FC Aarau

FC Aarau

Full name	Fussball-Club Aarau
Founded	1902
Ground	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
Capacity	9,249
Chairman	Alfred Schmid
Manager	Marco Schällibaum
League	Swiss Challenge League
2015–16	4th
Home colours Away colours

FC Aarau is a Swiss football club, based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League.

History

FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local brewery. The early days of the club were a success and they won the Swiss championship in 1911/12 and then again in 1913/14. The club spent 25 years, from 1907–1933, in the top league but were relegated to the lower league and were unable to return to the top flight for a number of decades. In the 1980/81 season the club were able to return to the top league in the Swiss football pyramid after a 3–1 victory over Vevey-Sports. They have stayed there ever since and in the 1992/93 season they won the Swiss National League A managed by Austrian Rolf Fringer.

The club have also had success in the Swiss Cup finishing as runners up in 1930, 1989. In 1985 Aarau tasted their only victory in the Swiss Cup, coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld.

At the end of 2002 the club was almost in financial ruin. They were saved when the then Club President Michael Hunziker made 4,500 shares available to purchase. This succeeded in staving off the threat of liquidation.

FC Aarau is also known as a lucky team as they have been in the top flight since 1981 and barely escaped relegation on numerous occasions earning the club the nickname 'Die Unabsteigbaren' which translates into 'those that cannot be relegated.'

Club Structure

On 7 January 2003, with the club on the brink of financial ruin, a total of 4,500 shares were issued for a total of 1,510,000 Swiss Francs. A new holding company, FC Aarau Ltd, was set up to administer the club. FC Aarau Ltd are responsible for the implementation, organization and management of professional football games of the 1st XI and the performance of teams in the junior area. Since 2006 the old club FC Aarau 1902 has only been in charge of children's and women's teams.

The current President of FC Aarau Ltd is local entrepreneur Alfred Schmid, who has been in charge since 13 June 2007. FC Aarau 1902 is looked after by Peter Villiger.

Former manager Urs Schönenberger stood down in 2006 and the role was assumed by his assistant manager Ruedi Zahner. Ruedi was born in Aarau and spent nine years at the club as a player in two separate spells. However his appointment only lasted a few months. During the winter break in the 2006/07 season Zahner was replaced by FC Baden coach Ryszard Komornicki on a temporary basis. However with relegation looming Gilbert Gress was brought in with three games to go. The move was a success and the club gained 5 points from the remaining games and so escaped relegation by one point. Gilbert Gress decided not to renew his contract with the club and so former Polish international Ryszard Komornicki returned. He has signed a contract until Summer 2010 but was replaced in June 2009 by Jeff Saibene who didn't last long as he was sacked on 12 October after Aarau achieved only 5 points in 12 games.

Honours

• Swiss Challenge League: 2013
• National League A/top league: 1912, 1914, 1993
• Swiss Cup: 1985
• Swiss League Cup: 1982

Current squad

As of 31 August 2016 ^[1]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Lorenzo Bucchi 2 DF Marco Thaler 6 MF Sandro Burki 7 MF Daniele Romano 8 DF Pascal Thrier 9 FW Alessandro Ciarrocchi 10 MF Sébastien Wüthrich 11 FW Zoran Josipovic 13 DF Bruno Martignoni 16 MF Olivier Jäckle 17 MF Geoffrey Tréand

No. Position Player 19 DF Juan Pablo Garat 21 MF Mats Hammerich 23 DF Stéphane Besle 26 MF Michael Perrier 27 GK Ulisse Pelloni 28 MF Miguel Peralta 31 DF Denis Markaj 34 MF Lulzim Aliu 35 FW Varol Tasar 47 FW Patrick Rossini 99 GK Lars Hunn

Multiple nationalities

• Juan Pablo Garat
• Olivier Jäckle

Stadium

Aarau play their home games in Stadion Brügglifeld. The current capacity is 9'249 seats, divided into 1'499 covered seats (of which 1'187 seats are in the main stand and 312 additional seats on the smaller grandstand). The remainder is an uncovered terracing area which has space for 7,750. The away supporters are housed behind one goal, to the right of where the players run out. This has space for 1,500.

The stadium was opened on 12 October 1924 with a friendly game against local side FC Zürich. A new main stand was added in 1982 and in the 1990s the addition of a smaller grandstand and a complete renovation of the standing areas. The stadium is on the municipality of Suhr.

In 2008 the latest proposals were put forward for a new urban development to include a new home for FC Aarau. The Mittelland Arena, in the heart of Central Park in Aarau, should be used to cover 12,500 seats. On 25 September 2005 the proposal for the new development, including the football stadium and a shopping centre, were rejected by the people of Aarau in a referendum. FC Aarau Ltd and the city council are currently working on a new solution for the club as the current stadium is considered to be not good enough for top-flight football. The Swiss Football Association is unhappy at its use in the top flight.

Supporters

FC Aarau supporters are known as a very passionate group, despite their relatively small numbers in comparison to many other teams in Switzerland. There are many fan groups but the most popular is known as Szene Aarau.

Rivalries

Despite their close proximity to Zürich, Aarau fans have no dislike of either FC Zürich or Grasshopper Club Zürich. Their rivalries are with FC St. Gallen, FC Schaffhausen and FC Luzern. These are due to a number of historical reasons.

FC Aarau in Europe

First Leg Date	Second Leg Date	Competition	Opposition	First Leg	Second Leg	Overall Result
18. September 1985	2 October 1985	Cup Winners Cup (1st Round)	FK Crvena Zvezda	0:2 (A)	2:2 (H)	2:4
7 September 1988	5 October 1988	UEFA Cup (1st Round)	1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig	0:3 (H)	0:4 (A)	0:7
18 August 1993	1 September 1993	Champions League(Qualification)	Omonia Nicosia	1:2 (A)	2:0 (H)	3:2
15 September 1993	29 September 1993	UEFA Champions League (1st Round)	AC Milan	0:1 (H)	0:0 (A)	0:1
9 August 1994	23 August 1994	UEFA Cup (Qualification)	NK Mura	1:0 (H)	1:0 (A)	2:0
13 September 1994	27 September 1994	UEFA Cup (1st Round)	CS Marítimo Funchal	0:0 (H)	0:1 (A)	0:1
6 August 1996	20 August 1996	UEFA Cup (Qualification)	FC Lantana Tallinn	4:0 (H)	0:2 (A)	4:2
10. September 1996	24. September 1996	UEFA Cup (1st Round)	Brøndby IF	0:5 (A)	0:2 (H)	0:7

Former coaches

1933–1934: Fritz Kerr 1934–1935: Hammerlindl 1934–1935: Josef Stocker 1934–1935: Rudolf Kiss 1935–1936: Karl Schrenk 1936–1938: Bela Volentik 1938–1939: A. Sutter 1939: Fritz Heine 1939–1940: Fritz Kerr 1940–1941: Fritz Heine 1941–1942: Walter Suter 1942–1943: Fritz Heine 1943–1946: Franz Sobotka 1946–1948: Emil Ludwig 1948–1950: Richard Longrin 1950–1951: H. Schneeberger 1950–1951: Urs Weber 1950–1951: Werner Schaer 1951–1953: Walter Presch 1953: Otto Imhof 1953–1954: Hermann Czischek 1954–1955: Fritz Kerr

1955–1956: Max Isler 1956–1958: Armin Scheurer 1958–1959: Willy Macho 1959–1960: Otto Imhof 1960–1962: Horst Schulz 1962: Herbert Schauer 1962–1965: Alfred "Coppi" Beck 1965: Herbert Schauer 1965–1967: Ernst Bürgler 1967–1970: Paul Stehrenberger 1970–1972: Werner Olk 1972–1973: Georges Sobotka 1973–1975: Srđan Čebinac 1975–1977: René Tschui 1977–1982: Paul Stehrenberger 1982: Paul Stehrenberger and Paul Fischli 1982–1984: Zvezdan Čebinac 1984–1988: Ottmar Hitzfeld 1988–1989: Hubert Kostka 1989–1990: Wolfgang Frank 1990–1991: Roger Wehrli 1991–1992: Alfred Strasser

1992–1995: Rolf Fringer 07/1995–09/1998: Martin Trümpler 09/1998–03/1999: Alfred Strasser 03/1999–05/2000: Jochen Dries 05/2000–05/2002: Rolf Fringer 05/2002–01/2004: Alain Geiger 01/2004–08/2004: Martin Rueda 08/2004–12/2005: Andy Egli 12/2005–05/2006: Alain Geiger 05/2006–10/2006: Urs Schönenberger 10/2006–01/2007: Ruedi Zahner 01/2007–05/2007: Ryszard Komornicki 05/2007–06/2007: Gilbert Gress 07/2007–06/2009: Ryszard Komornicki 06/2009–10/2009: Jeff Saibene 10/2009–04/2010: Martin Andermatt 04/2010–05/2010: Ranko Jakovljević 05/2010–05/2010: Alfred Strasser 06/2010–04/2011: Ranko Jakovljević 04/2011–05/2014: René Weiler 05/2014–03/2015: Sven Christ 03/2015–06/2015: Raimondo Ponte 07/2015–10/2015: Livio Bordoli

FC Aarau U21

The youth team, known as Team Aargau U21, is playing in the fourth tier (2. Liga Interregional).

FC Aarau Ladies'

FC Aarau have a ladies' team who compete in the second tier (Nationalliga B) of the Swiss football pyramid.

References

1. https://fcaarau.ch/teams/erste-mannschaft/

External links

• Official Website (German)
• FC Aarau Unofficial Forum (German)
• Szene Aarau (German)
• FC Aarau Ladies Team (German)
• Soccerway profile
• Just Cant Beat That profile (English)