Thalmann was born in Basel, the son of a teacher, and attended primary school and the Humanistic Gymnasium in the city.
In his early years Thalmann successfully played football for FC Basel and was a member of the Switzerland national team.
Although the first national championship in Switzerland took place in 1897–98 it is considered as unofficial because it was not organized by the Swiss Football Association (ASF-SFV, founded in 1895).
Thalmann played his league debut for the club in this home game at the Landhof on 13 November 1898.
Subsequently, the protest was approved and the game awarded - and the disputed goal was simply deducted from the score to give the final result.
Thus the Old Boys became the first forfait winners in Swiss football history and Basel were knocked out of the competition.
The Anglo American Football Club won the match 10–0, with their center forward Robert Collinson alone scoring 8 goals.
In fact he scored two goals as Basel won 4–0 against local rivals Old Boys.
Nevertheless, to date this remains the team's highest and biggest defeat in the club's history.
As it came to the last group game of the season, at home against the Old Boys, Basel were leading the table two points ahead of their opponents.
The play-off match was interrupted in the 50th minute due to a storm and following the restart it ended in a 1–1 draw.
In the first match they were beaten 1–5 by west group winners Servette and in the second 2–3 by Young Fellows Zürich.
Servette won the deciding match and became Swiss champions for the first time in their club's history.
[13] The Swiss Football Association (ASF-SFV) was formed in 1895 and was a founder member of FIFA in 1904.
The following year the Switzerland national football team played their first official international match against France on 12 February 1905.