FC Luzern

FC Luzern
Full name	Fussball Club Luzern
Nickname(s)	FCL
Founded	12 August 1901
Ground	Swissporarena; (capacity: 17,800)
Chairman	Mike Hauser
Manager	Carlos Bernegger
League	Swiss Super League
2011–12	Swiss Super League, 2nd
Home colours	Away colours

FC Luzern (French: FC Lucerne) is a Swiss football club, founded in 1901. The club colors are blue and white, derived from the Canton of Lucerne and the City of Lucerne coats of arms.

History [edit]

FC Luzern was officially founded on 12 August 1901 in Lucerne. After two years, FCL joined the Swiss Football League and started its first championship season in the third division. During the following years, FC Luzern was playing in various leagues. After the introduction of a new league system in 1944 (consisting of Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B as the two top tiers) FCL was alloted into Nationalliga B. The club remained in the second division until it got promoted in 1953. In the following years, FCL mainly played in the Nationalliga A. In 2003, after several seasons with financial and sporting troubles, the club got relegated to the renamed Challenge League, the former Nationalliga B. In 2006, after three seasons in the second division, FC Luzern celebrated its return into the top division (Super League) of Swiss football. In 2012 the club finished second in the Super League, securing the best league position in 23 years.

FC Luzern's greatest success was winning the Swiss Championship in 1989. FCL have also won the Swiss Cup twice (1960 and 1992) and finished runners-up four times (1997, 2005, 2007, 2012).

Fans and rivalries [edit]

Although the club has only won three important national trophies, FC Luzern is one of the traditional football clubs in the country with a strong local supporter base. In the 2011/12 season, FCL had the third highest average attendance in the Swiss Super League.^[1] For English supporters and interested people, the English speaking supporter group Just can't beat that provide an English blog and a Facebook page.^[2]

There is also a number of rivalries between the FCL and other teams, especially between their Ultras. The local derby is played with SC Kriens, whose stadium is located less than one kilometer from FCL's facilities at Allmend. Due to the reduction of the Swiss football League in the past years, the two clubs are now separated by two leagues. Because of this fact, the rivalry isn't as big anymore as during the periods in the 1990s or after the year 2003, when both clubs were playing in the same league. A majority of the fans also count their rivals from FC Basel, FC St. Gallen, FC Sion and Grasshopper Club Zürich as big rivals. Numerous incidents and fan fights occurred around games between FC Luzern and these teams in the last decade.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Stadium [edit]

Between 1934 and 2009, FCL played their home games at the Stadion Allmend,^[6] which had a theoretical capacity of 25,000. For security reasons however, the Swiss Football Association did not allow more than 13,000 to attend. Until the a new stadium was completed, FC Luzern temporarily played their home games in the Gersag Stadion located in Emmenbrücke.

In August 2011, the club moved into the newly built Swissporarena which is located at the place of the old ground. The opening game ended with a 0-0 draw against FC Thun.^[7]

Honours [edit]

Swiss Super League
- Winners: 1988–89

Swiss Cup
- Winners: 1960, 1992
- Runners Up: 1997, 2005, 2007, 2012

European appearances [edit]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate score
1960–61	European Cup Winners' Cup	Quarter Final	ACF Fiorentina	0:3	2:6	2:9
1986–87	UEFA Cup	1	FC Spartak Moscow	0:0	0:1	0:1
1989–90	European Cup	1	PSV Eindhoven	0:3	0:2	0:5
1990–91	UEFA Cup	1	MTK Budapest	1:1	1:2	2:3
1990–91	UEFA Cup	2	VfB Admira Wacker Mödling	0:1	1:1	1:2
1992–93	European Cup Winners' Cup	1	PFC Levski Sofia	1:2	1:0	2:2
1992–93	European Cup Winners' Cup	2	Feyenoord^[8]	1:0	1:4	2:4
1997–98	European Cup Winners' Cup	1	Slavia Prague	2:4	0:2	2:6
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	Q3	FC Utrecht	0:1	1:3	1:4
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	Playoff	KRC Genk	2:1	0:2	2:3

Recent seasons [edit]

2001/02

Swiss NLA, First Stage: 12th (of 12 Teams)

Swiss NLA/NLB, Second Stage, Relegation Pool: 7th of 8 Teams. Luzern theoretically would have been relegated. Due to financial problems three teams due to play in the NLA were not given the permission by the Swiss FA. Thus, Luzern miraculously was not relegated.

2002/03

Swiss NLA, First Stage: 9th (of 12 Teams, bottom four teams join relegation round)

Swiss NLA/NLB, Second Stage, Relegation Pool: 3rd of 7 Teams. Top 2 stayed in Super League, Lucerne relegated to Challenge League.

2003/04

Swiss Challenge League, 11th

2004/05

Swiss Challenge League, 5th

Swiss Cup, Lost Final 3–1 to FC Zürich

2005/06

Swiss Challenge League, 1st Promoted to Swiss Super League

2006/07

Swiss Super League, 8th

Swiss Cup, Lost final 1–0 to FC Basel

2007/08

Swiss Super League, 6th

2008/09

Swiss Super League, 9th (avoided relegation by beating FC Lugano 5 – 1 on aggregate in the barrage play offs.

2009/10

Swiss Super League, 4th

2010/11

Swiss Super League, 6th

2011/12

Swiss Super League, 2nd

Swiss Cup, Lost final 4–2 on penalties to FC Basel

Current squad [edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	David Zibung
5	MF	Michel Renggli
6	DF	Tomislav Puljić
7	DF	Claudio Lustenberger
8	MF	Jahmir Hyka
9	FW	Dimitar Rangelov
10	MF	Pajtim Kasami (on loan from Fulham)
11	MF	Daniel Gygax
13	DF	Florian Stahel (captain)
14	DF	Jérôme Thiesson
15	MF	Philipp Muntwiler
17	FW	Dario Lezcano
19	FW	Adrian Winter

No.	Position	Player
20	MF	Xavier Hochstrasser
22	FW	Mouangue Otele (on loan from Wil)
23	DF	Sally Sarr
24	MF	Alain Wiss
25	FW	Nico Siegrist
26	FW	Dejan Sorgić
27	MF	Stephan Andrist (on loan from Basel)
28	MF	Sava Bento
29	DF	Mario Bühler
30	GK	Gabriel Wüthrich
33	GK	Peter Jehle (on loan from Vaduz)
34	DF	Luqmon
35	DF	Marijan Urtic