The history of FC Basel spans from its founding on 15 November 1893 to the present.
Each period has been divided into five sections. This page chronicles the history of FCB from 1939 to 1965. For details on the other periods of the club's history, see the following articles:
History of FC Basel (1893–1939) History of FC Basel (1965–2000) History of FC Basel (2000–present)
Promotion and relegation After the club's relegation at the end of the 1938–39 season, player-manager Fernand Jaccard was hired by FC Locarno. Former Basel players Walter Dietrich and Max Galler replaced Jaccard as co-managers. Basel played in the 1. Liga in the 1939–40 season, which was reorganized and shortened due to World War I and played well throughout the season; they won all six of their home matches and only lost one game, away against FC Solothurn. Basel finished first in their group and advanced to the play-off stage. After winning the round-robin semi-final against Brühl and AC Bellinzona, Basel won the final against Fribourg and were crowned champions, though were not promoted due to the war. Basel entered the Swiss Cup in the second round, winning against SC Zofingen and SC Schöftland before falling to FC Aarau.
Promotions recommenced the following season. Dietrich and Galler were replaced by Eugen Rupf as manager. Basel were allocated to the Central Group and were dominant, winning 11 of the 14 games; while they were challenged by Aarau, Basel lost just one game and won group by a single point. In the promotion playoffs against the other two groups winners, Basel lost to Cantonal Neuchatel and drew with Zürich, which placed Basel last and kept them in the 1. Liga. In the Swiss Cup, Basel defeated Old Boys and FC Allschwil before drawing with Nordstern, forcing a replay with Basel lost.
In Basel's third season in the 1. Liga, they claimed several dominant victories including 11-0 over FC Schaffhausen and 10-1 over Young Fellows Zürich. Basel finished the season with only one loss, winning the East group to set up a promotion playoff against FC Bern. Basel won 3–1 on aggregate to achieve promotion. The league success was complemented by a strong cup run: after defeating Old Boys and FC Birsfelden, Basel knocked out BSC Young Boys in an 3-0 upset and followed with a 6-1 thumping of FC Solothurn. After a draw against Lugano, the clubs could not agree on a replay date; as such, Basel progressed to the semifinals on a coin toss. Another draw occurred in Basel's semifinal against Grenchen, but Basel were victorious in a replay. A third draw occurred in the final against Grasshopper Club Zurich, but Basel's cup run would end when Grasshopper won the replay 3-2.
The 1942–43 season started badly for Basel, who lost five of the first six games. Shortly before Christmas, Basel suffered their biggest defeat of the season, a 1–9 loss to Servette. A 3–0 away game victory against Luzern and a 2–0 home game victory against Nordstern led Basel to end the season in 13th with 18 points, avoiding relegation by two points. In the Swiss Cup, Basel started in the 4th principal round with a home tie at the Landhof against lower tier local side FC Pratteln, ending with an expected easy 6–0 victory. In the round of 16 Basel had a home match against lower tier SV Schaffhausen. Hermann Suter and Fritz Schmidlin both achieved a hat-trick and Basel won 9–2. In the quarter-finals Basel were drawn at home against top tier Lugano but lost 0–2.
Team manager Eugen Rupf left the club during the 1943–44 season and Willy Wolf was appointed as Basel's new team manager. Basel had a mediocre 1943–44 Nationalliga season, finishing in ninth. In the Swiss Cup, Basel beat Nordstern Basel 4–1 and St. Gallen 6–2. The quarter-final gave Basel another home tie and they won 5–1 against Young Boys. The semi-final was an away tie against Biel-Bienne, but Basel qualified for the final against Lausanne-Sport. Basel lost the final 0–3.
Emil Junker replaced Albert Besse as the club's new chairman during the 1944–45 season and Max Barras was appointed as team manager. Basel played a bad season in the 1944–45 Nationalliga A and ended in 13th – second to last – with 18 points. Two games were played under protest that Basel could not field their best teams due to military duties of their players. The games against Lugano and Grenchen were replayed and Basel lost again. Grasshopper Club won the Swiss championship; Basel was relegated. In the Swiss Cup, Basel beat FC Allschwil 6–0 and SC Zofingen 3–1. In the round of 16 Basel travelled to a game against St. Gallen and lost. Basel played well in the next season, winning 19 league matches, drawing five and losing only two. They ended the season in first with 43 points and won promotion. In the Swiss Cup, Basel beat SC Schöftland 5–1 and won an away game against Nationalliga B team Fribourg but lost to Servette.
Jules Düblin, chairman (1946–1959) Jules Düblin became the club's new chairman during the 1946–47 season. Düblin was a player for FC Basel from 1919–1926 and had been on the club's board of directors. Anton Schall moved to Switzerland and was club trainer for Basel during the 1946–47 season. Basel finished the 1946–47 Nationalliga A season in fourth. In the Swiss Cup Basel started in round 3 with a home match against Black Stars Basel and won 3–2. In round 4 they had an away tie against La Chaux-de-Fonds and won 2–1. In round 5, Basel had another home tie in the Landhof against local club Nordstern and won 6–1, advancing to the quarter-finals. They were matched against the Grasshoppers and won 2–1. In the semi-final, goals from top scorers Traugott Oberer and René Bader gave Basel a 2–1 victory against Grenchen. Basel advanced to the Cup Final in the Stadion Neufeld in Bern and won 3–0 against Lausanne-Sport. This was their second cup title. Anton Schall died shortly afterwards during a workout on the football field. Following Anton Schall's death, captain Ernst Hufschmid took over as player-manager. The team started the 1947–48 season badly, losing six of their first eleven games in the 1947–48 Nationalliga A. With seven victories in the second half of the season the team were able to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, finishing 10th in the table. In the Swiss Cup, Basel played against SC Balerna and won 7–0. In the quarter-finals, Basel were drawn away against La Chaux-de-Fonds and lost.
Basel started the 1948–49 season badly, losing three of the first four away games in the 1948–49 Nationalliga A. In autumn, however, they lost only one of eleven matches. At the end of the season Basel had risen to second place. In the Swiss Cup, Basel started in round 3 with an away match against lower tier Winterthur and won 2–1. In round 4 Basel were drawn with an away tie against local rivals and lower tier Concordia Basel and won. In round five, Basel played Grasshopper Club with another away game. It ended in a draw, so a replay was held at the Landhof on 22 January 1949, which Basel lost. Basel started the next season well, winning six of the first seven games in the 1949–50 Nationalliga A. They lost their last two games and finished in second, two points behind Servette. Basel began the third round of the Swiss Cup with an away match against lower tier FC Porrentruy and won. In round four, Basel were drawn away against Grasshopper Club and won. In the round of 16 and the quarter-final Basel played at home and won against Wil and Bellinzona, but later lost to Lausanne-Sport.
During the 1950–51 season, Ernst Hufschmid stayed as player-coach for the fourth season in a row but only played one match. On 10 August 1950 Football Club Basel played against Eishockey Club Basel. This was a return game for the ice hockey game EHC-FCB in December 1949. The football team won the match 14–5. Basel played a mediocre season in the 1950–51 Nationalliga A and stayed around the middle of the table. Basel won their last two games and finished in fourth, tied with Zürich and Servette, six points behind the champions Lausanne-Sport. In the Swiss Cup in an away match against FC Münchenstein, Gottlieb Stäuble scored a hat-trick and the Basel won 6–0, qualifying for the next round. Basel won against Biel-Bienne in round four. In round five, Basel were drawn at home against Locarno. In the 65th minute goalkeeper Walter Müller and defender Werner Wenk were sent off and Locarno won the game.
The newly built stadium Landhof was opened on the weekend of 18 and 19 August 1951. It had larger spectator stands, new meeting rooms, changing rooms and a new restaurant. The buildings cost 700,000 Swiss Francs and took two years to complete. During its construction, the team played their games at the Stadion Schützenmatte. The pitch had been newly laid out and its opening was accompanied by a two-day international football tournament with Austrian team First Vienna, French team Sochaux-Montbéliard and Swiss team Grasshopper Club Zürich. Over six thousand fans celebrated despite Basel losing 2–3 against Vienna and 1–7 against Sochaux. People hoped that the conditions would change the fortunes of the club. Basel fans were becoming frustrated because 36 of the first 52 championships had gone to the cities of Zürich, Geneva or Bern. Even small towns had been able to celebrate a championship win. The championship had never been won by a team from Basel. Fourteen teams played in the 1951–52 Nationalliga A. Basel started their 1951–52 season well, winning the first six games in a row, but lost four of the next five games and slipped in the league table. They then won six games and were again in contention for the league championship. Near the end of the season, they lost five games in a row. Basel finished in fourth. Basel started in the 3rd principal round of the Swiss Cup on 4 November 1951 with a home game against lower tier Wettingen and won 7–0. Basel won 3–2 against Nationalliga A team Locarno and beat Nationalliga A team Chiasso 3–1. In the quarter-finals Basel beat Servette and faced Grasshopper Club in the semi-final but lost.
At the beginning of the 1952–53 Nationalliga A season, René Bader became club trainer. Bader acted as player-manager and Willy Dürr was his assistant; Dürr stood at the sideline when Bader played. Basel won their first league title in the championship of the 1952–53 season, four points ahead of second place. Josef Hügi was the top league goal scorer, sharing the title with Eugen Meier from Young Boys, having scored 32 points each. In the Swiss Cup, Basel started in the 3rd principal round with a 10–0 win against Helvetia Bern and in the round of four they beat Thun 5–0. In the next round they won 4–1 against Grenchen. All three games were home ties. In the quarter-finals Basel were drawn away against Servette Genève, went into overtime, and lost 3–4.
Basel ended the 1953–54 Nationalliga A season in 8th with 24 points, losing to La Chaux-de-Fonds by 18 points. Josef Hügi was Basel's top league goal scorer during the 1953–54 season with 30 goals. Basel joined the Swiss Cup in the 3rd principal round with a home match in the Landhof against Grenchen. The only goal of the match fell a couple of minutes before the final whistle and Basel were knocked out of the competition. In the next season, René Bader stayed as the team's player-coach but only played in one test match. Basel ended the championship for the 1954–55 season in ninth with 24 points. Basel joined the Swiss Cup, playing against lower tier local team FC Riehen at the Landhof, and won 6–0. In the fourth round they were drawn at home to lower tier FC Olten and won 2–0. In the fifth round Basel lost to Zürich.