1939–40 FC Basel season
FC Basel 1939–40 football season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The FC Basel 1939â40 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. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the start of the Swiss football championship was postponed until 22 October. The 1. Liga was postponed until December and it was completely reorganised for this season.
| 1939â40 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Albert Besse |
| First team coach | Walter Dietrich Max Galler |
| Ground | Landhof, Basel |
| 1. Liga Group 3 | Winners |
| 1. Liga play-off | 1. Liga champions |
| 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 |
Overview
World War II
The outbreak of the Second World War, triggered by the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939, was also a shock for Switzerland, although international signs had been pointing towards a war for some time. On 30 August, the Federal Assembly elected staff officer Henri Guisan as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. On 2 September, general mobilisation for war took place. The national exhibition in Zurich, during which the national football team had also played representative matches against teams from neighbouring countries, was closed for some time. The general mobilisation brought regular championship operations to a standstill, and in its place an improvised mobilisation championship was held without automatic promotion or relegation. In some cases the games could not be played or were postponed because the clubs did not have enough players available.
In Switzerland during the second world war period, sport became an integral part of the "spiritual national defense". This was a political and cultural movement that had already become increasingly important during the late 1930s. Politicians, intellectuals and media professionals had increasingly called for measures to strengthen Switzerland's basic cultural values. Since the Nationalliga games were also considered to be one of the activities that seemed important for maintaining the morale of the population, the military authorities put considerably fewer obstacles in the way of the top players and leading clubs as they had during the previous World War.[1]
Format
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 1939â40 Nationalliga was played as "Championnat Suisse de Mobilisation". The 12 teams of the top-tier competed the improvised championship as in the years before. However, the 24 clubs that competed in the 1939â40 Swiss 1. Liga were completely re-organised. This season they were divided into five regional groups (as opposed to two in previous years), this was done to reduce travelling times. There were six teams in group 1 (West), five teams in group 2 (North-West), group 3 (Central) and group 4 (North-East), but only three in group 5 (South). The teams in group 1 played a double round-robin to decide their league position. The teams in the groups 2, 3 and 4 played three round-robins and the teams in group 5 played four round-robins. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. The five group winners then contested a play-off round to decide the championship. This consisted of: a two legged semi-final for the two west group winners, a three team round-robin semi-final for the other groups and then there was to be a two legged-final for the title of 1. Liga champions. There was to be no promotion and no relegation.[2]
After being relegated last season for the first time in the club's history, Basel played this season in the newly reorganized 1.Liga. They were allocated to group 3 (Central) together with Solothurn, Aarau and the two local clubs Concordia Basel and FC Birsfelden.
FCB pre-season
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.[3]
After winning their four test games in October and their first Swiss Cup in November, 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.[4] August Ibach was team top league goal scorer with 19 goals, Fritz Schmidlin, Hermann Suter and Werner Wenk each scored five times.
In the 1939â40 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 4â1. In the next round Basel played in the Landhof against Aarau but were defeated and knocked out of the competition.[5]
Players
The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the season 1939â40. 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; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- Players who left the squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Results
Legend
Win Draw Loss Postponed
Friendly matches
Pre-season
| 1 October 1939 Pre-season | Basel  | 3â2 | FC Polizei Basel | Landhof, Basel |
Ibach  (1:0) |
Summary | (1:1) Dill |
| 8 October 1939 Pre-season | Basel | 4â1 | 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 |
Winter break and mid-season
| 28 January 1940 Winter break | Basel | 4â6 | Military Rifle Corps. | Landhof, Basel |
| |
Summary | |
Attendance: 400 Referee: Kettler Basel |
| 23 March 1940 Mid-season | Basel | 5â2 | Basel Military Team | Landhof, Basel |
| Ibach (3x) Mathys (1x)Schmidlin (I) (1x) |
Summary | (2x) Hellstern |
Attendance: 500 Referee: Häring Basel |
1. Liga Group 3
League matches
| 3 December 1939 Round 1 | Basel | 5â0 | 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 | 2â4 | 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 | 1â6 | 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 | 0â1 | Basel | Sportplatz, Birsfelden |
| 14:30 | Summary | 35' (0:1) Mathys |
Attendance: 600 Referee: Müry Basel |
| 8 February 1940 Round 5 | Basel | 3â2 | 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 | 4â1 | 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 | 1â0 | Aarau | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Ibach (1:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Pusterla (Oerlikon) |
| 3 April 1940 Round 8 | Solothurn | 5â2 | Basel | Stadion FC Solothurn, Solothurn |
|
Summary | (1x) Ibach (1x) Mathys |
Attendance: 400 Referee: |
| 14 April 1940 Round 9 | Aarau | 3â3 | 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 | 2â0 | FC Birsfelden | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:00 | Schmidlin (I) (1:0) Ibach (2:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Hans Vogt Schweizerhalle |
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[6] | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 15 | |
| 3 | Concordia Basel | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 32 | â6 | 9 | |
| 4 | Solothurn | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 25 | 35 | â10 | 8 | |
| 5 | FC Birsfelden | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 31 | â17 | 8 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, but decider play-off for qualifiers.
Championship play-offs
The winners of the groups 1 and 2 played the first semi-final in a two-legged tie. Fribourg won and advanced to the final. The three other group winners played a three team round-robin for the second finalist.
Semi-final
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head 3) Decider.
| 7 July 1940 Semi-final | Brühl | 2â2 | 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 | 4â1 | Bellinzona | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Ibach (3x) Jaeck (1x) |
Summary | (1x) Chiesi |
Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Studer Bern |
Due to the equality between the two top placed teams a play-off decider was required.
Championship final
| 4 August 1940 1st Leg | Fribourg | 4â0 | 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 | 4â2 | 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 |
Due to the egality (one win each) a play-off decider was required.
| 18 August 1940 Replay | Fribourg | 1â2 | Basel | Neufeld, Bern |
| Mauroux 13' (1:0) |
Summary | (1:1) Suter (1:2) Ibach |
Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Gerber Bern |
Basel won the 1. Liga championship title, but as explained there was no promotion.[2]
Swiss Cup
All the teams from this years 1. Liga were given a bye for the first round and they started in the competition in the second round. The teams from the this season's Nationalliga, received byes for the first three rounds, they entered the competition in the fourth round.
| 26 November 1939 Round 2 | SC Zofingen | 1â6 | Basel | Sportanlagen Trinermatten, Zofingen |
|
FCB summary | |
Attendance: 650 | |
| Note: Zofingen played the 1939/40 season in the 2. Liga (third-tier). | ||||
| 24 December 1939 Round 3 | SC Schöftland[7] | 1â4 | Basel | Sportanlage Rütimatten, Schöftland |
| (pen. 1:3) |
FCB summary | (0:1) (0:2) (0:3) (1:4) |
Attendance: 600 Referee: E. Heiniger Bern | |
| Note: Schöftland played the 1939/40 season in the 2. Liga (third-tier). | ||||