# 2023–24 FC Basel season

The 2023–24 season was FC Basel's 130th season in their existence and the club's 29th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football since their promotion in the 1993–94 season. The 2023–24 Swiss Super League season started in July 2023 and ended in May 2024. In addition to the Swiss Super League, Basel also participated in this season's edition of the Swiss Cup, starting in the third round. Basel also qualified for the 3rd edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League, beginning play in the second qualifying round where they were seeded.

## Club
### FC Basel Holding AG

The FC Basel Holding AG owns 75% of FC Basel 1893 AG and the other 25% is owned by the FC Basel 1893 club members. The club FC Basel 1893 functions as a base club independent of the holding company and the AG. FC Basel 1893 AG is responsible for the operational business of the club, e.g. the 1st team, a large part of the youth department and the back office are affiliated there. All decisions that affect the club FC Basel 1893 are made within the AG.
On 20 June 2022 the AGM of the FC Basel Holding AG and the FC Basel 1893 AG were held and the both boards were confirmed. The Holding AG with following members: David Degen (president), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president). FC Basel 1893 AG with following members: David Degen (president), Carol Etter (delegate of the club FC Basel), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president).

### Club management

The club AGM tool place on 15 May 2023. With the exception of Benno Kaiser, who left the board of directors voluntarily, the entire board was re-elected with large majorities. Kaiser has held various positions on the FCB board since 2009.
The board of directors of the club are:
| Club chairman | Reto Baumgartner |
| Sports director | Heiko Vogel until 31 October 2023 |
| Sports director | Daniel Stucki from 15 May 2024 |
| Director | Dominik Donzé |
| Director | Carol Etter |
| Director | Edward Turner |
| Director | Tobias Adler |
| Ground (capacity and dimensions) | St. Jakob-Park (37,994 (37,500 for international matches) / 120x80 m) |
Updated to match played 15 May 2023 Source: FCB Official Site

### Team management

On 28 November 2022 FCB had announced that they had taken Heiko Vogel under contract as their new sporting director, as per 1 January 2023. After the end of their previous season, in which Vogel had taken over in charge of the coaching of their first team following the dismissal of Alexander Frei in February, Vogel continued in his role as sports director for this season.
On 12 May 2023 the club announced that Timo Schultz had been signed a contract as head coach of the new FCB first team. On 22 May they announced that the entire trainer staff had been appointed. Loïc Favé would join Davide Callà as assistant coach and Johannes Wieber would become athletic coach, Gabriel Wüthrich remained goalkeeper coach. On 23 May the club announced that the new coach of the U-21 would be the ex-footballer Dennis Hediger, who had been the coach of the U-18 team the previous season. Appointed a his assistant coaches were Marco Aratore and Michaël Bauch.
On 29 September the club announced that they were parting with coach Schultz, together with his assistant Loïc Favé, and that he would be replaced by the current sport director Heiko Vogel. Vogel was dismissed a month later, on 31 October. The position as head coach was then replaced immediately, with Fabio Celestini taking over until the end of the season. On 17 November 2023, Martin Rueda was hired as an additional assistant coach. The position of the sports director was left vacant.
Soon afterwards on 4 December, a change in the coaching staff of the U-21 team was announced by the club. In the announcement it stated that with immediate effect the club and the current U-21 head coach Dennis Hediger were going their separate ways. The management of the youth department had come to this decision after analyzing the Promotion League first half of the season. The team would be led by the previous U-19 coach Mario Cantaluppi.
The position of the sports director had been left vacant, this until 15 May 2024 and then FCB announced that Daniel Stucki had been appointed as new sports director.
| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Timo Schultz until 29 September 2023 |
| Head coach | Heiko Vogel 29 September–31 October |
| Head coach | Fabio Celestini from 31 October |
| Assistant coach | Davide Callà |
| Assistant coach | Martin Rueda from 17 November 2023 |
| Assistant coach | Loïc Favé until 29 September |
| Athletics coach | Johannes Wieber |
| Goalkeeper coach | Gabriel Wüthrich |
| Youth Team U-21 coach | Dennis Hediger until 4 December |
| Youth Team U-21 coach | Mario Cantaluppi from 4 December |
| Youth Team U-21 co-coach | Marco Aratore |
| Youth Team U-21 co-coach | Michaël Bauch |
Source: FCB Official Site

## Overview
### Off and pre-season

On 1 June 2023 the club announced the dates for the run into the new season, these were that on 20 June would be the press conference with the new head coach, then on 21 June would be the start for the first team's training and from 24 June until 1 July a summer trainings camp in Seefeld in Tirol in Austria. One of the most interesting statements that the club owners said, was in a radio interview before the new season, and it was that they wanted to keep 90% of the team together that had played so well in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League.
As the team planning started, the club announced that they would not exercise the purchase options for three players that had been in on loan the previous season. Darian Males, Andi Zeqiri and Kasim Nuhu, therefore, left the club. On 20 June, it was announced that Finn van Breemen had signed in from ADO Den Haag. Then, on 23 June, it was announced that Kaly Sène had left the club, because his contract had not been extended, and that he had signed a contract with Lausanne-Sport. On 30 June, it was announced that Andy Diouf had transferred out to French club Lens. Then, on 3 July, it was announced that Thierno Barry had signed in from Beveren and that Jonathan Dubasin had signed in from Albacete On 12 July, it was announced that Andy Pelmard had transferred out to Clermont Foot. One day later, on 13 July, it was also announced that the loan contract for Sayfallah Ltaief to FC Winterthur would be extended until 30 June 2024. On 17 July, it was published that young talent Liam Chipperfield, who had spent ten years in the FCB youth department would move to Sion. Two days later, on 19 July, it was announced that Zeki Amdouni had transferred to Burnley. The next day the club announced that Bradley Fink would be loaned out to Grasshoppers until 30 June 2024.
By this time ten players had left the club and only three new players had joined, therefore, the news and the publications kept the flow that had been developed in the meantime. On 20 July, FCB announced that they had signed their former youth footballer Dominik Schmid on a three-year contract from Grasshopper Club. On 21 July, it was then announced that three youngsters, Leon Avdullahu, Axel Kayombo and Arlet Junior Zé, who had been part of the FCB U-18 team that had just won the Swiss championship, had signed professional contracts and advanced to the first team. On 25 July, Basel signed in Georgia international Gabriel Sigua from Dinamo Tbilisi on a five-year contract. On 11 August Basel then signes German youth international Maurice Malone from Augsburg on a four-year contract. Then again on the outwards direction, on 14 August, it was announced that Swiss international Dan Ndoye had moved on to Bologna. Again on the inwards direction, during the following days a number of new signings were announced, Austrian international Yusuf Demir on a one-year loan from Galatasaray, Serbian international Đorđe Jovanović on a four-year contract from Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bosnian international Adrian Leon Barišić also on a four-year contract from Osijek, and then Tunisian international Mohamed Dräger on a three-year contract from Nottingham Forest.
Another player who chose to move out was Wouter Burger, he signed for Stoke City on 25 August. Then, on 28 August, Basel announced two new signings, first that of Juan Gauto from Club Atlético Huracán on a five-year deal, and then that of Renato Veiga, on a four-year contract, from Sporting CP. Further players to move out were Riccardo Calafiori definitely to Bologna on 31 August, Liam Millar on loan to Preston North End, Nasser Djiga on loan to Red Star Belgrade. and Emmanuel Essiam on loan to Stade Lausanne Ouchy. The final signing was Kevin Rüegg who came in on a one-year loan from Hellas Verona.
The summary all of which is, 17 players out and 16 players in.

### Winter break

On 23 December, Basel announced that they were loaning Jonathan Dubasin out to Real Oviedo, in the second highest Spanish league, until the end of the season and the loan-contract had a purchase option. They also said that the loan move was primarily for personal reasons. During his time with FCB early in the season, Dubasin was out for a long time on with a ligament injury in his foot. By the winter break he had made eleven appearances in all competitions (ten league, one cup), in which he scored three goals and made one assist. On 26 December 2023, the club announced that they had signed Benjamin Kololli on a free transfer and that he had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, which contained an option for another year. On 5 January, the club announced that they had signed Nicolas Vouilloz from Servette on a four-and-a-half-year contract, dated up until sommer 2028.

## Players
### First-team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It also includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 16 July 2023, but subsequently left the club after that date.
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 | SUI | Marwin Hitz |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Nicolas Vouilloz |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Arnau Comas |
| 5 | DF | SUI | Michael Lang |
| 6 | DF | TUN | Mohamed Dräger |
| 7 | FW | CAN | Liam Millar (out on loan 30 June 2024) |
| 7 | MF | SUI | Benjamin Kololli |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Jonathan Dubasin (out, end of loan) |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Thierno Barry |
| 10 | FW | FRA | Jean-Kévin Augustin |
| 11 | FW | GER | Maurice Malone |
| 13 | GK | SUI | Mirko Salvi |
| 14 | FW | SUI | Bradley Fink (out on loan) |
| 16 | GK | SUI | Nils de Mol (U-21) |
| 17 | FW | SUI | Andrin Hunziker |
| 18 | MF | GHA | Emmanuel Essiam |
| 19 | MF | AUT | Yusuf Demir |
| 20 | MF | SUI | Fabian Frei (captain) |
| 21 | MF | GEO | Gabriel Sigua |
| 22 | DF | GER | Sergio López |
| 23 | MF | NED | Wouter Burger (out 25 August 2023) |
| 23 | FW | SUI | Albian Ajeti |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | DF | BFA | Nasser Djiga (out on loan) |
| 25 | DF | SUI | Finn van Breemen |
| 26 | DF | BIH | Adrian Leon Barišić |
| 27 | MF | SUI | Dan Ndoye (out 14 August 2023) |
| 27 | DF | SUI | Kevin Rüegg |
| 28 | DF | FRA | Hugo Vogel (U-21) |
| 28 | MF | SUI | Dion Kacuri |
| 29 | MF | GER | Adriano Onyegbule (U-21) |
| 30 | FW | GER | Anton Kade |
| 31 | MF | SUI | Dominik Schmid |
| 32 | DF | GHA | Jonas Adjetey (U-21) |
| 33 | DF | ITA | Riccardo Calafiori (out) |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Juan Gauto |
| 34 | MF | ALB | Taulant Xhaka (vice-captain) |
| 35 | FW | SUI | Roméo Beney (U-21) |
| 37 | MF | SUI | Leon Avdullahu (U-21) |
| 38 | MF | FRA | Axel Kayombo (U-21) |
| 39 | MF | SUI | Arlet Junior Zé (U-21) |
| 40 | MF | POR | Renato Veiga |
| 43 | GK | GER | Tim Pfeiffer (U-21) |
| 48 | FW | FRA | Aaron Akalé (U-21) |
| 99 | FW | SRB | Đorđe Jovanović |

### Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 7 | FW | CAN | Liam Millar (to Preston North End until 30 June 2024) |
| 14 | FW | SUI | Bradley Fink (to Grasshoppers until 30 June 2024) |
| 18 | MF | GHA | Emmanuel Essiam (to Stade Lausanne Ouchy until 12 January 2024) |
| 24 | DF | BFA | Nasser Djiga (to Red Star Belgrade until 30 June 2024) |
| 42 | MF | TUN | Sayfallah Ltaief (to FC Winterthur until 30 June 2024) |
| — | GK | SUI | Tim Spycher (to Baden until 30 June 2024) |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Jonathan Dubasin (to Real Oviedo from 1 January to 30 June 2024) |

### Players in on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | AUT | Yusuf Demir (on loan from Galatasaray until 30 June 2024) |
| 27 | DF | SUI | Kevin Rüegg (on loan from Hellas Verona until 30 June 2024) |

### Transfers summer 2023
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 6 | DF | TUN | Mohamed Dräger (from Nottingham Forest) |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Jonathan Dubasin (from Albacete) |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Thierno Barry (from Beveren) |
| 11 | FW | GER | Maurice Malone (from Augsburg) |
| 17 | FW | SUI | Andrin Hunziker (return after loan to Aarau) |
| 21 | MF | GEO | Gabriel Sigua (from Dinamo Tbilisi) |
| 25 | DF | SUI | Finn van Breemen (from ADO Den Haag) |
| 26 | DF | BIH | Adrian Leon Barišić (from Osijek) |
| 31 | MF | SUI | Dominik Schmid (from Grasshopper Club) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 32 | DF | GHA | Jonas Adjetey (U-21) |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Juan Gauto (from Club Atlético Huracán) |
| 35 | FW | SUI | Roméo Beney (U-21) |
| 37 | MF | SUI | Leon Avdullahu (from U-18) |
| 38 | MF | FRA | Axel Kayombo (from U-18) |
| 39 | MF | SUI | Arlet Junior Zé (from U-18) |
| 40 | MF | POR | Renato Veiga (from Sporting CP) |
| 43 | GK | GER | Tim Pfeiffer (U-21) |
| 99 | FW | SRB | Đorđe Jovanović (from Maccabi Tel Aviv) |
| — | FW | FRA | Aaron Akalé (U-21) |

#### Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Andy Diouf (to Lens) |
| 9 | FW | SUI | Zeki Amdouni (to Burnley) |
| 15 | DF | GHA | Kasim Nuhu (end of loan, returned to Hoffenheim) |
| 17 | FW | SUI | Andi Zeqiri (end of loan, returned to Brighton and Hove Albion) |
| 19 | MF | SUI | Darian Males (end of loan, returned to Inter Milan) |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Andy Pelmard (to Clermont Foot) |
| 23 | MF | NED | Wouter Burger (to Stoke City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | FW | SUI | Tician Tushi (end of contract) |
| 26 | FW | SEN | Kaly Sène (to Lausanne-Sport) |
| 27 | MF | SUI | Dan Ndoye (to Bologna) |
| 33 | DF | ITA | Riccardo Calafiori (to Bologna) |
| 40 | MF | SUI | Liam Chipperfield (to Sion) |
| — | FW | SUI | Carmine Chiappetta (to Winterthur) |
| — | GK | GER | Felix Gebhardt (to Hallescher FC) |

### Transfers winter 2023–24
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Nicolas Vouilloz (from Servette) |
| 7 | MF | SUI | Benjamin Kololli (from Shimizu S-Pulse) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | FW | SUI | Albian Ajeti (from Gaziantep) |
| 28 | MF | SUI | Dion Kacuri |

## Results and fixtures

Kickoff times are in CET.

### Legend

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Swiss Super League

The 2023–24 Super League season was the 127th season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland. The Swiss Football League (SFL) drew and published the fixtures of the first 22 rounds on 21 June 2023, together with the match times for the first eleven rounds.

#### League table at split

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Young Boys | 33 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 67 | 32 | +35 | 65 | Advance to championship group |
| 2 | Lugano | 33 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 59 | Advance to championship group |
| 3 | Servette | 33 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 57 | Advance to championship group |
| 4 | St. Gallen | 33 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 53 | 44 | +9 | 50 | Advance to championship group |
| 5 | Winterthur | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 55 | 56 | −1 | 49 | Advance to championship group |
| 6 | Zürich | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 48 | Advance to championship group |
| 7 | Luzern | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 44 | Enter relegation group |
| 8 | Lausanne-Sport | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 40 | Enter relegation group |
| 9 | Basel | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 51 | −10 | 40 | Enter relegation group |
| 10 | Yverdon-Sport | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 43 | 64 | −21 | 40 | Enter relegation group |
| 11 | Grasshopper Club | 33 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 30 | Enter relegation group |
| 12 | Lausanne Ouchy | 33 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 33 | 66 | −33 | 23 | Enter relegation group |

#### Split

After 33 matches, the league was split into two groups of six teams. The top six were grouped into the championship group and the bottom six into the relegation group, with the teams playing every other team in their group once in a single round robin (either at home or away). The exact matches were determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.

#### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Young Boys (C) | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 76 | 34 | +42 | 77 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 2 | Lugano | 38 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 67 | 51 | +16 | 65 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Servette | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 59 | 43 | +16 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Zürich | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 60 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 5 | St. Gallen | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 60 | 51 | +9 | 57 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Winterthur | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 60 | 71 | −11 | 49 | |
| 7 | Luzern | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 47 | 53 | −6 | 49 | |
| 8 | Basel | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 49 | |
| 9 | Yverdon-Sport | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 50 | 71 | −21 | 47 | |
| 10 | Lausanne-Sport | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 48 | 53 | −5 | 45 | |
| 11 | Grasshopper Club (O) | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 38 | Qualification for the Relegation play-off |
| 12 | Lausanne Ouchy (R) | 38 | 7 | 8 | 23 | 40 | 77 | −37 | 29 | Relegation to 2024–25 Swiss Challenge League |
* ↑ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
* ↑ Servette qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round as the 2023–24 Swiss Cup winners.

### Swiss Cup

The matches of the first round were drawn on 3 July 2023. Representatives of the Swiss Football League (SL and ChL) could not be drawn against each other. Furthermore, in the first round, the matchups are regionally restricted. Home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league.

### UEFA Europa Conference League
#### Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 21 June 2023.