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Neuchâtel Xamax
Full name	Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières
Nickname(s)	Xamax
Founded	1912; 112 years ago
Ground	Stade de la Maladière,; Neuchâtel
Capacity	12,000
Owner	Vincent Binggeli
Chairman	Christian Binggeli
Manager	Uli Forte
League	Swiss Challenge League
2023–24	Swiss Challenge League, 4th of 10
Website	http://www.xamax.ch/
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS (pronounced [nøʃɑtɛl ksamaks]) 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.^[1] Xamax Neuchâtel FCS obtained its current name after a merger with FC Serrières, another side from Neuchâtel, in May 2013.^[2]

History

Students at the Collège Latin in Neuchâtel began playing organized football in 1910. Soon after, in 1912, Neuchâtel Xamax was officially founded.^[3]

They have been champions of Switzerland on two occasions, in successive years in 1987 and 1988.^[4] The club has also made it to five Swiss Cup finals, the most recent in 2011, but have failed to win any of them.^[4]

After many financial crises, the club declared bankruptcy on 26 January 2012 and was consequently excluded from Swiss Super League.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[4]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Current squad

As of 9 September 2024^[9]

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	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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	DF	POR	Euclides Cabral
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

Notable players

Cameroon

Freddy Mveng

Central African Republic

Louis Mafouta

Egypt

Hossam Hassan

Ivory Coast

Eric Tia

Nigeria

Senegal

Papa Bouba Diop

Sierra Leone

Umaru Bangura

Philippines

Michael Kempter

Saudi Arabia

Hussein Abdulghani

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Trifon Ivanov

Hungary

Lajos Détári

West Germany

Uli Stielike

Ireland

Don Givens

Liechtenstein

Noah Frick

Spain

Víctor Sánchez

Switzerland

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
		2R	Malmö	1–0	1–0	2–0
		3R	Sporting CP	1–0	0–0	1–0
		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
		2R	Lokomotiv Sofia	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		3R	Dundee United	3–1	1–2	4–3
		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
		2R	Celtic	5–1	0–1	5–2
		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
		1R	Dynamo Kyiv	2–1	0–0	2–1
		2R	Helsingborg	1–1	0–2	1–3
1997–98	UEFA Cup	Q1	Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol	7–0	3–1	10–1
		Q2	Viking	3–0	1–2	4–2
		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

References

^ "Historique : La Genèse | NEUCHÂTEL XAMAX" (in French). Xamax.ch. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
^ "Le Neuchâtel Xamax FCS est né" (in French). RTS Sport. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ "La Genèse" (in French). Neuchâtel Xamax. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Un palmarès plus que respectable" (in French). Neuchâtel Xamax. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ "Swiss club Xamax bankrupt, Chechen owner arrested - - SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
^ Meisterschaft 2. Liga interregional Archived 15 January 2013 at archive.today accessed: 21 July 2012
^ "Switzerland side Neuchatel Xamax return to top division six years after bankruptcy, collapse". ESPN. 22 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ "LA MALADIÈRE – HISTORIQUE" (in French). Neuchâtel Xamax. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^ "Équipe" [Team] (in French). Neuchâtel Xamax FCS. Retrieved 30 June 2023.