1966–67 FC Basel season

FC Basel

1966–67 season
Chairman	Harry Thommen
Manager	Helmut Benthaus
Ground	Landhof, Basel
Nationalliga A	Champions
Swiss Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	Roberto Frigerio (16)
← 1965–66 1967–68 →

The 1966–67 season was Fussball Club Basel 1893's 73rd season in their existence. It was their 21st consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football after their promotion the season 1945–46. They played their home games in the Landhof, in the Wettstein Quarter in Kleinbasel.

Overview

During this season Helmut Benthaus was the club player-manager, he taken the job over from Georges Sobotka at the beginning of the previous season. There were 14 teams contesting in the 1966–67 Nationalliga A and Basel finished the championship just one point clear of both FC Zürich in second position and FC Lugano who finished third. Basel won 16 of the 26 games, drawing eight, losing twice, and they scored 60 goals conceding just 20. Roberto Frigerio was the teams top goal scorer with 16 league goals, Helmut Hauser second best goal scorer with 14.

In the Swiss Cup Basel started in the round of 32 with a 6–0 home win against Blue Stars and in the round of 16, also a home match, 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 had pushed Hauser gently in the back and he let himself drop theatrically.) Subsequent to the 2–1 for Basel the Lausanne players refused to resume the game and they sat down demonstratively on the pitch. The referee had to abandon the match. Basel were awarded the cup with a 3–0 forfait.^[1][2]

Basel had won the double for the first time in the clubs history.

Players

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

No. Position Player GK Marcel Kunz (games/goals: 24/0) GK Jean-Paul Laufenburger (games/goals: 3/0) DF Josef Kiefer (games/goals: 26/0) DF Bruno Michaud (games/goals: 26/2) DF Walter Mundschin (games/goals: 7/0) DF Markus Pfirter (games/goals: 26/3) DF Hanspeter Stocker (games/goals: 21/4) MF Helmut Benthaus (games/goals: 18/3)

No. Position Player MF Aldo Moscatelli (games/goals: 17/3) MF Karl Odermatt (games/goals: 26/8) MF Peter Ramseier (games/goals: 5/0) MF Anton Schnyder (games/goals: 25/1) FW Roberto Frigerio (games/goals: 24/16) FW Helmut Hauser (games/goals: 18/14) FW Janos Konrad (games/goals: 1/0) FW Hanspeter Vetter (games/goals: 7/1) FW Peter Wenger (games/goals: 19/5)

Results

Nationalliga

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Remarks
1	FC Basel	26	16	8	2	61	20	40	Champions
2	FC Zürich	26	18	3	5	70	31	39
3	FC Lugano	26	17	5	4	51	29	39
4	Grasshopper Club Zürich	26	14	4	8	60	31	32
5	Servette FC Genève	26	10	6	10	49	35	26
6	FC Sion	26	10	6	10	48	38	26
7	BSC Young Boys	26	10	6	10	44	48	26
8	FC Grenchen	26	10	4	12	43	49	24
9	Young Fellows Zürich	26	9	6	11	33	44	24
10	Lausanne Sports	26	9	3	14	46	44	21
11	FC Biel-Bienne	26	8	5	13	25	42	21
12	FC La Chaux-de-Fonds	26	8	4	14	34	48	20	Won play-off against relegation
13	FC Winterthur	26	8	4	14	33	54	20	Lost play-off thus relegated
14	FC Moutier	26	2	2	22	16	100	6	Relegated

Swiss Cup

Legend

      Win       Draw       Loss

Basel v Blue Stars

6 November 1966 Round of 32	Basel	6 – 0	Blue Stars	Basel
				Stadium: Landhof

Basel v Zürich

11 December 1966 Round of 16	Basel	3 – 2	Zürich	Basel
				Stadium: Landhof

Basel v Biel-Bienne

4 March 1967 Quarter-final	Basel	2 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Biel-Bienne	Basel
				Stadium: Landhof

Biel-Bienne v Basel

? March 1967 Quarter-final replay	Biel-Bienne	1 – 2	Basel	Biel
				Stadium: Gurzelen Stadion

Lugano v Basel

27 March 1967 Semi-final	Lugano	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Basel	Lugano
				Stadium: Stadio Cornaredo

Basel v Lugano

12 May 1967 Semi-final replay	Basel	2 – 1	Lugano	Basel
	Odermatt  12' Benthaus  73'		41' Luttrop	Stadium: St. Jakob Stadium

Basel v Lausanne-Sports

15 May 1967 Final	Basel	2 – 1	Lausanne-Sports	Bern
	Hauser  11', 88' (pen.)		41' (o.g.) Josef Kiefer	Stadium: Wankdorf Stadium Referee: Karl Göppel

The final was abandoned in 89' at 2-1 and awarded 3-0: Lausanne-Sports protested by a sit-in against the penalty that led to 2-1.

See also

• History of FC Basel
• List of FC Basel players
• List of FC Basel seasons

Sources and References

• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2014/2015. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2027-6
• Switzerland 1966–67 at RSSSF

1. Schmid, Andreas W. (2010). "«Ein klarer Penalty!» «Nein, eine klare Schwalbe!»" (in German). Basler Zeitung. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
2. dsc (2010). "Der legendäre Sitzstreik im Final 1967" (in German). sport.sf.tv. Retrieved 2010-11-16.