The FC Basel 1931–32 season was their thirty ninth season since the clubs foundation on 15 November 1893. FC Basel played their home games in the Landhof in the district Wettstein in Kleinbasel. The club's new chairman Franz Rinderer, who took over the presidency from Otto Kuhn at the AGM on 11 July 1931.
Overview
Last seasons coach/manager Austrian Gustav Putzendopler stayed on for his second season as trainer. Fellow Austrian internationalOtto Haftl signed in from AC Sparta Prague to the team becoming Basel's first ever fully professional footballplayer. During his first season at the club he also acted as player-manager after Putzendopler laid down the job as trainer. The team played a total of 35 matches in their 1931–32 season. 16 of these matches were in the domestic league, six matches in the Swiss Cup and 13 games were friendly matches. Of these 13 friendlies four were played in the Landhof, six other games were also played in Switzerland. Only one was played in Germany against FV Lörrach and another one was played in France against CA Mulhouse. Of the friendly games, ten games ended with a victory, two were drawn and one match ended with a defeat. The newly formed and renamed domestic league, now Nationalliga, started at the end of August. The new 1931–32 Nationalliga was now divided into two groups, each with nine teams, coming from the whole of Switzerland and no longer just regional groups. Basel were allocated to Group 1. The league season started very badly, they lost their first five games straight off, conceding 27 goals. Not only did Basel change their trainer, but also goalkeeper and various players. In the second half of the season things improved and with six victories in the last seven games Basel were able to rise from the foot of the table. They finished the season four points above the relegation zone. In the 1st principal round of the Swiss Cup Basel were drawn away against and defeated lower classed SC Veltheim. They needed a reply in the second round to beat Lugano and were victorious against lower classed SC Brühl St. Gallen in the third round. Then a quarter-final victory over La Chaux-de-Fonds took the team into a semi-final against Grasshopper Club. However this ended with a rather hefty defeat 1–8 and that fits completely into the picture of a rather disappointing season. An episode that can be noted in association with the Cup, was the replay away against FC Lugano on 22 November 1931. Alfred Schlecht scored the winning goal early, just two minutes after the game had started. However, after the game there were tumults and riots among the spectators who were not satisfied with the referee's performance. It was some eight hours later, before things were settled enough, for the police to able to bring both the referee and the entire Basel team to safety, by ship over Lake Lugano.
