1961–62 FC Basel season

The former Czechoslovak footballer Jiří Sobotka was appoited as Basel's new team manager. Sobotka had been manager for La Chaux-de-Fonds from 1946 to 1959 and during this time had won the championship twice and the cup competition five times. He was manager for Feyenoord from 1959 to 1961 and had won the Dutch League with them in the season before he was hired by Basel. A number of older players left the squad. But quite a few new youngster were brought in to cover these empty places and Sobotka was well known for his work with the younger players. In fact all the new youngsters that joined the club lived within just a few minutes bus or tram ride from the Landhof stadium: Heinz Blumer lived in Reinach and advanced up from the junior team, local man Peter Füri joined the club from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Markus Pfirter joined from Concordia Basel, Otto Ludwig returned from Old Boys, Roland Denicola lived in Allschwil, René Burri in Birsfelden, Wilfried Fritz in Kandern and Hans-Ruedi Günthardt lived in Basel.[1]

Basel played a total of 44 games this season. Of these 44 matches 26 were in the domestic league, four were in the Swiss Cup, six were in the newly formed International Football Cup and eight were friendly matches. Of these eight friendly games four were played at home and four away fom home. Four games ended in a victory, three were drawn and one ended in a defeat. The friendly match against 1. FC Köln at the end of the season was one of the highlights of these test games, it ended in a 4–4 draw. This was the farewell game for Josef Hügi who was moving on to play for Zürich the following season. René Burri, Roberto Frigerio twice and Hügi himself scored the goals for Basel. Karl-Heinz Thielen, Christian Müller, Breuer and Helmut Benthaus scored the goals for Köln. 14,000 spectators paid their entrance tickets to see the game, much needed money because the club was suffering under a bad financial situation at that time. An interesting point to note was the contact that was made between the club's chairmann, Ernst Weber, and the scorer of the final goal of the match, Benthaus. This contact would come in handy a few years later.[2]

Basel were appointed as one of four Swiss representatives in the newly founded International Football Cup. The 1961–62 International Football Cup took place during in the summer break. Basel played in Group B4 together with Sparta Rotterdam, IF Elfsborg and SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin but finished the group in the bottom position.[3]

Fourteen teams contested the 1960–61 Nationalliga A, these were the top 12 teams from the previous season and the two newly promoted teams Lugano and Schaffhausen. The Championship was played in a double round-robin, the champions were to be qualified for 1962–63 European Cup and the last two teams in the table were to be relegated. The team played a mediocre season, but not much more was expected from the young team, manager Jiří Sobotka was forming the team for the future seasons. Basel finished the season in the mid-field region of the league table in 7th position with 28 points, 12 points behind Servette who won the championship for the second time in a row. Basel won ten games, drew eight and were defeated eight times. Youngster Markus Pfirter was the team's top league goal scorer with nine goals and oldie Josef Hügi scored eight times that season.[4]

Basel entered the Swiss Cup in the third principal round. They were drawn at home against third tier club SR Delémont. Despite being 0–2 in arrear early in the game, they came back to win 3–2. In the fourth round they faced fourth tier local club FC Breite, with ex-FCB player Hans Hügi (who had retired from active football) in another home game. Older brother Hügi (I) defended against younger brother Hügi (II), but younger brother won the duel and scored two of the goals as Basel won 3–0 to continue to the next round. In the fifth round Basel won due to an own goal against Zürich, but in the quarter-final they were defeated by Bellinzona, who continued to the final, but here they were defeated by cup winners Lausanne-Sport after extra time.[5]

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the 1961–62 season. The list includes players that were in the squad on the day that the Nationalliga A season started on 20 August 1961 but subsequently left the club after that date.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   SUI Hans-Ruedi Günthardt 1 GK   SUI René Jeker 1 GK   SUI Kurt Stettler — DF   SUI Heinz Blumer (new) — DF   SUI René Burri (from FC Birsfelden) — DF   SUI Peter Füri (from La Chaux-de-Fonds) — DF   SUI Markus Pfirter (from Concordia Basel) 3 DF   SUI Bruno Michaud — DF   SUI Hanspeter Stocker — DF   SUI Edmund Vogt — DF   SUI Hans Weber — MF   SUI Hansruedi Herr (from reserve team)

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 MF   SUI Carlo Porlezza 7 MF   SUI Fernando Von Krannichfeldt — MF   SUI Rudolf Rickenbacher (only IFC) — MF   SUI Silvan Thüler — FW   SUI Roland Denicola (new) 9 FW   SUI Josef Hügi (II) — MF  GER Otto Ludwig (from Old Boys) — FW   SUI Hansueli Oberer 11 FW   SUI Paul Speidel — FW  HUN Ferenc Stockbauer (only UFC) — MF   SUI Niklaus Stöckli (from reserve team) — MF   SUI Wolfgang Walther (new) — MF  GER Wilfried Fritz (new)

Players who left the squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   SUI Ulrich Vetsch (retired) — MF   SUI Peter Brendle — MF   SUI Jean-Louis Gygax — MF   SUI René Jaeck

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  GER Gerhard Siedl (to AZ Alkmaar) — MF   SUI Jean-Claude Bourgnon 8 FW   SUI Bernhard Chenaux — MF   SUI Antonio Danani (to FC Moutier) — MF   SUI Claus-Dieter Tabel (to reserve team)

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Preseason

Tus Lörrach-Stetten v Basel

July 1961 Pre-season	Tus Lörrach-Stetten	0 – 0	Basel	Lörrach
		Summary
Note: Anniversary game 50 years Lörrach-Stetten

Aarau v Basel

6 August 1961 Pre-season	Aarau	3 – 2	Basel	Hügeli, Schöftland
	Fragnières  (1x) Gribi  (1x) Crivelli  (pen. 1x)	Summary	(1x) Von Krannichfeldt  (1x) Denicola	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Gloor Schöftland

FC Klus-Balsthal v Basel

13 August 1961 Pre-season	FC Klus-Balsthal	0 – 8	Basel	Mühlefeld, Balsthal
		Summary		Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Rudolf Scheurer Bettlach
Note: Anniversary game 50 years FC Klus-Balsthal

FC Riehen v Basel

16 August 1961 Pre-season	FC Riehen	2 – 6	Basel	Riehen
18:30	Bieri  (1:3) Raes  (pen. 2:4)	Summary	(0:1) Hügi (II)  5' (0:2) Stocker  35' (0:3) Hügi (II)  (1:4) Hügi (II)  (2:5) Wilfried Fritz  (pen. 2:6) Hügi (II)	Attendance: 600

Basel v Hapoel Tel Aviv

22 August 1961 Pre-season	Basel	2 – 0	Hapoel Tel Aviv	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Hügi (II)  (1x) Walther  (1x)	Summary		Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Winter break and end of season

Basel v Biel-Bienne

11 February 1962 Winter break	Basel	2 – 1	Biel-Bienne	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Hügi (II)  1' (1:0) Hügi (II)  58' (2:0)	Summary	85' (2:1) Rossbach	Attendance: 1,100 Referee: Oettlin Basel

Basel v Scunthorpe United

16 May 1962 End of season	Basel	1 – 1	Scunthorpe United	Landhof, Basel
18:15	Burri  31' (1:0)	Summary	65' (1:1)	Attendance: 2,400 Referee: Gottfried Dienst Basel

Basel v 1. FC Köln

22 May 1962 End of season	Basel	4 – 4	1. FC Köln	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Frigerio  27' (1:2) Burri  38' (2:3) Frigerio  82' (3:3) Hügi (II)  83' (4:3)	Summary	9' (0:1) Thielen  22' (0:2) Müller  34' (1:3) Breuer  84' (4:4) Benthaus	Attendance: 14,000 Referee: F. Schorer Interlaken
Note: Farewell game for Josef Hügi. Guest player by Basel: Frigerio

League matches

Basel v Biel-Bienne

20 August 1961 Round 1	Basel	4 – 2	Biel-Bienne	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Blumer  41' (1:0) Blumer  47' (2:0) Von Krannichfeldt  72' (3:2) Walther  78' (4:2)	Summary	49' (2:1) Koller  55' (2:2) Rossbach	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: D. Mellet Lausanne

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

27 August 1961 Round 2	Lausanne-Sport	6 – 1	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
15:00	Glisovic  40' (1:0) Glisovic  48' (2:0) Vonlanden  54' (pen. 3:0) Glisovic  60' (4:0) Hosp  73' (5:0) Armbruster  74' (6:0)	Summary	77' (6:1) Weber	Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Victor Werner Schicker Bern

Basel v Schaffhausen

2 September 1961 Round 3	Basel	2 – 1	Schaffhausen	Landhof, Basel
16:30	Stocker  23' (1:0) Hügi (II)  63' (2:1)	Summary	57' (1:1) Akeret	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Albert Weber Lausanne

Grasshopper Club v Basel

10 September 1961 Round 4	Grasshopper Club	4 – 3	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
	Vonburg  10' (1:0) Dimmeler  63' (2:3) Burger  78' (3:3) Ghilard  (4:3)	Summary	17' (1:1) Wilfried Fritz  40' (1:2) Wilfried Fritz  51' (1:3) Hügi (II)	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Roland David Lausanne

Basel v Luzern

16 September 1961 Round 5	Basel	1 – 2	Luzern	Landhof, Basel
16:15	Hügi (II)  1' (1:0)	Summary	13' (1:1) Lettl  47' (1:2) Gerber	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Guinnard GletterensL

Fribourg v Basel

24 September 1961 Round 6	Fribourg	1 – 1	Basel	Stade Universitaire Saint-Léonard, Fribourg
	Froidevaux  10' (1:0)	Summary	86' (1:1) Hügi (II)	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Victor Werner Schicker Bern

Basel v Lugano

1 October 1961 Round 7	Basel	0 – 2	Lugano	Landhof, Basel
15:00		Summary	50' (0:1) Ciani  59' (0:2) Neuschäfer	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Albert Weber Lausanne

Grenchen v Basel

8 October 1961 Round 8	Grenchen	0 – 1	Basel	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
		Summary	Wilfried Fritz  80' (0:1)	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Schurr Interlaken

Basel v Servette

15 October 1961 Round 9	Basel	1 – 1	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
15:00	Walther  47' (1:0)	Summary	Robbiani  70' (1:1)	Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Young Fellows Zürich v Basel

5 November 1961 Round 10	Young Fellows Zürich	1 – 0	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
15:00	Niggeler  33' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v Zürich

11 November 1961 Round 11	Basel	4 – 2	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
18:00	Hügi (II)  23' (1:1) Denicola  36' (2:1) Pfirter  55' (3:2) Blumer  84' (4:2)	Summary	20' (pen. 0:1) Leimgruber  43' (2:2) Fäh	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Victor Werner Schicker Bern

Young Boys v Basel

26 November 1961 Round 12	Young Boys	1 – 4	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
	Meier  63' (1:4)	Summary	28' (0:1) Ludwig  36' (0:2) Pfirter  54' (0:3) Blumer  63' (0:4) Ludwig	Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v La Chaux-de-Fonds

3 December 1961 Round 13	Basel	3 – 2	La Chaux-de-Fonds	Landhof, Basel
14:30	Pfirter  11' (1:1) Hügi (II)  19' (2:1) Oberer  43' (3:1)	Summary	5' (0:1) Trivellin  67' (3:2) Frigerio	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Biel-Bienne v Basel

10 December 1961 Round 14	Biel-Bienne	4 – 4	Basel	Gurzelen Stadion, Biel/Bienne
	Treuthardt  33' (1:3) Bächler  60' (2:3) Bächler  67' (3:4) Bächler  85' (4:4)	Summary	15' (0:1) Pfirter  18' (0:2) Hügi (II)  25' (0:3) Blumer  67' (o.g. 3:4) Kehrli	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: D. Mellet Lausanne

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

17 December 1961 Round 15	Basel	0 – 0	Lausanne-Sport	Landhof, Basel
14:30		Summary		Attendance: 7,500 Referee: F. Schorer Interlaken

Schaffhausen v Basel

31 December 1961 Round 16	Schaffhausen	1 – 2	Basel	Stadion Breite, Schaffhausen
	Akeret  59' (1:1)	Summary	52' (0:1) Ludwig  65' (1:2) Stocker	Attendance: 2,300 Referee: Helbling Uznach

Basel v Grasshopper Club

7 January 1962 Round 17	Basel	P – P	Grasshopper Club	Landhof, Basel
		[ Summary]

Luzern v Basel

25 February 1962 Round 18	Luzern	1 – 1	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
	Lettl  70' (1:1)	Summary	52' (pen. 0:1) Stocker	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Josef Gulde St. Gallen

Basel v Fribourg

4 March 1962 Round 19	Basel	4 – 3	Fribourg	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Ludwig  18' (1:0) Burri  30' (2:1) Pfirter  56' (3:1) Oberer  75' (4:1)	Summary	20' (1:1) Laurito  85' (4:2) Bongard  88' (4:3) Laurito	Attendance: 1.500 Referee: D. Mellet Lausanne

Lugano v Basel

11 March 1962 Round 20	Lugano	2 – 2	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
	Ciani  15' (1:0) Ciani  30' (2:1)	Summary	27' (1:1) Pfirter  60' (2:2) Füri	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v Grenchen

18 March 1962 Round 21	Basel	2 – 1	Grenchen	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Stocker  71' (pen. 1:1) Michaud  88' (2:1)	Summary	12' (0:1) Stutz	Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Helbling Uznach

Basel v Grasshopper Club

25 March 1962 Round 17	Basel	1 – 1	Grasshopper Club	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Oberer  47' (1:0) Oberer	Summary	66' (1:1) von Burg	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: D. Mellet Lausanne

Servette v Basel

1 April 1962 Round 22	Servette	5 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
15:00	Mantula  35' (1:1) Robbiani  54' (2:1) Bosson  64' (3:1) Robbiani  65' (4:1) Fatton  85' (5:1)	Summary	23' (0:1) Ludwig	Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Zürrer Feldmeilen

Basel v Young Fellows Zürich

8 April 1962 Round 23	Basel	2 – 2	Young Fellows Zürich	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Pfirter  28' (1:0) Blumer  41' (2:0)	Summary	51' (2:1) Zimmermann  75' (2:2) Zimmermann	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Schwab Neuchâtel

Zürich v Basel

15 April 1962 Round 24	Zürich	4 – 2	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
	Brizzi  23' (1:0) Brizzi  68' (2:0) Brizzi  72' (3:0) Martinelli  87' (4:0)	Summary	88' (4:1) Hügi (II)	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Strässle Steinach

Basel v Young Boys

29 April 1962 Round 25	Basel	6 – 2	Young Boys	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Weber  27' (1:0) Stocker  32' (2:0) Pfirter  49' (3:1) Burri  69' (4:1) Pfirter  75' (5:2) Weber  87' (6:2)	Summary	39' (2:1) Schultheiss  71' (4:2) Wechselberger	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Albert Weber Lausanne

La Chaux-de-Fonds v Basel

5 May 1962 Round 26	La Chaux-de-Fonds	3 – 0	Basel	Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds
20:00	Bertschi  8' (1:0) Antenen  75' (2:0) Wenger  89' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Helbling Uznach

Swiss Cup

Basel v SR Delémont

22 October 1961 3rd principal round	Basel	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	SR Delémont	Landhof, Basel
14:30	Hügi (II)  47' (1:2) Von Krannichfeldt  62' (2:2) Blumer  101' (3:2)	Summary	13' (0:1) Gassmann  27' (o.g. 0:2) Weber	Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v FC Breite

19 November 1961 Round 4	Basel	3 – 0	FC Breite	Landhof, Basel
14:30	Hügi (II)  55' (1:0) Pfirter  78' (2:0) Hügi (II)  80' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 3,000 Referee: A. Ceretti Biel/Bienne

Zürich v Basel

14 January 1962 Round 5	Zürich	0 – 1	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
		Summary	88' (o.g.)	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Bellinzona v Basel

18 February 1962 Quarter-final	Bellinzona	1 – 0	Basel	Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona
	Buzzin  75' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 1,000 Referee: F. Schorer Interlaken

Group B4 matches

Basel v Sparta Rotterdam

17 June 1961 Round 1	Basel	0 – 4	Sparta Rotterdam	Landhof, Basel
18:00		Summary	(2x) van Miert  (1x) de Vries  (1x)} Janssen	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Carl Erich Steiner Wien

IF Elfsborg v Basel

25 June 1961 Round 2	IF Elfsborg	2 – 1	Basel	Ryavallen, Borås, Sweden
	Raaberg  (1x) Larsson  (1x)	Summary	(1x) Hügi (II)	Attendance: 3,300 Referee: Johannes Malka Herten

SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin v Basel

2 July 1961 Round 3	SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin	1 – 2	Basel	Poststadion, Berlin
	Rosenfeldt  7' (1:0)	Summary	35' (1:1) Hügi (II)  46' (1:2) Stocker	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Johanesson

Basel v SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin

8 July 1961 Round 4	Basel	1 – 1	SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin	Landhof, Basel
18:30	Speidel  (1x)	Summary	(1x o.g.)	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Friedrich Seipelt

Basel v IF Elfsborg

15 July 1961 Round 5	Basel	3 – 6	IF Elfsborg	Landhof, Basel
18:30	Hügi (II)  (1x) Von Krannichfeldt  (1x) Walther  (1x)	Summary	(3x) Larsson  (2x) Raberg  (1x) Bartholdsson	Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Friedrich Mayer

Sparta Rotterdam v Basel

23 July 1961 Round 6	Sparta Rotterdam	5 – 2	Basel	Rotterdam
	Van Buuren  3' (1:1) De Vries  19' (2:1) Verhoeven  49' (3:2) Bosselaar  58' (4:2) Jansen  76' (5:2)	Summary	2' (0:1) Hügi (II)  31' (2:2) Burri	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Gösta Ackerborn

Group table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sparta Rotterdam	6	5	0	1	23	12	+11	10	Qualified for knock out stage
2	IF Elfsborg	6	4	0	2	21	17	+4	8
3	SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin	6	1	1	4	11	16	−5	3
4	Basel	6	1	1	4	9	19	−10	3

Source: International Football Cup at fcb-archiv.ch

• History of FC Basel
• List of FC Basel players
• List of FC Basel seasons

• Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5
• The FCB team 1961–62 at fcb-archiv.ch
• Switzerland 1961–62 by Erik Garin at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

• FC Basel official site