FC Luzern

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FC Luzern
Logo
Full name Fussball-Club Luzern
Nickname(s) Die Leuchten (The Luminaries)
Founded 12 August 1901; 114 years ago
Ground Swissporarena, Lucerne
Ground Capacity 17,000
Chairman Rudolf Stäger
Manager Markus Babbel
League Swiss Super League
2014–15 Swiss Super League, 5th
Website Club home page

Fussball-Club Luzern, commonly known as FC Luzern (German pronunciation: [ʔɛf ˈt͡seː luˈtsɛrn]), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, and has won the national title once and the national cup twice.[1][2]

The club colours are blue and white, derived from the City of Lucerne and Canton of Lucerne coats of arms. The club plays its home games at Swissporarena which was newly built in 2011 at the place of the old Stadion Allmend.[3]

FC Luzern was founded in 1901. It has non-professional departments for women's football, volleyball, boccia and gymnastics.[4]

History

FC Luzern was officially founded on 12 August 1901 in Lucerne. After two years, FCL joined the Swiss Football League and started its first championship season in the third division. In the following years, FC Luzern was playing in various leagues. After the introduction of a new league system in 1944 (consisting of Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B as the two top tiers) FCL was allotted into Nationalliga B. The club remained in the second division until it was promoted in 1953. In the following years, FCL mainly played in the Nationalliga A. In 2003, after several seasons with financial and sporting troubles, the club was relegated to the renamed Challenge League, the former Nationalliga B. In 2006, after three seasons in the second division, FC Luzern celebrated its return into the top division (Super League) of Swiss football. In 2012 the club finished second in the Super League, securing its best league finish in 23 years.

FC Luzern's greatest success was winning the Swiss Championship in 1989. FCL have also won the Swiss Cup twice (1960 and 1992) and finished runners-up four times (1997, 2005, 2007, 2012).

With a total of 17 'moves', FC Luzern has the highest number of promotions and relegations to and from the national first division in the history of Swiss football.[5]

Promotions Relegations
9x (1936, 1953, 1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1993, 2006) 8x (1944, 1955, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1992, 2003)

Fans and rivalries

Although the club has only won three important national trophies, FC Luzern is one of the traditional football clubs in the country with a strong local supporter base. The club draws its support predominantly from Central Switzerland, leading the number of sold season tickets in the cantons of Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Uri, Zug as well as in some parts of Aargau and Schwyz.[6] Since moving to the new stadium in 2011, FCL has always ranked within the top four in terms of average attendance in the Swiss Super League with an average crowd of 11,000 to 14,000.[7]

The local derby is played with SC Kriens, whose stadium is located less than one kilometer from FC Luzern's facilities at Allmend. Due to the restructuring of the Swiss football league system in the past years, the two clubs are currently separated by two leagues and have not played each other in an official contest since 2006.

Although there are no traditional and deep rooted rivalries, periods of intensified sporting competition have sparked rivalries between FC Luzern and FC Basel in the mid-90s and with FC Sion in the mid-2000s. A majority of the fans, particularly Ultra groups, view FC St. Gallen as a major rival. Matches with FC Aarau are also by many considered as a local derby.

Stadium

Between 1934 and 2009, the club played its home games at the Stadion Allmend, which had a theoretical capacity of 25,000. For security reasons however, the Swiss Football Association did not allow more than 13,000 to attend in the final year of its existence in 2009. Until a new stadium was completed in 2011, FC Luzern temporarily played its home games in the Gersag Stadion located in Emmenbrücke.

In August 2011, the club moved into the newly built Swissporarena which is located at the place of the old ground. The opening game ended with a 0-0 draw against FC Thun.

Honours

  • Swiss Super League
  • Swiss Cup
    • Winners: 1960, 1992
    • Runners Up: 1997, 2005, 2007, 2012
  • Promotion to the top tier
    • 1936, 1953, 1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1993, 2006

The greatest success in the club's history was winning the championship in 1989 under the management of German head coach Friedel Rausch. Furthermore, the club played in six Swiss Cup finals, winning two by beating FC Grenchen 1-0 in 1960 and FC Lugano 3-1 (aet) in 1992. Most recently however, the club lost four finals in a row: In 1997 against FC Sion (4-5 pen), in 2005 against FC Zurich (1-3), and twice against FC Basel in 2007 (0-1) and 2012 (2-4 pen). Reaching the cup final in 2005 as a second-tier club, the promotion back to the Super League in 2006 and the achievement of reaching the cup finals again in 2007 and 2012 rank as the club's most recent successes.[8]

All-time league table

FC Luzern is currently ranked 10th in the all-time league table.[9]

European appearances

Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup QF Italy ACF Fiorentina 0–3 2–6 2–9
1986–87 UEFA Cup 1R Soviet Union FC Spartak Moscow 0–0 0–1 0–1
1989–90 European Cup 1R Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 0–3 0–2 0–5
1990–91 UEFA Cup 1R Hungary MTK Budapest 1–1 2–1 3–2
1990–91 UEFA Cup 2R Austria VfB Admira Wacker Mödling 0–1 1–1 1–2
1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Bulgaria PFC Levski Sofia 1–2 1–0 2–2
1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup 2R Netherlands Feyenoord 1–0 1–4 2–4
1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Czech Republic Slavia Prague 2–4 0–2 2–6
2010–11 UEFA Europa League 3Q Netherlands FC Utrecht 0–1 1–3 1–4
2012–13 UEFA Europa League PO Belgium KRC Genk 2–1 0–2 2–3
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2Q Scotland St. Johnstone 1–1 1–1(aet) 2–2(4–5 p.)

Source:[10]

Recent seasons

As of 25 June 2015.

The season-by-season performance of the club over the last eight years:[11]

Season Rank P W D L F A GD Pts Cup EL
2006–07 8 36 8 9 19 31 58 -27 33 Runner-up —
2007–08 6 36 10 14 12 40 49 -9 44 R16 -
2008–09 9* 36 9 8 19 45 62 -17 35 SF —
2009–10 4 36 17 7 12 66 55 +11 58 QF —
2010–11 6 36 13 9 14 62 57 +5 48 R16 3Q
2011–12 2 36 14 12 8 46 32 +14 54 Runner-up —
2012–13 8 36 10 12 14 41 52 -11 42 1R PO
2013–14 4 36 15 6 15 48 54 -6 51 SF —
2014–15 5 36 12 11 13 54 46 +8 47 R16 2Q

Rank = Rank in the Swiss Super League; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup = Swiss Cup; EL = UEFA Europa League.
in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; R16 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarterfinals; SF = Semifinals; 2Q = 2nd qualifying round; 3Q = 3rd qualifying round; PO = play-off round.
*Avoided relegation by beating FC Lugano 5 – 1 on aggregate in the relegation play-offs.

Current squad

As of 1 September 2015

First team squad

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

No. Position Player
1 Switzerland GK David Zibung
4 Germany DF Sebastian Schachten
5 Croatia DF Kaja Rogulj
7 Switzerland DF Claudio Lustenberger
8 Albania MF Jahmir Hyka
10 Austria MF Jakob Jantscher
11 Albania MF Migjen Basha
13 Croatia DF Tomislav Puljić
14 Switzerland DF Jérôme Thiesson
15 Switzerland FW Marco Schneuwly
16 Switzerland DF François Affolter
18 Italy GK Lorenzo Bucchi
19 Croatia MF Frane Čirjak
No. Position Player
21 Paraguay FW Dario Lezcano
23 France DF Sally Sarr
26 Switzerland MF Remo Freuler
27 Germany MF Nico Brandenburger (on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach)
28 Germany MF Clemens Fandrich
31 Kosovo MF Hekuran Kryeziu
32 Switzerland MF Nicolas Haas
35 Switzerland DF Yannick Schmid
37 Switzerland FW João de Oliveira
38 Switzerland DF Olivier Kleiner
39 Switzerland MF Remo Arnold
61 Germany FW Samed Yeşil (on loan from Liverpool)

Players out on loan

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

No. Position Player
17 Switzerland MF Claudio Holenstein (at FC Winterthur until 30 June 2016)
20 Romania FW Cristian Ianu (at FC Wohlen until 30 June 2016)
30 Switzerland GK Jonas Omlin (at FC Le Mont LS until 31 December 2015)
No. Position Player
36 Switzerland FW Omar Thali (at SC Kriens until 30 June 2016)
47 Albania DF Ferid Matri (at FC Le Mont LS until 30 June 2016)
93 Albania FW Haxhi Neziraj (at FC Schaffhausen until 30 June 2016)

Source:[12]

Personnel

As of 13 January 2015.

Current technical staff

Name Function
Markus Babbel Head coach
Roland Vrabec Assistant coach
Daniel Böbner Goalkeeper coach
Christian Schmidt Fitness coach
Norbert Fischer Fitness coach
vacant Director of football
Remo Gaugler Chief scout
Dante Carecci Team manager

Source:[13]

Head coaches since 2006

No. Coach from until days Points per game
1 Switzerland Ciriaco Sforza 1 July 2006 10 August 2008 771 1.15
2 Switzerland Jean-Daniel Gross (interim) 11 August 2008 17 August 2008 6 -
3 Switzerland Roberto Morinini 17 August 2008 27 October 2008 71 0.88
4 Switzerland Austria Rolf Fringer 27 October 2008 2 Mai 2011 917 1.51
5 Germany Christian Brand (interim) 2 May 2011 30 June 2011 59 0.80
6 Switzerland Turkey Murat Yakin 1 July 2011 19 August 2012 415 1.57
7 Poland Ryszard Komornicki 20 August 2012 2 April 2013 225 1.00
8 Switzerland Spain Gerardo Seoane (interim) 4 April 2013 8 April 2013 4 -
9 Argentina Switzerland Carlos Bernegger 8 April 2013 6 October 2014 546 1.44
10 Germany Markus Babbel 13 October 2014 - - 1.62*

* By the end of the 2014/15 Season

Head coaches until 2006

Source:[14]

Current board

Investor group
Name Function
Philipp Studhalter President
Josef Bieri Vice-president
Bernhard Alpstäg Board member
Samih Sawiris Board member
Hans Schmid Board member
Marco Sieber Board member
Executive board
Name Function
Rudolf Stäger President
Rolf Fringer Executive board member (Sport)
Reto Mattmann Executive board member (Stadium)
Thomas Ulrich Executive board member (Marketing)
Sandro Wyss Executive board member (Finance)

Source:[15]

Former notable players

See also Category:FC Luzern players.

References

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External links

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