1987–88 FC Basel season

FC Basel
1987–88 season
Chairman	Charles Röthlisberger
Manager	Urs Siegenthaler
Ground	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
Nationalliga A, first stage	11th of 12
Promotion/Relegation	5th of 8, relegated
Swiss Cup	Round of 64
Top goalscorer	League: Peter Nadig (11); All: Peter Nadig (11)
Highest home attendance	10,000 on 19 September 1987; vs. Luzern
Lowest home attendance	1,400 on 19 May 1988; vs. Old Boys
Average home league attendance	5,536 and 4,357

The Fussball Club Basel 1893 1987–88 season was their 94th season since the club's foundation. It was their 42nd consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football (Nationalliga A) since they achieved promotion in the 1945–46 season. FC Basel played their home games in the St. Jakob Stadium. Charles Röthlisberger was the club's newly appointed chairman. He was the club's 31st chairman in their history.

Overview

Following the poor previous season, as the team only escaped relegation in the play-out round, Helmut Benthaus retired as head coach and there were also a number of players who left the club. Former Swiss international midfielder René Botteron retired from active football. German former international Gerhard Strack returned to Germany to play for Fortuna Düsseldorf. Another German player also moved to Germany, Thomas Süss moved on to play for Karlsruher SC. French player Jean-Pierre François moved back to France to play for AS Saint-Étienne. Also Fredy Grossenbacher and Marco Schällibaum both moved to Servette, André Ladner moved to Lugano and Erni Maissen transferred to Young Boys. Further reserve goalkeeper Patrick Mäder moved on to Baden and Luiz Gonçalo moved on to Old Boys.

Urs Siegenthaler was appointed as new first team coach and because 11 players left the squad he had to build a new team. But the club was suffering financial difficulties and there was no money to spend. However, one interesting transfer was that of Scottish Gordon Smith coming from Admira Wacker. Another interesting transfer was that of German Uwe Dittus from FC Winterslag. Another two experienced players were Frank Eggeling joined from Grenchen and Ruedi Zahner from Aarau. All other new players were youngsters, goalkeeper Bernard Pulver joined from lower tier FC Bern, Peter Bernauer from German team SV 08 Laufenburg, Remo Steiner from local club FC Aesch, Ralph Thoma from local club FC Rheinfelden, Mathias Wehrli from local club FC Laufen. Six players were brought up from the youth team. These being Philipp Baumberger, Massimo Ceccaroni, Bernd Schramm, Adrian Sedlo, Fotios Karapetsas and Patrick Rahmen.

Another interesting transfer was that of Varadaraju Sundramoorthy from Singapore FA. Sundramoorthy became only the second player from Singapore to play in Europe when he signed during the winter break and one of the first Asian players to play in Switzerland. He is widely touted as one of the country's most skillful and talented footballers ever. Sundramoorthy had problems adapting to European football, he did not have the stamina and strength to play the entire 90 minutes and manager Siegenthaler used him as a substitute because he had the skills to decide a match.[1]

The Swiss Football Association (SFV) had changed the form of the domestic league for this season. The number of teams in the Nationalliga A had been reduced from 16 to 12 and in the Nationalliga B had been increased from 16 to 24, these were divided into two regional groups. The top eight teams after the first stage would compete the second stage as championship group. The last four teams would compete the second stage in two Promotion/Relegation groups with the top six teams from each of the two Nationalliga B groups. Basel started the season badly, losing the first five league games straight off, conceding 17 goals, scoring just three. In the third round on 15 August they were defeated 1–9 by Xamax. Up until today this is still the highest score defeat that Basel have suffered in their domestic league history. Xamax manager at that time was Gilbert Gress. The goal scorers were 2x Robert Lüthi, 2x Robert Lei-Ravello, 2x Beat Sutter, 2x Heinz Hermann and Alain Geiger. The only goal for Basel was scored by Ralph Thoma.[2]

The team never recovered from the bad start and even lost seven of the eleven return games. They ended the qualifying stage of the championship with just 13 points in 11th position. This meant that they had to play in one of the two Promotion/Relegation groups. Despite a good start in this phase, they won their first three matches, they were defeated by Bellinzona and then by Wettingen. Basel thus lost contact to these two teams in the top two positions in the league table. The first two places would qualify for next seasons top flight. In their last six games Basel could not achieve a single victory and therefore they slipped to fifth position in the table and were relegated to the Nationalliga B.[3]

Xamax won the Swiss championship, second and third placed Servette and Aarau qualified for the 1988–89 UEFA Cup. In the Swiss Cup, in round of 64, Basel were drawn against local rivals Old Boys. The game ended with a 1–2 defeat and therefore the cup season was ended much earlier than expected. In the final Grasshopper Club won the cup with a 2–0 victory over Schaffhausen and thus qualified for the 1988–89 Cup Winners' Cup.[4]

Players

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	SUI	Bernard Pulver (from FC Bern)
1	GK	SUI	Urs Suter
2	DF	SUI	Philipp Baumberger (from youth team)
3	DF	GER	Peter Bernauer (from SV 08 Laufenburg)
4	MF	SUI	Stefan Bützer
5	DF	SUI	Massimo Ceccaroni (from youth team)
6	FW	GER	Frank Eggeling (from Grenchen)
7	DF	SUI	Markus Füri
8	DF	SUI	Fabio Ghisoni
9	DF	SUI	Bruno Hänni
10	FW	GER	Thomas Hauser
11	DF	SUI	Dominique Herr
12	DF	SUI	Markus Hodel
13	FW	SUI	Adrian Knup


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	ESP	Enrique Mata
15	MF	SUI	Peter Nadig
16	MF	GER	Bernd Schramm (from youth team)
17	FW	SUI	Remo Steiner (from FC Aesch)
18	FW	SUI	Ralph Thoma (from FC Rheinfelden)
19	FW	SUI	Mathias Wehrli (from FC Laufen)
20	MF	SUI	Ruedi Zahner (from Aarau)
21	MF	SCO	Gordon Smith (from Admira Wacker)
—	MF	GER	Uwe Dittus (from FC Winterslag)
—	DF	GER	Adrian Sedlo (from youth team)
—	MF	GRE	Fotios Karapetsas (from youth team)
—	MF	SUI	Stephan Schaub (new)
—	FW	SIN	Varadaraju Sundramoorthy (from Singapore FA)
—	FW	SUI	Patrick Rahmen (from youth team)

Players who left the squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	SUI	Dominik Leder
—	GK	SUI	Patrick Mäder (to Baden)
—	DF	SUI	André Ladner (to Lugano)
—	DF	GER	Gerhard Strack (to Fortuna Düsseldorf)
—	DF	SUI	Fredy Grossenbacher (to Servette)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	SUI	Marco Schällibaum (to Servette)
—	MF	SUI	Erni Maissen (to Young Boys)
—	MF	GER	Thomas Süss (to Karlsruher SC)
—	FW	FRA	Jean-Pierre François (to AS Saint-Étienne)
—	FW	SUI	Luiz Gonçalo (to Old Boys)
—	MF	SUI	René Botteron (retired)

Results

Legend

Win Draw Loss Postponed

Pre- and mid-season

22 July 1987 Uhrencup Semi-final	Young Boys	4 – 1	Basel	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
19:00	A. Sutter 12' (1:0) A. Sutter 57' (2:0) A. Sutter 68' (3:0) Zuffi 86' (4:1)	Summary	69' (o.g. 3:1) Hohl	Attendance: 1,900 Referee: Serge Muhmenthaler

25 July 1987 Uhrencup 3rd place	Basel	2 – 3	KS Gornik Zabrze	Stadion Brühl, Grenchen
17:00	Knup 31' (1:1) Eggeling 84' (2:2)	Summary	16' (pen. 0:1) Lesnik 37' (1:2) Cyroń	Attendance: 1,600 Referee: Francis Fischer

30 July 1987 Pre-season	FC Klus-Balsthal	1 – 5	Basel	Moos, Balsthal
	Stucki 73' (1:4)	Summary	31' (0:1) Hauser 42' (0:2) Hauser 59' (0:3) Hänni 63' (0:4) Thoma 84' (1:5) Steiner	Attendance: 500 Referee: Aurelio Giannini

31 July 1987 Pre-season	Yverdon-Sports	2 – 1	Basel	Stade Municipal, Yverdon
19:00	Mann 35' (1:0) Mann 81' (2:1)	Summary	46' (1:1) Hänni 50′ Bützer	Attendance: 700 Referee: Michel Barbezat

1 August 1987 Pre-season	Aarau	1 – 0	Basel	Moos, Balsthal
19:00	Wassmer 46' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 500

1 August 1987 Pre-season	Servette	3 – 2	Basel	Stade municipal, Bernex
17:00	Palumbo 4' (1:0) Hasler 26' (2:0) Kok 46' (3:0)	Summary	61' (pen. 3:1) Knup 66' (3:2) Nadig	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Claude Gachoud

5 August 1987 Pre-season	Laufen	1 – 2	Basel	Sportplatz Nau, Laufen
19:00	Schneider 2' (1:0)	Summary	28' (1:1) Zahner 88' (1:2) Eggeling	Attendance: 600 Referee: André Reck

24 August 1987 Mid-season	Basel	13 – 0	Sport journalists	Landhof, Basel
17:45	Schramm (4x) Bützer (3x) Eggeling (3x) Smith (2x) Hodel (1x)	Summary		Attendance: 200

Winter break

27 January 1988 Winter break	Basel	6 – 3	Young Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
18:30	Eggeling 23' (1:2) Eggeling 33' (2:2) Eggeling 43' (3:3) Nadig 51' (4:3) Sundramoorthy 75' (5:3) Nadig 85' (6:3)	Summary	6' (0:1) Nilsson 13' (0:2) Holmqvist 40' (2:3) Jeitziner	Attendance: 350 Referee: Peter Bochsler
Note: First game with Sundramoorthy from Singapore

30 January 1988 Winter break	Basel	4 – 2	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:30	Hauser 35' (1:1) Knup 59' (2:1) Knup 76' (3:2) Knup 90+1' (pen. 4:2)	Summary	26' (0:1) Pedrotti 71' (2:2) Pedrotti	Attendance: 500 Referee: Walter Rudin (Birsfelden)

2 February 1988 Winter break	Basel	2 – 1	SV Darmstadt 98	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Herr 82' (1:1) Sundramoorthy 85' (2:1)	Summary	11' (pen. 0:1) Kühnast	Attendance: 400 Referee: Rolf Blattmann

6 February 1988 Winter break	Chiasso	0 – 2	Basel	Stadio Comunale, Chiasso
		Summary	24' (0:1) Dittus 54' (0:2) Smith	Attendance: 47 Referee: Flavio Scalena

12 February 1988 Winter break	FC Ascona	2 – 3	Basel	Stadio Comunale, Ascona
	Rossi 26' (1:2) Sanders 31' (2:2)	Summary	4' (0:1) Knup 24' (0:2) Sundramoorthy 37' (2:3) Nadig	Referee: Marco Raveglia

14 February 1988 Winter break	Lugano	3 – 0	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
	Jenser 11' (1:0) Gorter 25' (2:0) Manfreda 84' (3:0)	Summary		Attendance: 300 Referee: Francesco Bianchi

17 February 1988 Winter break	Basel	1 – 0	Freiburger FC	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
18:30	Dittus 54' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 300 Referee: Peter Bochsler

20 February 1988 Winter break	Basel	1 – 0	FC Dübendorf	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:00	Eggeling 66' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 300 Referee: Walter Rudin (Birsfelden)

24 February 1988 Winter break	Aarau	4 – 1	Basel	Im Feld, Oftringen
	Lunde 10' (1:0) Schär 56' (2:1) Rufer 76' (3:1) Lunde 80' (4:1)	Summary	38' (1:1) Dittus	Attendance: 73 Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Suhr)

Nationalliga A

First stage

8 August 1987 Round 1	Aarau	2 – 0	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
20:00	Osterwalder 38' Nazar 39' (1:0) Wehrli 45' Nazar 52' Wyss 87' (2:0)	Summary		Attendance: 7,400 Referee: Arturo Martino
Note: NLA debuts for Bernard Pulver, Peter Bernauer, Mathias Wehrli and Ralph Thoma

12 August 1987 Round 2	Basel	1 – 2	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Smith 52' (1:2)	Summary	40' (0:1) Chapuisat 51' (0:2) Thychosen 88' Schürmann	Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Daniel Roduit
Note: NLA debut for Philipp Baumberger

15 August 1987 Round 3	Xamax	9 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Maladière, Neuchâtel
20:00	Lüthi 11' (1:0) Lüthi 12' (2:0) Lei-Ravello 39' (3:0) Sutter 44' (4:0) Sutter 56' (5:0) Lei-Ravello 57' (pen. 6:0) Hermann 81' (7:1) Geiger 84' (8:1) Hermann 86' (9:1)	Summary	59' (6:1) Thoma	Attendance: 10,300 Referee: Peter Kellenberger
Note: NLA debut for Schramm

22 August 1987 Round 4	Basel	0 – 1	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Hänni 10' Bützer 16'	Summary	27' Andermatt 37' Sforza 80' (0:1) Andermatt	Attendance: 6,100 Referee: Fredy Phillippoz

29 August 1987 Round 5	Sion	3 – 1	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
20:00	Bregy 31' (1:0) Rojević 45+1' (2:0) Piffaretti 47' (3:0)	Summary	84' (3:1) Knup	Attendance: 5,400 Referee: Francis Fischer

2 September 1987 Round 6	Basel	1 – 1	Bellinzona	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Knup 16' (1:0) Hänni 47'	Summary	19' (1:1) Türkyilmaz 37' Meier 81' Macaé	Attendance: 4,900 Referee: Bruno Klötzli

5 September 1987 Round 7	Basel	2 – 1	St. Gallen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Nadig 34' (1:0) Hodel 37' Thoma 45' (2:1) Bützer 50' Nadig 87'	Summary	43' (1:1) Braschler 61' Zwicker 68' Rietmann 87' Piserchia	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Marcel Despland (Yverdon)

8 September 1987 Round 8	Servette	4 – 0	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
20:00	Decastel 32' (1:0) Decastel 33' (2:0) Kok 59' (3:0) Eriksen 73' (4:0)	Summary	27' Hänni	Attendance: 3,700 Referee: Franz Gächter

12 September 1987 Round 9	Basel	5 – 4	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Steiner 4' (1:0) Steiner 24' (2:2) Nadig 35' (3:2) Thoma 57' (4:2) Thoma 82' (5:3)	Summary	9' (1:1) Landolt 67' Romano 15' (1:2) Vöge 78' (4:3) Andracchio 86' (5:4) Romano 90' Paradiso	Attendance: 6,200 Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Suhr)
Note: NLA debut for Remo Steiner

19 September 1987 Round 10	Basel	3 – 3	Luzern	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Nadig 47' (1:1) Zahner 51' (2:1) Nadig 55' (3:1)	Summary	8' (0:1) René Müller 59' (3:2) Fink 63' (3:3) Birrer	Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Willy Hänni

23 September 1987 Round 11	Young Boys	1 – 1	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
20:00	Jeitziner 59' Zuffi 68' (1:0)	Summary	21' Ghisoni 82' (1:1) Steiner	Attendance: 7,200 Referee: Philippe Mercier

26 September 1987 Round 12	Basel	0 – 1	Aarau	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Smith 81'	Summary	2' Wyss 29' Eggeling 70' Nazar 74' (0:1) Rufer	Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Peter Kellenberger

3 October 1987 Round 13	Lausanne-Sport	5 – 0	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
20:00	Castella 26' (1:0) Schürmann 36' (2:0) Chapuisat 56' (3:0) Castella 68' (4:0) Castella 89' (5:0)	Summary		Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Bruno Klötzli
Note: NLA debut for Massimo Ceccaroni

10 October 1987 Round 14	Basel	1 – 2	Xamax	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Smith 10' (1:0)	Summary	36' Thévénaz 44' (1:1) Nielsen 70' (1:2) van der Gijp	Attendance: 6,200 Referee: Fredy Phillippoz

13 October 1987 Round 15	Grasshopper Club	5 – 1	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
20:00	Ponte 25' (1:0) Paulo Cesar 33' (2:0) Egli 51' (3:0) Sforza 60' (4:0) Ponte 90' (5:1)	Summary	75' (4:1) Nadig	Attendance: 2,100 Referee: Daniel Roduit

24 October 1987 Round 16	Basel	3 – 1	Sion	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Thoma 19' (1:0) Smith 61' Rey 62' (o.g. 2:1) Smith 77' (3:1)	Summary	29' Bonvin 35' (1:1) Bregy 57' Bouderbala	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Francis Fischer

31 October 1987 Round 17	Bellinzona	2 – 2	Basel	Stadio Comunale Bellinzona, Bellinzona
17:30	Türkyilmaz 2' (1:0) Türkyilmaz 86' (2:2)	Summary	9' (1:1) Bützer 14' Baumberger 64' Smith 69' (1:2) Nadig 86' Zahner	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Arturo Martino

4 November 1987 Round 18	St. Gallen	2 – 0	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
20:00	Piserchia 29' (1:0) Piserchia 52' (2:0) Rietmann 63' Zwicker 86'	Summary	67' Zahner	Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Peter Kellenberger

21 November 1987 Round 19	Basel	0 – 0	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
14:30	Cacciapaglia 41'	Summary	56' Smith 71' Bernauer	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Marcel Despland

28 November 1987 Round 20	Zürich	0 – 4	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
14:30	Rufer	Summary	12' (0:1) Nadig 37' (pen. 0:2) Knup 51' Bützer 63' (0:3) Knup 71' (0:4) Knup 81' Hauser	Attendance: 2,700 Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Suhr)

6 December 1987 Round 21	Luzern	2 – 0	Basel	Stadion Allmend Luzern
14:30	Mohr 4' (1:0) Martin Müller 66' (2:0)	Summary	79' Zahner	Attendance: 9,100 Referee: Franz Gächter
Note: NLA debut for Sedlo

13 December 1987 Round 22	Basel	1 – 4	Young Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
14:30	Knup 80' (1:3)	Summary	19' (0:1) Zuffi 49' (o.g. 0:2) Smith 60' (0:3) Holmqvist 81' (1:4) Holmqvist	Referee: Arturo Martino

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Neuchâtel Xamax	22	13	5	4	53	28	+25	31	Advance to championship round
2	Grasshopper Club Zürich	22	12	6	4	30	16	+14	30
3	BSC Young Boys	22	7	12	3	37	28	+9	26
4	FC Aarau	22	9	7	6	28	24	+4	25
5	FC St. Gallen	22	9	5	8	28	27	+1	23
6	FC Lucerne	22	7	9	6	30	29	+1	23
7	Servette FC	22	8	7	7	32	31	+1	23
8	Lausanne Sports	22	8	7	7	39	39	0	23
9	FC Sion	22	8	6	8	42	36	+6	22	Advance to Promotion/Relegation Group B
10	AC Bellinzona	22	3	8	11	25	38	−13	14	Advance to Promotion/Relegation Group A
11	FC Basel	22	4	5	13	27	55	−28	13	Advance to Promotion/Relegation Group A
12	FC Zürich	22	4	3	15	26	46	−20	11	Advance to Promotion/Relegation Group A

Source: rsssf.com

Second stage

Promotion/Relegation Group A

5 March 1988 Round 1	Basel	4 – 0	Etoile-Carouge	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Thoma 5' (1:0) Thoma 52' (2:0) Hauser 70' (3:0) Hauser 73' (4:0)	Summary	42' Nogués 45' Harder	Attendance: 2,200 Referee: Fredy Phillippoz

19 March 1988 Round 2	Bulle	0 – 2	Basel	Stade de Bouleyres, Bulle
14:30		Summary	87' (0:1) Sundramoorthy 90+1' (0:2) Bützer	Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Francis Fischer

23 March 1988 Round 3	Basel	1 – 0	Malley	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Thoma 8' (1:0)	Summary	19' Knigge	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Bruno Klötzli

30 March 1988 Round 4	Bellinzona	4 – 1	Basel	Stadio Comunale Bellinzona, Bellinzona
20:00	Türkyilmaz 10' (1:0) Pellegrini 15' (2:0) Pellegrini 36' (3:1) Pellegrini 44' (4:1) Germann 58'	Summary	27' (2:1) Dittus 38' Hauser 86' Dittus	Attendance: 1,100 Referee: Manfred Schlup (Grenchen)

4 April 1988 Round 5	Basel	0 – 2	Wettingen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
14:30	Hauser 36' 38' Nadig 42'	Summary	28' (0:1) Rueda 72' Bertelsen 79' (0:2) Svensson	Attendance: 6,800 Referee: Paul-Louis Christe

9 April 1988 Round 6	Old Boys	3 – 3	Basel	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
20:00	Herr 16' (o.g. 1:0) Kägi 23' (2:0) Lius 27' (3:0) Maurer 70' de Almeida 76'	Summary	39' (3:1) Thoma 53' (3:2) Thoma 87' (3:3) Dittus	Attendance: 5,400 Referee: Peter Kellenberger

16 April 1988 Round 7	Basel	4 – 1	Schaffhausen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Ceccaroni 17' Bützer 41' (1:1) Dittus 45' Hauser 55' (2:1) Knup 63' (pen. 3:1) Ralph Thoma 85' (4:1)	Summary	15' (0:1) Axel Thoma 43' Filomeno 62' Lehmann 64' Mercanti 67' Heydecker	Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Georges Sandoz

23 April 1988 Round 8	Etoile-Carouge	0 – 6	Basel	Stade de la Fontenette, Carouge
17:30	Harder Radi Toth	Summary	18' (0:1) Nadig 20' (0:2) Nadig 33' (0:3) Nadig 45' (0:4) Bützer 53' (0:5) Sundramoorthy 68' (0:6) Knup	Attendance: 850 Referee: Francis Fischer

30 April 1988 Round 9	Basel	1 – 2	Bulle	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Knup 77' (pen. 1:2)	Summary	33' (0:1) Lehnherr 70' (0:2) Lehnherr 77' Esseiva 90+2' Hofer	Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Marcel Despland (Yverdon)

3 May 1988 Round 10	Malley	2 – 2	Basel	Stade du Bois Gentil, Malley (Lausanne)
18:45	Salou 58' Salou 61' (pen. 1:2) Martelli 72' (2:2)	Summary	7' (0:1) Knup 17' (0:2) Nadig	Attendance: 920 Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Suhr)

7 May 1988 Round 11	Basel	0 – 2	Bellinzona	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
	Pulver 85'	Summary	17' Gilli 66' Aeby 77' (0:1) Aeby 86' (0:2) Jacobacci	Attendance: 7,600 Referee: Franz Gächter

14 May 1988 Round 12	Wettingen	3 – 2	Basel	Stadion Altenburg, Wettingen
20:00	Svensson 4' Baumgartner 11' Merin 37' Schepull 41' Häusermann 57'	Summary	21' Dittus 36' Sundramoorthy 60' Bützer 62' Hodel 70' Hauser 88' Sundramoorthy	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Daniel Roduit

19 May 1988 Round 13	Basel	1 – 1	Old Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
20:00	Knup 47' (1:0) Bützer 51' Hauser 54'	Summary	4' Lüdi 48' Cosenza 66' (1:1) Magro	Attendance: 1,400 Referee: Bruno Klötzli

21 May 1988 Round 14	Schaffhausen	0 – 0	Basel	Stadion Breite, Schaffhausen
20:00		Summary		Attendance: 2,850 Referee: Francis Fischer

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wettingen	14	11	0	3	32	16	+16	22	Promotion to Nationalliga A 1988–89
2	AC Bellinzona	14	8	1	5	29	20	+9	17	Remain in Nationalliga A 1988–89
3	Schaffhausen	14	7	1	6	25	22	+3	15	Remain in Nationalliga B
4	ES Malley	14	7	1	6	21	20	+1	15	Remain in Nationalliga B
5	Basel	14	5	4	5	27	20	+7	14	Relegation to Nationalliga B 1988–89
6	Bulle	14	7	0	7	28	25	+3	14	Remain in Nationalliga B
7	Etoile Carouge	14	4	1	9	14	33	−19	9
8	Old Boys	14	2	2	10	11	31	−20	6