Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and Swiss League Cup winners once.
Ottmar Hitzfeld is a German former professional football player and a former manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
Karl Odermatt is a Swiss former footballer who played for FC Basel and BSC Young Boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a midfielder or striker and is generally regarded as one of the best players ever to have worn the FC Basel shirt. He played through, what is now thought to be, Basel's golden years under trainer and manager Helmut Benthaus with teammates such as Paul Fischli, René Hasler and Ottmar Hitzfeld.
Kurt Jara is an Austrian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Helmut Benthaus is a German former football player and coach. He spent his best playing days at Westfalia Herne and his best coaching days at FC Basel.
Rainer Ohlhauser is a German former footballer who played as a striker during the 1960s and 1970s.
Patrick Rahmen is a Swiss football coach and former player. He played as midfielder or forward. He is currently the head coach of Young Boys in the Swiss Super League.
Walter Balmer was a Swiss international footballer. After his football career he became a high school teacher.
Helmut Hauser is a German former footballer. He played as forward.
Peter Wenger was a Swiss international footballer.
Peter Ramseier was a Swiss international football player who played as a defender during the 1960s and 1970s.
Marcel Kunz was a Swiss footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Jean-Paul Laufenburger was a French footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Walter Mundschin is a Swiss former footballer who played as a libero.
Bruno Michaud was a Swiss football player, football coach and politician. He played as a defender mainly for FC Basel and in the Switzerland national team.
Markus Pfirter is a former Swiss footballer who played in the late 1950s, 60s and early 70s. He played mainly in the position as defender, but also as midfielder.
Josef Kiefer is a retired German footballer who played for FC Basel. He played in the position of defender.
Roland Paolucci is a retired Swiss footballer who played for FC Basel during the 1960s and early 1970s. During this time he was loaned out for one season to Winterthur and he ended his playing career playing for Nordstern Basel. He played mainly in the position as defender but also as defensive midfielder. He was player-manager for a few regional clubs in the late 1970s, was youth trainer and later became President of SV Muttenz. In 2006 he was appointed into the regional section of the Swiss Football Association and became president of the FVNWS for 13 years.
Otto Demarmels is a retired Swiss footballer who played for 15 seasons for FC Basel. He played mainly in the position as defensive midfielder or as defender.
The history of FC Basel spans the period from 1893 to the present day. Due to the size, it has been divided into five sections. This page chronicles the history of FCB in detail for the years from 1965 to 2000, from Helmut Benthaus, then through seven years of second tier football, to a new football stadium. For detail on the other individual periods of the club's history, see the following articles: