FC Aarau wants to get rid of the Xamax curse

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There are moments that change people’s lives. There are also moments that change the history of football clubs.

June 3, 2019 is such a moment for FC Aarau Aarau won the first leg in Neuchâtel 4-0 in the jump-off. The ascent party is planned, the t-shirts are printed. But then comes the biggest catch-up race in the history of Swiss football.

Xamax attacks with the courage of desperation. Results 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0. The people of Aarau don’t know what hit them. Exactly at 18:52, the Xamaxien Geoffrey Serey Die scored the decisive goal in the penalty shoot-out and helped the Neuchâtel team to stay in the league. The Brügglifeld freezes with fright. The canton of Aargau is shaken, Swiss football rubs its eyes.

Mediocrity becomes the program

Since then, this day has been like a curse on FC Aarau. Nothing wants to work properly anymore, the return to the Super League seems like a mission impossible. This season too, Aarau lagged far behind expectations and its own ambitions. Mediocrity becomes the program. “The increase is no longer an issue,” the club said weeks ago.

And now? Now Aarau is back in the middle of the race. At least now the chance of the barrage is suddenly within reach again. The pendulum seems to have unexpectedly swung back in favor of the Aargau. And there is a chance to shake off the curse of 2019. “This trauma has weighed on the club for a long time. But the current team has only two players from back then. If we make the barrage, this Xamax tragedy will not be in the back of the team’s mind,” said Sandro Burki, CEO from FC Arau.

Serenity with Sandro Burki

He wants to keep the ball flat. “We are planning the Challenge League. If things turn out differently, we will gladly accept that. But a lot has to happen for it to work,” says Burki. The license for the Super League has been received, even if the eternal project of the new stadium is still progressing slowly. And it will be at least another four to five years before this odyssey can be completed with entering the new arena.

Burki looks forward to the decisive matches in Yverdon and against Lausanne with peace of mind. “We are the hunters, not the hunted. We have nothing to lose.” For Burki it is clear that FC Aarau largely lives by tradition. “From the current possibilities, we are not a classic Super League club.” If the action succeeds, the budget must be increased from the current 6.5 million to about 9 million.

Another Aargau derby?

It’s been a turbulent few weeks for FCA. Markus Mahler will be elected the new president on June 12 at the general meeting. The future of coach Boris Smiljanic also needs to be clarified, where there are many indications of a divorce after the end of the season. But if the emergence is successful, this personality should also be reassessed. The only thing that is clear is that you want to keep the core of the team together, regardless of league affiliation.

And if promotion doesn’t work out, there will probably be a promotion party for football in Aargau anyway. FC Baden, a partner club of FC Aarau, is about to march through to the Challenge League. Last year the club was promoted to the Promotion League and now, with coach Michael Winsauer, the club is about to enter the Challenge League. If Aarau does not make it to the Super League, there will be another Aargau derby in professional football next season, at least after many years.

Source : Blick