2014–15 FC Winterthur season

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FC Winterthur
2014–15 season
ChairmanSwitzerland Hannes W. Keller
ManagerJürgen Seeberger
GroundSchützenwiese, Winterthur, Switzerland
Super League4th
Swiss Cup2nd round
Top goalscorerLeague: Patrick Bengondo (20)
All: Patrick Bengondo (20)
Highest home attendance3,400 on 30 May 2015
vs Servette
Lowest home attendance1,600 on 25 February 2015
vs FC Le Mont
Average home league attendance2,867

FC Winterthur are a Swiss football team based in Winterthur. The 2014–15 season was their 118th season since their foundation in 1896. In this campaign they competed in two competitions, the 2014–15 Swiss Challenge League and the 2014–15 Swiss Cup. The club played their home games in the Stadion Schützenwiese.

Overview

The club's chairman was Hannes W. Keller. It was his 14th and last season as club chairman and he was in office longer than any club president before him.[1] The first team played their home games in the Stadion Schützenwiese, which has been their home ground since the club's foundation. To match the Swiss Football League's license requirements introduced in the 2012/13 season, the stadium was modernized in three stages. The first stage contained improvements to the lighting, security, and catering systems, completed by 2013. This was followed by a rebuild of the eastern standing terrace in the second half of 2014 and early 2015. The capacity of the stadium for the 2014–15 season was reduced to approximately 5,000 spectators, due to this renovation. On Monday evening, 2 March 2015, for the championship match against FC Schaffhausen, the new eastern standing terraces ware officially inaugurated and taken into operation. The final renovation of the main stands was to take place 2016.[2]

Pre-season

The most important issue in the preparation of the new season was only achieved two weeks before the start of the championship, although the change in the position of the head-coach had been announced some time in advance. After five years as boss, but because of the previous disappointing season, coach Boro Kuzmanovic had been dismissed. Jürgen Seeberger was hired a new coach. In his last job in Switzerland he led FC Schaffhausen from the third highest league to the Super League. His previous employer, SV Darmstadt 98, had separated themselves from him in December 2012. On the transfer front it was soon clear that central defender Sead Hajrović, brother of Izet Hajrovic, would join the club coming from Grasshopper Club. Other important signings were João Paiva, who had been FC Wohlens' top scorer the previous season, center-back Dennis Iapichino, who had spent the previous two season in the Major League Soccer, by Montreal Impact and D.C. United and Marco Köfler from Kapfenberger SV. Furthermore Kristian Nushi joined from St. Gallen, Amin Tighazoui joined from Vaduz and Christian Fassnacht was signed from FC Tuggen.[3] The three most prominent departures were that of 33-year-old Sawas Exouzidis, who could no longer find a place in the team that Jürgen Seeberger had massively rejuvenated, Kristian Kuzmanovic, who left the club to play for Vaduz after his father had been fired, and Marco Aratore who transferred to St. Gallen in the top level of Swiss football.[3]

First half of season

The first half of the season started for Winterthur on July 21, 2014 in the Schützenwiese with a home match against FC Wil. The 4–0 win against Wil was the beginning of a first good third of the championship for the club. By the end of September, six of ten games had been ended victorious and only three had ended in a defeat. Winterthur was in second position in the table at that time, five points behind the surprise leader FC Wohlen. Subsequently, however, the team slackened and only two more victories were achieved before the winter break in the remaining eight games. The gap to the top of the table grew to 9 points and the club over wintered in 4th position. The team were along way from being a promotion candidate. Despite everything, the preliminary round was stronger than the previous season and this left a good impression of the coach. In the individual criticism captain Patrick Bengondo emerged best, because he was involved in each second goal.

Second half of season

In the second half of the season, Winterthur did bot start as well as in the first half of the season. The first six games after the winter break were an up and down with three wins, two defeats and one draw. Then the team collapsed completely and managed just one single point in the following six games. This was the worst run of results that the club had achieved since the 2003–04 season. Although FCW was able to hold the fourth position in the table despite this victoryless phase, the gap to the leader increased from 11 to 33 points and they lost all contact to the extended top group. The 14 points achieved in the final six games didn't help to correct the effect of this slump either.[4] Winterthur finally finished the season with 53 points in 4th place, 21 points behind the division champions and promotion winners Lugano. In the end, Der Landbote reported a "decent season" for the FCW, but once again missed the "necessary winner mentality".[5] What was remarkable about the 2014–15 season was the home strength and at the same time away weakness of the team. While they were the second-best team in the "home" table, four points behind newly promoted Lugano, on the other hand they were the second-worst team in the league "away" table, with just one point more than the bottom of the table Biel-Bienne. Servette did not obtain a license for the 2015-16 Challenge League season, due to the fact that they did not provide the necessary financial documents and guarantees. Servette was therefore relegated to the Promotion League. Because Servette had their license revoked Biel-Bienne escaped relegation.[6]

Swiss Cup

Winterthur entered into the 2014–15 Swiss Cup on 23 August 2014 in an away game in the first round against lower tier FC Eschenbach. A tenth minute goal from youngster Mario Budimir put the team on the right track. However, Eschenbach equalised in the 68th minute and Winterthur had to increase the pace. Which they did and Tunahan Cicek and Amin Tighazoui both scored, so that the team could continue to the next round. In the second round Winterthur were drawn at home to reigning Swiss Champions Basel. The match was played on 21 September in the Schützenwiese in front of a full capacity 5,050 spectators. After a short period of testing, in which the hosts kept up well, FCB took over dictation of the game. Mohamed Elneny brought his colors into the lead after half an hour with a remarkable drop kick from outside the penalty area. This was the start of a final phase of the first half in which the Basel team won the game. Breel Embolo scored twice before the break. After the break, he crowned his performance with his third personal goal, a beautiful lifting ball from a tight angle. This 4–0 also meant the final result. Basel's victory was deserved, but FC Winterthur also played a courageous game and would have deserved a goal for the good performance. The defense in front of Basel's goalkeeper Germano Vailati held things tight and so after the first half hour, there was no longer any doubt as to which of the two teams would reach the next round.[7] FC Basel continued as far as the final, but here they were beaten by FC Sion. This was the 13th cup win for FC Sion in their 13th final.[8]

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Switzerland SUI Matthias Minder
GK Switzerland SUI David Moser (from Thun)
18 GK Switzerland SUI Yannick Bünzli (from youth team)
3 DF Brazil BRA Paulo Menezes
4 DF Switzerland SUI Sead Hajrović (from Grasshopper Club)
5 DF Switzerland SUI Stefan Iten
14 DF Switzerland SUI Patrik Schuler
15 DF Switzerland SUI Dennis Iapichino (from D.C. United)
17 DF Switzerland SUI Marco Köfler (from Kapfenberger SV)
21 DF Switzerland SUI Patrik Baumann
23 DF Switzerland SUI Jan Elvedi (from youth team)
25 DF Switzerland SUI Manuel Akanji (from youth team)
27 DF Switzerland SUI Tobias Schättin (from youth team)
No. Pos. Nation Player
7 MF Kosovo KOS Kristian Nushi (from St. Gallen)
8 MF Switzerland SUI Antonio Marchesano
10 MF France FRA Amin Tighazoui (from Vaduz)
13 MF Switzerland SUI Gianluca D'Angelo
19 MF Switzerland SUI Mario Budimir
20 MF Switzerland SUI Sandro Foschini (from Aarau)
22 MF Switzerland SUI Stefano Milani (from FC Wohlen)
29 MF Turkey TUR Tunahan Cicek
9 FW Switzerland SUI Patrick Bengondo
11 FW Portugal POR João Paiva (from FC Wohlen)
16 FW Switzerland SUI Christian Fassnacht (from FC Tuggen)
24 FW Switzerland SUI Genc Krasniqi (from Grasshopper Club)
31 FW Switzerland SUI Simon Mesonero

Results

Swiss Challenge League

Matches

21 July 2014 Match 1 Winterthur 4 - 0 Wil Winterthur
19:45 Paiva File:Soccerball shade.svg 7' File:Soccerball shade.svg 36' File:Soccerball shade.svg 79'
Bengondo File:Soccerball shade.svg 60'
Summary Silvano Schäppi Yellow card 65' Stadium: Stadion Schützenwiese
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Switzerland Lukas Fähndrich
2 August 2014 Match 3 Winterthur 1 - 0 Chiasso Winterthur
17:45 João Paiva File:Soccerball shade.svg 26'
Bengondo Yellow card 51'
Cicek Yellow card 65'
Summary Michele Monighetti Yellow card 16'
Diarra Yellow card 30'
Emmanuele Sembroni Yellow card 49'
Stadium: Stadion Schützenwiese
Attendance: 2,900
Referee: Switzerland Sascha Amhof
13 August 2014 Match 5 Servette 0 - 0 Winterthur Geneva
19:45 Mfuyi Yellow card 51'
Müller Yellow card 70'
Summary Patrik Schuler Yellow card 80'
Minder Yellow card 81'
Stadium: Stade de Genève
Attendance: 2,432
Referee: Switzerland Pascal Erlachner
5 October 2014 Match 11 FC Chiasso 1 - 1 Winterthur Chiasso
15:00 CET Emmanuele Sembroni Yellow card 37'
Mirko Quaresima Yellow card 61'
Mihajlović File:Soccerball shade.svg 80'
Regazzoni Yellow card 90+2'
Summary Akanji Yellow card 59' File:Soccerball shade.svg 90' Stadium: Stadio Comunale
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Switzerland Nicolas Jancevski
1 November 2014 Match 14 FC Winterthur 0 - 0 Lugano Winterthur
17:45 CET Krasniqi Yellow card 28' Summary Urbano Yellow card 56'
Toretti Yellow card 88'
Stadium: Stadion Schützenwiese
Attendance: 3,100
Referee: Switzerland Urs Schnyder
8 November 2014 Match 15 Wil 0 - 3 FC Winterthur Wil
17:45 CET Summary Bengondo File:Soccerball shade.svg 24' File:Soccerball shade.svg 30' Yellow card 66'
Marchesano File:Soccerball shade.svg 87'
Stadium: IGP Arena
Attendance: 1,740
Referee: Switzerland Esther Staubli
7 December 2014 Match 18 Wohlen 1 - 0 Winterthur Wohlen
15:00 CET Ramizi Yellow card 33' File:Soccerball shade.svg 83'
Minkwitz Yellow card 61'
Brahimi Yellow card 84'
Thaqi Yellow card 89'
Summary D'Angelo Yellow card 40'
Paiva Yellow card 67'
Stadium: Stadion Niedermatten
Attendance: 1,650
Referee: Switzerland Nicolas Jancevski
11 April 2015 Match 27 Winterthur 0 - 0 Chiasso Winterthur
17:45 CET Iapichino Yellow card 46'
Hajrović Yellow card 77'
Summary Parfait Yellow card 43' Stadium: Stadion Schützenwiese
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Bulgaria Vladimir Ovcharov
25 April 2015 Match 29 Winterthur 0 - 1 Lugano Winterthur
17:45 CET Iten Yellow card 87' Summary Basic File:Soccerball shade.svg 37'
Lombardi Yellow card 64'
Malvino Yellow card 66'
Melazzi Yellow card 74'
Sabbatini Yellow card 90+4'
Stadium: Stadion Schützenwiese
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Poland Tomasz Superczynski
17 May 2015 Match 33 Chiasso 0 - 0 Winterthur Chiasso
15:00 Maccoppi Yellow card 31'
Regazzoni Yellow card 45'
Summary Köfler Yellow card 32'
Akanji Yellow card 90+3'
Stadium: Stadio Comunale
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Switzerland Lionel Tschudi
25 May 2015 Match 35 Lausanne-Sport 1 - 1 Winterthur Lausanne
18:00 Dessarzin File:Soccerball shade.svg 22' Summary D'Angelo File:Soccerball shade.svg 75' Stadium: Stade Olympique de la Pontaise
Attendance: 1,030
Referee: Qatar Khamis Mohammed Al Marri

League standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Lugano (C, P) 36 22 8 6 64 31 +33 74 Promotion to 2015–16 Swiss Super League
2 Servette (R) 36 20 7 9 51 40 +11 67 Relegation to 2015–16 1. Liga Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
3 Wohlen 36 20 4 12 57 43 +14 64
4 Winterthur 36 15 8 13 65 49 +16 53
5 Schaffhausen 36 13 8 15 55 54 +1 47
6 Lausanne-Sport 36 12 8 16 47 57 −10 44
7 Le Mont 36 10 9 17 39 56 −17 39
8 Chiasso 36 9 12 15 30 49 −19 39
9 Wil 36 9 10 17 47 63 −16 37
10 Biel-Bienne 36 7 12 17 39 52 −13 33 Remain in 2015–16 Swiss Challenge League[lower-alpha 2]
Source: Swiss Challenge League at SFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Servette did not obtain a license for the 2015-16 Challenge League season, due to the fact that they did not provide the necessary financial documents and guarantees. Servette was therefore relegated to the Promotion League.
  2. Because Servette had their license revoked Biel-Bienne escaped relegation.

Swiss Cup

23 August 2014 Round 1 FC Eschenbach 1 - 3 FC Winterthur Eschenbach
17:00 CET Silvan Sager Yellow card 42'
Raphael Felder File:Soccerball shade.svg 67'
Summary Budimir File:Soccerball shade.svg 10'
Cicek File:Soccerball shade.svg 74'
Tighazoui File:Soccerball shade.svg 81'
Krasniqi Yellow card 90'
Stadium: Sportplatz Weiherhaus
Attendance: 800
Referee: Switzerland Tschudin

References

  1. Hansjörg Schifferli (1 July 2015). "Abgang eines Eigenwilligen". Departure of an idiosyncratic. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  2. "Sportplatz Schützenwiese - Winterthur Glossar". www.winterthur-glossar.ch. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Swiss Football League (SFL) (2020). "Transfers Challenge League 2014/15 (Summer)". Swiss Football League (SFL) homepage. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  4. Hansjörg Schifferli (2 May 2015). "Eine Jahrzehntserie – allerdings negativ". A decade series - albeit negative. landbote.ch. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  5. Schifferli, Hansjörg (2015-06-02). "Nur in der Stammbeiz lustig" [Funny only in the local pub]. Der Landbote (in Schweizer Hochdeutsch). Winterthur. p. 27.
  6. Karel Stokkermans. "Switzerland Challenge League 2014/15". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. FC Basel 1893, Caspar Marti (21 September 2014). "Der FCB Gewinnt in Winterthur souverän". FCB wins confidently in Winterthur. FC Basel homepage. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2014-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. Karel Stokkermans. "Switzerland Cup 2014/15". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2020-11-16.

Sources

External links