# Neuchâtel Xamax FCS

Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS (pronounced) is a Swiss football club based in Neuchâtel. It was created in 1970 through a merger between FC Cantonal, founded in 1906 and Swiss champions of 1916, and FC Xamax founded in 1912. The name Xamax comes from legendary Swiss international player 'Xam' Max Abegglen, one of the founding members. Xamax Neuchâtel FCS obtained its current name after a merger with FC Serrières, another side from Neuchâtel, in May 2013.

## History

Students at the Collège Latin in Neuchâtel began playing organized football in 1910. Soon after, in 1912, Neuchâtel Xamax was officially founded.
They have been champions of Switzerland on two occasions, in successive years in 1987 and 1988. The club has also made it to five Swiss Cup finals, the most recent in 2011, but have failed to win any of them.
After many financial crises, the club declared bankruptcy on 26 January 2012 and was consequently excluded from Swiss Super League. The club was reformed, but had to restart in the Swiss amateur leagues, entering the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of the Swiss football league system, for the 2012–13 season. The club finished first in 2013 and was promoted to the 1. Liga Classic for 2013–14. Once again, Xamax finished first, winning the play-off to secure a second successive promotion. Xamax won 1. Liga Promotion, the third tier of Swiss league system was and promoted to the Challenge League after having a third successive promotion in 2014–15 season.
The club finally won promotion back to the Swiss Super League in 2018, marking the end of a six-year absence from the top flight of Swiss football. At the end of the 2019–20 Swiss Super League season, the club was relegated back to the second division after finishing bottom of the table.

## Stadium

The club plays its home matches at the Stade de la Maladière, which began construction in 2004 and was opened in 2007. It has a capacity of 12,500 spectators.

## Current squad

    As of 5 January 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | COD | Anthony Mossi |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Jonathan Fontana |
| 4 | DF | BIH | Sead Hajrović |
| 5 | DF | KOS | Lavdrim Hajrulahu |
| 6 | MF | SUI | Fabio Saiz |
| 7 | MF | SVN | Kenan Fatkič |
| 8 | MF | SRB | Samir Ramizi |
| 9 | FW | KOS | Shkelqim Demhasaj |
| 10 | FW | FRA | Hussayn Touati |
| 11 | FW | FRA | Salim Ben Seghir |
| 15 | DF | SUI | Yoan Epitaux |
| 17 | FW | SUI | Angelo Campos |
| 19 | DF | POR | Euclides Cabral |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | CIV | Koro Koné |
| 22 | FW | NGA | Paschal Durugbor |
| 23 | DF | SUI | Michael Gonçalves |
| 24 | MF | SUI | Roland Ndongo |
| 26 | FW | SUI | Guillaume Furrer |
| 27 | GK | SUI | Edin Omeragić |
| 30 | GK | SUI | Hugo Bigirimana |
| 31 | MF | SUI | Francesco Lentini |
| 32 | MF | SUI | Marouane Calame |
| 38 | DF | CIV | Brillani Soro |
| 42 | MF | SUI | Giovani Bamba |
| 99 | FW | SUI | Liridon Mulaj |

## Notable players
### Cameroon

* Freddy Mveng

### Central African Republic

* Louis Mafouta

### Egypt

* Hossam Hassan

### Ivory Coast

* Eric Tia

### Nigeria

* Brown Ideye
* Kalu Uche

### Senegal

* Papa Bouba Diop

### Sierra Leone

* Umaru Bangura

### Philippines

* Michael Kempter

### Saudi Arabia

* Hussein Abdulghani

### Bosnia and Herzegovina

* Mustafa Sejmenović
* Ensar Arifović

### Bulgaria

* Trifon Ivanov

### Hungary

* Lajos Détári

### West Germany

* Uli Stielike

### Ireland

* Don Givens

### Liechtenstein

* Noah Frick

### Spain

* Víctor Sánchez

### Switzerland

* Johan Djourou
* Lucien Favre
* Mario Gavranović
* Haris Seferovic

### Netherlands

* Rene van der Gijp

## Honours
### Leagues

* Swiss Super League
** Winner (2): 1986–87, 1987–88
* Swiss Challenge League
** Winner (3): 1972–73, 2006–07, 2017–18
* Swiss Promotion League
** Winner: 2014–15
* 1. Liga Classic
** Winner: 2013–14
* 2. Liga Interregional
** Winner: 2012–13

### Cups

* Swiss Super Cup
** Winner (3): 1987, 1988, 1990

## Former coaches

| Giovanni Ferrari (1946–48) Fernand Jaccard (1948–52) Josef Humpál (1961–65) Milorad Milutinović (1968–69) Josef Humpál (1969–70) Paul Garbani (July 1970 – Jan 72) Josef Artimovits (Jan 1972 – July 72) Lev Mantula (July 1972 – Jan 75) Branko Rezuar (Jan 1975 – July 75) Gilbert Gress (1975–77) Antonio Merlo (July 1977 – April 78) Erich Vogel (April 1978 – October 79) Lev Mantula (October 1979 – July 80) Jean-Marc Guillou (1980–81) Gilbert Gress (1981–90) Roy Hodgson (1990–92) Uli Stielike (Jan 1992 – July 93) Uli Stielike and Don Givens (1993–94) Gilbert Gress (1994–97) | Alain Geiger (1998–02) Claude Ryf (July 2002 – 4 Feb) René Lobello and Christophe Moulin (Feb 2004 – 4 July) René Lobello and Gianni Della Casa (2004–05) Alain Geiger (2005) Miroslav Blažević (2005–06) Gérard Castella (June 2006 – 8 March) Néstor Clausen (2008 – 9 Jan) Jean-Michel Aeby (Jan 2009) Alain Geiger (Jan 2009 – 9 June) Pierre-André Schürmann (June 2009 – 10 April) Jean-Michel Aeby (April 2010 – 10 Aug) Didier Ollé-Nicolle (Sept 2010 – 11 May) Bernard Challandes (May 2011) Sonny Anderson (2011) François Ciccolini (June 2011 – 11 July) Joaquín Caparrós (July 2011 – 11 Sept) Víctor Muñoz (Sept 2011 – 12 Jan) |

## European record

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponents | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1981–82 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Sparta Prague | 4–0 | 2–3 | 6–3 |
| 1981–82 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Malmö | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 1981–82 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Sporting CP | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 1981–82 | UEFA Cup | QF | Hamburg | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Olympiacos | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Sportul Studențesc | 3–0 | 4–4 | 7–4 |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Lokomotiv Sofia | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 (a) |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Dundee United | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 |
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | QF | Real Madrid | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| 1986–87 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Lyngby | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 |
| 1986–87 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Groningen | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 (a) |
| 1987–88 | European Cup | 1R | Kuusysi | 5–0 | 1–2 | 6–2 |
| 1987–88 | European Cup | 2R | Bayern Munich | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 |
| 1988–89 | European Cup | 1R | Larissa | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 (3–0 PSO) |
| 1988–89 | European Cup | 2R | Galatasaray | 3–0 | 0–5 | 3–5 |
| 1990–91 | European Cup Winners' Cup | 1R | Estrela de Amadora | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 (3–4 PSO) |
| 1991–92 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Floriana | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| 1991–92 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Celtic | 5–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 |
| 1991–92 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Real Madrid | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 |
| 1992–93 | UEFA Cup | 1R | BK Frem | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–6 |
| 1995–96 | UEFA Cup | QR | Red Star Belgrade | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 1995–96 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Roma | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–4 |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup | QR | Anorthosis Famagusta | 4–0 | 2–1 | 6–1 |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Dynamo Kyiv | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Helsingborg | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup | Q1 | Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol | 7–0 | 3–1 | 10–1 |
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup | Q2 | Viking | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 |
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Inter Milan | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | QR | Valletta | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Auxerre | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |