The history of FC Basel spans from 1893 to the present day. This page covers the years 1965 to 2000, from the era under Helmut Benthaus, through seven seasons in the second tier, to the opening of a new stadium. For details on other periods of the club's history, see:
History of FC Basel (1893–1939) History of FC Basel (1939–1965) History of FC Basel (2000–present)
The era Benthaus Seventy-third, player-manager
Lucien Schmidlin was club chairman for the fourth consecutive year. At the beginning of the season, Helmut Benthaus joined from 1. FC Köln and became player-coach. He replaced Jiří Sobotka as team manager; Sobotka later went on to manage the Swiss national team. Benthaus was a graduate of the German Sport University Cologne and an experienced player-coach. Two seasons earlier Benthaus had won the 1963–64 Bundesliga as player-manager with Köln. Benthaus used his first season with Basel to assess the team. One of the biggest changes that he made, with the agreement of the board of directors, was to introduce semi-professionalism. There were only a few minor changes to the squad, Rade Ognjanović transferred to Grenchen and Heinz Sartor transferred to Offenburger FV. Three players stepped back from Nationalliga A football, Carlo Porlezza, Mario Grava and Fernando Von Krannichfeldt went to play for the reserve team. As replacements, three youngsters came from the youth team and three more from the reserve team.
Fourteen teams contested the 1965–66 Nationalliga A. Basel finished the season in sixth position with 27 points. They ended the championship with ten wins, seven draws and nine defeats in their 26 matches. In the Swiss Cup, Basel started in the round of 32 on 7 November 1965, with a home win against Biel-Bienne. In the next round, they defeated Luzern 3–1 at home. In the quarter-final, they were drawn away at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern against Young Boys. This ended in a 2–1 victory. In the semi-final they were drawn at home against Servette but were defeated 1–3. Zürich won the final and completed the double.
In the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Basel were drawn against Spanish team Valencia but lost both matches. In the Cup of the Alps, Basel were drawn in the same group as Catania, S.S.C. Napoli, Juventus and Spal Ferrara. Basel lost all four games.
Seventy-fourth, the double
Harry Thommen took over as club chairman at the AGM from Lucien Schmidlin who stood down to become vice-chairman. During this season, Helmut Benthaus was the club player-manager for the second consecutive season and there were only a few minor changes in the squad. In the 1966–67 season, Benthaus achieved his first league championship with Basel. Fourteen teams contested the championship and Basel finished just one point clear of FC Zürich. Basel won 16 of their 26 games, drew eight, and lost only twice, scoring 60 goals and conceding just 20. Roberto Frigerio was the team's top goal scorer with 16 league goals, while Helmut Hauser was second-best with 14. In the highest scoring game of the season, a 10–0 win against FC Moutier Roberto 'Mucho' Frigerio managed to score four goals.
In the Swiss Cup, Basel started in the round of 32 with a 6–0 home win against Blue Stars. In the round of 16, also at home, they beat FC Zürich 3–2. In the quarter-final, Basel won the replay against Biel-Bienne 2–1 to qualify for the semi-finals. Basel played an away match in the Stadio Cornaredo against FC Lugano in the semi-final which ended goalless and therefore a replay was required here too. The replay was played in the St. Jakob Stadium and goals from Karl Odermatt and Helmut Benthaus gave Basel a 2–1 victory to qualify for the final which was to take place three days later. In the Cup final Basel's opponents were Lausanne-Sports. In the former Wankdorf Stadium on 15 May 1967, Helmut Hauser scored the decisive goal via penalty. The game went down in football history due to the sit-down strike that followed this goal. After 88 minutes of play, with the score at 1–1, referee Karl Göppel awarded Basel a controversial penalty. André Grobéty pushed Hauser in the back, and Hauser fell to the ground. Following Basel's 2–1 lead, the Lausanne players refused to resume the game and staged a sit-down protest on the pitch. The referee had to abandon the match. Basel were awarded the cup with a 3–0 forfeit.
Basel had won the double for the first time in the club's history.
In the first round of the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Basel were drawn against VV DOS Utrecht. The first leg was played in the Netherlands and ended in a 2–1 defeat, despite an early lead. In the return leg, Basel led 2–0, but VV DOS equalised, winning 4–3 on aggregate.
Seventy-fifth season
The chairman of the club's board was Harry Thommen for the second consecutive year. Helmut Benthaus was the club player-manager for the third consecutive season. He and his team were the defending league champions. There were no big amendments to the squad, one reserve goalkeeper left and one reserve goalkeeper advanced to them and defender Manfred Schädler joined from local club FC Birsfelden and striker Dieter Rüefli joined from Winterthur. Basel played a total of 42 matches in this season. 26 of these games were in the domestic league, two were in the Swiss Cup, two were in the European Cup, five were in the Cup of the Alps and seven were friendly matches. Of the seven friendly matches, five were won and two ended in draws.
Again there were 14 teams contesting in the 1967–68 Nationalliga A. Basel, as reigning champions, played a mediocre season. Although they remained close to the top of the table for much of the season, they faltered toward the end, losing five of their last seven matches. Basel won 13 of the league 26 games, drawing five, losing eight times, and they scored 49 goals conceding 33. Therefore, they finished the season in fifth position. They were seven points behind the trio Zürich, Grasshopper Club and Lugano who all ended the season with 38 points. The three teams then contested a championship play-off. Zürich won both matches and claimed the title. In the Swiss Cup Basel started in the round of 32 with a home match against lower classed FC Le Locle. But the game had to go into overtime. After Le Locle took the lead just after half time break, Roberto Frigerio netted the equaliser shortly before the end. In extra time, player-manager Helmut Benthaus scored the winning goal. In the next round Basel played an away game against FC Zürich but were defeated 0–1 and this campaign was ended very quickly.
As reigning champions Basel were qualified for the 1967–68 European Cup. In the first round they were drawn against Danish team Hvidovre. The first leg was in the St. Jakob Stadium. Despite an early lead scored by Helmut Hauser, the Danes turned the game and won. In the return leg in stadium Idrætsparken in Copenhagen, Hauser again scored the early lead. Again the Danes turned the match and shortly after half time went into a 3–1 lead. This time Basel were fighting against the defeat and drew level at 3–3 but could not manage to score a winning goal, which would have put them through to the next round.
Seventy-sixth, third league title
Harry Thommen was the club's chairman of the board for the third consecutive season and Helmut Benthaus was the club's player-manager for the fourth consecutive season. Paul Fischli joined the team coming from Young Fellows Zürich. Jürgen Sundermann signed in from Servette and Walter Balmer joined from Thun. In the other direction Hanspeter Stocker left the club after eight years and moved to Baden for his last season before retiring from his active football career. Markus Pfirter left the club after seven years and went on to St. Gallen. Roberto Frigerio also left the club after a total of seven years and he moved on to Bellinzona. Moscatelli left after five years and went to Lugano.
Basel played a total of 52 matches in this season. 26 of these games were in the domestic league, three were in the Swiss Cup, five were in the Cup of the Alps, two were in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and 15 were friendly matches. Of the 15 friendlies, 12 were won, two were drawn, and one was lost. Seven were played at home and eight played away. There were 14 teams contesting in the 1968–69 Nationalliga A. Basel won the league, finishing one point ahead of Lausanne Sports —whom they defeated 4–0 in the penultimate match—and six points clear of third-placed FC Zürich. Basel won 13 of the 26 games, drawing ten, losing three times, they scored 48 goals conceding 28.
In the Swiss Cup Basel started in the round of 32 with a 2–1 away win against Thun and in the round of 16, with a home match, they beat Luzern 3–1. In the Quarter-final Basel played an away game against Servette but lost this 1–0. In the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Basel were drawn against Bologna the first leg away from home on 18 September the return leg in Basel on 2 October. Bologna won both games. In the 1968 Cup of the Alps the team managed to win the group and played in the final against FC Schalke 04 but were defeated 1–3 after extra time.
Seventy-seventh, consecutive league title
Harry Thommen was the club's chairman for the fourth consecutive season and Helmut Benthaus was player-manager for the fifth consecutive season. The championship title from the previous season meant that Basel could embark on another European adventure, but again they failed to overcome the first hurdle; this time it was Celtic of Scotland. The first leg, played on 17 September 1969 at St. Jakob Stadium before 37,587 spectators, ended in a goalless draw. The return leg on 1 October in Celtic Park attracted 49,976 spectators. Celtic won the game 2–0 and advanced to the next round.
Nationally in the 1969–70 season, Basel won the league for the fourth time. They played a good season. Despite a bad run with four defeats in eight games between the end of September and the beginning of December, they won 11 of the last 14 games during the second half of the season. Basel won the championship a point clear of Lausanne Sports who ended in second position and three points ahead of FC Zürich who finished third. Basel won 15 of the 26 games, drawing seven, losing four times.
On 14 September 1969, Basel began their Swiss Cup campaign with a 10–0 home win against Minerva Bern (later renamed Breitenrain Bern following a merger). In the round of 16 played on 12 October Basel had a home match against Grenchen which was won 3–2. In the quarter-final, played in November, Basel had a two legged tie against Xamax-Sports NE (later renamed Neuchâtel Xamax). This was won 7–2 on aggregate. The semi-final was also a two legged tie and this against Servette Genève. Basel won both legs and 6–1 on aggregate. The final was played on 18 May 1970 in the Wankdorf Stadium, but was lost against Zürich after extra time.
Seventy-eighth, defeated in the play-off
Félix Musfeld was the club's new chairman. Helmut Benthaus was player-manager for the sixth consecutive season. There were only very few changes in the squad. Bruno Michaud retired from active football after winning his third championship title. He had played 14 seasons with Basel. During his time with Basel Michaud played a total of 355 competitive games and scored 22 goals. Dieter Rüefli moved on to play for St. Gallen and Janos Konrad moved on to Vevey-Sports. In the other direction Edoardo Manzoni joined the squad on loan from Xamax. Benthaus declined further transfers, instead relying on reserve players to step in when needed. Basel played a total of 55 matches during this season. 27 of these games were in the domestic league including the play-off for the championship. Three of these games were in the Swiss Cup, four were in the European Cup, five were in the Cup of the Alps and 16 were friendly matches. Of these 16 test games 13 were won and three were drawn.