1969–70 FC Basel season

Helmut Benthaus was player-manager for the fifth consecutive season. There were only a few changes in the squad. Manfred Schädler and Anton Schnyder moved on to Concordia Basel, Dieter Rüefli moved to St. Gallen and Claude Iff left the squad. Ex-German internation player Stefan Reisch joined from Club Brugge. Otherwise Benthaus relied on young players, Roland Paolucci, Rolf Riner and Janos Konrad came from the reserve team to help when needed in the first team. Basel played a total of 50 matches during this season. 26 of these games were in the domestic league, seven were in the Swiss Cup, two were in the European Cup, five were in the Cup of the Alps and 10 were friendly matches. Of these 10 test games nine were won and one ended in a defeat. Two test matches were played at home and eight played away.[1]

14 teams contested in the 1969–70 Nationalliga A. These were the top 12 teams from the previous 1968–69 season and the two newly promoted teams Wettingen and Fribourg. The championship was played in a double round robin, the last two teams at the end of the season to be relegated. Basel played a good season. Despite a bad run with four defeats in eight games between the end of September and the beginning of December, they won 11 of the last 14 games during the second half of the season. Basel won the championship a point clear of Lausanne Sports who ended in second position and three points ahead of FC Zürich who finished third. Basel won 15 of the 26 games, drawing seven, losing four times, they scored 59 goals conceding 23.[2] Helmut Hauser was the team's top goal scorer with 14 league goals and Walter Balmer second top scorer with 12 league goals.

On 14 September 1969 Basel started in the Swiss Cup in the round of 32 with a 10–0 home win against Minerva Bern (as result of merger later renamed Breitenrain Bern). In the round of 16 played on 12 October Basel had a home match against Grenchen which was won 3–2. In the quarter-final, played in November, Basel had a two legged tie against Xamax-Sports NE (later renamed Neuchâtel Xamax). This was won 7–2 on aggregate. The semi-final was also a two legged tie and this against Servette Genève. Basel won both legs and 6–1 on aggregate. The final was played on 18 May 1970 in the Wankdorf Stadium, but was lost against Zürich after extra time.[3]

In the European Cup Basel were drawn against Scottish club Celtic. The first leg, which played on 17 September 1969 in the St. Jakob Stadium in front of 37,587 spectators, ended in a goalless draw.[4] The return leg on 1 October in Celtic Park attracted 49,976 spectators. Celtic won the game 2–0 and advanced to the next round.[5] In the 1969 Cup of the Alps Basel won their group and in the final they beat Bologna 3–1.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   SUI Marcel Kunz (games: 26) 1 GK  FRA Jean-Paul Laufenburger (games: 0) 2 DF  GER Josef Kiefer (games: 25) 3 DF   SUI Bruno Michaud (games/goals: 21/1) 4 MF   SUI Peter Ramseier (games/goals: 26/2) 5 MF   SUI Urs Siegenthaler (games: 11) 6 DF   SUI Paul Fischli (games: 5) 7 FW   SUI Walter Balmer (games/goals: 26/12) 8 MF   SUI Karl Odermatt (games/goals: 26/4) 9 FW  GER Helmut Hauser (games/goals: 24/14)

No. Pos. Nation Player 10 MF  GER Helmut Benthaus (games/goals: 23/5) 11 FW   SUI Peter Wenger (games/goals: 23/9) — DF   SUI Walter Mundschin (games: 5) — DF   SUI Roland Paolucci (games: 15) — MF   SUI Otto Demarmels (games/goals: 11/1) — MF  GER Stefan Reisch (new (Club Brugge) games/goals: 8/1) — MF   SUI Rolf Riner (new (reserves) games/goals: 8/1) — MF  GER Jürgen Sundermann (games/goals: 24/9) — MF   SUI Bruno Rahmen (games/goals: 8/1) — FW   SUI Dieter Rüefli ((to St. Gallen) games/goals: 2/1) — FW  HUN Janos Konrad ((reserves) games 0)

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 — GK   SUI Claude Iff (unknown) — DF   SUI Manfred Schädler (to Concordia Basel)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   SUI Anton Schnyder (to Concordia Basel)

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season and mid-season

Basel v SC Brühl

26 July 1969 Pre-season	Basel	5 – 3	SC Brühl	Landhof, Basel
	Wenger  3' (1:0) Hauser  22' (2:0) Hauser  38' (3:1) Ramseier  72' (4:2) Balmer  (5:2)	Summary	34' (2:1) Koller  66' (3:2) Koller  90' (5:3) Koller	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Jean Dubach Nidau

RC Strasbourg v Basel

1 August 1969 Pre-season	RC Strasbourg	0 – 1	Basel	Stadion Schiltigheim
		Summary	57' (0:1) Hauser	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Joseph Fassel

Grenchen v Basel

6 August 1969 Uhrencup	Grenchen	0 – 0 (5 – 3 p)	Basel	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
20:00		Summary		Attendance: 3,600 Referee: Rudolf Rettig Gerlafingen
	Penalties
	Fankhauser		Sundermann
Note: One player from each team took five penalties. Sundermann scored with each penalty, Fankhauser sees one of his attempts held by Marcel Kunz.

Basel v Biel-Bienne

9 August 1969 Uhrencup	Basel	5 – 3	Biel-Bienne	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
20:00	Wenger  23' (1:1) Hauser  25' (2:1) Balmer  42' (3:1) Hauser  60' (4:2) Odermatt  63' (5:2)	Summary	14' (0:1) Renfer  57' (3:2) Amez-Droz  78' (5:3) Peters	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Rudolf Scheurer Bettlach

Basel v Wettingen

16 August 1969 Pre-season	Basel	5 – 1	Wettingen	Wyler Bern
	Balmer  10' (1:0) Balmer  23' (2:0) Hauser  33' (3:0) Odermatt  75' (pen. 4:0) Wenger  75' (5:0)	Summary	85' (o.g.) Michaud	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Stauffer Bern

FC Pratteln v Basel

5 November 1969 Mid-season	FC Pratteln	1 – 2	Basel	Pratteln
		Summary	Benthaus Wenger

Winter break and mid-season

Basel v Young Fellows Zürich

8 February 1970 Winter break	Basel	4 – 0	Young Fellows Zürich	Landhof, Basel
	Balmer  8' (1:0) Wenger  59' (2:0) Hauser  85' (3:0) Sundermann  90' (pen. 4:0)	Summary		Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Peter Hänggi Aesch

Xamax v Basel

14 February 1970 Winter break	Xamax	0 – 2	Basel	Stade de Serrières, Serrières
15:30		Summary	39' (0:1) Michaud  80' (0:2) Odermatt	Attendance: 800 Referee: André Favre Echallens

Thun v Basel

22 February 1970 Winter break	Thun	1 – 3	Basel	Stadion Lachen, Thun
	H. Liecht  70' (1:3)	Summary	57' (0:1) Michaud  63' (0:2) Hauser  69' (0:3) Balmer	Attendance: 500 Referee: Stauffer Bern

Basel v La Chaux-de-Fonds

21 March 1970 Mid-season	Basel	2 – 3	La Chaux-de-Fonds	Landhof, Basel
	Hauser  28' (1:0) Wenger  77' (2:3)	Summary	53' (1:1) Jeandupeux  57' (1:2) Brossard  61' (1:3) Brossard	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Peter Hänggi Aesch

League matches

St. Gallen v Basel

23 August 1969 Round 1	St. Gallen	1 – 4	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
	Rafreider  72' (1:2)	Summary	24' (0:1) Balmer  53' (0:2) Odermatt  79' (pen. 1:3) Sundermann  84' (1:4) Hauser	Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Pius Kamber Zürich

Basel v Bellinzona

30 August 1969 Round 2	Basel	2 – 0	Bellinzona	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Wenger  16' (1:0) Hauser  23' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Ulysse Darbellay Roche

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

6 September 1969 Round 3	Lausanne-Sport	1 – 1	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
20:30	Dürr  73 pen. 1:1' Vuilleumier	Summary	47' (0:1) Wenger	Attendance: 18,000 Referee: A. Ceretti Biel/Bienne

Basel v La Chaux-de-Fonds

20 September 1969 Round 4	Basel	3 – 2	La Chaux-de-Fonds	St. Jakob Stadium Landhof, Basel
	Hauser  26' (1:0) Rahmen  48' (2:0) Wenger  53' (3:0)	Summary	59' (3:1) Richard  81' Mérillat  83' Vincent  90' (3:2) Zürcher	Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Young Boys v Basel

28 September 1969 Round 5	Young Boys	2 – 1	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
	Bruttin  22' (1:0) Allemann  90' (pen. 2:1)	Summary	29' (1:1) Benthaus	Attendance: 23,000 Referee: Hans Wieland Grenchen

Basel v Zürich

4 October 1969 Round 6	Basel	1 – 1	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Odermatt  72' (pen. 1:0)	Summary	89' (1:1) Grünig	Attendance: 26,500 Referee:

Winterthur v Basel

18 October 1969 Round 7	Winterthur	2 – 0	Basel	Schützenwiese, Winterthur
	Konietzka  29' (1:0) Dimmeler  76' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Roland Marendaz Lausanne

Lugano v Basel

26 October 1969 Round 8	Lugano	2 – 1	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
	Luttrop  73' (1:1) Luttrop  78' (2:1)	Summary	71' (0:1) Hauser	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v Servette

9 November 1969 Round 9	Basel	2 – 2	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium Landhof, Basel
	Benthaus  14' (1:0) Hauser  22' (2:0)	Summary	36' (2:1) Bosson  63' (2:2) Heutschi  84' Guyot	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Gilbert Droz Marin

Fribourg v Basel

16 November 1969 Round 10	Fribourg	0 – 0	Basel	Stade Universitaire Saint-Léonard, Fribourg
		Summary		Attendance: 14,000 (new record) Referee: A. Ceretti Biel/Bienne

Basel v Biel-Bienne

30 November 1969 Round 11	Basel	5 – 1	Biel-Bienne	St. Jakob Stadium Landhof, Basel
	Hauser  11' (1:0) Balmer  15' (2:0) Sundermann  33' (pen. 3:1) Sundermann  41' (pen. 4:1) Demarmels  86' (5:1)	Summary	25' (2:1) Renfer (I)	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Walter Hungerbühler St. Gallen

Grasshopper Club v Basel

7 December 1969 Round 12	Grasshopper Club	2 – 0	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
	Citherlet  2' (1:0) Grahn  50' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Gilbert Droz Marin

Basel v Wettingen

14 December 1969 Round 13	Basel	6 – 2	Wettingen	St. Jakob Stadium Landhof, Basel
	Balmer  12' (1:0) Ramseier  44' (2:0) Sundermann  48' (3:0) Sundermann  54' (4:0) Rüefli  70' (5:0) Hauser  83' (6:1)	Summary	71' (5:1) Beichter  82' (6:2)	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Roland Keller Bern

Basel v St. Gallen

1 March 1970 Round 14	Basel	2 – 1	St. Gallen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Benthaus  32' (1:1) Sundermann  38' (pen. 2:1)	Summary	30' (0:1) Nafziger	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Bellinzona v Basel

8 March 1970 Round 15

Bellinzona

PP

Basel

Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

15 March 1970 Round 16	Basel	1 – 1	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Balmer  19' (1:0)	Summary	16' Chapuisat  46' (1:1) Zappella  83' Loichat	Attendance: 17,000 Referee: Gilbert Droz Marin

La Chaux-de-Fonds v Basel

Round 17	La Chaux-de-Fonds	PP	Basel	Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds
		[ Summary]

Basel v Young Boys

4 April 1970 Round 18	Basel	3 – 1	Young Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Odermatt 33′ Michaud  58' (1:1) Balmer  65' (2:1) Balmer  77' (3:1) Sundermann	Summary	52' (0:1) Müller Müller	Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Walter Gallmann Oberrieden

Zürich v Basel

12 April 1970 Round 19	Zürich	0 – 1	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
	Münch  70'	Summary	13' (0:1) Sundermann	Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Walter Hungerbühler St. Gallen

Bellinzona v Basel

15 April 1970 Round 15	Bellinzona	0 – 4	Basel	Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona
		Summary	11' (0:1) Benthaus  33' (0:2) Hauser  47' (0:3) Wenger  57' (0:4) Wenger	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Fernand Burioli Lausanne

Basel v Winterthur

18 April 1970 Round 20	Basel	4 – 0	Winterthur	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Wenger  17' (1:0) Balmer  64' (2:0) Wenger  70' (3:0) Balmer  73' (4:0)	Summary		Attendance: 17,500 Referee: Ulysse Darbellay Roche

Basel v Lugano

25 April 1970 Round 21	Basel	4 – 0	Lugano	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Wenger  11' (1:0) Odermatt  14' (2:0) Wenger  58' (3:0) Sundermann  61' (4:0)	Summary		Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Marcel Schneuwly Fribourg

La Chaux-de-Fonds v Basel

6 May 1970 Round 17	La Chaux-de-Fonds	0 – 0	Basel	Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds
18:00		Summary		Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Claudio Laich Massagno

Servette v Basel

9 May 1970 Round 22	Servette	1 – 2	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
	Pottier  70' (1:1)	Summary	9' (0:1) Hauser  86' (1:2) Hauser	Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Basel v Fribourg

13 May 1970 Round 23	Basel	3 – 0	Fribourg	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Hauser  40' (1:0) Sundermann  45' (pen. 2:0) Hauser  70' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Rolan Bernd Keller

Biel-Bienne v Basel

23 May 1970 Round 24	Biel-Bienne	1 – 4	Basel	Gurzelen Stadion, Biel/Bienne
	Amez-Droz  19' (1:0) Renfer (II)  20'	Summary	24' (1:1) Balmer  31' (1:2) Balmer  42' (1:3) Balmer  50' (1:1) Odermatt  60' Hauser	Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Marcel Despland Yverdon

Basel v Grasshopper Club

27 May 1970 Round 25	Basel	0 – 0	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium Landhof, Basel
	Odermatt  90'	Summary	34' Mocellin  90+1' Rüegg	Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Mario Clematide Zollikofen

Wettingen v Basel

30 May 1970 Round 26	Wettingen	0 – 5	Basel	Stadion Altenburg, Wettingen
	Wernle  40'	[ Summary]	4' (0:1) Hauser  7' (0:2) Hauser  17' (0:3) Balmer  30' (0:4) Ramseier  67' (0:5) Benthaus	Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Marcel Schneuwly Fribourg

Swiss Cup

Round of 32

Basel v Minerva

14 September 1969 Round of 32	Basel	10 – 0	Minerva	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Hauser  17' (1:0) Hauser  35' (2:0) Wenger  41' (3:0) Ramseier  42' (4:0) Hauser  52' (5:0) Ramseier  59' (6:0) Hauser  68' (7:0) Balmer  69' (8:0) Michaud  77' (9:0) Balmer  85' (10:0)	Summary		Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Walter Gallmann Oberrieden

Round of 16

Basel v Grenchen

12 October 1969 Round of 16	Basel	3 – 2	Grenchen	Basel
	Wenger  36' (1:2) Michaud  60' (2:2) Demarmels  83' (3:2)	Summary	3' (0:1) Lander  21' (0:2) Obrecht (II)	Stadium: St. Jakob Stadium Attendance: 6,700 Referee: Marcel Despland Yverdon

Quarter-final

Xamax v Basel

19 November 1969 First leg	Xamax	0 – 2	Basel	Neuchâtel
20:15	Stutz	Summary	38' (0:1) Hauser  61' (pen. 0:2) Sundermann	Stadium: Stade de la Maladière Attendance: 4,200 Referee: Mario Clematide Zollikofen

Basel v Xamax

23 November 1969 Second leg	Basel	5 – 2 (7 – 2 agg.)	Xamax	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Sundermann  23' (1:0) Hauser  42' (2:0) Balmer  44' (3:0) Odermatt  67' (4:1) Ramseier  84' (5:2)	Summary	61' (3:1) Manzoni  74' (4:2) Schmid	Attendance: 8,00 Referee: Othmar Huber Thun

Basel won 7 – 2 on aggregate.

Semi-final

Servette v Basel

30 March 1970 First leg	Servette	0 – 2	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
		Summary	39' (0:1) Wenger  50' (0:2) Odermatt	Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Anton Bucheli Luzern

Basel v Servette

8 April 1970 Second leg	Basel	4 – 1 (6 – 1 agg.)	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Hauser  16' (1:0) Wenger  36' (2:0) Wenger  76' (3:1) Ramseier  85' (4:1)	Summary	63' (2:1) Nemeth	Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Pius Kamber Zürich

Basel won 6 – 1 on aggregate.

Final

Zürich v Basel

18 May 1970 Final	Zürich	4 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Basel	Wankdorf, Bern
	Quentin  74' (1:1) Künzli  92' (2:1) Künzli  101' (3:1) Corti  113' (4:1)		62' (0:1) Odermatt	Attendance: 47,500 Referee: Roland Marendaz Lausanne

Zürich won 4–1 after extra time.

European Cup

Main article: 1969–70 European Cup

First round

Basel v Celtic

17 September 1969 First leg	Basel	0 – 0	Celtic	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
		Report		Attendance: 37,587 Referee: Rudolf Glöckner (East Germany)

Celtic v Basel

1 October 1969 Second leg	Celtic	2 – 0 (2 – 0 agg.)	Basel	Celtic Park, Glasgow
	Hood  1' Gemmell  70'	Report		Attendance: 49,976 Referee: Gyula Emsberger (Hungary)

Celtic won 2–0 on aggregate.

Group B matches

FC Basel v Sampdoria

14 June 1969 Round 1	FC Basel	4 – 1	Sampdoria	St. Jakob Stadium Basel
20:00	Hauser  5' (1:0) Benthaus  36' (2:0) Sundermann  43' (3:0) Odermatt  74' (4:0)	Summary	80' (4:1) Frustaluppi	Attendance: 6.500 Referee: Fritz Seiler

FC Basel v K.S.V. Waregem

17 June 1969 Round 2	FC Basel	3 – 0	K.S.V. Waregem	St. Jakob Stadium Basel
20:00	Sundermann  38' (1:0) Hauser  42' (3:0) Sundermann  73' (pen. 3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Max Spinnler

FC Basel v Eintracht Frankfurt

21 June 1969 Round 3	FC Basel	3 – 2	Eintracht Frankfurt	St. Jakob Stadium Basel
20:00	Hauser  6' (1:0) Benthaus  30' (2:1) Balmer  64' (3:2)	Summary	19' (1:1) Hölzenbein  35' (2:2) Hölzenbein	Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Renzo Torelli

FC Basel v Napoli

24 June 1969 Round 4	FC Basel	2 – 3	Napoli	St. Jakob Stadium Basel
20:00	Odermatt  36' (1:1) Wenger  65' (2:1)	Summary	4' (0:1) Barison  26' Montefusco  84' (2:2) Montefusco  89' (2:3) Salvi	Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Rudolf Kreitlein

NB: teams did not play compatriots; Waregem did not play Eintracht

Final

The Final was played in St. Jakob Stadium, Basel, between the winners of both groups.

FC Basel v Bologna

27 June 1969 Final	FC Basel	3 – 1	Bologna	St. Jakob Stadium Basel
20:00	Hauser  16' Kiefer  22' Sundermann  28'	Summary	50' Ciacci	Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Kurt Tschenscher

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

• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2189-1
• Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5
• Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage
• Switzerland 1969–70 at RSSSF
• Cup of the Alps 1969 at RSSSF

• FC Basel official site