Erwin Ballabio (20 October 1918 – 4 March 2008) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He played for

FC Grenchen FC Grenchen is a Swiss football club, based in Grenchen. They currently play in the 2. Liga, and play their matches at the Brühl Stadium. History FC Grenchen was founded in 1906. In 1937 they gained promotion to the top league of Swiss fo ...

and the Swiss national team. Known as the "Black Panther" he kept goal for eight years for the Swiss team.

Early life

In 1941 Ballabio became the town of Grenchen's third

policeman A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

As a player

FC Grenchen

Ballabios was originally a youth player at

, and made his change to goalkeeper when 7–0 down playing for the youth team his manager placed the young defender in goal where he went on to save a penalty, starting his career as a keeper. He was called into the first team aged sixteen and enjoyed a long career as first choice keeper. His only football away from Grenchen was three seasons of vocational training, one at

Lausanne Sports Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League Season. The ...

and the other two at

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss association football, football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Super League from 2025–26, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, following promotion from the ...

. He retired, becoming manager in 1956 to give younger keepers a chance. However, in 1959 he came out of a four-year retirement for one match, to replace Grenchen's injured first choice keeper in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

final against

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

. He kept a clean sheet and Grenchen won the cup.

Switzerland

Ballabio's debut came in February 1939 against Portugal with his last match in June 1947. His total of 27 appearances for his country make him the third most capped keeper, which is a remarkable achievement considering the lack of fixtures due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

As a manager

FC Grenchen

Almost immediately after retiring as a player, Ballabio took charge of the FC Grenchen team. During his ten-year reign he took the team to their only

Schweizer Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

win in 1959, and led them to a final defeat the following year. With Ballabio at the helm FC Grenchen recorded their best league performances finishing runner-up in 1959 and to third place in 1964.

Switzerland

Ballabio was appointed as national coach on 24 May 1967, replacing

Alfredo Foni Alfredo Foni (; 20 January 1911 – 28 January 1985) was an Italians, Italian football (soccer), footballer in the 1930s and later on a coach, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is one of only four players to have won ...

. In his first match, a Euro 1968 qualifier, his side recorded a 7–1 win against Romania, however they failed to qualify. He remained in charge for World Cup qualification but after a 1–1 draw with Portugal on 2 November 1969 meant they failed to qualify he was sacked.

Statistics

References

External links

The Black Panther

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballabio, Erwin 1918 births 2008 deaths People from Lebern District Footballers from the canton of Solothurn Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers FC Thun players FC Lausanne-Sport players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Swiss football managers Switzerland national football team managers Swiss police officers 20th-century Swiss sportsmen