Neuchâtel Xamax FCS



Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS 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. Xamax Neuchâtel FCS obtained its current name after a merger with FC Serrières, another side from Neuchâtel, in May 2013.

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

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

After many financial crises, the club declared bankruptcy on 26 January 2012 and was consequently excluded from Swiss Super League. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Notable players

 * Cameroon
 * 🇨🇲 Freddy Mveng
 * Central African Republic
 * 🇨🇫 Louis Mafouta
 * Egypt
 * 🇪🇬 Hossam Hassan
 * Ivory Coast
 * 🇨🇮 Eric Tia
 * Nigeria
 * Brown Ideye
 * Kalu Uche
 * Senegal
 * 🇸🇳 Papa Bouba Diop
 * Sierra Leone
 * 🇸🇱 Umaru Bangura
 * Philippines
 * Michael Kempter
 * Saudi Arabia
 * 🇸🇦 Hussein Abdulghani
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇧🇦 Mustafa Sejmenović
 * 🇧🇦 Ensar Arifović
 * Bulgaria
 * 🇧🇬 Trifon Ivanov
 * Hungary
 * 🇭🇺 Lajos Détári
 * West Germany
 * Uli Stielike
 * Ireland
 * 🇮🇪 Don Givens
 * Liechtenstein
 * 🇱🇮 Noah Frick
 * Spain
 * 🇪🇸 Víctor Sánchez
 * Switzerland
 * Johan Djourou
 * Lucien Favre
 * Mario Gavranović
 * Haris Seferovic
 * 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