Mario Uccella (born 18 February 1966) is a retired Italian-Swiss

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played in the 1980s and 1990s as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

.Weltfussball
/ref> Uccella first played for FC Brüttisellen. He then signed his first profession contract and played for

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

in the

1987–88 Nationalliga A Statistics of the Swiss National League in the 1987–88 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. Overview There had been modifications to the Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) in advance of this season and the format of th ...

season, but he and the team suffered relegation at the end of that season. Uccella stayed with the club, but they failed in their immediate promotion attempt. Because he was only getting occasional playing possibilities he decided to move on and transferred to

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stad ...

. Here he stayed, under contract, for three seasons. Uccella joined

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

's first team for their 1992–93 season under head-coach

Friedel Rausch Friedel Rausch (27 February 1940 – 18 November 2017) was a German football player and manager. As a manager, he won with FC Luzern the Swiss championship in 1989 and the cup in 1992, thereby becoming the most successful manager in the club's ...

. After playing in five test games Uccella played his domestic league debut for his new club in the opening match of the season, an away game on 18 July 1992 as Basel were defeated 0–1 by

Grenchen Grenchen () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lebern (district), Lebern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains betwee ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 November in the away game in the

La Blancherie Stade de la Blancherie is a stadium in Delémont, Switzerland. It is the home of SR Delémont and has a capacity of 5,263. The stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events ...

and it was the winning goal as Basel won 1–0 against

SR Delémont Sport-Réunis de Delémont (shortened to SR Delémont) is a Swiss Association football, football club based in Delémont and founded in 1909. The team currently play in Swiss 1. Liga (football), 1st League Classic from 2025–26, the fourth tier ...

. During Basel's 1993–94 season his teammates included Swiss international goalkeeper

Stefan Huber Stefan Huber (born 14 June 1966) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Club career Huber played his youth football by local club FC Unterstrass. He then moved to Grasshoppe ...

, defenders

Massimo Ceccaroni Massimo Ceccaroni (born 15 August 1968) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He played for FC Basel for very nearly his entire career. He was later trainer at amateur club BSC Old Boys and then trai ...

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and

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, the midfielders

Mario Cantaluppi Mario "Lupo" Cantaluppi (born 11 April 1974) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. Club career Born in Schlieren, Switzerland, Mario Cantaluppi started his professional career with Grasshopper Club Z� ...

Martin Jeitziner Martin Jeitziner (born 13 January 1963) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the 1980s and 1990s. Career Jeitziner played his youth football with FC Basel and advanced to their first team during their 1980– ...

Admir Smajić Admir Smajić (born 7 September 1963) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He played in the Yugoslavia national team and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Club career Partizan Born in Bijeljina,Ørjan Berg Ørjan Berg (born 20 August 1968) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Bodø/Glimt. Berg retired at the end of the 2006 season, having played for Bodø/Glimt, Wetting ...

and the Swiss international striker

Dario Zuffi Dario Zuffi (born 7 December 1964) is a Swiss football coach and former international player. He is currently employed as assistant coach for FC Winterthur. Career Playing career Zuffi played his youth football with the local Winterthur team FC ...

. Together they won the promotion/relegation group and as Nationalliga B champions thus won promotion to the top flight of Swiss football, after six seasons in the second tier. He stayed with the club for two seasons, playing 56 games and scoring two goals. 31 of these games were in the Nationalliga B, three were 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 ...

and 22 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic league; the other was scored during a test game. Following his time with Basel, Uccella retired from his professional career and continued as an amateur with local team FC Riehen.

References

Sources

* Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. * Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uccella, Mario 1966 births Living people Italian men's footballers FC Zürich players FC Winterthur players FC Basel players Men's association football midfielders Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Italian sportsmen