FC Basel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Basel

Full name	Football Club Basel 1893
Nickname(s)	FCB, Bebbi (Citizen of Basel), RotBlau
Short name	FCB
Founded	15 November 1893; 131 years ago (1893-11-15)
Ground	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Ground Capacity	38,512; 37,500 for international matches
Owner	FCB Holding AG (David Degen)
President	Reto Baumgartner
Manager	Fabio Celestini
League	Swiss Super League
2023–24	Swiss Super League, 8th of 12
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Football Club Basel 1893, usually called FC Basel or FCB, is a professional football club from Basel, Switzerland. It was started in 1893. The club has won the Swiss national championship 20 times, the Swiss Cup 13 times, and the Swiss League Cup once.

FC Basel has played in UEFA competitions for 25 years in a row, from 1999 to 2024. They have reached the Group stages of the UEFA Champions League seven times. This is more than any other Swiss club. They are also the only Swiss club to get into the Group stages directly. In 2021, they set a new record for a Swiss team. They earned 14 points in their Conference League group, showing great international success. Since 2001, FC Basel has played its home games at St. Jakob-Park. This stadium was built where their old home, St. Jakob Stadium, used to be. Their team colours are red and blue, which is why they are nicknamed RotBlau (RedBlue).

History of FC Basel

FC Basel has a long and interesting history, full of exciting matches and big wins.

How it All Began

FC Basel started because of an advertisement by Roland Geldner. It was in a newspaper on November 12, 1893. He wanted to form a football team. Eleven men, mostly from universities, met and officially founded Fussball Club Basel on November 15, 1893. The club's colours, red and blue, were chosen right from the start.

FC Basel's first game was on November 26, 1893. It was an internal match between two FCB teams. Two weeks later, they played their first official game against students from a high school club and won 2–0. For a while, FCB only played friendly matches. They later joined the second Serie A championship. Basel didn't have much early success. They had to wait 40 years to win their first trophy.

First Trophies

In the 1932–33 season, Karl Kurz became the coach. Basel finished second in their group. They played a play-off game but lost. However, in the Swiss Cup, Basel made it to the final. They won their first national title by beating Grasshoppers 4–3 in a thrilling game. This is still seen as one of the best cup finals in Swiss football history.

After this, Basel spent a few seasons in the middle of the league table. But in 1938–39, they finished last and were moved down to a lower league. They got promoted back up in 1941–42. After three seasons, they were relegated again but quickly got promoted back in 1944–45.

In 1946–47, under coach Anton Schall, Basel finished fourth in the league. They won the Swiss Cup for the second time, beating Lausanne Sports 3–0 in the final.

In the 1952–53 season, René Bader became the player-manager. Basel won their first league title in 1953. They finished four points ahead of BSC Young Boys. They won 17 out of 26 games and only lost once.

In 1963, Basel won their third Swiss Cup. They beat Grasshoppers 2–0 in the final. This was a great win for the club.

A Time of Success and Challenges

In the 1966–67 season, Helmut Benthaus led Basel to their first league win as player-manager. They won the league by just one point. In the Swiss Cup final that season, Basel played Lausanne-Sports. Basel won 3–0 after a controversial penalty led to Lausanne players refusing to continue the game. This meant Basel won the league and cup in the same season, known as the double, for the first time!

This league title allowed Basel to play in the European Cup for the first time. However, they were knocked out in the first round. Basel won the league again in 1968–69 and 1969–70. They also reached the Swiss Cup final in 1969–70.

In the 1970–71 European Cup, Basel reached the second round. They beat Spartak Moscow but lost to Ajax. They didn't win the league that season, finishing with the same points as Grasshoppers, who won on head-to-head record.

Basel won two more league titles in a row in 1971–72 and 1972–73. In 1972–73, Ottmar Hitzfeld was the league's top scorer for Basel. They also won the first-ever Swiss League Cup in 1972, beating Winterthur 4–1 in the final. In Europe, they struggled in 1972–73.

However, in the 1973–74 season, with Peruvian star Teófilo Cubillas, Basel did very well. They reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup before losing a close game to Celtic. Despite this, they finished only 5th in the league that season.

Basel won the Swiss Cup again in 1975, beating Winterthur 2–1 after extra time. Their next league title came in 1977, winning against Servette FC in a play-off. They returned to the European Cup but were defeated in the first round. After a few quieter seasons, Basel won the league again in 1980.

After coach Helmut Benthaus left in 1982, Basel's performance dropped. They were moved down to the Nationalliga B in 1988.

The Road Back to Glory

Many coaches came and went until Basel finally returned to the top league in 1994 under Claude Andrey. They managed to stay up, but Andrey left. Christian Gross was appointed manager in 1999. With new financial support, Basel quickly returned to the top.

The new St. Jakob-Park stadium opened on March 15, 2001. Basel finished fourth in the league that season. In 2001–02, Basel won their first league title in 22 years! They also won the Swiss Cup, beating Grasshoppers in extra time.

In the 2002–03 season, Basel became the second Swiss team to play in the UEFA Champions League. They reached the second group stage but were knocked out by a small goal difference. Domestically, they finished second in the league but won the Swiss Cup again, beating Neuchâtel Xamax 6–0 in the final.

Basel started the 2003–04 season with 13 straight league wins. They went on to win their 10th Swiss championship. In the UEFA Cup, they were eliminated by Newcastle United.

As Swiss champions, Basel played in the 2004–05 Champions League. They lost to Internazionale and moved to the UEFA Cup. They reached the Round of 32 but were defeated by Lille. In the domestic league, Basel won the title by ten points. They were unbeaten in 17 home league games, including an 8–1 win against Grasshoppers.

In 2005–06, Basel were knocked out of the Champions League by Werder Bremen. They then played in the UEFA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Middlesbrough. On February 26, 2006, Basel broke their own record of 52 unbeaten home league games, extending it to 59. However, on the final day of the season, FC Zürich won the league with a last-minute goal against Basel. This led to some trouble between rival fans after the match.

In 2006–07, Basel finished second in the league but won the Swiss Cup for the eighth time. In the UEFA Cup, they reached the group stages but were eliminated.

Recent Successes

In 2007–08, Basel had a strong run in the UEFA Cup. They qualified for the knockout stage after finishing second in a tough group. They were eliminated by Sporting CP in the Round of 32.

Basel won the Swiss Cup for the second year in a row in 2008, beating AC Bellinzona 4–1. They also won the Swiss Super League on May 10, 2008, beating Young Boys 2–0 in the final game of the season. This was a sweet victory after losing the league on the last day in 2006.

In the 2008–09 season, Basel entered the Champions League. They beat IFK Göteborg and Vitória de Guimarães to reach the Group stages. They were in a tough group with Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Sporting CP. Basel lost most of their games but managed a respectable 1–1 draw against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Despite a good start to the domestic season, Basel finished third. After ten years, Christian Gross was no longer the manager.

In 2009–10, Thorsten Fink became the new manager. Basel played in the UEFA Europa League group stage. Domestically, Basel won the league title on the last day against Young Boys. They also won the 2009–10 Swiss Cup final with a 6–0 victory over FC Lausanne-Sport, their tenth cup win.

In 2010–11, Basel qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage. On October 13, 2011, Thorsten Fink left the club. His assistant, Heiko Vogel, took over. Basel made history by qualifying for the knockout phase of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League with a 2–1 win over Manchester United. They beat Bayern Munich 1–0 in the first leg of the Round of 16 but lost the return leg 7–0, which eliminated them.

On October 15, 2012, Heiko Vogel was replaced by former player Murat Yakin. Basel went on to win their fourth league title in a row.

In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Basel had an amazing run. They reached the semi-finals, beating teams like Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Tottenham Hotspur. They lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Basel's 2013–14 UEFA Champions League season included a surprising 2–1 away win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They also won the home game against Chelsea. Despite these wins, they finished third in their group and moved to the Europa League. They reached the quarter-finals but lost to Valencia after extra time.

On May 28, 2014, Paulo Sousa became the new coach. Basel won the league championship for the sixth time in a row. They were runners-up in the Swiss Cup, losing to FC Sion.

In the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, Basel reached the knockout phase. They lost to Porto in the Round of 16. Paulo Sousa left, and Urs Fischer became the new coach in June 2015.

In the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, Basel reached the Round of 16 but were knocked out by Sevilla. On April 30, 2016, Basel won their seventh consecutive Swiss national championship. They finished 14 points ahead of Young Boys.

In the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, Basel finished last in their group. However, they won the Swiss Super League for the eighth time in a row, their 20th championship title overall. They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, completing a sixth double.

In 2017–18, Raphaël Wicky became the new manager. Basel's eight-year winning streak in the Swiss league ended as Young Boys won the championship. Basel finished second. Later, Basel reached the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League for the third time.

Supporters and Rivalries

Fans

FC Basel supporters at a 2011–12 UEFA Champions League match against FC Bayern Munich in St.-Jakob-Park

FC Basel is famous for having many passionate and loyal local fans. When people talk about the most enthusiastic football fans, FC Basel's supporters are often mentioned among the top in the world. This means they have the highest average attendance in Switzerland, with about 30,000 fans at every home game. With new stadium expansions, this number is expected to grow to around 40,000. The fans have also become well-known in many international matches. World tennis star Roger Federer is one of the club's most famous supporters.

In November 2010, FC Basel supporters caused a game against FC Luzern to stop. They threw hundreds of tennis balls onto the pitch. This was a way to protest against game times being changed to fit tennis tournaments on TV.

Rivalry

The cities of Basel and Zürich have a long-standing rivalry. Because of this, FCB's biggest rivals are Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Zürich. In recent seasons, the rivalry with FC Zürich has grown stronger. This is because Zürich has won the league championship over Basel in very close races. Fans from both sides have had disagreements in the past. The most notable incident happened in May 2006. Basel was set to win the league if they won or drew against Zürich at home on the last day. Zürich scored a late goal and won the match and the league. After the game, there were conflicts between players and fans from both teams. This event has created strong feelings between the fans of FC Zürich and FC Basel. It's often debated whether the rivalry with Grasshoppers or FC Zürich is bigger, but it usually depends on how well these teams are doing.

Stadium

St. Jakob-Park at night

FC Basel plays its home games at St. Jakob-Park. The stadium can hold 37,500 people.

UEFA has given the stadium a 4-star rating, which is the highest possible for a stadium of its size. St. Jakob-Park opened in 2001, originally holding 33,433 fans. It was expanded to 42,500 seats for UEFA Euro 2008, which Switzerland co-hosted. After Euro 2008, some seats were removed to create more space, bringing the capacity down to 37,500. Fans call the stadium "Joggeli." It has two restaurants, a sports bar, and a shopping centre. It also has parking and its own train station. St. Jakob-Park hosted six matches during Euro 2008, including the opening game and a semi-final. A cool feature of the stadium is its outer layer, which can light up in different colours. This idea was later used for Bayern Munich's stadium, the Allianz Arena.

Before St. Jakob-Park, FC Basel played at the Landhof and then the old St. Jakob Stadium, which was on the same site. During the construction of the new stadium, Basel played at the Stadion Schützenmatte. In 2016, the UEFA Europa League final was played at St. Jakob-Park.

St. Jakob-Park from the inside

Colours and Logo

FC Basel's traditional uniform is a red and blue shirt. The founders chose these colours because some of them were part of the "Basler Ruder-Club," which also used red and blue. The uniform is completed with blue shorts with gold trim and blue socks with red trim. This is where the nickname "RotBlau" (RedBlue in Swiss German and German) comes from. Their away uniform is all white with two stripes down the middle, one red and one blue.

FC Basel's kits used to be made by Nike, but in 2012, they signed a new deal with Adidas. The main sponsor is Novartis, a big pharmaceutical company based in Basel. Inside the jerseys, it says, "Rot isch unseri Liebi, Blau die ewigi Treui, Basel unseri Stadt." This means, "Red is our love, blue the eternal loyalty, Basel our city."

There's a story that the famous "Blaugrana" colours of Barcelona came from FC Basel's red and blue. This story grew because Joan Gamper, who founded both FC Zürich and FC Barcelona, played a couple of friendly games for FC Basel. However, FC Barcelona now believes their colours came from a rugby team in England.

For the 2008–09 season, Basel changed their shirt to have red and blue vertical stripes, like Barcelona's traditional shirt. Interestingly, Barcelona changed their shirt to be half red and half blue, which looked like Basel's traditional shirt!

Old FC Basel logo without the two stars

Basel's current logo is a shield, half red and half blue. It has a gold outline, and in the middle, it says "FCB" in gold letters, which stands for "Football Club Basel." The logo is worn in the centre of the shirt. Like the club colours, the logo looks a lot like Barcelona's. Some theories suggest that Barcelona's founder, who was once a captain at Basel, used Basel's logo as inspiration. Both logos are shield-shaped, have the "FCB" acronym, and use red and blue colours with gold outlines. Also, the football on the left side of the Basel logo looks exactly like the one on Barcelona's logo. Because of these similarities, many believe Basel inspired Barcelona's founding.

Records

FC Basel holds many impressive records in football.

• Highest stage reached in Champions League: Round of 16 (2002–03, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2017–18)
• Highest stage reached in UEFA Europa League: Semi-finals (2012–13)
• Highest stage reached in UEFA Europa Conference League: Semi-finals (2022–23)
• Biggest European home win: Basel 7–0 Folgore (August 24, 2000, UEFA Cup qualifying round)
• Biggest European away win: Fram 0–5 Basel (September 18, 1973, European Champion Clubs' Cup)
• Biggest European home defeat: Basel 0–5 Barcelona (October 22, 2008, UEFA Champions League)
• Biggest European away defeat: Bayern Munich 7–0 Basel (March 13, 2012, UEFA Champions League)
• Most league appearances: Massimo Ceccaroni (398 games)
• Most league goals: Josef Hügi (244 goals)
• Record number of consecutive home games unbeaten: 59 (February 2003 to May 2006)
• Record number of consecutive unbeaten games: 26 (2011–12 season)
• Highest home game attendance (St. Jakob Stadium): 60,000 people
• Highest home game attendance (St. Jakob-Park): 42,500 people
• Most capped foreign player: Teófilo Cubillas, 81 caps for Peru
• Most capped Swiss player: Alexander Frei, 82 caps

Top League Goalscorers

Top league goalscorers

#	Nat.	Name	Career	Goals
1		Josef Hügi	1948–1962	245
2		Erni Maissen	1975–1982 1983–1987 1989–1991	116
3		Marco Streller	2000–2004 2007–2015	111
4		Christian Giménez	2001–2005	94
5		Karl Odermatt	1963–1976	92
6		René Bader	1946–1953	90
=7		Otto Haftl	1931–1935	81
=7		Gottlieb Stäuble	1946–1951 1955–1959	81
9		Hermann Suter	1939–1948	79
=10		Alexander Frei	1997–1998 2009–2013	74
=10		Alfred Schlecht	1922–1924 1925–1936	74
=10		Roberto Frigerio	1958–1968	74
=10		Valentin Stocker	2007–2014 2018–2022	74

Most League Appearances

Most league appearances

#	Nat.	Name	Career	Apps
1		Massimo Ceccaroni	1987–2002	398
2		Erni Maissen	1975–1982 1983–1987 1989–1991	338
3		Fabian Frei	2007–2015 2018–	322
4		Werner Bopp	1944–1960	321
5		Josef Hügi	1948–1962	319
6		Otto Demarmels	1967–1982	307
7		Jörg Stohler	1970–1984	306
8		Benjamin Huggel	1998–2005 2007–2012	297
9		Karl Odermatt	1963–1976	296
10		Karl Bielser	1916–1936	293
11		Valentin Stocker	2007–2014 2018–2022	286
12		Scott Chipperfield	2001–2012	270

Honours

National Championships

• Swiss Championship
  • Winners (20): 1952–53, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1979–80, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
  • Runner-up (10): 1948–49, 1949–50, 1970–71, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22

• Swiss Cup
  • Winners (13): 1932–33, 1946–47, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1974–75, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2018–19
  • Runner-up (10): 1941–42, 1943–44, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1981–82, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2019–20

• Swiss League Cup
  • Winners (1): 1972
  • Runner-up (1): 1978–79

European Record

This table shows how FC Basel has performed in European competitions.

Youth System

FC Basel has a top-notch youth academy. It's known for producing many talented players who go on to play at the highest level in Switzerland. The main goal of the FCB youth department is to help as many young players as possible join the first team. They follow a clear plan for training and playing, from the youngest teams (FE-14) all the way up to the U21 team. FCB also supports a system that combines education with football training.

The youth department has helped develop many Swiss international players. These include Erni Maissen, Adrian Knup, Alexander Frei, Marco Streller, and brothers Philipp and David Degen. Since Basel moved to St. Jakob-Park in 2001, they have made their youth academy even stronger. Many young stars have come through their ranks. Some famous names include Felipe Caicedo, Ivan Rakitić, Zdravko Kuzmanović, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer, Eren Derdiyok, and Mohammed Salah. In 2010, former club president Gigi Oeri started the Stiftung Nachwuchs Campus Basel (Youth Campus Basel foundation). Its goal is to keep improving the club's youth division for the long term.

Since 2001, over 50 successful players have come from Basel's youth system to play for their first team. Here are some of them:

The youth academy is currently organized into different age groups. These include the Formation group (U-21, U-19, U-17, U1-6, and U-15), the Footeco group (FE-14), and the Project Team Basel group (FE-12 and FE-13). Since the 2020–21 season, the FE-13 and FE-14 teams from FC Basel 1893, BSC Old Boys, and FC Concordia Basel play together as Team Basel.

Under-21 Team

The oldest players in the youth system are part of the U-21 team. This team plays in the Swiss Promotion League, which is the third highest football league in Switzerland. Many players in this team have professional contracts. They often train or play with the first team.

Under-19 Team

Basel Under-19s line up prior to their UEFA Youth League match away to Hamilton Accies, 2018.

Until 2023, there wasn't an official Basel U-19 team because a U-19 championship didn't exist in Swiss football. When Basel qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, an Under-19 team was formed to play in the 2013–14 UEFA Youth League. This team was made up of players from the U-21 and U-18 teams.

A year later, Basel qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, so they played in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League again. This time, they took it more seriously. The reserve team manager, Thomas Häberli, also became the U-19 coach. The team trained almost every day, which led to better results. They won four out of six games but didn't make it to the knockout stage.

Basel's first team qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League again in 2016–17. So, the U-19 team was brought back for the 2016–17 UEFA Youth League. Raphaël Wicky was the U-19 coach. They finished second in their group and advanced to the play-offs, but lost.

By winning the U-18 Swiss championship at the end of the 2016–17 season, the team qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Youth League. Arjan Peço was the U-19 coach. They won their group and reached the Round of 16, but were eliminated by Atlético Madrid.

At the end of the 2017–18 season, the U-18 team, coached by Alex Frei, won the Swiss championship. This qualified them for the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League. However, they were knocked out in the first round after losing a penalty shoot-out.

In November 2021, the Swiss Football Association changed its league structure to help young players even more. The Basel U-18 team won the championship in 2022–23. Following the new rules, all their U-18 players moved up to the newly created U-19 team. This team then qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Youth League. Under coach Mario Cantaluppi, the team got through the qualification rounds but was eliminated by Bayern Munich in the play-offs.

Other Youth Teams

In total, the club has eight youth teams in its academy. The "Formation" group includes the U-21, U-19, U-17, U1-6, and U-15 teams. The "Footeco" group has the FE-14 team. Then there's the "Project Team Basel" with the FE-12 and FE-13 teams. Since the 2020–21 season, the FE-13 and FE-14 teams from FC Basel 1893, BSC Old Boys, and FC Concordia Basel play together as "Team Basel."

Images for kids

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

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  Poster designed by Rudolf Dürrwang (circa 1910)