took the lead after a late goal from
Iulian Filipescu.
FC Zürich 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. Problems like this are not unusual for teams with such a big following.
Ajax/
Feyenoord,
Celtic/
Rangers and
Boca/
River all share the same kinds of problems with their supporters.
A secondary rivalry exists between FC Basel and
Grasshopper Club (GCZ), due to Grasshoppers' basis in
Zürich and their historical league success. Younger FCB supporters tend to consider GCZ a very fierce rival (on par with FC Zürich), whereas most older supporters still consider the rivalry with FCZ to be significantly more important.
Player Drain To The German Bundesliga
One fact for FC Basel is that a lot of promising players end up leaving for the German
Bundesliga. As Basel have quality players good enough to compete in the Bundesliga but do not have the same quality of opposition, a lot of Basel players have been snapped up by German clubs. Example of FC Basel players who have signed for Bundesliga teams in recent years are:
★
David Degen
★
Philipp Degen
★
Mladen Petrić
★
Ivan Rakitić
★
Hakan Yakın
★
Murat Yakın
Youth System
FC Basel are known throughout
Switzerland for having the best youth system in the Super League. It is often compared to the youth systems of
Ajax,
Celtic,
Manchester United and
Real Madrid. It has produced such Swiss internationalists as
Philipp Degen,
Alexander Frei and
Marco Streller. Also, in more recently times, young talents like the
Ecuadorian international youngster
Felipe Caicedo,
Croatian Ivan Rakitić,
Serbian Zdravko Kuzmanović, and the
Swiss Yann Sommer have risen through the ranks there.
Stadium
St. Jakob-Park
FC Basel play their home games at the 42,500 capacity
St. Jakob-Park which translates into English as St. James' Park. 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, holding an attendance of 38,000 originally but the stadium was upgraded to 42,500 due to
Switzerland being co-hosts of Euro 2008. The stadium is nicknamed "Joggeli" by the fans and has 2 restaurants called "Restaraunt UNO" and "Hattrick's Sports Bar". It also has parking space for 680 cars and has its own train station. St. Jakob-Park will host 6 games during EURO 2008 including the opening game and a semi-final.
Affiliated Clubs
★ '
FC Concordia Basel' -FC Basel have a loose affiliation with Concordia Basel. FC Basel are almost like a parent-club to Concordia who play in the league below Basel. They have FC Basel player
Simone Grippo on loan for the first half of the season. Ex-Concordia goalkeeper
Louis Crayton is now at Basel.
★ '
FC Vaduz' -FC Basel are also like a parent-club to Vaduz who are the most successful team in Liechtenstein. Basel goalkeeper
Yann Sommer is currently on loan at Vaduz. Ex-Basel players
Tim Grossklaus and
Damir Džombić are currently play for Vaduz. Also, Ex-Basel youth coach
Heinz Hermann is now a manager at Vaduz.
Colours
FC Basel normally wears red and blue shirts, blue shorts with gold trim and blue socks with red trim. From this comes the nickname "RotBlau" which is
Swiss German for Red and Blue. Their away strip is all silver with black trim. FC Basel's strips are manufactured by
Nike and sponsored by
Novartis, a multinational pharmaceutical company which is based in the city of
Basel.
The famous "blaugrana" colors of
FC Barcelona are said to have originated from the "rotblau" colors of FC Basel. For,
FC Barcelona was founded by FC Basel former captain
Joan Gamper.
Logo
FC Basel's 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 says FCB which stands for "Fussballclub Basel" or "Football Club Basel".
Honours
★ '
Swiss League'
★
★ 'Winners (11):' 1953, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1980, 2002, 2004, 2005
★ '
Swiss Cup'
★
★ 'Winners (8):' 1933, 1947, 1963, 1967, 1975, 2002, 2003, 2007
★ '
Swiss League Cup'
★
★ 'Winners (1):' 1973
★ '
Coppa delle Alpi'
★
★ 'Winners (4):' 1969, 1970, 1981
★ '
UEFA Champions League'
★
★ '2nd Group Stage:' 2002
Current Squad
First Team
Players in 'bold' have international caps
Multiple Nationality
★ 1
Franco Costanzo
★ 5
Daniel Majstorović
★ 9
César Andrés Carignano
★ 11
Scott Chipperfield
★ 18
Louis Crayton
★ 22
Ivan Ergić
★ 24
Cabral
★ 31
Eren Derdiyok
Players out on loan
Second Team
The following players are listed by Basel's website as reserve players.
Famous players
References
External links
★ Official Website
★ Rotblau.ch Statistik Website
★ FC Basel Fan club website
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