DERBY DAYS: FC Basel V FC Zürich: It may not draw much – or any – international attention, but this rivalry can still produce all the familiar heat of more renowned derbies, writes DAMIAN CULLEN
MANY BIG clubs feel trapped in small bodies. It’s perhaps best encapsulated, and best known, in Scotland and the Netherlands. A few clubs dominate domestically, with the rest lagging far behind. And it’s no picnic for the also-rans either – with almost guaranteed defeats circled on the calendar long before the match.
Between the large Swiss cities of Basel and Zurich is Aarau, a small, German-speaking town at the foot of the Jura mountains, which divides the Rhine and Rhone.
Despite never being far from financial ruin, and never boasting a player who would be familiar to anyone outside the 9,000-capacity Stadion Brügglifeld (of which only 1,500 are seats), the club have managed to remain in the Swiss top-flight since 1981. Often only moments from relegation, the club has earned the nickname: Die Unabsteigbaren (those who cannot be relegated).
At the other end of the Super League table are FC Basel and FC Zürich, who temporarily share their Letzigrund stadium with Switzerland’s other big club, Grasshopper, who are in the middle of a controversial plan to build Stadion Zürich.
The rivalry between the three is a moveable feast – generally depending on which two are the strongest in any given era, which has generally resulted in FC Basel and FC Zürich claiming top billing, even though Grasshopper Club Zürich – commonly known simply as GC – hold the record for the most national titles.
As the only major cross-city derby in Switzerland, the clash of the two Zurich sides has always put bums on seats – particularly since a famous Swiss Cup meeting five years ago.
After meeting and beating Basel, 1-0, in an earlier round, GC met Zürich for a place in the 2003/04 decider. On March 3rd, an absorbing game finished 6-5 to Grasshopper. Remarkably, though, the Zurich side managed to lose the final, 3-2, to FC Wil 1900, an embarrassing defeat to a small club who were relegated from the Super League in the same season. The defeat helped heal the hurt in the supporters’ clubs of FC Zürich and FC Basel.
None of these derby meetings are new: all three clubs were founded in the late 19th century. In November, 1893, an advertisement was placed in a newspaper asking anyone interested in starting a football team in Basel to meet. A few days later, FC Basel was formed, and one of the first members, teenager Joan Gamper, became club captain. A few years later Gamper travelled to Barcelona to visit an uncle, decided to stay, and in October, 1899, placed an newspaper advertisement requesting anyone interested in forming a football team to meet. A few days later FC Barcelona was formed, and the 22-year-old Gamper chose the club’s colours, blaugrana, after FC Basel.
During the following decades Barcelona went on to forge a famous inter-city rivalry with Real Madrid, with FC Basel cementing a similarly passionate, though obviously far less internationally renowned, tug-of-war with FC Zürich.
The animosity between the two took hold in the 1960s, with FC Basel and FC Zurich claiming all but one of the 12 league titles (GC squeezed to the top in 1971) between 1966 and 1977.
And recent years have told a similar story – the last six league titles have been split equally. And those recent derbies include the most famous, and infamous, of all.
Neck and neck throughout the 2005/06 season, the title came down to a championship-deciding match at St Jakob-Park on May 13th, 2006. Going for three league titles in a row, Basel welcomed Zürich knowing a draw would be enough. And there was good reason for the home support to be confident as Basel were bidding to register a 60th undefeated home league match in a row.
Near the end of a tense, foul-strewn tie, and with the score at 1-1, most of those in the stadium were in celebratory mood. Then, three minutes into injury-time, Zürich midfielder Florian Stahel crossed the ball into the penalty area and Iulian Filipescu latched on to it to snatch a late, late victory.
Moments later the full-time whistle sounded and angry Basel supporters stormed the pitch and attacked the celebrating Zürich players and officials – particularly Filipescu, who wasn’t slow in returning the blows.
Known as the ‘Disgrace of Basel’, the hooliganism which continued outside the ground has been among the worst incidents in the history of club soccer in Switzerland.
FC Zürich rubbed salt into the wounds by retaining the league title by a single point from FC Basel the following season, despite losing all three of their meetings in that league campaign.
In the land where Roger Federer appears to have inspired half the population to take up tennis, with the other half energised by Martina Hingis, this fixture remains one of the few that can hold the attention of the local population.
While most of the top football leagues in Europe are only beginning to crank into action, Switzerland are ahead of the game – and round five this weekend sees FC Zürich making the 50-mile journey to the country’s second largest urban area.
Apart from battling each other, the other fight is preventing the Bundesliga cherry-picking the best players. In recent years, Hakan Yakin left FC Basel for Stuttgart, his brother went to Kaiserslautern, Mladen Petri went to Borussia Dortmund, David Degen chose Borussia Mönchengladbach, while his twin brother, Philipp, went to Dortmund before last year opting for Liverpool. FC Zürich have experienced a similar drain, with even the hero Filipescu leaving soon after scoring that famous goal to sign for MSV Duisburg.
The colours remain the same, however, for both clubs and the fans will still turn out at the weekend for one of the country’s biggest games of the season. New season. Old reasons to win.
FC Basel V FC Zürich
Sunday, August 9th
Kick-off – 4pm (local), 5pm (Irish)
St Jakob-Park, Basel
