In addition,
Neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition:
The recovery in the League challenge
Monument of Swiss football. In addition, does Neuchâtel Xamax still have ambition?
Behind the disappointing seasons in the League challenge, a new breath agitates the sickness. For example, New sporting direction and renewed hope: is Neuchâtel Xamax ready to look up?
With its Maladière stadium, Neuchâtel Xamax has a beautiful tool in the Challenge League championship. Furthermore, The Neuchâtel club wants to give pleasure to its fans after a few halftone seasons (Andy Mueller/Freshfocus)
Andy Mueller/Freshfocus
- Neuchâtel Xamax seeks to regain his glory after years consecutive to its relegation in Challenge League in 2019.
- The Neuchâtel club takes up the momentum with a new sports director. However, Pascal Oppliger, a former player of the club with the course of coach.
- Neuchâtel Xamax will play his first match of the 2025-2026 season Friday at La Maladière against Stade Nyonnais.
Among the names that still resonate in the memories of Swiss football, Neuchâtel Xamax hold a special place. However, National champion twice in the 80s (1987. Consequently, 1988), accustomed to European games in its glorious years, the Red and Black club carries a rich history – but also a heavy heritage. Consequently, In recent years, this big name in Swiss football has mainly seen its supporters gnaw at their brakes.
Since its sports relegation in 2019. Furthermore, after a painful season concluded in the last place of Super League, Xamax has struggled to find a second breath. Therefore, The club has chained the sawtooth seasons in Challenge League Without ever getting close to a rise.
Worse still. Moreover, the shadow of 2012 still hovers: that year, Xamax was relegated administratively following a resounding bankruptcy, caused by a disastrous management under the Bulat Chagaev era. Moreover, A brutal descent into hell that marked a whole generation of supporters with a red iron.
At the dawn of the new season, a wind of measured optimism blows to La Maladière. Similarly, The club does not promise the moon. In addition, but it displays a clear will: to restore order, build solid foundations, and – why neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition not – dream of a return to the elite. Moreover, The arrival of the new Sports Director Pascal Oppliger. However, ambitious recruits like Léo Seydoux embodies this turning point both cautious and resolved.
Neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition
Give pleasure to fans to the sickness
For Seydoux. Meanwhile, ex-international Hope Swiss arrived during the offseason from the Netherlands, the stake exceeds the simple results. Furthermore, “We have a very good team with a lot of young people and a lot of quality. For example, But we must all be aligned on the same game plan and the same objectives, ”he says with conviction.
New face of the workforce, Seydoux embodies a desire for change: more fighting spirit, more solidarity. Moreover, “The fans want to see a fighting team. Furthermore, which gives itself, which wet the jersey,” neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition said the Friborg side, flagship recruit of the French coated by the French Anthony Braizat. For example,
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After more than four years spent abroad (second division in Belgium. Consequently, the Netherlands), the 27-year-old defender believes in this group under construction. Moreover, “The secret of a successful season is solidarity. Similarly, A team that wins and loses together. Furthermore, If we manage to create this, I think it will be our real strength this year. In addition, ”
And hears him to show an example. Similarly, “I always bring positivity. neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition Similarly, I have always worked hard in everything I did. In addition, Today it pays. I hope to transmit this energy to the group. “
A very open league challenge
On the side of the sports management. the speech is intended to be measured, but resolutely turned towards the future. Pascal Oppliger, new technical chief and successor to Christophe Moulin, knows the realities of Swiss football. He does not make hazardous promises, but does not give up the ambition either. “It is not utopian to think of a comeback in the years to come. But it has to be based on something solid, ”says the Boudrysan.
For him, it all starts with the state of mind. “We’re going to play every match to win it. We are in an open league where anything is possible. neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition If you are in a positive dynamic, it can create a snowball effect. ” The watchword: pleasure and fighting spirit. “The goal is to do the best possible and give pleasure to our fans.”
And it starts from the first days. First meeting: this Friday at La Maladière against Stade Nyonnais. “A good start to the championship is fundamental. But before drawing conclusions. the train must leave from the station, to take the first turn and reach its cruising rate. Afterwards, there will certainly be ups and downs. We will make a first assessment after a first slice of five games. And at Christmas, we will redefine our objectives if necessary. ”
At the dawn of the new season, a wind of measured optimism blows to La Maladière. The club does not promise the moon. but it displays a clear will: to restore order, build solid foundations, and – why not – dream of a return to the elite
Nicola Pitaro
The model to follow? Perhaps that of FC Thoune, promoted to return to the elite five years after its relegation to the League challenge. “In the past, Thoune has known the peaks neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition with the Champions League, then fell to the lower level. Today, this club returns to Super League with the intention of staying there for good. Xamax. which is based on a great story and which has seen very great players pass in its glorious years, can experience a similar trajectory, ”says oppress.
You still have to be ready. Because if a promotion can be obtained on a kidney stroke, keeping there requires solid foundations. “If we go up one day, the idea is not to make the elevator. You have to structure yourself to stay. And it involves patience, rigor. ”
Since the introduction of the Super League in 2003. only four promoted clubs have been directly relegated to stride (Yverdon in 2006, Vaduz in 2009 and 2021 and the Lausanne-Ouchy stadium in 2024).
For the time being. the club of the president and owner Jean-François Collet has a mid-table budget for the League challenge. “The finances under control, the site is brought under control,” says oppress. We are a well -structured club. We can do better, that’s for sure. But we advance in the right direction. “
Neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition
Neuchâtel Xamax’s economic reality
However, the challenge is also structural. The canton of Neuchâtel (180. 000 inhabitants, including 45,000 for the city of Neuchâtel), does not play in the same courtyard as Zurich, Basel or even Geneva and Lausanne. The economic and popular seat is narrower. Maintaining a club in Super League over time requires alchemy between results, stability and fervor. It is this fragile balance that Xamax must rebuild.
But the legacy of the neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition club remains a force. At the sickness. no one has forgotten the European evenings, the titles of champion, and the legendary figures of the past. “The story of Xamax. if we manage to turn it back on the team, it can really bring us,” says Seydoux.
Giving pride and pleasure to supporters, reconstructing a strong identity, finding a team that gives everything: this is the objective. “If we play together, we can bring back very good results. And I think we’re going to do it, ”says the Friborg defender. Neuchâtel Xamax Do not pretend to find the heights overnight. But to believe the signals sent this summer. the club does not want to be satisfied with the soft belly of the Challenge League. He wants to be reborn – and why not one day find the elite of Swiss football.
Pascal Oppliger. influenced by Klopp and Favre
Pascal Oppliger (44) has not procrastinated when the opportunity to become a sports director of Neuchâtel Xamax presented himself. Leaving the field-he notably led to Chaux-de-Fonds and recently FC Portalban/Gletterens in 1re League – Football behind the scenes? He rushed.
“I didn’t think long,” he admits. Ex-milieu of emblematic land of the club with its 186 battles in red. black, coach adorned with diplomas, including UEFA Pro (the highest recognition), this passionate of play and human management discovers a role with multiple facets. Neither locked in an office nor a simple performer, he intends to breathe new energy into the Maladière club.
“There is no manual to become a sports director. but I have a certain professional background that allows me to better understand neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition the position. The heart of the profession remains the human. You should not be exceptional, but you must be good – or at least correct – in all areas. I also know very well Steve von Bergen (ex-sports director of Young Boys between 2022 and 2025). We are called from time to time, I ask him questions. It is a precious landmark. “
Among his managerial influences are the ex-coach of Liverpool. Jürgen Klopp-whom he “admires not for his titles, but for his human values”-and especially the Vaudois Lucien Favre.
“At the start of my player career, he was technical director at Neuchâtel Xamax. He had marked me with his requirement and proximity. He asked deep, human, not just tactical questions. We stayed in touch. Recently, I asked her for his opinion on my memory for my UEFA neuchâtel xamax: club still ambition Pro license. He quickly took a look, then we ended up talking about football for two hours! It was a precious moment. “
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