FC Zürich

Zürich

Full name	Fussballclub Zürich
Nickname(s)	Der Stadtclub (The City Club)[1]
Founded	1 August 1896
Ground	Letzigrund, Zürich
Capacity	25,000
Chairman	Ancillo Canepa
Manager	Uli Forte
League	Challenge League
2015–16	Swiss Super League, 10th (relegated)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich, FCZ or simply Zürich, is a Swiss football club from the city of Zürich, currently playing in the Challenge League, the second tier in the Swiss football league system. The club was founded in 1896 and have won the Swiss Super League 12 times and the Swiss Cup nine times. The club won the 2009 Swiss Super League and last won the Swiss Cup in 2016. They play their home games at the Letzigrund in Zürich, which seats 25,000. For the women's team see FC Zürich Frauen.

History

1896–1924

The club was founded on 1 August 1896 by former members of the three local clubs (FC Turicum, FC Viktoria, and FC Excelsior). One of them was the FC Barcelona founder, Joan Gamper.

Zürich won its first title in the Swiss Serie A in 1901–02, but did not win it again until 1923–24.

Until the 1930s, the club's sporting remit also included rowing, boxing, athletics, and handball, but later focused solely on football.

1925–1960

Between 1925 and 1960, Zürich were in the "wilderness years," devoid of success. The club struggled to keep in the top flight and were relegated from the Super League in 1933–34, playing in the 1. Liga until 1941. In 1940–41, they returned to the Nationalliga, where they stayed until their relegation in 1945–46. They were back in the Nationalliga A in 1947–48 and stayed in the top flight until relegated once more in 1956–57. They were promoted from the Nationalliga B to contest the 1958–59 Nationalliga A, finishing in third place.

1960–1981

This period was known as the "Golden Years" by the FCZ faithful. At this time, the club was run by the legendary President Edwin Nägeli and had players such as Köbi Kuhn, Fritz Künzli, Ilija Katić, René Botteron, and many more. Zürich won seven championships in the years 1963, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1981. They also won the Swiss Cup five times in 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, and in 1976. FCZ also had some success in Europe getting to the semi-finals of the European Cup 1963–64, before losing to Real Madrid and also reaching the semi-finals in the European Cup 1976–77, where they lost to Liverpool.

1981–2005

Following the club's league title in 1981, the club went into a decline and in 1988 they were relegated to the Nationalliga B. Zürich returned to the top league in 1990. The club did make it to last 16 of the UEFA Cup 1998–99, but were beaten by Roma. The club won the Swiss Cup in 2000, beating Lausanne in the final and also in 2005 beating Luzern.

Recent years

On 13 May 2006, FCZ ended their 25 years wait for a league title with a dramatic final day victory against FC Basel to win the Super League. They won thanks to a goal scored in the 93rd minute by Iulian Filipescu. The goal gave FCZ a 2 – 1 victory and secured the title on goal difference over FC Basel. In 2006–07, they also won the league.

In the 2007–08 season, FCZ finished in third place. In the 2008–09 season, they won the league, edging out BSC Young Boys. In the 2010–11 season FCZ finished second.

In the 2015–16 season the club finished last, one point behind FC Lugano and was relegated to the Swiss Challenge League. Four days after the final game of the season FCZ won the Swiss Cup beating FC Lugano 1:0.

Season	Rank	League	Ø Attendance[2][3]
2006	1/10	SL	10'008
2007	1/10	SL	10'870
2008	3/10	SL	12'186
2009	1/10	SL	9'829
2010	7/10	SL	10'700
2011	2/10	SL	11'750
2012	6/10	SL	10'511
2013	4/10	SL	10'741
2014	5/10	SL	9'564
2015	3/10	SL	9'389
2016	10/10	SL	8'701

Honours

• Swiss Super League
  • Winners (12): 1901–02, 1923–24, 1962–63, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09
• Swiss Cup
  • Winners (9): 1965–66, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2015–16
• Swiss League Cup
  • Winners (1): 1980–81
• European Champions Cup (UEFA Champions League)
  • Semi-finalists (2): 1963–64, 1976–77
• Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
  • Fourth place: 1911

Rivalries

Letzigrund

Local club Grasshopper, along with FC Basel, are the main rivals of FCZ. Due to the intense rivalry, these matches are so-called "High Risk Games," with an increased police presence in and around the stadium.

Zürich

Since its inception, FCZ has always had a fiery relationship with neighbouring club Grasshopper over sporting supremacy in the city. Grasshoppers are known as the club of the elite and FCZ are known as the club of the workers. The matches between the two clubs are known as the only true local derby in Swiss professional football.

Final vs. FC Basel, 13 May 2006

Before the last round of the 2005–06 Swiss Super League, Zürich were three points behind FC Basel in the league table. The last game of the season was contested by these two clubs vying for the league title at St. Jakob Park, Basel. Alhassane Keita scored the first goal for Zürich. In the second half, Mladen Petrić equalised. FC Basel were seconds away from the title when in the 93rd minute, Florian Stahel passed the ball to Iulian Filipescu, who scored and made it 2 – 1 for Zürich. Zürich won the league title due to their superior goal difference. After the final whistle, the field was stormed by Basel supporters who also attacked Zürich players (see 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident).

Players

Current squad

Updated 1 December 2016.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Andris Vaņins 4 FW Moussa Koné 5 DF Armin Alesevic 7 MF Adrian Winter 8 MF Antonio Marchesano 10 MF Davide Chiumiento 11 FW Armando Sadiku 13 DF Alain Nef 15 MF Oliver Buff 17 DF Mike Kleiber 18 GK Yanick Brecher 20 MF Burim Kukeli 21 FW Džengis Čavušević

No. Position Player 22 DF Umaru Bangura 24 DF Michael Kempter 25 DF Ivan Kecojević 26 DF Cédric Brunner 27 MF Marco Schönbächler 28 DF Nicolas Stettler 29 MF Sangoné Sarr 32 GK Anthony Favre 34 MF Roberto Rodríguez 37 MF Gilles Yapi Yapo (Captain) 41 DF Kay Voser 61 GK Novem Baumann

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player MF Artem Simonyan (on loan at FC Le Mont until the end of the 2016–17 season) FW Kilian Pagliuca (on loan at FC Wohlen until the end of the 2016–17 season) FW Marvin Graf (on loan at FC Wohlen until the end of the 2016–17 season)

Notable former players

Players and managers admitted to the FC Zurich Hall of Fame

Jakob Kuhn Walter Bosshard Urs Fischer Fritz Künzli Rosario Martinelli Almen Abdi Lucien Favre Joan Gamper

Karl Grob Daniel Gygax Daniel Jeandupeux Timo Konietzka Werner Leimgruber Louis Maurer Raimondo Ponte Ike Shorunmu

Klaus Stürmer Hannu Tihinen René Botteron Frédéric Chassot Josip Drmić Blerim Džemaili Iulian Filipescu Jurica Jerković

Alhassane Keita Shabani Nonda Peter Risi Wynton Rufer Albert Schnorf Paul Sturzenegger

source:^[4]

Players for the Swiss national football team

Almen Abdi Heinz Bäni Thomas Bickel René Botteron René Brodmann Pierre-Albert Chapuisat Frédéric Chassot Francesco Di Jorio Josip Drmić Blerim Džemaili Ruedi Elsener Nico Elvedi Urs Fischer

Mario Gavranović Marco Grassi Daniel Gygax Gökhan Inler Daniel Jeandupeux Sébastien Jeanneret Stephan Keller Jakob Kuhn Fritz Künzli Adrian Kunz Werner Leimgruber Johnny Leoni

Heinz Lüdi Erni Maissen Ludovic Magnin Xavier Margairaz Giuseppe Mazzarelli Admir Mehmedi Severino Minelli Marco Pascolo Yvan Quentin Peter Risi Ricardo Rodríguez Alain Rochat

Marco Schönbächler Werner Schley David Sesa Jörg Stiel Jürg Studer Sirio Vernati Steve von Bergen Johan Vonlanthen René Weiler Gian-Pietro Zappa

Players with World Cup appearances for their national teams

Borislav Mikhailov Jan Berger Peter Møller Jean-Marc Ferreri Norbert Eder Roberto Di Matteo Kanga Akale

Wynton Rufer Ike Shorunmu Rashidi Yekini Iulian Filipescu Adrian Ilie Aleksandr Kerzhakov Shaun Bartlett

Tomas Brolin Roger Ljung Jonas Thern Conny Torstensson Francileudo Santos Mirsad Baljić Jurica Jerković

Player records

Most appearances (Swiss League since 1965)     Player Apps 1 GrobKarl Grob 513 2 LandoltRuedi Landolt 353 3 KuhnJakob Kuhn 307 4 FischerUrs Fischer 303 5 MartinelliRosario Martinelli 272 6 StierliPirmin Stierli 251 7 LüdiHeinz Lüdi 244 8 TaroneDaniel Tarone 238 9 KundertRoger Kundert 228 10 Di JorioFranco Di Jorio 227

Top scorers (Swiss League since 1965)     Player Goals 1 KünzliFritz Künzli 157 2 MartinelliRosario Martinelli 97 3 RisiPeter Risi 76 4 SeilerWalter Seiler 62 5 SahinErcument Sahin 60 6 KuhnJakob Kuhn 59 7 KeitaAlhassane Keita 58 8 AlphonseAlexandre Alphonse 55 9 JeandupeuxDaniel Jeandupeux 54 9 JerkovicJurica Jerković 54

Top scorers (all competitions)

		Player	Goals
1		KünzliFritz Künzli	219
2		MartinelliRosario Martinelli	130
3		RisiPeter Risi	108

source appearances:^[5]

source scorers:^[6]

Managers

József "Csiby" Winkler (1920–22) Johann Studnicka (1922–25) Severino Minelli (1943–46) Willy Iseli (1946–48) Theodor Lohrmann (1948–53) Joksch Fridl (1953–55) Ossi Müller (1955–57) Fernando Molina and Max Barras (1957–58) Karl Rappan (1958–59) Max Barras (1959–60) Georg Wurzer (1960–62) Louis Maurer (1962–66) László Kubala (July 1966 – Feb 67) René Brodmann (Feb 1967 – July 67) Lev Mantula (1967–69) Georg Gawliczek (1 July 1969 – 31 Dec 1970) Juan Schwanner (Nov 1970 – July 71) Friedhelm Konietzka (1971–78)

Zlatko Čajkovski (July 1978 – March 80) Albert Sing and R. Martinelli (29 Feb 1980 – 30 June 1980) Daniel Jeandupeux (1 July 1980 – March 83) Heini Glättli (March 1983 – April 83) Max Merkel (April 1983 – May 83) Köbi Kuhn (May 1983 – July 83) Hans Kodric (July 1983 – Nov 83) Köbi Kuhn (Nov 1983 – July 84) Vaclav Jezek (1984–86) Hermann Stessl (1 July 1986 – 1 Nov 1987) Friedhelm Konietzka (Sept 1987 – July 88) Hans Bongartz (1 July 1988 – 30 June 1989) Walter Iselin (July 1989 – Oct 89) Herbert Neumann (Oct 1989 –1 Oct 1991) Kurt Jara (1 Oct 1991 – 1 April 1994) Bob Houghton (April 1994 – March 95) Raimondo Ponte (March 1995 – 16 April 2000)

Gilbert Gress (16 April 2000 – 30 June 2001) Georges Bregy (1 July 2001 – 27 March 2003) Walter Grüter (interim) (27 March 2003 – 30 June 2003) Lucien Favre (1 July 2003 – 30 June 2007) Bernard Challandes (1 July 2007 – 19 April 2010) Urs Fischer (interim) (19 April 2010 – 30 June 2010) Urs Fischer (1 July 2010 – 12 March 2012) Harald Gämperle (interim) (13 March 2012 – 8 June 2012) Urs Meier (interim) (14 April 2012 – 24 May 2012) Rolf Fringer (1 July 2012 – 26 Nov 2012) Urs Meier (interim) (26 Nov 2012 – 30 Dec 2012) Urs Meier (1 Jan 2013 – 3 August 2015) Massimo Rizzo (interim) (3 August 2015 – 31 August 2015) Sami Hyypiä (31 August 2015 – 12 May 2016) Uli Forte (13 May 2016 – )

FC Zürich in Europe

• Q = Qualifying Round
• 1R = First Round
• 2R = Second Round
• PO = Play-Off
• 1/8 = 1/8 Final
• 1/4 = Quarterfinal
• 1/2 = Semifinal

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Score
1963–64	European Cup	Q	Dundalk	3 – 0, 1 – 2
		1/8	Galatasaray	2 – 0, 0 – 2, 2 – 2
		1/4	PSV	0 – 1, 3 – 1
		1/2	Real Madrid	1 – 2, 0 – 6
1966–67	European Cup	1R	Celtic	0 – 2, 0 – 3
1967–68	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Barcelona	3 – 1, 0 – 1
		2R	Nottingham Forest	1 – 2, 1 – 0
		1/8	Sporting CP	3 – 0, 0 – 1
		1/4	Dundee	0 – 1, 0 – 1
1968–69	European Cup	1R	AB	1 – 3, 2 – 1
1969–70	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Kilmarnock	3 – 2, 1 – 3
1970–71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar	7 – 1, 7 – 0
		1/8	Club Brugge	0 – 2, 3 – 2
1972–73	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Wrexham	1 – 1, 1 – 2
1973–74	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Anderlecht	2 – 3, 1 – 0
		1/8	Malmö FF	0 – 0, 1 – 1
		1/4	Sporting CP	0 – 3, 1 – 1
1974–75	European Cup	1R	Leeds United	1 – 4, 2 – 1
1975–76	European Cup	1R	Újpest	0 – 4, 5 – 1
1976–77	European Cup	1R	Rangers	1 – 1, 1 – 0
		1/8	Turun Palloseura	2 – 0, 1 – 0
		1/4	Dynamo Dresden	2 – 1, 2 – 3
		1/2	Liverpool	1 – 3, 0 – 3
1977–78	UEFA Cup	1R	CSKA Sofia	1 – 0, 1 – 1
		2R	Eintracht Frankfurt	0 – 3, 3 – 4
1979–80	UEFA Cup	1R	Kaiserslautern	1 – 3, 1 – 5
1981–82	European Cup	1R	Dynamo Berlin	0 – 2, 3 – 1
1982–83	UEFA Cup	1R	Pezoporikos Larnaca	2 – 2, 1 – 0
		2R	Ferencváros	1 – 1, 1 – 0
		1/8	Benfica	1 – 1, 0 – 4
1983–84	UEFA Cup	1R	Antwerp	1 – 4, 2 – 4
1998–99	UEFA Cup	2Q	Shakhtar Donetsk	4 – 0, 2 – 3
		1R	Anorthosis Famagusta	4 – 0, 3 – 2
		2R	Celtic	1 – 1, 4 – 2
		1/8	Roma	0 – 1, 2 – 2
1999–00	UEFA Cup	Q	Sliema Wanderers	3 – 0, 1 – 0
		1R	Lierse	1 – 0, 4 – 3
		2R	Newcastle United	1 – 2, 1 – 3
2000–01	UEFA Cup	1R	Genk	1 – 2, 0 – 2
2005–06	UEFA Cup	2Q	Legia Warsaw	1 – 0, 4 – 1
		1R	Brøndby	0 – 2, 2 – 1
2006–07	Champions League	2Q	Red Bull Salzburg	2 – 1, 0 – 2
2007–08	UEFA Champions League	3Q	Beşiktaş	1 – 1, 0 – 2
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1R	Empoli	1 – 2, 3 – 0
		Group E	Sparta Prague	2–1
			Toulouse	2–0
			Spartak Moscow	0–1
			Bayer Leverkusen	0–5
		Round of 32	Hamburg	1 – 3, 0 – 0
2008–09	UEFA Cup	2Q	Sturm Graz	1 – 1, 1 – 1
		1R	Milan	1 – 3, 0 – 1
2009–10	UEFA Champions League	3Q	Maribor	2 – 3, 3 – 0
		PO	Ventspils	3 – 0, 2 – 1
		Group C	Real Madrid	2 – 5, 0 – 1
			Milan	1 – 0, 1 – 1
			Marseille	0 – 1, 1 – 6
2011–12	UEFA Champions League	3Q	Standard Liège	1 – 1, 1 – 0
		PO	Bayern Munich	0 – 2, 0 – 1
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	Group D	Sporting CP	0 – 2, 0 – 2
			Vaslui	2 – 2, 2 – 0
			Lazio	1 – 1, 0 – 1
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Slovan Liberec	1 – 2, 1 – 2
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	PO	Spartak Trnava	3 – 1, 1 – 1
		Group A	Apollon Limassol	2 – 3, 3 – 1
			Borussia Mönchengladbach	1 – 1, 0 – 3
			Villareal CF	1 – 4, 3 – 2
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Dinamo Minsk	0 – 1, 1 – 1 (a.e.t.)
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	Group L	Villareal CF	1 – 1, 1 – 2
			Steaua București	0 – 0, 1 – 1
			Osmanlıspor	2 – 1, –

References

1. "Profile: FC Zürich". www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
2. "Schweiz » Super League » Zuschauer". weltfussball.at. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
3. "Zuschauerzahlen Super League". sfl.ch. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
4. "Hall of Fame (Auswahl des FCZ-Museums)". dbfcz.ch. dbfcz. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
5. "Top 10 Einsätze für den FCZ". dbfcz.ch. dbfcz. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
6. "Top 10 Tore für den FCZ". dbfcz.ch. dbfcz. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

External links

• Official Website
• FC Zürich stats (German)
• Archive FC Zürich (German)