Servette FC

With so many notable football clubs stationed in the region of Romandy, it says a lot that Servette FC is the most successful among them. From their foundation date in 1890 to the present day, Servette has accumulated plenty Swiss Championships and Swiss Cups, which places them high in the running for the best Swiss club of all time. Since 2003, they’ve played their home games at the Stade de Genève.

Basic facts

Founded: 1900
Country: Switzerland
City: Geneva

Home grounds

Stade des Charmilles (1930–2002)
Stade de Genève (2003–)

Main trophies

Swiss Championship: 17
Swiss Cup: 8
Swiss League Cup: 3

Prominent players

Martin Chivers, Sonny Anderson, Christian Karembeu, Lucien Favre

Club records

Most games played: N/A (-)
Top goalscorer: N/A (-)

Team photo from 1933 with the players including the president and the manager.

History

From rugby to football

Though Servette was officially founded in 1890, it was originally a rugby club. By the end of the century, however, finding rugby rivals became an increasingly difficult task. As a result, the club created a football section in 1899, which quickly gained massive popularity in Geneva. The following year, they joined the ASF-SFV and began taking part in the national championship. By 1928, they had won 5 Swiss Championships and one Swiss Cup.

Servette topped off a successful decade with another championship title in 1930, but the biggest story that year was the opening of the Stade des Charmilles. This stadium served as the club’s home ground for the next 72 years, and had been synonymous with the club for most of that time. It also provided a backdrop to some of Servette’s biggest successes, as the club went on to claim an additional 8 major trophies by 1962.

Continued competence

The rest of the decade saw Servette drop off the football map a bit, with Basel and Zϋrich becoming the country’s premier clubs. However, they made a mini-comeback in the ‘70s, winning 2 Swiss Cups on the way to an incredible 1978/79 season. That season, Servette won all the competitions it competed in, except the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The list included the Swiss Championship, the Swiss Cup, the League Cup, and the Alps Cup.

This was kind of a swan song for Servette, as they managed to claim only 3 more championship titles – along with one Swiss Cup – before the turn of the century. The 1994 title was particularly noteworthy, as Servette cinched it at the last possible moment. In the league’s final round that season, Servette defeated Young Boys 4-1, whereas their main rivals Grasshopper only drew 1-1 with Aarau.

Bankruptcy and resurrection

The club’s final major trophy to date turned out to be the 2001 Swiss Cup. Shortly thereafter, the club moved to the newly built Stade de Genève and soon declared bankruptcy due to the parent’s company financial difficulties. This brought an end to Servette’s streak of never having been relegated from the top division of Swiss football.

From that point onward, Servette started making strides to return to the Swiss Super League. Considering that the club was sent to the fourth tier of Swiss football following its bankruptcy, this was no easy task. They managed to secure promotion to the Super League as early as 2011, but were promptly relegated in 2013. In 2019, however, they returned to the top flight by winning the Challenge League with a comfortable 15-point lead.

By Martin Wahl

Logo

The logo is round with claret color background and white text. The large "S" letter in the center is obviously standing for the name of the club. In the upper part, the name of the name is written and in the bottom part the club's town and year of establishment. Sometimes a star is placed above the round logo.