1938–39_FC_Basel_season
1938–39 FC Basel season
FC Basel 1938–39 football season
The FC Basel 1938–39 season was the forty-sixth 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. Emil Junker was the club chairman and it was his third consecutive season as club president. The club had financial and sporting problems over the previous few years and these continued this season.
| 1938–39 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Emil Junker |
| First team coach | Fernand Jaccard |
| Ground | Landhof, Basel |
| Nationalliga | 12th (relegated) |
| Swiss Cup | Round 2 |
| Top goalscorer | League: Eduard Buser (11) All: Eduard Buser (11) |
| Highest home attendance | 5,000 on 16 April 1939 vs Nordstern Basel and on 19 May 1939 vs Lugano |
| Lowest home attendance | 3,000 on 4 September 1938 vs La Chaux-de-Fonds and on 2 October 1938 vs Biel-Bienne and on 27 November 1938 vs Grenchen and on 18 December 1938 vs Grasshopper Club |
| Average home league attendance | 3,681 |
According to statements in the 75th anniversary book written years later by author Jules Düblin (ex-player and ex-club chairman) the club had problems with the Swiss Football Association (SFA). The club was also having financial problems and these problems continued this season. The club suffered under the results of this confrontation with the SFA. These were mainly due to the transfer of the player Numa Monnard, who at the start of the season returned to his former club Cantonal Neuchatel.[1]
Fernand Jaccard who had been Basel's player-manager the previous season, continued for the club in the same position this season. Basel played a total of 29 matches in their 1938–39 season. 22 of these matches were in the Nationalliga, two in the Swiss Cup and five were friendly matches. Of these five friendlies two were played at home in the Landhof and the other three were also in Switzerland. Two friendly games were won, two drawn and one ended in a defeat.
12 teams contested the 1938–39 Nationalliga championship, which was played as a round-robin, one team to be relegated. Despite the fact that the players were well prepared for the season, as Düblin wrote in his summary, sportingly the season was very bad. Despite two victories over the two top clubs that season, Grasshopper Club and Grenchen, one catastrophic game followed the other. Of the 22 domestic league games only five ended with a win, 12 were defeats. The team ended in last position, two points behind Biel-Bienne and the Young Boys. Basel was relegated for the first time in the club history into the newly reorganized 1.Liga.[2]
In the first principal round of the Swiss Cup Basel were drawn at home against lower tier local rivals Concordia Basel and won 3–2. In the second round Basel were also drawn at home against a lower-tier team, but Brühl St. Gallen proved to be a strong competitor and Basel were defeated 1–3. and were thrown out of the competition.[3]
The following is the list of the Basel first team squad during the season 1938–39. The list includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 24 July 1938 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.
|
|
- 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.
|
|
Legend
Win Draw Loss Postponed
Friendly matches
Pre-season
v Biel-Bienne
| 24 July 1938 Pre-season | Basel | 4–1 | Biel-Bienne | Im Teichboden Oftringen |
Buser  (1:0)Ibach (2:0)Schaller (3:1)Spadini (4:1) |
Summary | (2:1) |
Attendance: 300 |
v La Chaux-de-Fonds
| 1 August 1938 Pre-season | Basel | 5–2 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Landhof, Basel |
| 17:30 | Spadini (2x) Monigatti (1x)Ibach (1x)Buser (1x) |
Summary | (2x) Bösch |
Attendance: 1,000 Referee: H. Neumann Basel |
v 
Freiburger FC
| 21 August 1938 Pre-season | Basel | 2–2 | Freiburger FC | Landhof, Basel |
| 17:00 | Buser (1:1) Ibach (2:1) |
Summary | (0:1) Beha (2:2) Beha |
Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Karl Wunderlin Basel |
v Basel
| 28 August 1938 Pre-season | Young Boys | 4–4 | Basel | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern |
| Bickel (2x) Sydler (1x)Lukacs (1x) |
Summary | (2x) Schmidlin (I) (1x) Spadini (1x) Ibach |
Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Gerber Bern |
Mid-season
v Basel
| 6 November 1938 Mid-season | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 1–0 | Basel | Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| 15:00 | Trachsel 80' (1:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sandoz La Chaux-de-Fonds |
Nationalliga
League matches
| 4 September 1938 Round 1 | Basel | 2–2 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Zuber (1x) Grauer (1x) |
Summary | (1x) Messerli (1x) Schweizer |
Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Grassi Balerna |
| 11 September 1938 Round 2 | Grasshopper Club | 4–0 | Basel | Hardturm, Zürich |
| 15:00 | Bickel 28' (1:0) Fauguel 61' (2:0)Rupf 73' (3:0)Bickel 75' (4:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Scherz Bern |
| 25 September 1938 Round 3 | Basel | 4–1 | Luzern | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Buser (4x) |
Summary | (1x) Semp |
Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Spengler Olten |
| 2 October 1936 Round 4 | Basel | 0–0 | Biel-Bienne | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Summary | Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Gerber Bern |
| 9 October 1938 Round 5 | Servette | 2–1 | Basel | Charmilles Stadium, Geneva |
| Aeby 7' (1:0) Trello 88' (2:1) |
Summary | 73' (1:1) Jaccard |
Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Jaggi Bern |
| 26 October 1938 Round 6 | Basel | 0–0 | Young Boys | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Summary | Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Allemann Biel/Bienne |
| 23 October 1938 Round 9 | Nordstern Basel | 4–1 | Basel | Stadion Rankhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Burkhardt (2x) Büche (1x)Forelli (1x) |
Summary | (1x) Ibach |
Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Spengler Olten |
| 30 October 1938 Round 7 | Lugano | 1–0 | Basel | Campo Marzio, Lugano |
| Forni 18' (1:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Scherz Bern |
| 13 November 1938 Round 8 | Basel | 0–1 | Young Fellows Zürich | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:30 | Summary | (0:1) Häfeli |
Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Lutz Geneva |
| 27 November 1938 Round 10 | Basel | 2–0 | Grenchen | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:30 | Grauer 4' (1:0) Dubosson (2:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Spengler Olten |
| 4 December 1938 Round 11 | Lausanne-Sport | 2–0 | Basel | Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne |
| 14:30 | Rochat 20' (1:0) Spagnoli 40' (2:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Scherz Bern |
| 11 December 1938 Round 12 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 2–0 | Basel | Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| 14:30 | Volentik (1:0) Wagner 30' (2:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Gerber Bern |
| 18 December 1938 Round 13 | Basel | 3–1 | Grasshopper Club | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:30 | Buser (2x) Ibach (1x) |
Summary | (1x) Nausch |
Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Grassi Balerna |
| 22 January 1939 Round 15 | Biel-Bienne | 4–1 | Basel | Gurzelen Stadion, Biel/Bienne |
| Frangi (1:0) Frangi (2:0)Weber 60' (3:0)Tineli 85' (4:1) |
Summary | 75' (3:1) Spadini |
Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Wittwer Geneva |
| 19 February 1939 Round 14 | Luzern | 4–3 | Basel | Stadion Allmend, Luzern |
| Karcher 21' (1:1) 34' (o.g. 2:2) Karcher 37' (3:2)Gloor 74' (4:2) |
Summary | 17' (0:1) Buser 25' (1:2) Buser 85' (4:3) Sattler |
Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Wittwer Geneva |
| 26 February 1939 Round 16 | Basel | 0–1 | Servette | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Summary | 63' (0:1) Walaschek |
Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Scherz Bern |
| 12 March 1939 Round 17 | Young Boys | 1–1 | Basel | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern |
Halblinker  20'Fish 82' (1:1) |
Summary | 80' (0:1) Ibach 85' Schmidlin (I) |
Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Spengler Olten |
| 26 March 1935 Round 19 | Young Fellows Zürich | 1–1 | Basel | Letzigrund, Zürich |
| 20:00 | Kielholz 56' (1:1) |
Summary | 49' (o.g. 0:1) Maag |
Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Gerber Bern |
| 15 April 1935 Round 20 | Basel | 0–1 | Nordstern Basel | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Summary | (0:1) Büche |
Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lutz Geneva |
| 23 April 1939 Round 21 | Grenchen | 3–2 | Basel | Stadion Brühl, Grenchen |
| (o.g. 1:1) Artimovicz (2:2)Artimovicz (3:2) |
Summary | (0:1) Ibach (1:2) Buser |
Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Grassi Balerna |
| 30 April 1939 Round 22 | Basel | 1–0 | Lausanne-Sport | Landhof, Basel |
| 15:00 | Mathys 77' (1:0) |
Summary | Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Jaggi Bern |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grasshopper Club | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 31 | Swiss Champions |
| 2 | Grenchen | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 27 | |
| 3 | Lugano | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 27 | |
| 4 | Servette | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 26 | |
| 5 | Nordstern Basel | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 23 | |
| 6 | Lausanne-Sport | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 22 | Swiss Cup winners |
| 7 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 22 | |
| 8 | Luzern | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 19 | |
| 9 | Young Fellows Zürich | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 18 | |
| 10 | Young Boys | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 35 | −13 | 17 | |
| 11 | Biel-Bienne | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 17 | |
| 12 | Basel | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 29 | 36 | −7 | 15 | Relegated |
Swiss Cup
| 8 January 1939 1st principal round | Basel | 3–2 | Concordia Basel | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:30 | Sattler 30' (1:1) Ibach 48' (2:1)Ibach 60' (3:1) |
Summary | 12' (0:1) Martignoli 76' (3:2) Rufer |
Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Hans Wüthrich Bern |
| 29 January 1939 Round 2 | Basel | 1–3 | SC Brühl St. Gallen | Landhof, Basel |
| 14:30 | Schmidlin (I) (1x) |
Summary | (2x) Spengler (1x) Joris |
Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Grassi Balerna |
- Zindel, Josef (2018), 1939 Erste Abstieg, Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel
- Erik Garin. "Switzerland 1938-1939". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
- Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "Bilanz Saison 1938/39". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
- 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 1938/39 at fcb-archiv.ch
- Switzerland 1938/39 by Erik Garin at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation