Urs Fischer (footballer)

Urs Fischer (born 20 February 1966) is a Swiss former football player and current manager of Bundesliga club Union Berlin.[1]

Urs Fischer
Fischer as manager of Thun in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-02-20) 20 February 1966
Place of birth Triengen, Switzerland
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Union Berlin (manager)
Youth career
1973–1984 Zürich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1987 Zürich 49 (1)
1987–1995 St. Gallen 243 (10)
1996–2003 Zürich 253 (4)
Total 545 (15)
International career
1989–1991 Switzerland 4 (0)
Managerial career
2010–2012 Zürich
2013–2015 Thun
2015–2017 Basel
2018– Union Berlin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a manager he has won two Swiss Super League titles with Basel in 2016 and 2017. He then took over at Union Berlin in 2018 and guided the club to their first ever UEFA Champions League qualification in 2023.

Playing career

During his playing career, Fischer only played for two clubs: FC Zürich and FC St. Gallen. He was captain of both teams and is the all-time leading player with 545 caps in the Swiss Super League. He started his career in the youth department of FC Zürich and played his first game as professional 7 April 1984 aged 18 in a 1–6 loss against FC Sion.[2] His only title is the win of the Swiss Cup 2000. Fischer played four national caps for Switzerland under coach Ulrich Stielike.

Coaching career

Zürich

Fischer quit playing professional football in 2003. He then coached the U-14, U-16 and U-21-teams of FC Zürich. After a short spell as the assistant manager of Bernard Challandes in 2007–08, he returned to the U-21. When Challandes was sacked, Fischer was appointed as caretaker 17 April 2010 and after three games, which he all lost, became permanent manager. He finished the 2010–11 season with FC Zürich second behind FC Basel. He was sacked by FC Zürich in 2012 following a poor league finish, his replacement Rolf Fringer would not last much longer, with a fellow coach under Fisher in Urs Meier being brought in to coach FC Zürich for the remainder of 2013.

Thun

Fischer became a head coach at Thun during the 2012–13 season, where they finished in the 5th place and qualified to the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds, until they reached the group stage for the first time in history.[3] He was voted manager of the year in Switzerland in 2014.[4] In the 2014–15 season, Thun finished fourth in the league to qualify to next season's Europa League qualifying rounds.

Basel

On 18 June 2015, Basel announced that Fischer had signed a two-year contract as first team manager.[5] On 10 April 2017, the newly established FC Basel management announced that they would not extend his contract.[6]

Union Berlin

Fischer was announced as new head coach of 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Union Berlin on 1 June 2018, signing a two-year contract with the club.[7] In his first season with the club, he led Union to a historical promotion in Bundesliga after a third-place finish that enabled them to participate in the promotion play-offs, where they beat VfB Stuttgart on away goals.[8] In December 2020, he signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2023.[9] In the 2020–21 season, he led Union to a seventh-place finish, thus qualifying for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League edition. In the 2021–22 season, he led Union to a fifth-place finish, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time ever in history. In September 2022, he extended his contract with the club beyond 2023.[10] In the 2022–23 season, Union Berlin finished fourth in the league to qualify for the Champions League group stage, to be their first participation in history.[11] In August 2023, he was voted Football Manager of the Year in Germany.[12]

Personal life

Fischer is married and has two daughters. His older daughter Riana played for FC Zürich Frauen from 2010 to 2022.[13]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 24 October 2023[14]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Zürich 19 April 2010 12 March 2012 83 38 19 26 146 108 +38 045.78
Thun 1 January 2013 17 June 2015 112 46 30 36 158 137 +21 041.07
Basel 18 June 2015 2 June 2017 102 68 20 14 234 108 +126 066.67
Union Berlin 1 June 2018 present 219 95 57 67 323 280 +43 043.38
Total 516 247 126 143 861 633 +228 047.87

Honours

As player

Zürich

As manager

Basel

Individual

References
  1. RAPHAEL WICKY IST AB SOMMER 2017 DER NEUE TRAINER DES FCB‚ fcb.ch, 21 April 2017
  2. "07.04.1984 Sion - FCZ 6:1". FC Zurich Stats. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  3. "Thun qualifiziert sich überzeugend" (in German). UEFA. 29 August 2013.
  4. "Urs Fischer ist Trainer des Jahres 2014" (in German). Blick. 2 February 2015.
  5. FC Basel 1893 (2015). "Urs Fischer ist der neue Trainer des FC Basel 1893" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  6. FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Der FCB geht mit einem neuen Trainer in die Saison 17/18" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  7. "Union Berlin appoint Urs Fischer as head coach". 1. FC Union Berlin. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  8. "Union Berlin win first Bundesliga promotion". Deutsche Welle. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. Ventham, Dale (8 December 2020). "Union Berlin Manager Urs Fischer Signs Contract Extension". Last Word on Football. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  10. "Union Berlin coach Urs Fischer signs new contract". Bundesliga. September 2022.
  11. "Union qualifiziert sich für die Champions League" (in German). Union Berlin. 27 May 2023.
  12. "kicker-Awards: Gündogan ist Fußballer, Fischer Trainer des Jahres 2023". kicker.de (in German). 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  13. "Riana Fischer beendet Karriere als FCZ-Legende: «Als Trainer wie mein Vater sehe ich mich nicht»" (in German). Blick. 11 June 2022.
  14. "Urs Fischer career sheet". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  15. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". All About Geneva. 25 May 2017.
  16. "Jude Bellingham ist VDV-Spieler der Saison" (in German). VDV. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
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