1979–80 FC Basel season

FC Basel
1979–80 season
Chairman	René Theler
Manager	Helmut Benthaus
Ground	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
Nationalliga A	Champions
Swiss Cup	Round of 16
Swiss League Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Detlev Lauscher,; Joseph Küttel and; Erni Maissen; (18 each); All: Joseph Küttel (19)
Highest home attendance	27,000 on 27 June 1980; vs Servette
Lowest home attendance	4,000 on 11 August 1979; vs Sion; and on 22 March 1980; vs Chiasso
	← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The Fussball Club Basel 1893 1979–80 season was their 86th season since the club was founded. It was their 34th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football after they won promotion during the season 1945–46. They played their home games in the St. Jakob Stadium. René Theler was the club's chairman for the fourth consecutive season.

Overview

Match program Basel-Servette
25 August 1979

Pre-season

Helmut Benthaus was first team manager for the fifteenth consecutive season. There were a number of players that left the squad during the off-season. Midfield player Urs Siegenthaler moved on to Schaffhausen after eight years and 112 league games with the club. Stricker Roland Schönenberger moved on to Young Boys after four seasons, he had played 110 league games and scored 41 league goals. Defender Paul Fischli ended his professional career. After ten years with the club he moved on to local amateur team FC Münchenstein as player-coach. Between the years 1968 and 1979 Fischli played a total of 395 games for Basel scoring a total of 22 goals. 189 of these games were in the Nationalliga A, 52 in the Swiss Cup and Swiss League Cup, 59 in the European competitions (European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA cup and Cup of the Alps) and 95 were friendly games. He scored seven goals in the domestic league, two in the cup competitions, two in the European competitions and the other 11 were scored during the test games.^[1]

In the other direction the experienced René Hasler and youngster Ernst Schleiffer both signed in from Xamax. Joseph Küttel signed in from Young Boys. Two local players joined both from the other side of the border. French player Serge Gaisser joined in from St. Louis and German Manfred Jungk joined from SV Weil.^[2]

Basel played a total of 57 games in their 1979–80 season. 36 matches were played in the domestic league, two in the Swiss Cup, one in the Swiss League Cup and 18 were friendly matches. The team scored a total of 160 goals and conceded 62. All of their friendly games were played away from home. Of their 18 test games, 14 were won, two were drawn and two ended with a defeat. One of the defeats was against the Swiss national team.^[3]

Domestic league

14 teams played in the 1979–80 Nationalliga A. The qualification round was played as double round-robin. The top six teams were qualified for the championship group. There was no relegation round to be held this season and the bottom two teams were to be relegated after the qualification. Following the poor season the year before Basel started the season as outsiders. Reigning Champions Servette together with the two clubs Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Zürich were favorites. Benthaus declared qualification to the UEFA Cup as the team's primary aim. Basel ended the qualification round in second position, two points behind Servette and one ahead of the Grasshoppers. In the championship group the points obtained in the qualification were halved as a bonus (rounded up). Basel won the Championship with 33 points, two ahead of both second place Grasshopper Club and third placed Servette. Basel scored a total of 91 goals conceding 38 in the 32 league games. This was the club's eighth championship title in their history and the seventh and last under trainer Benthaus.^[4]

Erni Maissen and Detlev Lauscher led the team's top goal scorers list after the qualifying phase, both with 13 league goals. At the end of the season they were joined by Joseph Küttel and all three managed to score 18 league goals during the season. Maissen had played in 35 league matches, Lauscher had played in 33 and Küttel had had 32 appearances. Goalkeeper Hans Küng and the two defenders Jean-Pierre Maradan and Jörg Stohler played in all 36 domestic league games. In the qualification round 22, the home match at the Landhof on 26 April Küttel scored four goals as Basel won 6–1 against Xamax.^[5] In the home match against Luzern on 17 May Lauscher went one better and scored five goals as Basel won 8–2.^[6]

Swiss Cup and League Cup

All NLA teams entered the Swiss Cup in the round of 32. Basel were drawn away against Mendrisiostar where they won 3–1. In the second round, again away from home in the Wankdorf Stadium and this against Young Boys. In the Swiss League Cup Basel were also drawn away from home against the Young Boys. Basel lost both duels and thus without further cup matches to contest they had enough strength and energy to win the Swiss championship.^[7]

Players

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	SUI	Hans Küng (league games: 36)
2	DF	SUI	Walter Geisser (league games/goals: 34/2)
3	MF	SUI	Robert Baldinger (league games: 1)
4	MF	SUI	Ernst Schleiffer (from Xamax, league games: 21)
5	DF	SUI	René Hasler (from Xamax, league games: 34/1)
6	MF	SUI	Otto Demarmels (league games/goals: 29/7)
7	FW	SUI	Peter Marti (league games/goals: 25/7)
8	MF	SUI	Markus Tanner (league games/goals: 16/4)
9	MF	SUI	Joseph Küttel (from Young Boys, league games/goals: 32/18)
10	MF	SUI	Arthur von Wartburg (league games/goals: 34/4)
11	MF	GER	Detlev Lauscher (league games/goals: 33/18)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
12	DF	SUI	Jean-Pierre Maradan (league games/goals: 36/2)
13	DF	SUI	Rolf Schönauer
14	DF	SUI	Jörg Stohler (league games/goals: 36/2)
15	MF	SUI	Erwin Meyer (league games: 2)
16	MF	SUI	Hansruedi Schär (league games: 18)
17	DF	FRA	Serge Gaisser (from St. Louis, league games/goals: 23/3)
18	MF	SUI	Erni Maissen (league games/goals: 35/18)
22	GK	SUI	Hans Müller
—	DF	GER	Manfred Jungk (from SV Weil, league games: 3)
—	DF	SUI	René Zingg (league games: 1)

Players who left the squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	SUI	Urs Siegenthaler (to Schaffhausen)
—	DF	SUI	Paul Fischli (to FC Münchenstein)
—	FW	SUI	Roland Schönenberger (to Young Boys)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	SUI	Silvan Corbat (reserves)
—		SUI	Daniel Hagenbuch (reserves)
—	GK	SUI	Felix Wälchli (reserves)

Results

Legend

Win Draw Loss Postponed

Friendly matches

Pre- and mid-season

20 July 1978 Pre-season	DJK Konstanz	0 – 2	Basel	Konstanz
		Summary	15' (0:1) Küttel 60' (0:2) Küttel

22 July 1979 Pre-season	FC Uster	0 – 12	Basel	Uster
		Summary	(4x) Lauscher (3x) Küttel (2x) Tanner (1x) von Wartburg (1x) Stohler (1x) Maissen	Attendance: 1,300

24 July 1979 Pre-season	VfL Bochum	1 – 1	Basel	Oberfeldstadion, Schopfheim
18:30	Lameck 62' (1:0)	Summary	83' (1:1) Gaisser	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Bruno Sahner

26 July 1979 Pre-season	Laufental XI	4 – 5	Basel	Zwingen
15:15	Bieli (1:2) Hänggi (2:3) Bieli (3:3) Ulli (4:4)	Summary	12' (0:1) Küttel (0:2) Baldinger (1:3) Lauscher (3:4) Lauscher (o.g. 4:5)	Attendance: 500

29 July 1979 Pre-season	Niederzier XI	0 – 7	Basel	Niederzier
		Summary	8' (0:1) Tanner 25' (0:2) Küttel 29' (0:3) Maissen 42' (0:4) Lauscher 73' (0:5) Meyer 81' (0:6) Hasler 83' (0:7) Jungk

31 July 1979 Pre-season	Young Boys	3 – 4	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
18:30	Zwygart 55' (pen. 1:3) Zwygart 59' (2:3) Tanner 81' (o.g. 3:4)	Summary	15' (0:1) Demarmels 28' (0:2) von Wartburg 36' (0:3) Stohler 77' (2:4) von Wartburg	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Peter Scherz

2 August 1979 Uhrencup	La Chaux-de-Fonds	1 – 2	Basel	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
20:00	Mauron 20' (0:1)	Summary	40' Lauscher 60' (1:1) Meyer 90' (2:1) von Wartburg	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Peter Rotschi Oensingen

3 August 1979 Uhrencup	Grenchen	1 – 4	Basel	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
	Zoppelletto 51' (1:1)	Summary	35' (0:1) Maissen 80' (1:2) Gaisser 81' (1:3) Meyer 85' (1:4) Meyer	Attendance: 2,200 Referee: Werner Bösch

10 October 1979 Mid-season	SV Weil	0 – 5	Basel	Nonnenholz, Weil am Rhein
18:30		Summary	13' (0:1) Schleiffer 34' (0:2) Geisser 35' (0:3) Demarmels 50' (0:4) Schleiffer 65' (0:5) Gaisser	Attendance: 800 Referee: Penninger

17 October 1979 Mid-season	Saint-Louis	1 – 6	Basel	Saint-Louis
19:30	(1x)	Summary	(2x) Maissen (1x) Marti (1x) Tanner (1x) Lauscher (1x) Gaisser

30 October 1979 Mid-season	Switzerland	3 – 0	Basel	Sportplatz Sternenfeld, Birsfelden
19:00	Pfister 3' (pen. 1:0) Tanner 57' (2:0) Zappa 91' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Hans Wolfer

Winter break

23 January 1980 Winter break	Sion	0 – 2	Basel	Guadeloupe
		Summary	72' (0:1) Gaisser 81' (0:2) Tanner	Attendance: 1,000

24 January 1980 Winter break	Guadeloupe XI	1 – 1	Basel	Guadeloupe
	(1:0)	Summary	80' (1:1) Stohler

31 January 1980 Winter break	Antigua XI	1 – 2	Basel	St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
		Summary	30' Gaisser 89' Marti	Attendance: 2,500

10 February 1980 Winter break	Xamax	2 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Maladière (1924), Neuchâtel
15:00	Rub 36' (1:0) Bianchi 41' (2:0)	Summary	65' (2:1) Tanner	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Denis Perrenoud

16 February 1980 Winter break	Baden	2 – 7	Basel	Scharten, Baden
15:00	Golacino 52' (1:2) Golacino 76' (2:6)	Summary	42' (0:1) Maradan 44' (0:2) Stohler 56' (1:3) Maradan 68' (1:4) Tanner 72' (1:5) von Wartburg 84' (1:6) Schär 87' (2:7) Gaisser	Attendance: 250

23 February 1980 Winter break	FC Bern	0 – 5	Basel	Stadion Neufeld, Bern
14:30		Summary	10' (0:1) Lauscher 41' (pen. 0:2) Stohler 53' (0:3) Stohler 70' (0:4) Meyer 72' (0:5) Tanner	Attendance: 200 Referee: Peter Rotschi Oensingen

Nationalliga A

Qualifying phase matches

11 August 1979 Round 1	Basel	2 – 1	Sion	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
17:15		Summary		Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Jakob Baumann

18 August 1979 Round 2	La Chaux-de-Fonds	1 – 1	Basel	Stade Charrière, La Chaux-de-Fonds
17:15	Morandi 44' Berberat 56' (1:1)	Summary	25' Stohler 46' Marti 51' (0:1) Tanner	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Bruno Galler

25 August 1979 Round 3	Basel	0 – 1	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Maradan 73'	Summary	68' Trinchero 76' (0:1) Hamberg	Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Hans Wolfer

29 August 1979 Round 4	Luzern	2 – 0	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
20:15	Risi 42' (1:0) Risi 65' (pen. 2:0)	Summary	58' Tanner	Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Franz Gächter

1 September 1979 Round 5	Basel	2 – 0	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Tanner 20' (1:0) Tanner 65' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Rudolf Renggli Luzern

8 September 1979 Round 6	Chiasso	1 – 1	Basel	Stadio Comunale Riva IV, Chiasso
20:30	Bang 80' (1:1)	Summary	14' Maissen 51' (0:1) Maissen	Attendance: 2,300 Referee: Werner Bösch

15 September 1979 Round 7	Basel	4 – 1	Young Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Lauscher 7' (1:0) Küttel 29' (2:0) Maissen 38' (3:0) Tanner 52' (4:0)	Summary	66' (4:1) Schönenberger	Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Franz Gächter

11 September 1979 Round 8	Lausanne-Sport	0 – 3	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
20:15		Summary	44' (0:1) Maissen 58' (0:2) Küttel 68' (0:3) Lauscher	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Denis Perrenoud

7 October 1979 Round 9	Basel	0 – 0	Chênois	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
15:00		Summary		Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Rudolf Affolter

20 October 1979 Round 10	Xamax	0 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Maladière (1924), Neuchâtel
18:15	Rub Schleiffer	Summary	70' (0:1) Maissen	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Renzo Peduzzi

28 October 1979 Round 11	Basel	1 – 1	St. Gallen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
15:00	Küttel 36' (1:0) Lauscher 64' Maradan 76' Tanner 88'	Summary	43' Scheiwiler 53' (1:1) Stomeo	Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Alfred Heinis

11 November 1979 Round 12	Zürich	1 – 1	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
14:30	Kundert 21' Seiler 71' (1:1)	Summary	29' (0:1) Lauscher 61' Demarmels	Attendance: 14,500 Referee: André Daina

25 November 1979 Round 13	Basel	7 – 0	Lugano	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
14:30	Maradan 5' (1:0) Demarmels 28' (2:0) von Wartburg 30' (3:0) Maradan 46' (4:0) Lauscher 59' (5:0) Gaisser 61' (6:0) Maissen 71' (7:0)	Summary	52' Castelli	Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Franz Gächter

2 December 1979 Round 14	Sion	1 – 2	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
14:30	Cernicky 38' (1:0)	Summary	47' (1:1) Maissen 57' (1:2) Lauscher	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Walter Nussbaumer

2 March 1980 Round 15	Basel	6 – 0	La Chaux-de-Fonds	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
15:00	Lauscher 13' (1:0) Maissen 43' (2:0) Stohler 45' (pen. 3:0) Stohler 61' (4:0) Demarmels 71' (5:0) Maissen 90' (6:0)	Summary		Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Rudolf Renggli Luzern

9 March 1980 Round 16	Servette	0 – 0	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
14:45		Summary		Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Bruno Galler

16 March 1980 Round 17	Grasshopper Club	4 – 1	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
14:30	Herbert Hermann 9' (1:0) Nafzger 12' (2:0) Maradan 41' (o.g. 3:0) Herbert Hermann 46' (4:0)	Summary	66' (4:1) Demarmels	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Alfred Heinis

22 March 1980 Round 18	Basel	6 – 1	Chiasso	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Maissen 5' (1:0) Gaisser 45' (2:1) Maissen 65' (3:1) von Wartburg 66' (4:1) Casartelli 71' (o.g. 5:1) Demarmels 80' (6:1)	Summary	41' (1:1) Pellegrini	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Jean-Marie Macheret

29 March 1980 Round 19	Young Boys	1 – 3	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
17:30	Brechbühl 56' (1:1)	Summary	43' (0:1) Küttel 86' (1:2) Küttel 90+1' (1:3) Marti	Attendance: 7,800 Referee: Franz Gächter

12 April 1980 Round 20	Basel	3 – 1	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Küttel 35' (1:0) Geisser 40' (2:0) Marti 86' (3:1)	Summary	69' (2:1) Parietti	Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Walter Nussbaumer

19 April 1980 Round 21	Chênois	1 – 1	Basel	Stade des Trois-Chêne, Thônex
20:15	Tachet 60' (1:0)	Summary	60' Lauscher 62' Maissen 87' (1:1) von Wartburg	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: André Daina

26 April 1980 Round 22	Basel	6 – 1	Xamax	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	von Wartburg 18' (1:0) Küttel 30' (2:0) Küttel 40' (3:0) Küttel 69' (4:1) Küttel 79' (5:1) Maissen 90' (6:1)	Summary	61' (3:1) Bianchi	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Hans Wolfer

3 May 1980 Round 23	St. Gallen	3 – 0	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
17:30	Corminboeuf 51' (1:0) Friberg 60' (2:0) Friberg 63' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Franz Gächter

10 May 1980 Round 24	Basel	3 – 1	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Lauscher 23' (1:0) Marti 56' (2:0) Lauscher 58' (3:0) Maissen	Summary	61' (3:1) Elsener Lüdi	Attendance: 19,000 Referee: André Daina

17 May 1980 Round 25	Basel	8 – 2	Luzern	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Lauscher 17' (1:1) Lauscher 48' (2:2) Demarmels 55' (3:2) Marti 69' (4:2) Lauscher 75' (5:2) Küttel 76' (6:2) Lauscher 79' (7:2) Lauscher 90' (8:2) Marti	Summary	5' (0:1) Risi 31' (1:2) Kaufmann Rahmen Binder	Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Peter Scherz

20 May 1980 Round 26	Lugano	2 – 5	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
20:00	Hitzfeld 30' (pen. 1:3) Arigoni 49' Elia 80' Hitzfeld 85' (2:5)	Summary	5' (0:1) Demarmels 12' (0:2) Maissen 22' (0:3) Maissen 48' (1:4) Hasler 83' (1:5) Demarmels	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Marino Paggiola

Qualifying phase table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Servette	26	16	7	3	61	25	+36	39	Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus
2	Basel^[8]	26	15	7	4	67	27	+40	37
3	Grasshopper Club	26	14	8	4	61	21	+40	36
4	Luzern	26	14	4	8	44	44	0	32
5	Zürich	26	13	5	8	56	42	+14	31
6	Sion	26	11	9	6	47	37	+10	31

7	St. Gallen	26	11	6	9	48	37	+11	28	entered 1980 Intertoto Cup
8	Chiasso	26	6	11	9	27	43	−16	23
9	Lausanne-Sport	26	8	6	12	35	38	−3	22
10	Young Boys	26	8	5	13	34	49	−15	21	entered 1980 Intertoto Cup
11	Chênois	26	4	12	10	32	45	−13	20
12	Xamax	26	8	4	14	33	48	−15	20	entered 1980 Intertoto Cup

13	La Chaux-de-Fonds	26	5	7	14	24	57	−33	17	Relegated to 1980–81 Nationalliga B
14	Lugano	26	1	5	20	18	74	−56	7	Relegated to 1980–81 Nationalliga B

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored;

Championship group

31 May 1980 Round 1	Basel	0 – 0	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00		Summary		Attendance: 23,500 Referee: Bruno Galler

4 June 1980 Round 2	Sion	2 – 2	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
20:15	Küttel 41' (o.g. 1:2) Balet 48' (2:2) Luisier 88'	Summary	6' (0:1) Marti 14' (0:2) Marti 18' Maissen	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Walter Nussbaumer

7 June 1980 Round 3	Basel	5 – 0	Luzern	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Geisser 12' (1:0) Maissen 38' (2:0) Demarmels 71' (3:0) Gaisser 80' (4:0) Küttel 90' (5:0)	Summary	Kaufmann	Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Fredy Phillippoz

10 June 1980 Round 4	Servette	2 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
20:00	Valentini 62' (1:0) Cucinotta 74' (2:0)	Summary	60' Maradan 63' (1:1) Lauscher	Attendance: 12,500 Referee: Jean-Marie Macheret

13 June 1980 Round 5	Basel	2 – 0	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Küttel 55' (1:0) Küttel 74' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Gottlieb Barmettler Luzern

16 June 1980 Round 6	Grasshopper Club	3 – 1	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
20:00	Ponte 26' (1:0) Pfister 43' (2:0) Nafzger 74' Meyer 85' (pen. 3:1)	Summary	47' (2:1) Küttel 52' Küttel	Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Jakob Baumann

20 June 1980 Round 7	Basel	3 – 2	Sion	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Lauscher 12' (1:0) Lauscher 60' (2:1) Maissen 75' (3:1)	Summary	36' (1:1) Cernicky 82' (3:2) Cernicky	Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Werner Bösch

23 June 1980 Round 8	Luzern	0 – 4	Basel	Stadion Allmend Luzern
		Summary	2' (0:1) Maissen 19' (0:2) Küttel 55' (0:3) Maissen 75' (0:4) Küttel	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Charles-Henri Morex

27 June 1980 Round 9	Basel	2 – 0	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Lauscher 44' (1:0) Trinchero 66' (o.g. 2:0)	Summary	55' Barberis	Attendance: 27,500 Referee: Rudolf Renggli Luzern

30 June 1980 Round 10	Zürich	2 – 4	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
20:00	Jerković 9' (1:1) Landolt 41' Zappa 77' (2:4)	Summary	4' (0:1) Maissen 21' (1:2) Lauscher 31' (1:3) Marti 35' (o.g. 1:4) Erba 72' Maissen	Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Bruno Galler

Championship table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Qualification
1	Basel^[8]	10	6	2	2	24	11	+13	19	33	Champions, qualified for 1980–81 European Cup
2	Grasshopper Club	10	5	3	2	21	11	+10	18	31	qualified for 1980–81 UEFA Cup
3	Servette	10	5	1	4	18	11	+7	20	31	qualified for 1980–81 UEFA Cup
4	Zürich	10	5	1	4	17	15	+2	16	27
5	Sion	10	4	2	4	22	20	+2	16	26	Swiss Cup winners, qualified for 1980–81 Cup Winners' Cup and entered 1980 Intertoto Cup
6	Luzern	10	0	1	9	4	38	−34	16	17