The Neuchâtel defense completely broke apart when the YB striker Walter Frey found the net shortly after halftime to post a 1–0 lead.

[2] YB now had a large and modern stadium, which intensified the rivalry with FC Bern, because the older association continued to play at the small and outdated Neufeldplatz.

For this final on 30 June, Young Boys deployed replacement goalkeeper Erich Jung in the offensive midfield position due to player shortages.

YB produced impressive results overseas for Swiss football and was enthusiastically received by thousands upon its return to Bern.

At its first appearance in the European Cup, it were politically disadvantaged, however: the Bernese drew the Vasas Budapest, the Hungarian club of the Interior Ministry.

Servette FC made its Charmilles Stadium available for one game, and 20,000 spectators supported YB in Geneva during a 1–1 draw against the Hungarians.

Stade de Reims received the Bernese in the return match at the Parc des Princes, Paris, where the Frenchmen won 3–0 to reach the final.

In 1961, the team first travelled to Ireland to meet Limerick, where YB won with an impressive 5–0 showing, then again 4–2 in front of 22,000 spectators at Wankdorf in the return leg.

In the second round, YB met Hamburger SV (and its star striker Uwe Seeler) in what was the first European Cup game in that team's history.

After four league titles, a European Cup run and many successes, Young Boys traveled 31 days through the Far East, in five weeks having visited ten countries and played several friendly matches against Asian teams.

The successor to Albert Sing had large shoes to fill; average performance was no longer acceptable to the discriminating Bernese supporters.

This was also no different for the Merkle successors Skiba, Schneiter und Eich, Brülls, Peters and Linder: The Young Boys reached big games on occasion (such as the Cup final against Basel that brought 52,000 spectators to the Wankdorf), but over the long term their performance was unspectacular.

The Dutchman Bert Theunissen replaced Meier and Wechselberger in 1964 as "gunner" and he became Swiss scoring champion before he left YB.

Lars Lunde, Danish scoring champion, and Dario Zuffi each connected twice and YB after 26 years finished in championship position.

In the first round of the European championship, the Bernese drew Real Madrid, whose ranks included top stars Hugo Sánchez and Emilio Butragueño.

Young Boys fell in Celtic Park in Glasgow before 21,500 spectators in extra time, 1–0, with André Baumann netting an own goal in the 105th minute.

New Swedish coaches Roland Andersson and Thomas Sjöberg helped the club recover, placing first and earning promotion again, with Robert Schober and Admir Smajic taking over on the bench.

Young Boys played at the Neufeldstadion at the north end of town until the new, multi-functional Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern was opened in 2005.

However, with a 1–0 victory in the last game against FC St. Gallen on 9 December 2001, Young Boys qualified for the final round for the first time in seven years.

In the summer of 2005, Young Boys began using the newly built Wankdorfstadion, the Stade de Suisse, after several years of construction.

[13] Although team maintained a defensive football strategy, the club succeeded with him at its head, advancing to the Cup final, but losing on a penalty shoot-out to Sion.

The Bernese defeated Mika of Armenia 4–1 on aggregate in the first qualifying round to set up a very attractive matchup with French giants Marseille, but narrowly lost the tie on away goals with draws 3–3 at home and 0–0 away.

On 14 April 2007, the club president Peter Mast announced that he would resign his position at the end of the season, although he immediately joined the board of directors.

It entered Champions League qualification and defeated Fenerbahçe to set up a meeting with Tottenham Hotspur in the play-off round.

YB went out to a 3–0 lead in the opening leg at Stade de Suisse on Tuesday 17 August, but had to hold on for a 3–2 win,[19] then, fell 4–0 at White Hart Lane eight nights later and went out of the competition.

[20] On 28 August 2018, Young Boys qualified to UEFA Champions League Group stage for the first time in their history, after defeating Dinamo Zagreb with a 3–2 aggregate score in play-off round.

Seoane left to join Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen following the 2021 title success[23] and was replaced by former Huddersfield Town and Schalke 04 manager David Wagner on 10 June 2021.

In their first game in the Champions League, YB shocked Manchester United, beating them 2–1 thanks to a goal by Jordan Pefok in the 95th minute.

The harsh schedule in the first half of the season took its toll on the team and by the winter break, they saw themselves only in third place in the Super League, eleven points behind leader FC Zürich.

The building (and the club) are both owned by businessman Hans-Ueli Rihs who together with his late brother Andy has financed Young Boys since taking ownership at the beginning of the millennium.