1939–40 FC Basel season

FC Basel
1939–40 season
Chairman	Albert Besse
First team coach	Walter Dietrich; Max Galler
Ground	Landhof, Basel
1. Liga Group 3	Winners
1. Liga play-off	Winners
Swiss Cup	Round 4
Top goalscorer	League: August Ibach (19); All: August Ibach (20)
Highest home attendance	2,000 on 31 March 1940; vs Aarau
Lowest home attendance	500 on 18 February 1940; vs Concordia Basel; and on 23 June 1940; vs Solothurn
Average home league attendance	1,266
	← 1938–39 1940–41 →

The FC Basel 1939–40 season was the forty-seventh season since the club's foundation on 15 November 1893. FC Basel played their home games in the Landhof in the district Wettstein in Kleinbasel. Albert Besse was the club's new chairman. He took over from Emil Junker at the AGM on 15 July 1939.

Overview

After being relegated last season for the first time in the club's history, Basel played this season in the newly reorganized 1.Liga. Due to the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 the start of the Swiss football championship was postponed until 22 October and the 1. Liga postponed until December. The 1939–40 Nationalliga was played as "Championnat Suisse de Mobilisation" due to the war and the 1. Liga divided into five regional zones. There was to be no promotion and no relegation. Basel were allocated to . Liga group 3 (North-West Switzerland) together with Solothurn, Aarau, Concordia Basel and FC Birsfelden. The group was played in three round-robins.

Player-manager Fernand Jaccard had left the club after the relegation season to join FC Locarno. The former players Walter Dietrich and Max Galler took over as team co-managers. Basel played a good season, in total including test matches they played 29 games, winning 22, drawing three and suffering four defeats. In total they scored 98 goals conceding 50.^[1]

After winning their four test games in October, Basel started the season well in December winning the first seven matches straight off before suffering their first defeat at the beginning of April. At the end of the group stage Basel had won nine games drawn two and were defeated just once and with 20 points were five points above second placed Aarau. Basel advanced to the play-off stage. In the semi-final they won the round-robin against group four winners SC Brühl St. Gallen and group five winners AC Bellinzona. Basel became 1. Liga champions winning the best of three final against Fribourg.^[2] August Ibach was team top league goal scorer with 19 goals, Fritz Schmidlin, Hermann Suter and Werner Wenk each scored five times.

In the Swiss Cup Basel started with a victory in the 2nd principal round away against lower tier SC Zofingen. In the next round they were again drawn away from home against lower tier SC Schöftland. This was won 4–1. In the next round Basel played in the Landhof against Aarau but were defeated and knocked out of the competition.^[3]

Players

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the season 1939–40. The list includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 1 October 1939 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	Kurt Imhof
—	GK	SUI	Paul Wechlin
—	DF	SUI	Henri Bernard
—	DF	SUI	Louis Favre
—	DF	SUI	Ernst Grauer
—	MF	SUI	Ernst Hufschmid
—	DF	SUI	René Champod
—	DF	SUI	Alexander Ebner
—	DF	SUI	Heinz Elsässer
—	DF	SUI	Hauenstein
—	DF	SUI	Fritz Huggenberger
—	MF	SUI	August Ibach
—	MF	FRG	Andreas Kränzlin
—	MF	SUI	Albert Mohler


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	SUI	Fritz Schmidlin (I)
—	MF	SUI	Walter Schmidlin (II)
—	MF	SUI	Guglielmo Spadini
—	MF	SUI	Hans Studer
—	MF	SUI	Werner Wenk
—	FW	SUI	Max Bosshard
—	FW		Henri Brinks
—	FW		Karl Doppler
—	FW	SUI	Alfred Jaeck
—	FW	SUI	Kurrus
—	FW	SUI	Fritz Lanz
—	FW	SUI	Alex Mathys
—	FW	SUI	Hermann Suter
—	FW	SUI	Walter Zürrer

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	Eugène de Kalbermatten
—	GK	SUI	Fritz Glaser
—	DF	SUI	Robert Büchi
—	DF	SUI	Heinrich Diethelm
—	MF	SUI	Fernand Jaccard
—	MF	FRG	Franz Sattler


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	SUI	Eduard Zuber
—	FW	SUI	Eduard Buser
—	FW	SUI	Maurice Dubosson
—	FW	SUI	Eduard Irniger
—	FW	SUI	Othmar Saner
—	FW	SUI	René Schaller

Results

Legend

Win Draw Loss Postponed

Friendly matches

Pre-season

1 October 1939 Pre-season	Basel	3–2	FC Polizei Basel	Landhof, Basel
	Ibach (1:0)	Summary	(1:1) Dill

8 October 1939 Pre-season	Basel	4–1	Nordstern Basel	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Ibach 20' (1:1) (2:1) Grauer 77' (3:1) Ibach (pen. 4:1)	Summary	5' (0:1) Giger	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: H. Neumann Basel

15 October 1939 Pre-season	FC Olten	2–3	Basel	Kleinholz, Olten
	Kiefer 45' (1:3) Vogel 86' (pen. 2:3)	Summary	26' (0:1) Ibach 35' (0:2) Ibach (0:3) Ibach	Attendance: 700 Referee: Grütter Olten

22 October 1939 Pre-season	Aarau	2–3	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
	Berner (1:2) Wüest (2:3)	Summary	26' (0:1) Ibach 36' (0:2) Bosshard (1:3) Brinks	Referee: Siegrist Olten

Winter break and mid-season

28 January 1940 Winter break	Basel	4–6	Military Rifle Corps.	Landhof, Basel
		Summary		Attendance: 400 Referee: Kettler Basel

23 March 1940 Mid-season	Basel	5–2	Basel Military Team	Landhof, Basel
	Ibach (3x) Mathys (1x) Schmidlin (I) (1x)	Summary	(2x) Hellstern	Attendance: 500 Referee: Häring Basel

24 March 1940 Mid-season	Blue Stars Zürich	2–5	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
15:00	Kuster 15' (1:0) Meister (2:0)	Summary	(1:1) Mathys (2:2) Mathys (2:3) Ibach (2:4) Ibach (2:5) Wenk	Attendance: 400 Referee: Huber Zürich

6 April 1940 Mid-season	Basel	7–1	Fighter Pilot Corps.	Landhof, Basel
16:00		Summary		Attendance: 200 Referee:

1. Liga Group 3

League matches

3 December 1939 Round 1	Basel	5–0	Solothurn	Landhof, Basel
14:30	Ibach (1:0) Suter (2:0) Brinks (2x) Hufschmid (pen. 1x)	Summary		Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Raimondi Bern

10 December 1939 Round 2	Aarau	2–4	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
	Eichenberger (1:2) Wüest	Summary	10' (pen. 0:1) Ibach (0:2) Suter (1:3) Ibach (1:4) Bosshard 65' Ibach	Attendance: 500 Referee: Iseli Biel/Bienne

17 December 1939 Round 3	Concordia Basel	1–6	Basel	Landhof, Basel
	(o.g.)	Summary	(3x) Ibach (2x) Brinks (o.g.)	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Gerber Bern

2 February 1940 Round 4	FC Birsfelden	0–1	Basel	Sportplatz, Birsfelden
14:30		Summary	35' (0:1) Mathys	Attendance: 600 Referee: Müry Basel

8 February 1940 Round 5	Basel	3–2	Concordia Basel	Landhof, Basel
10:15	Ibach (1:0) (2:0) (3:0)	Summary	(3:1) Otter (3:2) Imhof	Attendance: 500 Referee: Hans Vogt Schweizerhalle

10 March 1940 Round 6	Basel	4–1	FC Birsfelden	Landhof, Basel
13:40	Ibach (2x) Mathys (1x) Wenk (1x)	Summary	(1x) Dussy	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Marti Bern

31 March 1940 Round 7	Basel	1–0	Aarau	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Ibach (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Pusterla (Oerlikon)

3 April 1940 Round 8	Solothurn	5–2	Basel	Stadion FC Solothurn, Solothurn
		Summary	(1x) Ibach (1x) Mathys	Attendance: 400 Referee:

14 April 1940 Round 9	Aarau	3–3	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
	(o.g. 1:0) Stirnemann (2:2) Eichenberger (3:3)	Summary	(1:1) Schmidlin (I) (1:2) Karl Doppler (2:3) Hermann Suter	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Huber Zürich

28 April 1940 Round 10	Basel	2–0	FC Birsfelden	Landhof, Basel
14:00	Schmidlin (I) (1:0) Ibach (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Hans Vogt Schweizerhalle

16 June 1940 Round 11	Concordia Basel	1–1	Basel	Landhof, Basel
17:00	Leutwyler 60' (1:0)	Summary	75' (1:1) Karl Doppler	Attendance: 300 Referee: Raimondi Bern

23 June 1940 Round 12	Basel	6–1	Solothurn	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Wenk (3x) Jaeck (1x) Schmidlin (I) (1x) Mathys (1x)	Summary	(1x) Steiner	Attendance: 500 Referee: Müry Basel

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Basel	12	9	2	1	38	16	+22	20	Advance to play-off
2	Aarau	12	7	1	4	37	26	+11	15
3	Concordia Basel	12	4	1	7	26	32	−6	9
4	Solothurn	12	4	0	8	25	35	−10	8
5	FC Birsfelden	12	4	0	8	14	31	−17	8

Source: rsssf.com

Play-offs

Semi-final (as group, three teams)

7 July 1940 Semi-final	Brühl St. Gallen	2–2	Basel	Krontal, St. Gallen
	Dübendorfer (1:1) Spengler 73' (2:2)	Summary	(0:1) Ibach 40' (1:2) Lanz	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Pusterla (Oerlikon)

21 July 1940 Semi-final	Basel	4–1	Bellinzona	Landhof, Basel
15:00	Ibach (3x) Jaeck (1x)	Summary	(1x) Chiesi	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Studer Bern

28 July 1940 Replay	Basel	2–0	Brühl St. Gallen	Landhof, Basel
16:00	Suter (1:0) Schmidlin (I) (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 2,500 Referee: A. Sandoz Lausanne

Final (best of three)

4 August 1940 1st Leg	Fribourg	4–0	Basel	Stade Universitaire, Freiburg
	Dietrich 50' (1:0) Dietrich (2:0) Thomet (3:0) Cotting (4:0)	Summary		Attendance: 700 Referee: Meyer Lausanne

11 August 1940 2nd leg	Basel	4–2	Fribourg	Landhof, Basel
16:00	Ibach 6' (1:0) Schmidlin (I) (2:0) Wenk (3:0) Ibach (4:0)	Summary	(4:1) Dietrich (4:2) Paroz	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Jaggi Bern

18 August 1940 3rd Leg	Fribourg	1–2	Basel	Neufeld, Bern
	Mauroux 13' (1:0)	Summary	(1:1) Suter (1:2) Ibach	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Gerber Bern

Swiss Cup

26 November 1939 Round 2	SC Zofingen	1–6	Basel	Zofingen
		Summary		Attendance: 650

24 December 1939 Round 3	SC Schöftland	1–4	Basel	Schöftland
	(pen. 1:3)	Summary	(0:1) (0:2) (0:3) (1:4)	Attendance: 600 Referee: E. Heiniger Bern

7 January 1940 Round 4	Basel	2–4	Aarau	Landhof, Basel
14:30	Ibach (pen.) (o.g.)	Summary	(1x) Wüest (1x) Fischer (2x) Beiner	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Hofer Moutier

References

^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "Bilanz Saison 1939/40". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
^ Erik Garin. "Switzerland league tables 1939/40". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
^ Erik Garin. "Switzerland 1939/40". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.

Sources

Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2014/2015. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2027-6
Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5
FCB team 1939–40 at fcb-archiv.ch
Switzerland 1939–40 by Erik Garin at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

External links

FC Basel official site

[fcb-achiv-Bilanz_Saison_1939/40-1] Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "Bilanz Saison 1939/40". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 2019-11-16.

[rsssf_-_Switzerland_tables_1939/40-2] Erik Garin. "Switzerland league tables 1939/40". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.

[rsssf-Switzerland_season_1939/40-3] Erik Garin. "Switzerland 1939/40". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.

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