FC Winterthur - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

FC Winterthur is a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

club based in Winterthur

Winterthur

Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...

, Canton of Zürich

Canton of Zürich

The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...

. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second highest tier of Swiss football. They play at the Schützenwiese Stadium.

History

The club was founded in 1896 and enjoyed their best success in the early part of the 20th century winning the Swiss Super League

Swiss Super League

The Swiss Super League or Axpo Super League is the top tier of the Swiss Football League. The Swiss Super League is currently ranked 16th according to UEFA's ranking of league coefficients, which is based upon Swiss team performances in European competitions.-Names:-Participating clubs:The teams...

three times (in 1906, 1908 and 1917

Swiss Super League 1916-17

-East:-Central:-West:-Final:FC Winterthur won the championship.-References:...

).

They famously lost to West Auckland F.C., an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

amateur team in what is thought to be the first international football club competition, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy

Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy

The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is sometimes referred to as The First World Cup. However it is predated by the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, which was hosted in 1908 also in Turin, as the...

.

The club have also reached the final of the Swiss League Cup

Swiss League Cup

The Swiss League Cup was a football tournament which took place as a summer pre-season tournament in 1972 and 1973, and during the Swiss football season from 1974–75 to 1981–82...

twice (in 1972 and 1973) but lost on both occasions. They also reached the final of the Swiss Cup in 1968 and 1975 but also lost on both occasions.

In 2005-06 season the club finished 14th place in the Challenge League

Challenge League

The Swiss Challenge League is the second highest tier of the Swiss Football League. Sixteen teams play in the Challenge League. The winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, and the bottom two teams are relegated to the 1. Liga...

but, whilst performing poorly in the league, they made it to the semi finals of the Swiss Cup by defeating Grasshoppers

Grasshopper-Club Zürich

Grasshopper Club Zürich commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshopper is a Swiss multisports club based in Zürich. The oldest and best known section of Grasshopper Club Zürich is its football team...

, Lucerne

FC Lucerne

FC Luzern is a Swiss football club, founded in 1901. The club colors are blue and white, derived from the Canton of Lucerne and the City of Lucerne coats of arms.- History :...

and Servette

Servette FC

Servette FC is a Swiss football club, based in Geneva currently playing in the Swiss Super League. They were playing in the Swiss Challenge League, the second highest tier of Swiss football having been relegated from the Swiss Super League at the end of 2004/05 season...

. The club lost to the eventual winners Sion

FC Sion

FC Sion is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home games at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and the Swiss Cup in each of their twelve appearances in the final, the most recent being in 2011.The first team also...

at home.

Current squad

As of 22 July, 2011.

Stadium

The club play at Stadion Schützenwiese which is a short walk from the centre of Winterthur

Winterthur

. It has been their home since 1900. The first grandstand was built in 1922. This was replaced in 1957 using sponsorship money.

In the 1980s the ownership was transferred to Winterthur

Winterthur

council as the club faced financial problems. The council are responsible for any maintenance and upkeep.

At one time the stadium capacity was as high as 14,987 but as of 2009 it is 8,550. The stadium consists of around 1,000 seats and the rest is standing area. For a while there has been dialogue between the club and Winterthur council to expand and upgrade the stadium in order for the club to realise their ambitions of playing in the top flight

Swiss Super League

. Currently the stadium is not of high enough safety to stage Super League

Swiss Super League

matches.

The more hardcore supporters of the club stand at one end, which is known as the Bierkurve. They also have a small stand for younger supporters known as the Syrupkurve. Away supporters are housed at the opposite end of the stadium to the Bierkurve.

Honours

3 times Swiss champions

Swiss Super League

Swiss Super League

winners 1906, 1908 and 1917

Swiss Super League 1916-17

-East:-Central:-West:-Final:FC Winterthur won the championship.-References:...

Famous players

António Carlos dos Santos Patrick Bengondo Timité Sekou

Timité Sekou

Timité Oussou Sekou is an Ivorian association footballer who plays for Stade Tunisien.- Career :Sekou began his career by Réveil Club de Daloa who was transferred 2004 to Issia Wazi, before on 28 July 2005 joined to Espérance Sportive de Tunis. Then left in January 2006 Espérance and joined to...

Charles Amoah

Charles Amoah is a retired Ghanaian international footballer. Amoah was top scorer in the Ghana Premier League during the 1994–95 season and in the Swiss Super League during the 1999–00 season, where he scored 25 goals....

Joachim Löw Vits Rimkus

Vits Rimkus

Vīts Rimkus is a football striker from Latvia, currently playing for Finikas Ayias Marinas Chrisohus in Cypriot Fourth Division, after being released by FK Ekranas in Lithuania....

José Gonçalves

José Gonçalves is a Portuguese footballer of Cape Verdean descent currently playing for FC Sion in the Swiss Super League. He is Portuguese by birth but has Swiss citizenship, having lived there since he was two years old...

Bora Milutinović

Boban Maksimović

Boban Maksimovic

Boban Maksimović is a Swiss football midfielder playing with FC Breitenrain Bern in the Swiss 1...

Martin Andermatt

Martin Andermatt is a Swiss football manager.-Career:The trained teacher commenced his career as player with SC Zug, FC Baar, FC Emmenbrücke, and FC Wettingen. After this followed assignments as professional with Grasshopper-Club Zürich and FC Basel...

Daniel Gygax

Daniel Gygax is a Swiss football midfielder. He currently plays for FC Luzern and the Swiss national team.-Career:On 7 July 2008, Gygax moved to FC Nuremberg in Germany. He left the team on 30 June 2010 to join FC Luzern...

Fritz Künzli

Friedrich "Fritz" Künzli is a retired Swiss football striker.He got 42 caps and 16 goals for Switzerland between 17 October 1965 and 16 November 1977...

Pascal Renfer

Pascal Renfer is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as striker for AC Lugano.-External links:*...

Umberto Romano

Umberto Romano is a Swiss football player of Italian descent, he works currently as player-coach for FC Linth 04.- Career :He signed for FC Winterthur on 23 July 2004, and on 2 June 2009 was named as the new Player-Coach of FC Linth 04....

Dario Zuffi

Dario Zuffi is a Swiss football coach and former international player, who is currently a coach for FC Winterthur's U-21 team.-Playing career:Dario Zuffi first became famous when he was playing on BSC Young Boys...

Önder Çengel

Önder Çengel is a Turkish-Swiss football playerAt the start of the 2004-05 season, Turkish champion Fenerbahçe tried Önder and Gökhan İnler in the season start training camp in Germany, but coach Christoph Daum declared that both players could not play for Fenerbahçe.Although wearing shirt no.7,...

Yao Aziawonou

Yao Kaka Aziawonou is a Togolese football midfielder who plays for FC Winterthur.He is a member of the Togo national football team, and was called up to the 2006 World Cup.-External links:* at National Football Teams...

Jaime Ambriz

Jaime Ambriz is an American soccer forward who played professionally in the United Soccer Leagues and Europe.-Youth:Ambriz played high school soccer at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, California...

Dieter Eckstein

Dieter Eckstein is a retired German football player, who played for several German clubs plus clubs in Switzerland and West Ham United in England.He played for the West Germany national team, earning seven caps...

Timo Konietzka

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.