Servette FC
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| Full name | Association du Servette Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Les Grenats (The Garnets) |
| Founded | 20 March 1890 |
| Ground |
Stade de Genève Geneva Switzerland |
| Capacity | 30,084 |
| Owner | 1890 Foundation |
| Chairman | Didier Fischer |
| Manager | Meho Kodro |
| League | Swiss Challenge League |
| 2015–16 | 1. Liga Promotion, 1st (promoted) |
| Website | Club home page |
Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva. They currently play in the Swiss Challenge League (second tier). The club was relegated to the third division in 2004–05 due to a bankruptcy, but achieved promotion to the Swiss Challenge League after the 2005–06 season, where the club remained until 2011. Servette earned promotion to the Swiss Super League after defeating Bellinzona in a relegation/promotion playoff on 31 May 2011. The club finished fourth in its first season back in the top flight, thereby gaining entrance to the Europa League second round qualification round for the 2012–13 season. However, they were relegated at the end of the 2013 season.
Founded in 1890, Servette was the leading club in French-speaking Switzerland, having won 17 Swiss league championships and seven Swiss cups. Servette were also winners of the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, one of the first international football competitions in the world, in 1908. In 1930 Servette organized Coupe des Nations, the predecessor of UEFA Champions League.
Led by Umberto Barberis and Claude "Didi" Andrey, in 1978–1979 the club won all of the competitions it entered – with the exception of the European Cup Winners' Cup where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals on away goals by Fortuna Düsseldorf, that year's finalist. Barberis later became French champion in 1982 with AS Monaco.
Until its bankruptcy, Servette was the only Swiss club to have remained in the top league since its creation in 1890. Servette remained the only club to have never been relegated for sporting reasons, until they finished at the last place, following the 2012–2013 season.
On 4 February 2005 the parent company of the club was declared bankrupt. It had run debts of over 10 million Swiss francs, having not paid the players since the previous November, and consequently the club suffered an exodus of players looking for paying clubs. As a consequence of the bankruptcy Servette Under 21s took over the club name playing two divisions below the original Servette team in 1. Liga, a fate already experienced by regional rivals Lausanne Sports in 2003, and continued to play at the Stade de Geneve in front of smaller crowds.
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