FC Baden 1897: 127 years of history – no small feat – which demonstrate the strength and identity of this Swiss club, founded thanks to the passion of a group of British employees at Brown Boveri & Cie AG, a well-known Swiss electrical engineering firm established in Baden in 1891. In those days, football was certainly a novelty in Aargau, but the enthusiasm of those young men gave rise to one of Switzerland’s oldest football clubs, which, right from the start, has run a youth development programme aimed not only at nurturing talented youngsters, but also – and above all – at fostering integration, social interaction and the personal development of the young people involved by engaging them in the club’s social life.

Young people at the heart of the project

FC Baden 1897 is proudly a ‘youth development club’. Over 350 young people are involved in the Swiss club’s sporting programme, with more than 30 teams covering all age groups. From the youngest players right through to the first team, and a women’s section that has been active at the club since the early 1970s. Many talented players have come through the red-and-white academy and gone on to pursue professional careers in the top Swiss league and in major European competitions. Take Silvan Widmer, for example, a Swiss international who played in the youth teams of FC Baden 1897 before moving to Aarau, then to Italy where he spent five seasons with Udinese, before returning to Switzerland to play for Basel and now featuring in the Bundesliga with Mainz 05.

Thrills at the Stadion Esp

FC Baden’s ‘home’ is in Fislisbach, a municipality in the district of Baden, where the Stadion Esp was opened in 1988 and has since hosted the club’s home matches in the Eastern Aargau region. This is an area where, in recent years – thanks in part to the first team – there have been plenty of thrilling moments. In 2022, the year marking the Swiss club’s 125th anniversary, FC Baden achieved the feat of securing promotion from the 4th to the 3rd Swiss Division.  Not content with that, the red-and-whites returned to Switzerland’s second-tier professional league, the Challenge League, the following season – after a 17-year absence – thanks to a brilliant finish in the table. This confirms that hard work, planning and commitment ultimately help to achieve significant goals.

A place to develop your sporting skills

Commitment, inclusion, participation and social awareness are values deeply rooted in the philosophy of FC Baden, which for 127 years has been committed to helping the young people who join its football academy grow in a healthy and mindful way. These are values that Macron fully shares and supports in its relationships with its partner clubs. The partnership between the Italian brand and the Swiss club began last year, and since July 2023, 30 teams – 21 of which are youth sides – have taken to the pitch wearing the Macron Hero on their shirts. ‘’Become your own hero’ It means hard work, sacrifice, and the ability to face challenges whilst accepting defeat, but always looking ahead, growing in determination and knowing that the ultimate goal is always within reach. The results achieved by FC Baden with its young players are the best example of this philosophy.