FC Aarau

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FC Aarau
Wappen FCAg.svg
Full nameFussball-Club Aarau
Nickname(s)Die Adler (The Eagles)
Founded1902;122 years ago (1902)
Ground Stadion Brügglifeld,
Aarau
Capacity9,249
ChairmanMarkus Mahler [1]
Manager Brunello Iacopetta
League Swiss Challenge League
2023–24 Swiss Challenge League, 6th of 10
Website https://fcaarau.ch
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League.

Contents

History

Chart of FC Aarau table positions in the Swiss football league system Aarau Performance Graph.png
Chart of FC Aarau table positions in the Swiss football league system

FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local brewery. The early days of the club were a success and they won the Swiss championship in 1911–12 and then again in 1913–14. The club spent 25 years, from 1907 to 1933, in the top league but were relegated to the lower league and were unable to return to the top flight for a number of decades. In the 1980–81 season the club were able to return to the top league in the Swiss football pyramid after a 3–1 victory over Vevey-Sports. They have stayed there ever since and in the 1992–93 season they won the Swiss National League A managed by Austrian Rolf Fringer.

The club have also had success in the Swiss Cup finishing as runners up in 1930, 1989. In 1985 Aarau tasted their only victory in the Swiss Cup, coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld.

At the end of 2002 the club was almost in financial ruin. They were saved when the then Club President Michael Hunziker made 15,100 shares available to purchase. This succeeded in staving off the threat of liquidation.

Club structure

On 7 January 2003, with the club on the brink of financial ruin, a total of 15,100 shares were issued for a total of 1,510,000 Swiss francs. A new holding company, FC Aarau Ltd, was set up to administer the club. FC Aarau Ltd are responsible for the implementation, organization and management of professional football games of the 1st XI and the performance of teams in the junior area. Since 2006 the old club FC Aarau 1902 has only been in charge of children's and women's teams.

The current President of FC Aarau Ltd is local entrepreneur Philipp Bonorand, who has been in charge since 26 May 2020. FC Aarau 1902 is looked after by Marcel Meier and Philipp Bonorand.

Former manager Urs Schönenberger stood down in 2006 and the role was assumed by his assistant manager Ruedi Zahner. Ruedi was born in Aarau and spent nine years at the club as a player in two separate spells. However his appointment only lasted a few months. During the winter break in the 2006/07 season Zahner was replaced by FC Baden coach Ryszard Komornicki on a temporary basis. However, with relegation looming Gilbert Gress was brought in with three games to go. The move was a success and the club gained 5 points from the remaining games and so escaped relegation by one point. Gilbert Gress decided not to renew his contract with the club and so former Polish international Ryszard Komornicki returned. He has signed a contract until Summer 2010 but was replaced in June 2009 by Jeff Saibene who didn't last long as he was sacked on 12 October after Aarau achieved only 5 points in 12 games.

Honours

Leagues

Cups

Players

Current squad

As of 4 September 2024 [2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Marvin Hübel
2 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Marco Thaler
4 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Binjamin Hasani
5 DF Flag of Ghana.svg  GHA David Acquah
6 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Izer Aliu
7 MF Flag of Egypt.svg  EGY Amr Khaled (on loan from Al Ahly )
8 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Olivier Jäckle ( Captain )
9 FW Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Yannick Toure
10 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Valon Fazliu
11 MF Flag of Kosovo.svg  KOS Milot Avdyli
13 MF Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  GNB Ivo Candé
15 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Serge Müller
17 FW Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Henri Koide
21 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Noah Jakob
No.Pos.NationPlayer
22 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Lenny Janko
23 MF Flag of North Macedonia.svg  MKD Nikola Gjorgjev
24 FW Flag of Liberia.svg  LBR Emmanuel Ernest
25 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Dorian Derbaci
27 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Linus Obexer
29 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Marcin Dickenmann
30 GK Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Andreas Hirzel
31 MF Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Colin Odutayo
32 FW Flag of Paraguay.svg  PAR Raúl Bobadilla
38 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Ryan Kessler
47 MF Flag of Mali.svg  MLI Mamadou Fofana
49 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Esey Gebreyesus
77 GK Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Colin Hegner

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.NationPlayer
14 DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Fabrice Suter(at Baden until 30 June 2025)
19 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Silvan Schwegler(at Kriens until 30 June 2025)
No.Pos.NationPlayer
DF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Flavio Caserta(at Kriens until 30 June 2025)

Stadium

Aarau play their home games in Stadion Brügglifeld. The current capacity is 8'000 seats. The away supporters are housed behind one goal, to the right of where the players run out.

The stadium was opened on 12 October 1924 with a friendly game against local side FC Zürich. A new main stand was added in 1982 and in the 1990s the addition of a smaller grandstand and a complete renovation of the standing areas. The stadium is on the municipality of Suhr.

In 2008 the latest proposals were put forward for a new urban development to include a new home for FC Aarau. The Mittelland Arena, in the heart of Central Park in Aarau, should be used to cover 12,500 seats. On 25 September 2005 the proposal for the new development, including the football stadium and a shopping centre, were rejected by the people of Aarau in a referendum. FC Aarau Ltd and the city council are currently working on a new solution for the club as the current stadium is considered to be not good enough for top-flight football. The Swiss Football Association is unhappy at its use in the top flight.

Supporters

FC Aarau supporters are known as a very passionate group, despite their relatively small numbers in comparison to many other teams in Switzerland. There are many fan groups but the most popular is known as Szene Aarau.

Rivalries

Despite their close proximity to Zürich, Aarau fans have no dislike of either FC Zürich or Grasshopper Club Zürich. Their rivalries are with FC St. Gallen, FC Schaffhausen, FC Luzern and FC Baden. These are due to a number of historical reasons and the rivalry against FC Baden is also a local rivalry.[ citation needed ]

FC Aarau in Europe

First Leg Date Second Leg DateCompetitionOppositionFirst LegSecond LegOverall Result
18. September 19852 October 1985 Cup Winners Cup (1st round) FK Crvena Zvezda Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg 0:2 (A)2:2 (H)2:4
7 September 19885 October 1988 UEFA Cup (1st round) 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig Flag of East Germany.svg 0:3 (H)0:4 (A)0:7
18 August 19931 September 1993 Champions League (Qualification) Omonia Nicosia Flag of Cyprus.svg 1:2 (A)2:0 (H)3:2
15 September 199329 September 1993UEFA Champions League (1st round) AC Milan Flag of Italy.svg 0:1 (H)0:0 (A)0:1
9 August 199423 August 1994 UEFA Cup (Qualification) NK Mura Flag of Slovenia.svg 1:0 (H)1:0 (A)2:0
13 September 199427 September 1994UEFA Cup (1st round) CS Marítimo Funchal Flag of Portugal.svg 0:0 (H)0:1 (A)0:1
6 August 199620 August 1996 UEFA Cup (Qualification) FC Lantana Tallinn Flag of Estonia.svg 4:0 (H)0:2 (A)4:2
10. September 199624. September 1996UEFA Cup (1st round) Brøndby IF Flag of Denmark.svg 0:5 (A)0:2 (H)0:7

Former players

Former coaches

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References

  1. "Aufbruchstimmung dank neuen Kräften". fcaarau.ch (in German). FC Aarau. 13 June 2023. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. "1. Mannschaft" [1st team] (in German). FC Aarau. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2016.