FC Basel

FC Basel were founded in 1893 after the Basler national newspaper requested a football team, placing an advert for potential players to come and try-out. One of the early captains, Joan Gamper, went on to found Barcelona. The club play at the 4-star, 38,512-capacity St. Jakob-Park, which has been their home since  back in 2001.

In terms of success, they are second only to Grasshopper. The club have won 16 Swiss league titles, and 11 Swiss Cups. In Europe they reached the 2012-2013 semi-finals of the Europa League and reached the quarter-final of the 1973-1974 European Cup. Between the years of 1980 and 2002 the trophy room was barren. It took them until 2002 to add a ninth league title. The club are currently enjoying their most successful era; they have won five of their last six league campaigns and three of the last six Swiss Cups.

Right-back Massimo Ceccaroni has made a record 398 appearances during his 15-year spell at the club (1987-2002). In honour of the player, the club retired his number two shirt. In terms of goals Josef Hugi tops the charts with 244. In the modern era Christian Gimenez  scored 93 goals in 123 games, which puts him second. Other notable players include current Switzerland manager Ottmar Hitzfield, striker Alexander Frei, Hakan Yakin and current Bayern Munich star Xherdan Shaqiri.

Basel are the best supported club in Switzerland. They average 29,036 a game in attendance. In comparison Young Boys Bern, the second best supported club, average 17,237 spectators. The club's most famous fan is Basel native Roger Federer, who has stated if he hadn't opted to become a tennis player he would have tried his hand at football.

In terms of rivalry, the cities of Zurich and Basel have had a long-standing rivalry. As a result, Grasshopper-Club Zurich and FC Zurich are their biggest rivals. However, the biggest rivalry in the triumvirate depends on which club is performing the best. For example, Grasshopper were considered their biggest rivals but their star has waned in
recent years and now FC Zurich are considered the better side in the city. As a result, they are currently Basel's biggest rivals.

The club have an affluent youth set-up that has produced a lot of talent. The club play the role of parent club to local side FC Concordia Basel and Lithuanian side FC Vaduz, sending both clubs some of their best young talent in order to polish their game.

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