FC Winterthur

FC Winterthur
Full name	Fussballclub Winterthur
Nickname(s)	FCW
Founded	1896
Ground	Schützenwiese, Winterthur; (Capacity: 8,550)
Chairman	Hannes W Keller
Manager	Boro Kuzmanovic
League	Challenge League
Home colours	Away colours

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FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second highest tier of Swiss football. They play at the Schützenwiese Stadium.

[edit] History

The club was founded in 1896 and enjoyed their best success in the early part of the 20th century winning the Swiss Super League three times (in 1906, 1908 and 1917).

They famously lost to West Auckland F.C., an English amateur team in what is thought to be the first international football club competition, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy.

The club have also reached the final of the Swiss League Cup twice (in 1972 and 1973) but lost on both occasions. They also reached the final of the Swiss Cup in 1968 and 1975 but also lost on both occasions.

In 2005-06 season the club finished 14th place in the Challenge League but, whilst performing poorly in the league, they made it to the semi finals of the Swiss Cup by defeating Grasshoppers, Lucerne and Servette. The club lost to the eventual winners Sion at home.

[edit] Current squad

As of 22 July, 2011.

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	Christian Leite
2	DF	Savvas Exouzidis
3	DF	Nick von Niederhäusern
4	MF	Luca Zuffi
5	DF	Stefan Iten
6	DF	Daniel Sereinig
8	FW	Altin Osmani
9	MF	Isuf Llumnica
10	FW	Goran Antić
11	MF	Michel Sprunger
13	MF	Ermir Lenjani
14	MF	Sven Lüscher
15	DF	Patrik Schuler

No.	Position	Player
16	FW	Biscotte
17	DF	Dominik Ritter
18	GK	Vaso Vasić
19	DF	Josip Uzelac
20	MF	Luca Russheim
22	MF	Luís Frangão
23	DF	Rick Gelmi
24	DF	Luca Radice
25	FW	Murat Ural
27	FW	Newton Ben Katanha
28	GK	Sascha Studer (on loan from Aarau)
30	FW	Patrick Bengondo
32	GK	Marko Vasilj

[edit] Stadium

The club play at Stadion Schützenwiese which is a short walk from the centre of Winterthur. It has been their home since 1900. The first grandstand was built in 1922. This was replaced in 1957 using sponsorship money.

In the 1980s the ownership was transferred to Winterthur council as the club faced financial problems. The council are responsible for any maintenance and upkeep.

At one time the stadium capacity was as high as 14,987 but as of 2009 it is 8,550. The stadium consists of around 1,000 seats and the rest is standing area. For a while there has been dialogue between the club and Winterthur council to expand and upgrade the stadium in order for the club to realise their ambitions of playing in the top flight. Currently the stadium is not of high enough safety to stage Super League matches.

The more hardcore supporters of the club stand at one end, which is known as the Bierkurve. They also have a small stand for younger supporters known as the Syrupkurve. Away supporters are housed at the opposite end of the stadium to the Bierkurve.