Basler Sportclub Old Boys, commonly known as BSC Old Boys, Old Boys Basel or simply Old Boys or when written just OB, is a
Swiss sports club based in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
. The club is mainly known for its
football but it also has track, swimming and tennis sections. The association's colors are yellow and black.
History
In 1876 the gymnastics teacher at the then secondary school, Adolf Glaz, founded the RTV/Realschüler-Turnverein (secondary school student gymnastics club). In 1893 he introduced his students to the new football game. From then some members of the club met regularly during the summer and autumn holidays and the RTV had a football team. When the students finished school, they could no longer be members of the student association. That is why they founded their own football club in 1894.
Since they founded the club because they had become too old for the school club, they called the new club the "Old Boys".
Although the first national championship in Switzerland took place in
1897–98 it is considered as unofficial because it was not organized by the
Swiss Football Association (SFA; founded in 1895 with OB as founder member). OB did not participate in this first championship, but did in the second edition during the following season.
The first edition of the official Swiss championship was played in the
1898–99 season as a knock out competition, divided into three regional groups, an east (region Zürich), a central (regional north-west Switzerland) and west group (
Romandy). The winners of each group played the finals in a
round-robin tournament. OB played against
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
in the central group semi-final, at the
Landhof on 13 November 1898 and drew 1–1 with their local rivals.
It therefore required a replay. This was also drawn, despite an agreed two times 20 minutes extra time. Because OB complained that the first FCB goal had been scored by hand, they protested and the
SFA had to deal with the matter. Subsequently, the protest was approved and awarded - and the disputed goal was simply deducted from the score to give the final result. Thus OB became the first forfait winners in Swiss football history.
OB advanced to the finals, but the
Anglo-American Club Zürich became Swiss champions.
The
Swiss Serie A season 1903–04 was again divided into three regional groups, east, central and west. OB were allocated to the central group together with the
Young Boys,
FC Bern
Fussballclub Bern (FC Bern) is a football team from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, who currently play in the Gruppe 1, Bern/Jura canton of 2. Liga.
In 1921, the club won the Och Cup (that was considered as the former Swiss Cup
Th ...
,
Floria Biel/Bienne, and two further teams from Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
and
Fortuna Basel. The Young Boys and the Old Boys ended level on points and so a play-off match was arranged. The OB won the play-off 3–2 and therefore qualified for the finals. In the finals
St. Gallen first drew 1–1 against group west winners
Servette, then they won 1–0 against central group winners OB and because the OB beat Servette 2–0, St. Gallen won their first ever championship title.
The
Swiss Serie A 1912–13 was also divided into three regional groups as before. OB were allocated to the central group together with local rivals
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
and
Nordstern Basel. The other teams playing in this group were
Young Boys,
FC La Chaux-de-Fonds,
Étoile-Sporting FC La Chaux-de-Fonds,
FC Bern
Fussballclub Bern (FC Bern) is a football team from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, who currently play in the Gruppe 1, Bern/Jura canton of 2. Liga.
In 1921, the club won the Och Cup (that was considered as the former Swiss Cup
Th ...
and
Biel-Bienne
, french: Biennois(e)
, neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin
, twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany)
...
. One point ahead of
Young Boys, OB became group winners and advanced to the finals.
Lausanne Sports won the championship and OB were again runners-up.
The club was founded as FC Old Boys Basel but became BSC Old Boys at the beginning of the 20th century. As explained in 1899, 1904 and 1913, the club finished as runners-up in the
Swiss Series A, but in 1932, the club was relegated from the professional leagues. After spending many years in the amateur leagues, OB managed to climb back into the
Nationalliga B in 1987, the same year that local rivals
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
were relegated from the
Nationalliga A, meaning the two clubs would meet again. In the 1995/96 season, Old Boys were relegated again from the professional divisions to the amateurs and they now play in the Second Group of
Swiss 1. Liga.
BSC Old Boys play at the
Stadium Schützenmatte, but the original home ground of the club was Margaret Meadow. The club had to move stadium because the IWB, the Industrial Works of Basel, bought the grounds and developed their head-quarters there.
In 1922, a swimming section was founded, which later merged with other clubs, and in 1927, a tennis club was founded. In 1935, it split to become Tennis Club Old Boys, today's home club of
Roger Federer.
Famous coaches
*
Hans Krostina (1989)
*
Massimo Ceccaroni (2005–2012)
*
Marco Walker (2019–2020)
References
External links
Official Website Old Boys WebsiteOld Boys Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Boys
Football clubs in Switzerland
Association football clubs established in 1894
Sport in Basel
1894 establishments in Switzerland