Following the poor previous season, as the team only escaped relegation in the play-out round, Helmut Benthaus retired as head coach and there were also a number of players who left the club.

Another two experienced players were Frank Eggeling joined from Grenchen and Ruedi Zahner from Aarau.

These being Philipp Baumberger, Massimo Ceccaroni, Bernd Schramm, Adrian Sedlo, Fotios Karapetsas and Patrick Rahmen.

Sundramoorthy had problems adapting to European football, he did not have the stamina and strength to play the entire 90 minutes and manager Siegenthaler used him as a substitute because he had the skills to decide a match.

Basel started the season badly, losing the first five league games straight off, conceding 17 goals, scoring just three.

Up until today this is still the highest score defeat that Basel have suffered in their domestic league history.

In their last six games Basel could not achieve a single victory and therefore they slipped to fifth position in the table and were relegated to the Nationalliga B.

[3] Xamax won the Swiss championship, second and third placed Servette and Aarau qualified for the 1988–89 UEFA Cup.

[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.