Bruno Michaud

Club

Despite a two-year period with Lausanne-Sport in the late 1950s, FC Basel was Michaud's regular club. Between 1955 and 1970, he belonged to the FCB first team and, as their defensive chief, he was one of the decisive co-founders of the "era Benthaus". He won the Swiss Cup twice and the championship three times under coaches Georges Sobotka and Helmut Benthaus. The fact that Michaud only reached the national team at the age of 32 had to do with the skills of his predecessor, because for years the position in the defensive centre was occupied by a similarly large sportsman, Heinz Schneiter. Nevertheless, after his international debut on 24 May 1967, in the legendary 7–1 against Romania, Michaud brought it to a total of 15 international matches. After his retirement from active football, Michaud remained in the business. First as a technical director for the club at Benthaus' side, then from April 1972 to May 1973 as an interim national coach. He took over the position from Louis Maurer and in that year he achieved a balanced record, seven international matches, one win, one defeat and five draws. Michaud played his early football in Basel's youth teams and was brought up to their first team by head coach Béla Sárosi during their 1955–56 season. At the end of that season, on 10 June 1956, he played his domestic league debut in the home game at the Landhof as Basel won 9–1 against Fribourg. In the following season he had 11 appearances and then he moved to FC…

Michaud was an impressive example of an intelligent and versatile man who, following his sports career, also found his way to the top professionally. First, he worked for an airline. Then, at the "National", one of the leading houses in the insurance industry, he became regional director. He also made his services available to the public for a few years as a member of the Grand Council. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and in the 1968 election he was voted into the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt. He held this seat until 1976. Michaud was married, and he and his wife Susy had a daughter named Aimée. He died completely unexpectedly on 1 November 1997 at the age of 62 during the holidays in Thailand on a tennis court.

Basel Swiss League champions: 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70 Swiss Cup winner: 1962–63, 1966–67 Swiss Cup runner-up: 1969–70 Coppa delle Alpi winner: 1969 Uhren Cup winner: 1969