Basel II

FC Basel was started by an advertisement placed by Roland Geldner in the 12 November 1893 edition of the Basler 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, founding Fussball 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 two ad 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 the second Serie A championship organized by the Swiss 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.

The Serie 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 and Fortuna 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. At the beginning of the 1932–33 season, the Austrian ex-international footballer Karl Kurz took over as club trainer. There were eight teams in Group 1 of the 1932–33 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 the Stadion Rankhof, but the home team lost 3–4 to Servette FC Genève. In the Swiss Cup, Basel advanced to the final, which was played in the Hardturm in Zürich. 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 the 1938–39 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 was player-coach for his second year. Basel finished their season as winners of group East. In the play-offs against group West winners Bern, 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 the Wankdorf Stadion against the Nationalliga champions – Basel led at half-time through two goals by Fritz 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 the Nationalliga A season in fourth position, with 12 victories from 26 games, scoring a total of 60 goals; top league goal scorers were Traugott Oberer (13) and René Bader (10). Basel won the cup for the second time as they beat Lausanne Sports (who had also been runners-up the previous year) 3–0 in the final at the Stadion Neufeld in Bern. 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 from Ernst Hufschmid, who had acted as trainer the previous five years. Bader acted as player-manager and Willy Dürr was his assistant; Dürr stood at the side line when Bader played. Basel won their first league title in 1953 and ended the season four points ahead of BSC 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.

The Czechoslovakian manager Jiří Sobotka was the club manager at this time, he taken the job over from Jenő 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. The Wankdorf 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 against Grasshoppers Zürich in the quarter-finals of the Swiss 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 time Hans 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 the 1966–67 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 of FC 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, while Helmut 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.

Basel had won the double for the first time in the club's history.

The league title in 1966–67 led to Basel qualifying to play in the European Cup for the first time, in 1967–68. Basel, however, were knocked out of the tournament in the First Round by Danish side Akademisk Boldklub.

Basel's next league title was achieved in the 1968–69 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 was Celtic of Scotland. Nationally in the 1969–70 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 Basel in 1970–71, as they reached the Second Round, losing to Ajax after defeating Soviets Spartak Moscow in the first round. Basel did not retain their title the 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. The 1971–72 season was the last season for Helmut 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 the 1971–72 UEFA Cup, Basel were drawn against Real Madrid. The home game attracted 32,059 spectators, but Basel were defeated 1–2 and lost overall 2–4 on aggregate.

The 1972–73 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 played Martigny-Sports, Young Boys, FC Chiasso and FC Biel-Bienne to reach the final against Zürich. The 1972 Swiss League Cup was the inaugural Swiss 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 defeated FC 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 by Hungary's Újpesti Dózsa SC.

But in the 1973–74 season, they excelled with the Peruvian legend Teófilo Cubillas in their ranks, eliminating Icelanders Fram Reykjavík and Club Brugge of Belgium, before narrowly exiting in the quarter-finals to Celtic 5–6 on aggregate after extra time in the away leg. In the 1973–74 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 champions Zürich. Ottmar Hitzfeld was the teamst top goal scorer with 19 league goals. He ended the Swiss ranking in third position behind Daniel Jeandupeux (Zürich, 22 goals) and Walter Müller (Lausanne-Sports, 21 goals). In the Swiss Cup Basel proceeded to the quarter-finals, in which they played against Sion. 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 the 1974–75 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 Final after extra time and therefore qualifying for the 1975–76 Cup Winners' Cup.

Basel's long-awaited title-win came in 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, by Wacker Innsbruck of Austria, 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 returned in 1980, as Basel won the Nationalliga 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 the Nationalliga B in 1988.

Several managers came and went at the St. Jakob Stadium between then, until Basel finally returned to the Nationalliga A in 1994 under Claude Andrey. Basel avoided relegation by three points in their first season back at the top-flight, but Andrey left and was replaced by Karl Engel. Engel led Basel to a fifth-place finish in his first season in charge and a solid mid-table finish in 1997, but he was sacked after a poor start to the 1997–98 campaign, in which Basel finished second-last. Jörg Berger then took over but lasted only a year in charge before Christian 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.

The St. 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 domestic double, beating Grasshoppers in extra time in the Swiss Cup thanks to a penalty scored by Murat Yakin. Basel also reached the final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

In the 2002–03 season, Basel became the second Swiss team to play in the revamped UEFA Champions League. They reached the second group round, but were knocked out on goal difference in a group containing Manchester United, Juventus, and Deportivo de La Coruña. In domestic competitions, Basel finished second in the Swiss Super League and won the Swiss Cup after beating Neuchâtel 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 the UEFA Cup they were eliminated by Newcastle United in the second round after defeating Malatyaspor in the previous round.

As Swiss champions, Basel entered the 2004–05 Champions League in the third qualifying round. They were drawn against Internazionale, who beat them 5–2 on aggregate, dropping Basel into the UEFA Cup. After beating Russian side Terek Grozny in the third round they were drawn in Group E with Feyenoord, Schalke 04, Ferencváros and Hearts. They finished third in the group on seven points and qualified for the Round of 32, where they were defeated 2–0 on aggregate by Lille. 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 the 2005–06 Champions League in the third qualifying round by German club Werder Bremen. They again dropped into the UEFA Cup, where they beat Široki Brijeg of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be drawn into Group E alongside Strasbourg, Roma, Red Star Belgrade and Tromsø. They finished third in the group, qualifying for the knockout stage. After beating Monaco and Strasbourg once again, they were eliminated by Middlesbrough 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 by Iulian Filipescu giving FC Zürich a 2–1 win and, in the process, Zürich's first national championship since 1980–81. This resulted in riots 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, beating FC Luzern 1–0 in the final. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup Basel beat Kazakh side Tobol, Liechtensteiner team FC Vaduz, and Macedonians FK Rabotnički. to qualify for the group stages. Drawn against Blackburn Rovers, Nancy, Feyenoord and Wisła Kraków, Basel finished bottom of the group and were eliminated.

Basel were drawn against Bosnian team FK 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 of SV 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 the group of death of Group D alongside Brann, Dinamo Zagreb, Hamburger SV and Rennes, 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 a Carlitos free-kick and were highly praised for playing attractive and flowing football. Basel then went to Germany to face Hamburger SV at the HSH Nordbank Arena, where they were fortunate to escape with a 1–1 draw. The goals came courtesy of captain Ivan Ergić and Hamburg's Ivica Olić.

Basel then faced Sporting 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 in Lisbon, 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 side AC Bellinzona 4–1 at St. Jakob-Park on 6 April 2008. Eren Derdiyok gave Basel the lead in the first half before Bellinzona equalised through Christian 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 through Valentin 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 against IFK Göteborg of Sweden. The first leg was on 30 July 2008 at Ullevi and finished 1–1. Benjamin Huggel put Basel ahead before Thomas 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 faced Vitória de Guimarães of Portugal in the Third Qualifying Round. The first leg at the Estádio 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 before João Alves was fouled in the penalty area by François Marque and João Fajardo dispatched the spot-kick, just four minutes later to draw Vitória level. In the second half, the away side started well but Eren 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 alongside Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting CP. Basel lost their opening game 2–1 at St. Jakob-Park on 16 September against Shakhtar. Fernandinho put the Ukrainians ahead on 25 minutes before Jádson 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 the Estádio 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 the Camp Nou, with Eren Derdiyok scoring a late equaliser after Lionel Messi put Barça 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, German Thorsten Fink was appointed as Basel's new manager on 9 June 2009. Basel entered the UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round. They qualified for the group stage and were drawn into Group E alongside Roma, Fulham and CSKA 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 the Stade de Suisse. Marco Streller was the league's top scorer with 21 goals. Basel won the 2009–10 Swiss Cup final with a 6–0 victory over FC Lausanne-Sport, FC Basel's tenth cup win.

In 2010–11 season, Basel entered the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round, drawn against Debrecen; they won both games (2–0, 3–1). In the play-offs to the Champions League, they are drawn against Sheriff Tiraspol. In the first leg, they defeated Tiraspol 1–0 before winning 3–0 on the road. Basel entered the 2010–11 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. Basel historically qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions 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. On 22 February 2012, Basel defeated Bayern 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, manager Heiko Vogel was sacked by the club and replaced by former player Murat Yakin. 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.

As Swiss champions, Basel entered the Champions League in the second qualifying round, where they were drawn against Estonian club Flora Tallinn, winning 5–0 on aggregate. In the third round, they were drawn against Norwegian club Molde, winning 2–1 on aggregate. In the playoff round, however, Basel lost both games against CFR Cluj from Romania, being knocked out 3–1 on aggregate. The team thus qualified for the Europa League group stage, where they were drawn into Group G alongside Sporting CP, Genk and Videoton. They finished in second place in the table and thus continued after the winter break in the knockout phase round of 32. In the knockout phase round of 32, Basel were drawn against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Basel won 3–1 on aggregate. In the round of 16, they were drawn against Zenit Saint Petersburg and, despite being the underdogs, they qualified for the quarter-finals by winning 2–1 on aggregate. Here Basel were drawn against Tottenham Hotspur, which they beat 4–1 on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw to progress to the semi-finals. The draw for the semi-final matched them against reigning Champions League holders Chelsea. Both games in the tie ended with a defeat, 1–2 in Basel 1–3 in London.

Basel's 2013–14 UEFA Champions League season started on 30 July 2013 in the third qualifying round with a tie in St. Jakob-Park against Maccabi 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 at Stamford 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 the 2013–14 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.

On 28 May 2014, Basel announced that Paulo Sousa was to become their trainer for the new season and that he had signed a three-year contract. 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.

Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage. They reached the knockout phase against Liverpool on 9 December on a night in which Lazar Marković was sent off for the opponents. Basel then lost to Porto in the Round of 16.

Paulo Sousa left the club prior to the 2015–16 season for Fiorentina; he was replaced by FC Thun head coach Urs Fischer on 18 June.

Basel entered into the 2015–16 Champions League season in the Third qualifying round. Their initial aim was to remain in the competition and reach the group stage. In the third qualifying round, they were drawn against Lech 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 the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage. Here they were drawn into Group I, together with Fiorentina, Lech Poznań and Belenenses. Because they finished as group winners, Basel continued in the knockout phase in February 2016. Basel were drawn against French side Saint-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 consecutive Swiss national championship with a 2–1 win over FC Sion at St. Jakob-Park. At the end of the season Basel won the title 14 points ahead of Young Boys.

Basel entered into the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League in the Group stage. Drawn against French champions Paris Saint-Germain, English team Arsenal and Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad they finished bottom of the group and were eliminated.

Basel won the Swiss Super League for the eighth time in a row – the club's 20th championship title in total. They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, completing a sixth double.

In 2017–18 season, Raphaël Wicky was appointed as new first team manager, assisted by Massimo 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.

Later on, Basel reached the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League for the third time after 2012–13 and 2013–14.