FC Wil

FC Wil (Fussball Club Wil 1900) is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the Sportpark Bergholz, which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion in 1992, aside from two seasons in the Nationalliga A between 2002 and 2004. They won the Swiss Cup in 2004 their only major honour.

FC Wil
Full nameFussball Club Wil 1900
Founded1900 (1900)
GroundSportpark Bergholz
Capacity6,048
ChairmanMaurice Weber
ManagerBrunello Iacopetta
LeagueSwiss Challenge League
2022–235th of 10
WebsiteClub website

The club considers its primary purpose to be a stepping stone for young players and work closely together with FC St. Gallen.[1] It has contributed to the development of several players that currently play in the Super League, some of whom appeared in the Swiss national team, most notably Fabian Schär.

Chart of FC Wil table positions in the Swiss football league system

History

Early years

FC Wil was formed in 1900 in the east of Switzerland by two workers from England. Initially, they were known as FC Stella. In 1902 the club was renamed as FC Fors, before taking their hometown's name in 1907.

After ceasing operations in World War I and a revival in 1920, the club achieved promotion to the second division in 1922 before being forced to withdraw from the competition due to losing most of their players. Thanks to a particularly talented youth team, which won the Swiss youth competition in 1937, the club was able to build a base for a new team. They soon achieved several promotions in 1943, 1945, 1949, and 1952 to reach the Nationalliga B, from where they were relegated in 1954 as their golden generation began to retire.

From there, the club spend several decades in the lower leagues until in 1988, where the club appointed Christian Gross as player manager. Gross managed the club between 1988 and 1993 and achieved two promotions to reach the NLB for the second time, before leaving for Grasshopper Club Zürich.[2]

Promotion to Nationalliga A

In 2002 Wil were promoted to the top flight for the first time in history. They achieved a 4th place in their first season, earning themselves a place in the Intertoto Cup. The following season, they reached the third round in their European debut, losing to FC Nantes.[3] A week after a record-breaking 11–3 win against local rivals FC St. Gallen, club president Andreas Hafen was discovered to have embezzled 51 million Swiss francs (US$40 million) from the UBS Bank. He was given a jail term of five years. Approximately 10 million Swiss francs was discovered to have ended up at the club, whose repayment UBS waived as the other board members knew nothing of it.[4]

After the Andreas Hafen saga, the club was taken over by Ukrainian footballer Igor Belanov and his time in charge of the club was marked by a frequent changes of coaches. FC Wil won the final of the Swiss Cup against Grasshopper Club Zürich while at the same time being relegated to the second division, under the management of Aleksandr Zavarov (who, lacking the necessary UEFA licence to be a coach, was officially given the position of director of football).

Recent history

In July 2015, FC Wil was taken over by Turkish investors MNG group.[5] After an 18-month involvement with the team they abruptly pulled out in January 2017, leaving the club to its own devices. A task-force has formed as a result to save the club from bankruptcy, with the mission of significantly reducing the exorbitant expenses introduced by the investors.[6]

Roger Bigger returned as president to stabilize the club, after having resigned with the arrival of the investors. However, he definitively stepped down in November 2017, having led the club since 2003.[7] As a result, the club has elected a new board consisting of members based in the region. Contrary to the former investors' ambitions to play in the Europa League, it pledged to return to its roots as a team that focuses on developing and furthering the careers of younger players, settling securely in the Challenge League.[8]

Honours
2004

Stadium
FC Wil play FC St. Gallen at their home ground

Wil play in the Lidl Arena with a total capacity of 6,000. The stadium contains 700 seats and 5,300 standing places.

It is part of the eponymous sports facility, which also contains swimming pools and an ice hockey rink, that was newly built at the site of their old ground in 2013, for the cost of around 11 million Swiss francs. Between 2013 and 2020 it bore the name of its sponsor IGP Pulvertechnik,[9] before reverting to its initial name.[10]

Players

Current squad
As of 9 September 2023[11]

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 Nicholas Ammeter
2 DF Switzerland SUI Rúben Dantas Fernandes
4 MF Switzerland SUI David Jacovic
5 DF Spain ESP Genís Montolio
6 DF Switzerland SUI Simon Geiger
7 MF Switzerland SUI Kedus Haile-Selassie
8 MF Kosovo KOS Mergim Brahimi
10 FW Algeria ALG Sofian Bahloul
11 FW France FRA Jordan Gele
14 DF Germany GER Philipp Altmann
16 FW Switzerland SUI Metin Bahtiyari
17 MF Switzerland SUI Tim Staubli
18 MF Switzerland SUI Stéphane Cueni
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Switzerland SUI Nikolas Muci (on loan from Lugano)
20 MF Albania ALB Kastrijot Ndau
21 DF Spain ESP Umar Saho
22 MF Switzerland SUI Nico Maier
23 DF Switzerland SUI Ivan Martić
25 GK Switzerland SUI Abdullah Laidani
27 MF Switzerland SUI Philipp Muntwiler
28 GK Switzerland SUI Nico Strübi
29 DF Switzerland SUI Marcin Dickenmann
30 GK Germany GER Jannis Link
34 DF Switzerland SUI Rafet Baralija
45 FW Switzerland SUI Aaron Appiah

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
— FW North Macedonia MKD Luan Abazi (at Shkupi until 30 June 2024)

Former players

Coaching & Medical staff
Position Staff
Manager Italy Brunello Iacopetta
Assistant Manager Switzerland Gianluca Frontino
Goalkeeping Coach Switzerland Philipp Bowald
Fitness Coach Switzerland René Waldvogel
Team Doctor Netherlands Quinten Felsch
Team Doctor Germany Christoph Knoth
Physiotherapist Switzerland Selim Kaya
Physiotherapist Germany Marcel Alder
Masseur Italy Bruno Tschirky
Masseur Germany Reto Rieser
Team Manager Italy Renato Fusco

European Cup History
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2004–05 UEFA Cup Q2 Slovakia Dukla Banská Bystrica 1–3 1–1 2–4

References
  1. "FCO – Mannschaften". futurechamps.ch. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  2. "FC Wil – Die Vereinsgeschichte". WilNET.ch. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 Oct 2019.
  3. "45-minütiges Feuerwerk | St.Galler Tagblatt". 2017-08-15. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  4. "Veruntreuung in Millionenhöhe? | Tb-th | St.Galler Tagblatt". 2018-04-12. Archived from the original on 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  5. "FC Wil: Türkische Investoren wollen mit Wil hoch hinaus". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  6. fcwil (2017-02-08). ""Wir lassen den FC Wil 1900 nicht im Regen stehen"". www.fcwil.ch (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  7. "Roger Bigger verlässt den FC Wil". SRF.ch. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. "Maurice Weber neuer Präsident". Retrieved 13 Dec 2017.
  9. "IGP sichert sich Naming-Right am Wiler Bergholz". fcwil.ch. FC Wil 1900 AG. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  10. "Sportpark Bergholz - FC Wil".
  11. League, Swiss Football. "FC Wil 1900– Swiss Football League". sfl.ch. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
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