"Young Boys": a tough nut that can bite

"Young Boys" - one of the most stable and famous Swiss clubs. Constantly takes part in European competition. Serious success on the euroarena was very rare, but often surprises.

History of the club

Professional football in Switzerland arose in the late 19 th century. The national championship was already considered quite strong at that time. The idea of creating a new club arose among several students of the University of Bern after watching a match between FC "Bern" (the leader of Swiss football at that time) and "Old Boys" (Basel). The guys took for the main idea for the name of the new club the name of the Basel club "Old guys". They also decided that young people always play football, so they gave the team the name "Young Guys". The first 2-3 years the team developed under the auspices of FC "Bern".

FC "Young Boys" was accepted in the PFL of Switzerland in 1900. The first derby with the team "Bern" was held on August 26, 1900. Already in the season 1902/1903 the football club Young Boys took its first trophy.

Eurocups

The first serious European success was celebrated in 1958. In the 1/8 finals of the NOC, the Swiss have twice defeated the Hungarian MTC (1: 2 and 1: 4). In the quarter finals, the "Young Guys" rival was a club from the German Democratic Republic Erzgebirge. To identify the winner of the pair had to play the third match, since at that time the tournament regulation did not provide for additional time and use of the post-match lottery. The first and second fights ended in a draw (0: 0 and 2: 2), and in the replay, the players from Bern - 2: 1 turned out to be stronger. Semifinal barrier to the club could not be overcome, because the opponent was the famous and very strong then champion of France "Reims". Home game "Young Boys" won 1: 0, but on the way out lost 0: 3.

In the 1987/1988 season, the Swiss successfully entered the tournament, which no longer exists, - the Cup Winners Cup of European countries. In the 1/16 finals the team played with the club "Dunajska Streda" from Czechoslovakia (1: 2, 3: 1). In round 1/8 "Young Boys", thanks to the already existing at the time the rule of the away goal, was Dutch "Den Haag" (1: 2, 1: 0). In the quarter-finals the Swiss team could not overcome the legendary Amsterdam "Ajax", having lost twice to 0: 1.

If we talk about the loud sensations that the collective sometimes presents, then we can recall, for example, the recent games of the 3 Qualifine-round of the Champions League between the Donetsk "Shakhtar" and "Young Boys". The first game took place in Lviv and ended 2-0 in favor of the miners. The first half of the return game in Bern did not foreshadow the disaster for the miners, ending in a 0-0 draw. But then there was a nightmare between 54 and 60 minutes, when the Swiss struck the Shakhtar's goal twice, and then brought it to the penalty shootout, which they won.

The secret of the success of "Young Guys" is self-giving and self-reliance. Thanks to the order, well-established work of players on the field, this team is quite capable to pass more high-class rivals.

Club achievements

The team won the championship of Switzerland 11 times in its history. The last title "Young Guys" took a long time (in the 1985/1986 season). Cup of his country the club won 6 times, but the last time it happened 29 years ago. In addition, "Young Boys" have in their track record of winning in such tournaments:

- League Cup in Switzerland (1 time);

- Cup of the Alps (1 time);

- Cup of hours (7 wins);

- Supercup (once).

Most of the triumphs of the football club "Young Boys" remained in the distant past. In the 21st century, the team only once (in 2007) won the Cup of Hours.