History of FC Basel facts for kids
Fussball Club Basel 1893 is a famous football club from Switzerland. It has a very long and exciting history, starting way back in 1893! Today, FC Basel plays in the top football league in Switzerland, called the Swiss Super League.
The club was founded on November 15, 1893. In its early days, FC Basel played home games at the Landhof stadium. Later, in the mid-1960s, they moved to St. Jakob Stadium. This stadium was taken down in 1998. While a new stadium was being built (from 1998 to 2001), the team played at Stadion Schützenmatte. Since 2001, FC Basel has played its home games at St. Jakob-Park. This is currently the biggest club stadium in Switzerland!
FC Basel's Story Through the Years
The history of FC Basel is so long and full of events that it's often divided into different parts. Here's a quick look at the club's journey:
This first part covers the club's beginning, its early years, and how the Swiss Football Association was formed. It also includes their first league championships and the time during the First World War.
This section is about the years between the two World Wars. It also talks about the start of the Swiss Cup competition. FC Basel didn't win a trophy for a long time. It took them 40 years to win their first one! They won the Swiss Cup in 1933, beating their big rivals, Grasshopper Club Zürich.
This period saw the club go through ups and downs, including being moved down to a lower league and then getting promoted back up. It also covers the time when Jules Düblin was chairman, and the club won its first league championship and a third cup title.
This part of the story is about a time of great success and then a decline. Under coach Helmut Benthaus, FC Basel won seven league titles! But then, the club faced tough times, including being moved down to a lower league again for six seasons, before finally getting promoted back to the top.
This most recent period shows how the club received new financial support. They moved into their new stadium, St. Jakob-Park. Success returned, and the club has continued to grow and achieve great things up to today.
How FC Basel Started
FC Basel began because a man named Roland Geldner placed an advertisement in a newspaper. On November 12, 1893, in the Basler national newspaper, he asked people who wanted to form a football team to meet. The meeting was set for the following Wednesday at 8:15 PM at the Schuhmachern-Zunft restaurant.
Eleven men attended this important meeting. Most of them were from the academic community. On November 15, 1893, they officially founded Fussball Club Basel.
The Founding Members
These are some of the important people who helped start FC Basel:
- Emil Abderhalden: He played for the first team in the early days. He later became a famous scientist who studied the human body.
- Josy Ebinger: He played for the first team for a long time. He also worked as a club official and was even the club chairman for a while. He was also a vice president of the Swiss Football Association.
- Max Geldner: He played several games for the club in its first two years. He remained a loyal supporter of FC Basel for many years.
- Roland Geldner: He was the very first president of FC Basel. He was a well-known person in the city and was a key figure in the club's early years.
- Wilhelm Glaser: He played as a center forward for many years. He played at least 14 matches and continued to follow FC Basel with great interest later in life.
- Jean Grieder: He played for both the first and second teams. He also helped manage the club's money and became its first actuary (someone who handles financial records).
- Ferdinand Isler: He was a professor and the first captain of the first team. He played at least 17 games in the club's first three seasons. He also helped spread the word about football, writing about the game and translating its rules into German. He was one of the first sports journalists!
- Wilhelm Oser: He was a pharmacist. People in the club valued his cheerful and lively personality. He was a strong supporter of the early football movement.
- Fritz Schäublin: For many years, he was a respected headmaster of a school in Basel. He used his skills to help the club in many ways. He was an excellent player in the early days and also started the club's tennis department.
- John Tollmann: He was a skilled goalkeeper and played at least 23 matches in the club's first five years. He was also the first secretary-treasurer of the Swiss Football Association. Along with Roland Geldner, he was a driving force behind the club in its early days.
- Charlie Volderauer: He was an excellent defender and played at least 33 matches. He was club president from 1896 to 1899. He helped arrange the first games in Switzerland against professional English teams like Newcastle United and Celtic Glasgow.
See also
- FC Basel
- List of FC Basel players
- List of FC Basel seasons
- Football in Switzerland
