Alain Geiger (born 5 November 1960) is a Swiss

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

manager and a former defender. He is the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

for

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the ...

. He played mainly as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

despite being only 1.80m in a career that lasted 20 years, and made 112 appearances at international level, being Switzerland's second most capped player behind Heinz Hermann. His son, Bastien, is also a professional footballer.

Playing career

Club

Geiger started playing professionally in 1977 with

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. He played just two matches in his first season but by 1978, he was a first-team regular in the side that went on to win the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

in 1980. In 1981, he signed for

, who were one of Switzerland's most successful teams at the time, and became an invaluable player for both club and country. He helped the club win the 1984 Swiss Cup, defeating

Lausanne Sports FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

1–0

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

in the final, and the league title in 1985. An aspiring

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

side acquired his services in 1986, and he helped it win the national championship during the only two seasons he played for them, 1986–87 and 1987–88. A move to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

was on the cards next for Geiger, as he signed for

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

during the Summer of 1988. He was a big hit and a first-team regular at

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is a multi-purpose stadium in Saint-Étienne, France. It is used primarily for football matches, and tournaments such as the UEFA Euro 1984 and 2016, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. It is a ...

, but opted for a return to Switzerland and Sion, in 1990. During his second spell, he saw the form of his life as he became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for both club and the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

. He lifted the league trophy for the fourth time in his career as Sion were crowned champions in 1991–92. In 1995, Geiger signed for

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds t ...

, where he finishing his career after a further two seasons, having played 496 Swiss first division matches, with 38 goals.

International

Geiger made his international debut in Switzerland's 2–1 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, on 19 November 1980, and went on to be

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

112 times and score five goals, between 1980 and 1996, five appearances short of

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Heinz Hermann. His last match was also against England, in a 1–1 draw at

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, on 8 June. He captained his country at both this competition and the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, usually being accompanied at centre-back by Dominique Herr.

Coaching career

Geiger's first managerial role was spent with the reserves of Grasshopper, in 1997. He did so well there that he was given the reigns at another old side, Neuchâtel Xamax, in July 1998. At Xamax, he helped develop the talents of

Timothée Atouba Timothée Atouba (born 17 February 1982) is a Cameroonian footballer who played as a left back. Career Born in Douala, Cameroon, Atouba went to Europe to play for Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax. Atouba signed for Tottenham Hotspur in August 2004. ...

, Papa Bouba Diop and

Henri Camara Henri Camara (born 10 May 1977) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. Starting his career in the late 1990s, he went on to play professionally in France, Switzerland, Scotland, England, and Greece before retiri ...

, and helped the club avoid relegation from the league in his last two seasons. Geiger quit the club in July 2002 to take over at

FC Aarau 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 br ...

, but the club were relegated into the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

at the end of 2002–03 and he was given the sack. In December 2003, he was surprisingly named the manager of Grasshopper, but the team fared poorly under him and he was once again fired. Subsequently, Geiger had short spells managing

and

before being given the job at Moroccan side

Olympique Safi Olympic Club de Safi ( ar, نادي أولمبيك أسفي) is a Moroccan football club based in Safi. Honours * Moroccan League Second Division: 1 ::2004 *Moroccan Cup: Finalist ::2016 Current squad Managers ...

in 2006. He saved the club from relegation from GNF 1 during the 2006–07 season, but resigned at the end of the campaign. In June 2009, he was replaced by Pierre-André Schürmann as head coach of

. In January 2010, he was appointed as manager of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n club JS Kabylie. On 14 December 2010, Geiger resigned from his position. During his time with the club, his most notable achievement was leading the team to the semi-finals of the

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe ...

where they lost to eventual champions TP Mazembe. On 23 September 2011, Geiger was appointed as manager of

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

. In his first season with the club, he led the team to the league-cup double, winning the 2011–12 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 and the

2011–12 Algerian Cup The 2011–12 Algerian Cup was the 48th edition of the Algerian Cup. JS Kabylie were the defending champions, having beaten USM El Harrach 1–0 in the previous season's final. In the final, ES Sétif beat CR Belouizdad 2-1 in extra-time to wi ...

. On 6 June 2012, Geiger became manager of Saudi club

Ettifaq FC Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq i ...

, signing a two-year contract with the club. On 30 May 2013, Geiger reached an agreement with

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger ( ar, نادي مولودية الجزائر), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home st ...

to take over as new coach, succeeding

Djamel Menad Djamel Menad ( ar, جمال مناد; born 22 July 1960) is an Algerian retired professional footballer, who played as a forward and who manages USM El Harrach. Club career Born in El Bayadh, Menad started his playing career with CR Belouizdad ...

. Taking over Geneva's

in 2018, the team wins the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while th ...

at the end of his first season, getting promoted to the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

Honours

Player

Sion * Nationalliga A: 1991–92 *

: 1979–80, 1990–91, 1994–95 Servette * Nationalliga A: 1984–85 * Swiss Cup: 1983–84 Neuchâtel Xamax * Nationalliga A: 1986–87, 1987–88 *

Swiss Super Cup The Swiss SuperCup was a match that was played between the winners of the Swiss Super League and the Swiss Cup. It was held from 1986 to 1990. Winners Total Titles External links * Garin, Erik"Switzerland Super Cup Finals" RSSSF. Super ...

: 1987

Manager

Grasshoppers * Swiss Cup: runner-up 2003–04 ES Sétif *

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup ( ar, كأس الجزائر) also known the Republic Cup ( ar, كأس الجمهورية), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after in ...

: 2011–12 *

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 ( ar, الرابطة الجزائرية المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم); known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat Natio ...

: 2011–12 Servette *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Alain 1960 births Living people Swiss men's footballers Swiss Super League players FC Sion players Servette FC players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Grasshopper Club Zürich players Ligue 1 players AS Saint-Étienne players Switzerland international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players Swiss football managers Swiss expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France FIFA Century Club Association football defenders Swiss-French people Neuchâtel Xamax FCS managers FC Aarau managers Grasshopper Club Zürich managers FC Lausanne-Sport managers Expatriate football managers in Algeria Expatriate football managers in Egypt JS Kabylie managers ES Sétif managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Ettifaq FC managers MC Alger managers People from Sion District Olympic Club de Safi managers Swiss Challenge League managers Swiss Super League managers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Algeria Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Al Masry SC managers MO Béjaïa managers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Morocco Egyptian Premier League managers Saudi Professional League managers Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 managers Botola managers Sportspeople from Valais