FC Zürich
Full nameFussballclub Zürich
Nickname(s)FCZ
Short nameFCZ
Founded1 August 1896 (1896-08-01)
GroundLetzigrund
Capacity26,105
PresidentAncillo Canepa
Head coachBo Henriksen
LeagueSwiss Super League
2022–23Swiss Super League, 8th of 10
WebsiteClub website

Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss professional football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. Their most recent titles are the 2022 Swiss Super League and the 2018 Swiss Cup. The club plays its home games at the Letzigrund, which reaches a capacity of 26,000 spectators for league games.[1]

FC Zürich is the only Swiss team to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup more than once. This happened in 1964 and 1977, when the competition was played in its original format. FC Zürich co-founder, first captain, and honorary member Joan Gamper, who grew up in Zurich, later moved to Catalonia and founded FC Barcelona there in 1899. Since the 1960s, FC Zürich plays in all-white, which is one of the city colours, but has been mainly inspired by Real Madrid.

The women's club, FC Zürich Frauen, is the most successful in Switzerland, with 22 championship titles and multiple Champions League participations. The FC Zürich women's teams roots originate in the first Swiss women's football club, DFC Zürich.[2] It features a top-flight team playing in the Swiss Women's Super League, the only existing women's U21 team in Switzerland (competing in the top ranks of second tier Nationalliga B), and U19, U17, U15, and U14 teams. The U17, U15, and U14 teams compete in junior leagues against boys teams.

History

1896–1924

The club was founded in summer 1896 by former members of the two local clubs FC Turicum and FC Excelsior. Later, the official founding date was set at 1 August 1896. One of the founding members was the later FC Barcelona founder, Joan Gamper, coaching and playing for FC Excelsior and its successor from 1894 to 1897.[3] The new club played its first game on 30 August 1896 on Velorennbahn Hardau in Zürich against FC Phönix St. Gallen with a 3:3 draw.[4] In 1898, FC Excelsior completely merged with FC Zürich and local club FC Victoria joined shortly thereafter.

The debut game was in 1896 with the colors blue and white.[5] The colors were changed to red and white; rivals Grasshopper Club Zürich had the same colors. When Grasshopper Club temporarily retired from the championship in 1909, FCZ returned to the colors blue and white which they continue to use.[6] 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 included rowing, boxing, athletics, and handball, but football would become the focus of the club.

1925–1960

Chart of FC Zürich table positions in the Swiss football league system

Zürich struggled to overcome an unsuccessful record and was described as the "wilderness years" from 1925 to 1960.[7] They were relegated in 1933–34, playing in the 1. Liga to the 1941 season. 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 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 much success internationally in reaching 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.

2006–2016

Season Rank League Ø Attendance[8][9]
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
2017 1/10 CL 9,702
2018 4/10 SL 10,726
2019 7/10 SL 10,660
2020 7/10 SL 6,422[10]
2021 8/10 SL 91
2022 1/10 SL 13'396
2023 8/10 SL 15'387

On 13 May 2006, FCZ ended their 25 years effort to win Super League with a goal in the 93rd minute by Iulian Filipescu against FC Basel. The goal gave FCZ a 2 – 1 victory based on goal difference. They sustained the league title In 2006–07.

In 2008 the local women's team FFC Zürich Seebach was combined with FC Zürich and would play under the name FC Zürich Frauen in the Swiss national league. FC Zürich Frauen is Swiss record champion.

In the 2007–08 season, FCZ (men's team) finished in third place. In a 2008–09 season match, they edged pass BSC Young Boys to win the league title. In 2009, they made their debut play for the group-stage of the UEFA Champions League. In the 2010–11 season FCZ finished second. The following seasons they finished mostly in mid-table positions. FCZ won the Swiss Cup 2014 in extra time against FC Basel 2 to 0.

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 2016 beating FC Lugano 1 to 0.

Recent years

In the 2016–17 season FC Zürich won the Challenge League ahead of Neuchâtel Xamax and returned after one year to the Super League. In the 2017–2018 season they finished 4th. On 27 May 2018 they won the Swiss Cup for the tenth time, beating BSC Young Boys 2:1.

In the 2021–2022 season, FC Zürich won the Super League again after an interruption of 13 years. The club secured its 13th league title with a 2-0 away win over FC Basel, who finished second, on 1 May 2022 with five rounds to go. Despite this success, coach André Breitenreiter departed the club to join Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on 24 May 2022.[11] On 8 June 2022, former Austrian national coach Franco Foda was announced as the coach for the upcoming season.[12] Despite being able to guide Zürich into the Europa League group stages, an abysmal start to the domestic campaign saw the side gain only two points out of a possible twenty-four in their title defence. The dreadful league form, combined with a shock cup defeat to Challenge League side Lausanne on 18 September, proved the final straw and Foda was subsequently sacked on 21 September.[13]

Honours

Rivalries

Letzigrund

Grasshopper, also from Zürich, and FC Basel are the main rivals of FCZ. Due to the intense rivalry, these matches are so-called high-risk fixtures, 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.

To date, 251 official derbies have been held, with Grasshopper leading with 121 wins to FC Zurich's 90, leaving 39 draws. However, since the reformation of the Swiss Super League in 2003, FCZ has frequently gotten the better of their city rivals, winning 33 out of 68 games (GC won 20 and 15 draws).

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 match 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. Zürich's success at 2 – 1 was attributed to their superior goal difference. Following the final whistle, Basel supporters stormed the pitch and attacked players on both teams.

Infrastructure

In 2010, the youth and women's teams of the club moved their homebase to the Heerenschürli sport park in the city quarter of Hirzenbach where the academy and women's teams play also their home matches. In June 2022, the club moved with the opening of a newly built "House of FCZ" also their Super League team and offices there in order to have the whole organisation under one roof.[14]

Players

Current squad

As of 7 September 2023[15]

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Živko Kostadinović
2 DF Switzerland SUI Lindrit Kamberi
3 DF Spain ESP Adrià Guerrero
4 DF Switzerland SUI Silvan Wallner
5 DF Switzerland SUI Fabio Daprelà
7 MF Switzerland SUI Bledian Krasniqi
8 MF Israel ISR Arad Bar
9 FW Croatia CRO Ivan Santini
10 MF Switzerland SUI Antonio Marchesano
11 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Jonathan Okita
12 MF Nigeria NGA Ifeanyi Mathew
16 DF Germany GER Marc Hornschuh
17 MF Guinea GUI Cheick Condé
18 FW Ghana GHA Daniel Afriyie
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF Serbia SRB Nikola Boranijašević
20 FW Switzerland SUI Calixte Ligue
22 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Armstrong Oko-Flex
23 MF Switzerland SUI Fabian Rohner
24 DF Croatia CRO Nikola Katić
25 GK Switzerland SUI Yanick Brecher (captain)
26 MF Switzerland SUI Miguel Reichmuth
27 DF Portugal POR Rodrigo Conceição
28 MF Switzerland SUI Ramon Guzzo
29 FW Switzerland SUI Labinot Bajrami
31 DF Kosovo KOS Mirlind Kryeziu
32 MF Switzerland SUI Selmin Hodza
37 MF Switzerland SUI Nils Reichmuth
40 GK Switzerland SUI Alan Omerovic

Out on loan

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 Switzerland SUI Gianni De Nitti (at Schaffhausen until 30 June 2024)
— DF Cuba CUB Fabian Gloor (at Baden until 30 June 2024)

Reserve squad/Zürich U21

As of 14 August 2022[16]
The Zürich II/U21 team plays in the Swiss Promotion League.

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 Switzerland SUI Robin Riedi
2 DF Switzerland SUI Colin Erdin
5 DF Switzerland SUI Zlatko Hebib
6 DF Switzerland SUI Ardi Morina
7 MF Switzerland SUI Mats Hanke
8 MF Switzerland SUI Roberto Rodríguez
11 MF Switzerland SUI Luka Frei
12 DF Switzerland SUI Lenny Janko
13 MF Croatia CRO Mijo Jakovljevic
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Switzerland SUI Sven Kunz
20 MF Serbia SRB Mihail Stefanovic
22 MF Switzerland SUI Arbër Jusufi
23 MF Switzerland SUI Nevio Di Giusto
24 MF Switzerland SUI Luka Frei
— GK Germany GER Patrick Zajac
— MF Switzerland SUI Daniel Denoon
— MF Hungary HUN Peter Sebök
— FW Switzerland SUI Pirosch Fischer

Notable former players

As of 15 March 2016[17]

Players and managers admitted to the FC Zurich Hall of Fame

Players for the Swiss national football team

Players with World Cup appearances for their national teams

Player record

Players in bold are still part of the club.

Managers

FC Zürich in European football

As of 18 August 2022.

Competition Pld W D L GF GA
European Cup/UEFA Champions League 47 17 5 25 59 83
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League 83 28 18 37 101 130
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 12 4 4 4 24 16
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 10 4 0 6 12 12
Total 153 52 27 74 189 236
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1963–64 European Cup PR Republic of Ireland Dundalk 1–2 3–0 4–2
1R Turkey Galatasaray 2–0 0–2 2–2
QF Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 3–1 0–1 3–2
SF Spain Real Madrid 1–2 0–6 1–8
1966–67 European Cup 1R Scotland Celtic 0–3 0–2 0–5
1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R Spain Barcelona 3–1 0–1 3–2
2R England Nottingham Forest 1–0 1–2 2–2(a)
3R Portugal Sporting CP 3–0 0–1 3–1
QF Scotland Dundee 0–1 0–1 0–2
1968–69 European Cup 1R Denmark AB 1–3 1–2 2–5
1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R Scotland Kilmarnock 3–2 1–3 4–5
1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Iceland Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar 7–0 7–1 14–1
2R Belgium Club Brugge 3–2 0–2 3–4
1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Wales Wrexham 1–1 1–2 2–3
1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Belgium Anderlecht 1–0 2–3 3–3(a)
2R Sweden Malmö FF 0–0 1–1 1–1(a)
QF Portugal Sporting CP 1–1 0–3 1–4
1974–75 European Cup 1R England Leeds United 2–1 1–4 3–5
1975–76 European Cup 1R Hungary Újpest 5–1 0–4 5–5(a)
1976–77 European Cup 1R Scotland Rangers 1–0 1–1 2–1
2R Finland Turun Palloseura 2–0 1–0 3–0
QF East Germany Dynamo Dresden 2–1 2–3 4–4(a)
SF England Liverpool 1–3 0–3 1–6
1977–78 UEFA Cup 1R Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 1–0 1–1 2–1
2R Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 3–4 0–3 3–7
1979–80 UEFA Cup 1R Germany 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1–3 1–5 2–8
1981–82 European Cup 1R East Germany Dynamo Berlin 3–1 0–2 3–3(a)
1982–83 UEFA Cup 1R Cyprus Pezoporikos Larnaca 1–0 2–2 3–2
2R Hungary Ferencváros 1–0 1–1 2–1
3R Portugal Benfica 1–1 0–4 1–5
1983–84 UEFA Cup 1R Belgium Antwerp 2–4 1–4 3–8
1998–99 UEFA Cup 2QR Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 4–0 2–3 6–3
1R Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 4–0 3–2 7–2
2R Scotland Celtic 4–2 1–1 5–3
3R Italy Roma 2–2 0–1 2–3
1999–00 UEFA Cup QR Malta Sliema Wanderers 1–0 3–0 4–0
1R Belgium Lierse 4–3 1–0 5–3
2R England Newcastle United 1–2 1–3 2–5
2000–01 UEFA Cup 1R Belgium Genk 1–2 0–2 1–4
2005–06 UEFA Cup 2QR Poland Legia Warsaw 4–1 1–0 5–1
1R Denmark Brøndby 2–1 0–2 2–3
2006–07 UEFA Champions League 2QR Austria Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 0–2 2–3
2007–08 UEFA Champions League 3QR Turkey Beşiktaş 1–1 0–2 1–3
UEFA Cup 1R Italy Empoli 3–0 1–2 4–2
Group E Czech Republic Sparta Prague — 2–1 3rd
France Toulouse 2–0 —
Russia Spartak Moscow — 0–1
Germany Bayer Leverkusen 0–5 —
R32 Germany Hamburger SV 1–3 0–0 1–3
2008–09 UEFA Cup 2QR Austria Sturm Graz 1–1 1–1 2–2 (4–2 p)
1R Italy Milan 0–1 1–3 1–4
2009–10 UEFA Champions League 3QR Slovenia Maribor 2–3 3–0 5–3
PO Latvia Ventspils 2–1 3–0 5–1
Group C Spain Real Madrid 2–5 0–1 4th
Italy Milan 1–1 1–0
France Marseille 0–1 1–6
2011–12 UEFA Champions League 3QR Belgium Standard Liège 1–0 1–1 2–1
PO Germany Bayern Munich 0–1 0–2 0–3
UEFA Europa League Group D Portugal Sporting CP 0–2 0–2 4th
Romania Vaslui 2–0 2–2
Italy Lazio 1–1 0–1
2013–14 UEFA Europa League 3QR Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 1–2 1–2 2–4
2014–15 UEFA Europa League PO Slovakia Spartak Trnava 1–1 3–1 4–2
Group A Cyprus Apollon Limassol 3–1 2–3 3rd
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–1 0–3
Spain Villarreal 3–2 1–4
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 3QR Belarus Dinamo Minsk 0–1 1–1 1–2
2016–17 UEFA Europa League Group L Spain Villarreal 1–1 1–2 3rd
Romania FCSB 0–0 1–1
Turkey Osmanlıspor 2–1 0–2
2018–19 UEFA Europa League Group A Germany Bayer Leverkusen 3–2 0–1 2nd
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 1–0 1–1
Cyprus AEK Larnaca 1–2 1–0
R32 Italy Napoli 1–3 0–2 1–5
2022–23 UEFA Champions League 2QR Azerbaijan Qarabağ 2–2 (a.e.t.) 2–3 4−5
UEFA Europa League 3QR Northern Ireland Linfield 3–0 2–0 5–0
PO Scotland Heart of Midlothian 2–1 1–0 3–1
Group A England Arsenal 1–2 0–1 4th
Norway Bodø/Glimt 2–1 1–2
Netherlands PSV 1–5 5–0

References

  1. ↑ "Das Stadion Letzigrund in Zahlen und Fakten". stadionletzigrund.ch. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Saro Pepe. "Football for all – but only for the last 50 years". nationalmuseum.ch. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Biography on fcwinterthur1896.com". fcwinterthur1896.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Erinnerung an unser erstes Matsch". fcz.ch. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Erinnerung an unser erstes Matsch". fcz.ch. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Lütscher, Michael (2010). Eine Stadt, ein Verein, eine Geschichte. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung. p. 47. ISBN 9783038236436.
  7. ↑ "wilderness years - Political Dictionary". 31 May 2023. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Schweiz " Super League " Zuschauer". weltfussball.at. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Zuschauerzahlen Super League". sfl-org.ch. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "COVID-19 outbreak: Swiss Super League to admit 1,000 fans". coliseum-online.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Personal statement on the departure of André Breitenreiter". FC Zürich (in German). 24 May 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "Der FC Zürich stellt Franco Foda als neuen Trainer vor". bluewin.ch (in German). 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Football: Franco Foda n'est plus l'entraîneur du FC Zurich". lematin.ch (in French). 21 September 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "FC Zürich weiht sein schmuckes 'House of FCZ' ein". nau.ch. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  15. ↑ FC Zürich at Swiss Football League
  16. ↑ "U21". FC Zürich. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "dbFCZ : Die Spiele des FC Zürich" [dbFCZ : The games of FC Zurich]. dbFCZ (in German). Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Top 10 Einsätze für den FCZ" [Top 10 appearances for the FCZ]. dbFCZ (in German). Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "Top 10 Tore für den FCZ" [Top 10 goals for the FCZ]. dbFCZ (in German). Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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