Category: France

FC Basel vs BSC Young Boys

Sundays in Mulhouse can be dull, as apart from McDonald’s, Starbucks, and a small Carrefour market in the centre of town, virtually everything is closed. I decided to look at the FC Basel fixture list and saw there was a home game against Young Boys, a team from from Bern. After the fun I had going to Everton de Viña games in Chile, I knew I had to make the most of my Sunday and get a ticket.

After I bought my ticket, which was an e-ticket in order to avoid the 10 CHF handling fee, I found out that FC Basel vs Young Boys was a highly anticipated encounter as FC Basel were second in the league with Young Boys eleven points clear at the top of the table. Despite Young Boys being knocked of the Champions League in the group stages this year, they beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus 2-1 and put up a stern fight against Manchester United at Old Trafford. It all made for a great match.

When I arrived at St Jakob-Park, the impressive home of FC Basel with a capacity of over 38,000, I immediately took advantage of something banned at football matches in Scotland and Chile, beer. In addition to this, the one thing that I noticed was that despite the availability of beer, there were far fewer fans visibly drunk than a match in Scotland or England. The beer is served in plastic tumblers and you have to remember to bring your cup back in order to get the 2 CHF pfand! (deposit)

Although I was sat in one of the side stands, I was close to the FC Basel ultras who put on quite a display, featuring balloons, banners, massive flags, flares and ticker tape. On the opposite side, the Young Boys fans also set off flares and displayed a wall of yellow scarves. The electric atmosphere definitely made up for the cold wet weather.

The game did not disappoint in the slightest. FC Basel started well going 1-0 in front of a corner that went in via a deflection from a Young Boys defender. However, Young Boys piled on the pressure, took advantage of some lax Basel defending and went 2-1 up just before half time, the first goal came from a cross whilst the second came from a free kick. The best goal of the game came in the second half when Basel talisman Noah Okafor thundered home from outside the box. Both sides had chances later on to win the game but the match ended 2-2.

One thing I also loved about the experience was that public transport to and from the stadium is free, a real bonus if you are a student! In addition to the free transport, special trams were put on so supporters could get home from the ground swiftly. I think the free transport is an excellent idea, maybe Hearts should consider bringing in a similar concept?

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of my first football game on the continent and hope to get to FC Basel’s next home game against FC Lugano, from the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

Grüezi aus Basel!

One of the things that I love most about living in Mulhouse is the ability to travel to a plethora of different places within easy reach by train. Due to Mulhouse’s location on the border, as well as places in France, Germany and Switzerland are both easily accessible. Therefore I have made the most of this situation and went to Basel, Switzerland for the day.

The train to Basel from Mulhouse takes about 20 minutes and feels like a shuttle train. Although Basel is one of Switzerland’s biggest cities, it is smaller than both Edinburgh and Viña del Mar. This, however, means that the city is very walkable and the Altstadt (Old Town) and Marktplatz are within walking distance of the train station. The Rathaus (town hall) in Basel is a beautiful building, with historic paintings and murals on the walls. A busker is always present in the cloister and at one time, a cellist was playing The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns, one of my favourite pieces. Like all of Switzerland, prices in Basel are fairly expensive. The Marktplatz however is home to a number of stalls selling traditional Swiss food at reasonable prices. I ate a Baseler Wurst, a traditional sausage from the area, which was served with a slice of rye bread and hot mustard.

One funny moment happened when a lady heard me talking to my friend Danielle and came up to me in English and asked if I was American. I initally thought her accent was Swiss as her accent was not Anglophone and her granddaughter and her Dad were speaking in German to each other. I responded by saying, ‘Nein, Mein Freund ist Amerikaner aber Ich komme aus Schottland.’ (No, my friend is American but I’m from Scotland). The lady looked most perplexed and I was beginning to think I had said something odd. It turned out that she and her husband had come from Wisconsin, U.S.A. to visit their daughter and family who lived in Basel. Luckily, the lady’s daughter spoke German so was able to translate!

Basel is a very nice city and I hope to be back several times before I finish my placement, particularly as there is a Lindt shop in Basel!