1951–52 FC Basel season

The 1951–52 season was Fussball Club Basel 1893's 58th season in their existence. It was their sixth season in Nationalliga A the top flight of Swiss football following their promotion from the Nationalliga B in the season 1945–46. Basel played their home games in the Landhof, in the Quarter Kleinbasel. Jules Düblin was the club's chairman for the sixth successive season.

FC Basel
1951–52 season
ChairmanSwitzerland Jules Düblin
ManagerSwitzerland Ernst Hufschmid
GroundLandhof, Basel
Nationalliga A4th
Swiss CupSemi-final
Top goalscorerLeague: Josef Hügi (24)
All: Josef Hügi (32)
Highest home attendance10,000 on 23 September 1951
vs Lugano
and on 7 October 1951
vs Grasshopper Club
Lowest home attendance3,000 on 9 December 1951
vs Bellinzona
and on 30 March 1952
vs Locarno
Average home league attendance6,292

Overview

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Ernst Hufschmid, who had functioned as player-coach the previous four seasons, continued as team manager this season. Basel played a total of 42 games in this season. Of these 26 games were in the domestic league, five games were in the Swiss Cup and eleven were test games. The test games resulted with four victories, two were drawn and five ended with defeats. In total, including the test games and the cup competition, they won 22 games, drew five and lost 15 times. In the 42 games they scored 123 and conceded 87 goals.[1]

The newly built stadium Landhof was opened on the weekend of 18 and 19 August 1951. There were larger spectator stands, new meeting rooms, changing rooms and a brand new restaurant. The buildings had cost 700,000 Swiss Francs and had taken two years to complete, during this time the team had to play all their games at the Stadion Schützenmatte. The pitch had been newly laid out and its opening was accompanied by a two-day international football tournament, competed by Austrian team First Vienna, French team Sochaux-Montbéliard and Swiss teams Grasshopper Club Zürich. On both days there were over six thousand people celebrating the big party, even though their team lost 2–3 against Vienna and even 1–7 against Sochaux. It was a big hope that these new conditions would also change the fortunes of the club to the better, because nearly 60 years had passed since the club's foundation without a championship. The Basel fans were becoming frustrated, because 36 of the first 52 championships had gone to the cities of Zürich, Geneva or Bern. Even small towns such as Aarau, Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Lugano, Bellinzona, Biel/Bienne, Winterthur and St. Gallen had been able to celebrate a championship. The championship had still had never been won by a team from Basel.[2]

As in the previous seasons, there were fourteen teams contesting in the 1951–52 Nationalliga A and the bottom two teams in the league table were to be relegated. Basel played a good start to the season. They won the first six games straight off. But they lost four of the next five games and slipped in the league table. However, winning the last three games before and the first three games after the winter break, they were again in contention for the league championship. Suddenly, towards the end of the season, they lost five games in a row and lost contact to the table top. At the end of the season Basel finished in fourth position, seven points behind the new champions Grasshopper Club. The hopeful fans were again frustrated by this fact. The team Basel had won 14 games, drew three games and were defeated nine times. The team scored 68 goals and conceded 47 as they obtained their 31 points. Josef "Seppe" Hügi was the team's and the league's best goal scorer with 24 league goals. Walter Bannwart was the team's second-best goal getter with 10 goals. Paul Stöcklin scored nine times, René Bader and Hans Hügi both scored seven times.[3]

Basel started in the 3rd principal round of the Swiss Cup on 4 November 1951 with a home game against lower tier Wettingen and won 7–0. In the next round against Nationalliga A team Locarno they won 3–2 and again in the following round against Nationalliga A team Chiasso by three goals to one. In the quarter finals Basel beat Servette and faced Grasshopper Club in the semi-final. The Grasshoppers won this game in the Landhof and progressed to the final, in which they beat Lugano and thus won the double.[4]

Players

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The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the season 1950–51. The list includes players that were in the squad on the day that the Nationalliga A season started on 3 September 1950 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 Oswald Capra
GK   SUI Walter Müller
GK   SUI Jean Presset
DF   SUI Werner Bopp
DF   SUI Hans-Rudolf Fitze
DF   SUI Hans Hügi
DF   SUI Marcel Pralong
MF   SUI Max Sutter
MF   SUI Hans Weber
MF   SUI Fritz Hartmann
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   SUI Kurt Maurer
MF   FRA Pierre Redolfi
MF   SUI Kurt Thalmann (from Concordia Basel)
MF   SUI Werner Wenk
FW   SUI René Bader
FW   SUI Walter Bannwart
FW   SUI Josef Hügi
FW   SUI Marcel Leisinger
FW   SUI Paul Stöcklin
FW   SUI Fritz Wolf
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 Ernst Hufschmid (Manager)
MF   SUI Leo Baumgratz (to Concordia Basel)
MF   SUI Eugen Müller
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   SUI Gottlieb Stäuble
MF   SUI Willy Zingg
FW   SUI Peter Baumgartner
FW   SUI Erich Grether

Results

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Legend

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  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Friendly matches

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Pre-season

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4 August 1951 Pre-season SV Weil   2–10   Basel Weil am Rhein
17:30   (1x)
  (1x)
Summary   (3x) Hügi (II)
  (3x) Weber
  (1x) Stöcklin
  (1x) Suter
  (1x) Thalmann
  (1x) Wolf
11 August 1951 Pre-season Eimsbütteler TV   2–0   Basel Hamburg
Eckhoff   56' (1:0)
Eckhoff   61' (2:0)
Summary
12 August 1951 Pre-season Eintracht Braunschweig   3–4   Basel Eintracht-Stadion, Braunschweig
Arens   (1:2)
Welter   (2:2)
Hirschberg   (3:2)
Summary   (0:1) Bannwart
  (0:2) Suter
  (3:3) Bannwart
  (3:4) Thalmann
Attendance: 10,000
Referee:   Sherman
14 August 1951 Pre-season Travemünde   2–8   Basel Travemünde
    Summary   (6x) Hügi (II)
  (2x) Suter
  (1x)
18 August 1951 Pre-season Basel   2–3   First Vienna Landhof, Basel
15:30 Hügi (II)   60' (1:2)
Bader   70' (2:2)
Summary   8' (0:1) Walzhofer
  38' (o.g. 0:2)
  73' (2:3) Walzhofer
Referee:   von Wartburg Bern
19 August 1951 Pre-season Basel   1–7   Sochaux-Montbéliard Landhof, Basel
16:50 Stöcklin   (1x) Summary   (4x) Bruat
  (1x) Salzborn
  (1x) Gardien
  (1x) Montagnoli
Attendance: 6,000
Referee:   von Wartburg Bern

Winter break and mid-season

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10 February 1952 Winter break Basel   5–2   Urania Genève Sport Landhof, Basel
14:30 Bader   6' (1:1)
Hügi (II)   (2:1)
Hügi (II)   (3:1)
Hügi (II)   39' (4:1)
Stöcklin   83' (5:2)
Summary   (0:1) Stefano (I)
  82' (4:2) Hofstettler
Attendance: 800
Referee:   Stuber Solothurn
9 April 1952 Mid-season Cantonal Neuchâtel   2–2   Basel Stade de Cantonal, Neuchâtel
20:30 Willi   35' (1:0)
Monnard   (2:1)
Summary   (1:1) Hügi (II)
  90' (2:2) Hügi (II)
Attendance: 1,500
Referee:   Merlotti Neuchâtel
30 April 1952 Mid-season Basel   1–1   Preston North End Landhof, Basel
16:30 Hügi (II)   18' (1:0) Summary   53' (1:1) Foster Attendance: 6,000
Referee:   Andres Birsfelden
20 May 1952 Mid-season Basel   0–1   Arsenal Landhof, Basel
18:30 Summary   43' (0:1) Roper Attendance: 9,500
Referee:   Rapin Lausanne
22 May 1952 Mid-season VfR Mannheim   5–3   Basel Aumattstadion, Baden-Baden
Löttke   4' (1:0)
Bassler   37' (2:1)
Heinz   44' (3:1)
Langlotz   45' (pen. 4:1)
Lambert   51' (5:2)
Summary   7' (1:1) Thalmann
  50' (4:2) Hügi (II)
  88' (5:3) Hügi (II)
Attendance: 5,000
Referee:   Bäzler Baden-Baden

Nationalliga A

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League matches

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26 August 1951 Round 1 Basel 6–1 Young Fellows Zürich Landhof, Basel
15:00 Stöcklin   5' (pen. 1:0)
Hügi (II)   29' (2:1)
Hügi (II)   52' (3:1)
Bader   58' (4:1)
Hügi (II)   61' (5:1)
Thalmann   77' (6:1)
Summary   27' (1:1) Ballaman Attendance: 4,200
Referee:   Scherz Bern
2 September 1951 Round 2 Basel 3–2 Lausanne-Sport Landhof, Basel
15:00 Bannwart   31' (1:0)
Suter   42' (2:1)
Hügi (II)   69' (3:1)
Summary   40' (1:1) Friedländer
  74' (3:2) Friedländer
Attendance: 7,500
Referee:   Armand Merlotti Neuchâtel
9 September 1951 Round 3 FC Bern 2–6 Basel Neufeld, Bern
15:00 Wirsching   30' (1:1)
Schönmann   46' (2:3)
Summary   1' (0:1) Stöcklin
  32' (1:2) Hügi (II)
  34' (1:3) Bannwart
  47' (2:4) Stöcklin
  70' (2:5) Bannwart
  72' (2:6) Hügi (II)
Attendance: 4,500
Referee:   Josef Gulde St. Gallen
23 September 1951 Round 4 Basel 2–0 Lugano Landhof, Basel
15:00 Bannwart   4' (1:0)
Bannwart   75' (2:0)
Summary Attendance: 10,000
Referee:   Willy Rufli Bremgarten
30 September 1951 Round 5 Locarno 0–2 Basel Stadio del Lido, Locarno
Summary   8' (0:1) Hügi (II)
  50' (0:2) Bader
Attendance: 3,000
Referee:   von Gunten Bern
7 October 1951 Round 6 Basel 2–0 Grasshopper Club Landhof, Basel
15:00 Hügi (II)   53' (1:0)
Hügi (II)   74' (2:0)
Summary Attendance: 10,000
Referee:   Armand Merlotti Neuchâtel
21 October 1951 Round 7 Zürich 2–0 Basel Hardturm, Zürich
15:15 Rossi   5' (1:0)
Lehrieder   62' (2:1)
Schneiter   64' (3:1)
Lehrieder   70' (4:1)
Summary   11' (1:1) Hügi (II)
  Hügi (II)
Attendance: 22,000
Referee:   M. Baumberger Lausanne
28 October 1951 Round 8 Basel 1–5 La Chaux-de-Fonds Landhof, Basel
15:00 Thalmann   33' (1:0) Summary   68' (1:1) Antenen
  69' (1:2) Morand
  83' (1:3) Morand
  86' (1:4) Morand
  90' (1:5) Peney
Attendance: 6,800
Referee:   Victor Werrner Schicker Bern
11 November 1951 Round 9 Servette 4–1 Basel Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
15:00 Züfle   30' (1:0)
Pasteur   36' (pen. 2:0)
Fatton   57' (3:0)
Züfle   85' (4:1)
Summary   60' (3:1) Thalmann Attendance: 8,500
Referee:   Willy Rufli Bremgarten
18 November 1951 Round 10 Basel 3–0 Young Boys Landhof, Basel
14:30 Hügi (II)   2' (1:0)
Hügi (II)   57' (2:0)
Bannwart   74' (3:0)
Summary Attendance: 5,700
Referee:   Ernst Dörflinger Grenchen
2 December 1951 Round 11 Chiasso 1–0 Basel Stadio Via Comacini, Chiasso
Zanollo   36' (1:0) Summary Attendance: 3,000
Referee:   M. Baumberger Lausanne
9 December 1951 Round 12 Basel 4–1 Bellinzona Landhof, Basel
14:30 Bader   10' (1:0)
Stöcklin   21' (pen. 2:0)
Hügi (I)   74' (3:1)
Thalmann   85' (4:1)
Summary   58' (2:1) Pellanda Attendance: 3,000
Referee:   Bertsche Neuhausen am Rheinfall
16 December 1951 Round 13 Biel-Bienne 0–3 Basel Gurzelen Stadion, Biel/Bienne
14:30 Summary   6' (0:1) Hügi (II)
  25' (0:2)
  90' (0:3) Stöcklin
Attendance: 4,000
Referee:   Emilio Guidi Bellinzona
24 February 1952 Round 14 Young Fellows Zürich 0–2 Basel Letzigrund, Zürich
14:30 Summary   14' (0:1) Bannwart
  44' (0:2) Bannwart
Attendance: 3,500
Referee:   von Wartburg Bern
2 March 1952 Round 15 Lausanne-Sport 1–1 Basel Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
15:00 Maurer   (1:1) Summary   10' (0:1) Hügi (I)
  Hügi (I)
Attendance: 9,000
Referee:   Paul Wyssling Zürich
9 March 1952 Round 16 Basel 5–1 FC Bern Landhof, Basel
15:00 Bannwart   8' (1:0)
Hügi (I)   35' (2:1)
Bopp   72' (pen. 3:1)
Hügi (I)   80' (4:1)
Hügi (I)   83' (5:1)
Summary   13' (1:1) Just Attendance: 4,600
Referee:   Fritz Buchmüller Zürich
16 March 1952 Round 17 Lugano 0–3 Basel Cornaredo, Lugano
Summary   14' (0:1) Hügi (II)
  50' (0:2) Hügi (II)
  75' (0:3) Stöcklin
Attendance: 3,000
Referee:   von Gunten Bern
13 March 1952 Round 18 Basel 5–3 Locarno Landhof, Basel
15:00 Bopp   10' (pen. 1:0)
Stöcklin   12' (2:0)
Hügi (I)   64' (3:0)
Hügi (II)   78' (4:2)
Bader   81' (pen. 5:2)
Summary   65' (3:1) Santini
  68' (pen. 3:2) Ernst
  85' (o.g. 5:3)
Attendance: 3,000
Referee:   Zutter Bern
6 April 1952 Round 19 Grasshopper Club 2–2 Basel Hardturm, Zürich
16:00 Vonlanthen (II)   32' (1:0)
Hüssy   38' (2:0)
Summary   51' (2:1) Hügi (I)
  82' (2:2) Hügi (II)
Attendance: 18,000
Referee:   von Gunten Bern
20 April 1952 Round 20 Basel 2–2 Zürich Landhof, Basel
15:00 Hügi (II)   7' (1:0)
Hügi (II)   63' (2:1)
Summary   15' (1:1) Schneiter
  81' (2:2) Bosshard
Attendance: 6,000
Referee:   Roger Rapin Lausanne
27 April 1952 Round 21 La Chaux-de-Fonds 2–1 Basel Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds
15:00   43' (o.g. 1:1)
Sobotka   51' (2:1)
Summary   27' (0:1) Hügi (II) Attendance: 5,000
Referee:   Fritz Buchmüller Zürich
4 May 1952 Round 22 Basel 0–3 Servette Landhof, Basel
15:00 Hügi (II)   58' Summary   33' (0:1) Kohli
  41' (0:2) Mauron
  78' (0:3) Mauron
Attendance: 7,000
Referee:   von Gunten Bern
11 May 1952 Round 23 Young Boys 4–3 Basel Neufeld, Bern
15:00 Sing   6' (1:0)
Häuptli   14' (2:0)
Zaugg   24' (3:0)
Meier   52' (4:0)
Summary   54' (4:1) Thalmann
  60' (pen. 4:2) Bader
  64' (4:3) Suter
Attendance: 5,000
Referee:   Louis Tschopp Delémont
18 May 1952 Round 24 Basel 1–2 Chiasso Landhof, Basel
15:00 Weber   83' (1:2) Summary   23' (0:1) Bianchi
  31' (0:2) 31. Zanollo
Attendance: 5,000
Referee:   Paul Wyssling Zürich
25 May 1952 Round 25 Bellinzona 6–2 Basel Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona
15:00 Sartori   13' (1:0)
Erba   15' (2:0)
Sartori   29' (pen. 3:0)
Erba   56' (4:1)
Zanetti   77' (5:2)
Sartori   85' (6:2)
Summary   36' (3:1) Stöcklin
  58' (4:2) Thalmann
Attendance: 1,700
Referee:   Zutter Bern
8 June 1952 Round 26 Basel 7–1 Biel-Bienne Landhof, Basel
16:15 Hügi (II)   8' (1:0)
Stöcklin   56' (2:1)
Bader   63' (3:1)
Hügi (II)   65' (4:1)
Bader   67' (5:1)
Bannwart   71' (6:1)
Hügi (II)   (7:1)
Summary   51' (1:1) Rösch Attendance: 9,000
Referee:   Musch Geneva

League standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Grasshopper Club Zürich 26 16 6 4 79 38 +41 38 Champions and Swiss Cup winners
2 FC Zürich 26 14 9 3 61 36 +25 37
3 FC Chiasso 26 15 5 6 59 49 +10 35
4 FC Basel 26 14 3 9 68 47 +21 31
5 FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 26 11 8 7 62 45 +17 30
6 Servette FC Genève 26 11 6 9 57 45 +12 28
7 BSC Young Boys 26 10 7 9 61 52 +9 27
8 Lausanne Sports 26 8 9 9 39 43 −4 25
9 AC Bellinzona 26 8 6 12 43 55 −12 22
10 FC Locarno 26 8 6 12 41 66 −25 22
11 FC Lugano 26 7 7 12 46 54 −8 21
12 FC Bern 26 7 5 14 47 64 −17 19
13 Young Fellows Zürich 26 5 5 16 36 71 −35 15 Relegated
14 FC Biel-Bienne 26 4 6 16 37 71 −34 14 Relegated
Source: rsssf.com

Swiss Cup

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4 November 1951 Round 3 Basel 7–0 Wettingen Landhof, Basel
14:30 Hügi (I)   14' (1:0)
Suter   19' (2:0)
Hügi (II)   22' (3:0)
  49' (o.g. 4:0)
Hügi (II)   54' (5:0)
Stöcklin   57' (6:0)
Hügi (II)  75' (7:0)
Summary   Attendance: 1,200
Referee:   von Wartburg Bern
23 December 1951 Round 4 Basel 3–2 Locarno Landhof, Basel
14:30 Hügi (II)   2' (1:0)
Hügi (II)   28' (2:1)
Bader   84' (3:2)
Summary   6' (1:1) Ernst
  34' (2:2) Santini
Attendance: 7,500
Referee:   Rapin Lausanne
30 December 1951 Round 5 Basel 3–1 Chiasso Landhof, Basel
14:30 Hügi (II)   43' (1:0)
Bopp   76' (pen. 2:1)
Hügi (II)   83' (3:1)
Summary   69' (1:1) Busenhart Attendance: 8,000
Referee:   M. Baumberger Lausanne
17 February 1952 Quarter-final Basel 6–5 Servette Landhof, Basel
14:30 Bader   9' (1:0)
Hügi (II)   12' (2:0)
Thalmann   48' (3:4)
Bader   62' (4:4)
Thalmann   85' (5:5)
Suter   (6:5)
Summary   18' (2:1) Fatton
  22' (2:2) Züfle
  39' (2:3) Mauron
  44' (2:4) Fatton
  65' (4:5) Fatton
Attendance: 9,200
Referee:   Rapin Lausanne
23 March 1952 Semi-final Basel 0–2 Grasshopper Club Landhof, Basel
15:00 Summary   25' (0:1) Ballaman
  28' (0:2) Berbig
Attendance: 16,000
Referee:   Josef Gulde St. Gallen

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "Bilanz Saison 1951/52". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  2. ^ Zindel, Josef (2018), "Die ersten 125 Jahre - Historische Meilensteine 1951", Page 48, Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel
  3. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "Statistik 1951–52". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  4. ^ Erik Garin. "Switzerland 1951/52". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.

Sources

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