FC Sion

FC Sion, also known simply as Sion or formally as Football Club Sion, with the club's first team incorporated as Olympique des Alpes SA, is a Swiss football club from the city of Sion. Playing in the Swiss Super League, the highest tier of Swiss football, it has also won 13 Swiss Cups, more than any other club. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade de Tourbillon.

History

320px|thumb|Chart of FC Sion table positions in the Swiss football league system

FC Sion were founded in 1909 by Robert Gilliard, who became club captain, and played their first match the same year, a 3–2 win against FC Aigle. The club grew thanks to contributions from locals, and played their first competitive league fixture in 1914, again a 3–2 victory, against FC Monthey. In 1919, Sion formally organised its managerial structure, with Gilliard becoming vice-president and Charles Aymon taking the presidency. In 2006, He was rewarded with promotion back to the Super League, as well as a victory in the Swiss Cup, becoming the first second-tier team to achieve this, with a 5–3 penalty shoot-out victory over Young Boys after a 1–1 draw.

Transfer ban saga

In 2008, controversy came to Sion when they signed Essam El Hadary, leading to a two-year "registration period" ban for Sion from June 2009, and an international playing ban for El Hadary for four months, due to El-Hadary still being under contract at his former club Al Ahly. Sion appealed this action, but the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland confirmed the FIFA, DRC and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decisions in 2009 and 2010 respectively. However, the lengthy legal battle (including the temporary reprieve) meant the ban was only practically instituted beginning in the winter transfer window of the 2010–11 season.

Although gaining a place in the qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League by winning the previous season's Swiss Cup, Sion were excluded from the Europa League by UEFA after fielding ineligible players in their play-off victory against Celtic. On 2 September, the Swiss Football League (SFL) rejected the registration of one more player, Brian Amofa.

On 30 September 2011, the SFL decided to provisionally qualify the six new signings, namely Stefan Glarner, Billy Ketkeophomphone, Mario Mutsch, Pascal Feindouno, José Gonçalves and Gabri, to comply with the ongoing legal process. Sion also sued the SFL and UEFA respectively in the Tribunal Cantonal de Valais and the Tribunal in Vaud, however both actions were dismissed. The club's earlier appeal was dismissed by UEFA Appeals Body on 13 September. Sion also sued the SFL and UEFA in the CAS, but withdrew the former claim. The hearing of the latter claim was set on 24 November.

On 25 October, the Discipline Commission (fr: Commission de discipline) of SFL suspended all six players for five matches. It was reported that each player filed their legal claim in civil court instead of using the Swiss FA and CAS "sports court" system, which the ban was requested by FIFA. On 27 October, as a "provisional and super-provisional measures", UEFA invited Sion to a match schedule consultation once UEFA lost the legal battle.

On 31 October 2011, Sion sent a complaint to the European Commission. FIFA also won the legal battle in civil court in November. Previously, the civil court of Martigny and Saint-Maurice (both of the city of Valais) ordered FIFA to confirm the signing of those six players on 3 August, a consequence of lawsuit brought out by the players. On 16 November, FIFA and the SFL appeal was upheld in the Valais canton court.

On 15 December, the CAS upheld the complaints by UEFA, affirming its right to discipline Sion according to previous agreements. The CAS also lifted the provisional measures ordered by the Tribunal Cantonal of Vaud (Cour civile) on 5 October 2011. After the ruling, FIFA threatened to suspend Swiss national and club teams from international competition if Sion were not appropriately penalized for its ostensible rules violations. In late December 2011, the Swiss Football Association complied with FIFA's demands and penalized Sion 36 standings points (based on how many matches ineligible players were involved), moving the club to last place in the league standings and putting the club at risk of relegation if the ruling stood.

Sion finished the 2011–12 season in ninth place, which qualified them to the relegation matches against Aarau, whom they defeated 2–1 on aggregate to stay in the Swiss Super League. Without suffering their 36-point deduction Sion would have finished in the third place, which would have qualified them into the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, they made a major coup by signing Gennaro Gattuso and Kyle Lafferty, both via free transfers. However, the club had a disappointing season which saw them change coaches three times before settling on Gattuso to finish the season, ending in third place.

Sion finished the 2014–15 season in second place as runner-up, which qualified to the UEFA Europa League Group Stage for the first time in history from next season. In 2015–16, Sion reached to Round of 32 Europa League until Eliminated by S.C. Braga with aggregate 3–4.

Suffering relegation and return to top tier

In 2022–23, Sion suffered relegation to the Challenge League after a loss on aggregate by Stade Lausanne Ouchy 2–6 and ended a top flight spell after 17 years. The following season, Sion secured promotion to the Super League after defeating FC Schaffhausen 3–0 on 20 May 2024 as champions of the Challenge League for the first time in their history in a rare appearance outside the top tier and return to the top tier after a year absence.

Honours

Sion held the distinction of having never lost a domestic cup final, with 13 wins in 13 appearances in the Swiss Cup, until a defeat by Basel in the 2017 edition.

Swiss Super League
Champions (2): 1991–92, 1996–97
Swiss Challenge League
Champions (1): 2023–24
Swiss Cup
Winners (13): 1964–65, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11,

Out on loan

Former players

Izzet Akgül
Alex Song
Roberts Uldriķis
Mario Balotelli
Gennaro Gattuso
Adryan
Matheus Cunha
Wylan Cyprien
Anton Miranchuk

Club officials

{| class="wikitable"

!Position

!Staff

| President || Christian Constantin

| Vice-president || Gelson Fernandes

| Chief Executive Officer || Massimo Cosentino

| Sporting CEO || Barthélémy Constantin

| Team Manager || Christian Lurati

| Manager || Didier Tholot

| Assistant manager || Lucien Duverne

| First-team coach || François Bastien

| Goalkeeping coach || Pierre De Kalbermatten Massimo Colomba

| Fitness coach || Mattia Garrone

| Video analyst || Antoine Monsieur

| Director of Development || Pablo Iglesias

| Club doctor || Baptiste Graoully

| Physiotherapist || Raoul Caserne Simon Herzhaft Étienne Sommelier Luca Valente Paolo Bilello Yoann Demangeot

| Masseur || Malk Husseine

| Kit Manager || Felix Volken

Historical list of coaches

Vittorio Barberis (1947–49)
Carlo Pinter (1949–51)
Joseph Wuilloud (1951–52)
Henri Humbert & Mathey (1952–53)
Paul Allégroz (1953–54)
Henri Humbert (1954–55)
Jacques Guhl (1955–59)
Frank Séchehaye (1959–61)
Karl-Heinz Spikofski (July 1961 – March 63)
Lev Mantula (March 1963 – July 67)
Stojan Osojnak (July 1967 – Nov 68)
Peter Rösch (Nov 1968 – July 70)
Maurice Meylan (July 1970 – Sept 71)
Miroslav Blažević (Sept 1971 – July 76)
István Szabó (1976–79)
Daniel Jeandupeux (1 July 1979 – 30 June 1980)
Oscar Fulloné (1980–81)
Jean-Claude Donzé (July 1981 – Jan 88)
Péter Pázmándy (Jan 1988 – July 89)
Yves Débonnaire (1989–90)
Enzo Trossero (1990–92)
Jean-Paul Brigger (1 July 1992 – 31 Dec 1992)
Claude Andrey (Jan 1993 – July 93)
Umberto Barberis (1 July 1993 – Oct 94)
Jean-Claude Richard (1 Oct 1994 – 30 June 1995)
Michel Decastel (1 July 1995 – 30 June 1996)
Jean-Claude Richard (1 Aug 1996 – 30 Aug 1996)
Alberto Bigon (10 Aug 1996 – 19 Oct 1997)
Jean-Claude Richard (Sept 1, 1997 – 30 March 1998)
Jochen Dries (March 1998 – Nov 98)
Charly In-Albon (Nov 1998 – March 99)
Olivier Rouyer (March 1999 – July 99)
[[:de:Roberto Morinini|Roberto Morinini

]] (1 July 1999 – 30 Nov 1999)

Henri Stambouli (5 Jan 2000 – 14 July 2001)
Laurent Roussey (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2002)
Jean-Claude Richard (1 July 2002 – 30 March 2003)
Charly Rössli (1 Jan 2003 – 30 June 2003)
Didier Tholot (1 July 2003 – 3 Nov)
Didier Tholot & Guy David (Nov 2003 – 4 Jan)
Didier Tholot, Guy David & Ami Rebord (Jan 2004 – 30 June 2004)
Admir Smajić (20 April 2004 – 30 June 2004)
Christian Zermatten (1 July 2004 – 10 Aug 2004)
Gilbert Gress (9 Aug 2004 – 27 March 2005)
Gianni Dellacasa (27 March 2005 – 16 Oct 2005)
Christophe Moulin (19 Oct 2005 – 1 May 2006)
Néstor Clausen (1 July 2006 – 1 Oct 2006)
Christophe Moulin (interim) (Oct 2006)
Marco Schällibaum (6 Oct 2006 – 21 Nov 2006)
Pierre-Albert Chapuisat (21 Nov 2006 – 19 Feb 2007)
Alberto Bigon (19 Feb 2007 – 13 Dec 2007)
Charly Rössli (18 Dec 2007 – 25 March 2008)
Alberto Bigon (March 2008 – 8 May)
Uli Stielike (1 July 2008 – 3 Nov 2008)
Christian Constantin (interim) (Nov 2008 – 8 Dec)
Christian Zermatten & Umberto Barberis (24 Dec 2008 – 10 April 2009)
Christian Constantin (interim) (April 2009)
Didier Tholot (14 April 2009 – 21 May 2010)
Bernard Challandes (1 July 2010 – 22 Feb 2011)
Laurent Roussey (22 Feb 2011 – 23 April 2012)
Rolland Courbis (interim) (2 April 2012 – 5 June 2012)
Vladimir Petković (15 May 2012 – 2 June 2012)
Sébastien Fournier (1 June 2012 – Sept 3, 2012)
Michel Decastel (Sept 4, 2012 – 30 Oct 2012)
Pierre-André Schürmann (30 Oct 2012 – 10 Dec 2012)
Víctor Muñoz (1 Jan 2013 – 25 Feb 2013)
Gennaro Gattuso (25 Feb 2013 – 25 March 2013)
Luigi Riccio (interim) (1 March 2013 – 24 March 2013)
Arno Rossini (26 March 2013 – 13 May 2013)
Michel Decastel (15 May 2013 – 21 Oct 2013)
Laurent Roussey (22 Oct 2013 – 11 Feb 2014)
Raimondo Ponte (11 Feb 2014 – 5 Jun 2014)
Claudio Gentile (5 Jun 2014 – 12 Jun 2014)
Frédéric Chassot (12 Jun 2014 – 28 Sep 2014)
Jochen Dries (28 Sep 2014 – 8 Dec 2014)
Didier Tholot (17 Dec 2014 – 12 Aug 2016)
Peter Zeidler (22 Aug 2016 – 25 Apr 2017)
Sébastien Fournier (25 Apr 2017 – 15 Jun 2017)
Paolo Tramezzani (15 Jun 2017 – 22 Oct 2017)
Gabri García (25 Oct 2017 – 6 Feb 2018)
Maurizio Jacobacci (6 Feb 2018 – 17 Sep 2018)
Murat Yakin (17 Sep 2018 – 7 May 2019)
Christian Zermatten (interim) (8 May 2019 – 30 June 2019)
Stéphane Henchoz (1 July 2019 – 3 Nov 2019)
Christian Zermatten (interim) (4 Nov 2019 – 31 Dec 2019)
Ricardo Dionisio (1 Jan 2020 – 3 June 2020)
Paolo Tramezzani (3 June 2020 – 7 Aug 2020)
Fabio Grosso (25 Aug 2020 – 5 Mar 2021)
Ugo Raczynski (interim) (5 Mar 2021 – 16 Mar 2021)
Marco Walker (16 Mar 2021 – 8 Oct 2021)
Paolo Tramezzani (9 Oct 2021 – 20 Nov 2022)
Fabio Celestini (21 Nov 2022 – 3 Mar 2023)
David Bettoni (7 Mar 2023 – 15 May 2023)
Paolo Tramezzani (16 May 2023 – 15 June 2023)
Didier Tholot (15 June 2023 – Present)

European record

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="text-align: center;"

! Season

! Competition

! Round

! Opponents

! Home

! Away

! Aggregate

| rowspan="2"| 1965–66

| rowspan="2"| European Cup Winners' Cup

| 1R

| Galatasaray

| style="text-align:center;"| 5–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 6–3

| 2R

| 1. FC Magdeburg

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–8

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–10

| 1973–74

| UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Lazio

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–3

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–4

| 1974–75

| European Cup Winners' Cup

| 1R

| Malmö FF

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| 1980–81

| European Cup Winners' Cup

| 1R

| Haugar

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

| 1982–83

| European Cup Winners' Cup

| PR

| Aberdeen

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–4

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–7

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–11

| rowspan="2"| 1984–85

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Atlético Madrid

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–2

| 2R

| Željezničar

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–3

| rowspan="3"| 1986–87

| rowspan="3"| European Cup Winners' Cup

| 1R

| Aberdeen

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–2

| 2R

| Katowice

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 5–2

| QF

| Lokomotiv Leipzig

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| |1987–88

| |UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Velež Mostar

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–5

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–5

| rowspan="2"| 1989–90

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Iraklis

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–1

| 2R

| FC Karl-Marx-Stadt

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–4

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–5

| rowspan="2"| 1991–92

| rowspan="2"| European Cup Winners' Cup

| 1R

| Valur

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–1

| 2R

| Feyenoord

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| rowspan="2"| 1992–93

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Champions League

| 1R

| Tavriya Simferopol

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 7–2

| 2R

| Porto

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–4

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–6

| rowspan="3"| 1994–95

| rowspan="3"| UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Apollon Limassol

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–3

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 5–4

| 2R

| Marseille

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–3 (a)

| 3R

| Nantes

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–4

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–6

| rowspan="2"| 1995–96

| rowspan="2"| European Cup Winners' Cup

| QR

| Tiligul Tiraspol

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–2

| 1R

| AEK Athens

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–4

| rowspan="3"| 1996–97

| rowspan="3"| European Cup Winners' Cup

| QR

| Kareda Šiauliai

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–2

| 1R

| Nyva Vinnytsia

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 6–0

| 2R

| Liverpool

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–6

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–8

| rowspan="3"| 1997–98

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Champions League

| 1Q

| Jeunesse Esch

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 5–0

| 2Q

| Galatasaray

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–4

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–8

| UEFA Cup

| 1R

| Spartak Moscow

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–5

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–6

| rowspan="2"| 2006–07

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Cup

| 2Q

| SV Ried

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| 1R

| Bayer Leverkusen

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

| rowspan="2"| 2007–08

| rowspan="2"| UEFA Cup

| 2Q

| SV Ried

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–1

| 1R

| Galatasaray

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–5

| style="text-align:center;"| 4–7

| 2009–10

| UEFA Europa League

| PO

| Fenerbahçe

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–4

| 2011–12

| UEFA Europa League

| PO

| Celtic

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–31

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–61

| rowspan="4"| 2015–16

| rowspan="4"| UEFA Europa League

| rowspan="3"| Group B

| Rubin Kazan

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| 2nd

| Liverpool

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| Bordeaux

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| R32

| Braga

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;"| 3–4

| 2017–18

| UEFA Europa League

| 3Q

| Sūduva Marijampolė

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;"| 0–3

| style="text-align:center;"| 1–4

;Notes

Note 1: Celtic lodged protests over the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated in the two legs of the play-off round, which Sion won 3–1 aggregate (first leg: 0–0; second leg: 3–1). The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body accepted the protests and decided to award both matches to Celtic by forfeit (3–0). As a consequence, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage.

History

Transfer ban saga

Suffering relegation and return to top tier

Honours

Out on loan

Former players

Club officials

Historical list of coaches

European record

References

External links